More book-related nattering
So lost_spook said "yay for having nice books to read!" and I was starting to chatter at her about ALL THE NICE BOOKS (and possibly nice books) that I have found on Project Gutenberg and not read yet, and it began to be... a bit infinitely long. So I moved it to a post! XD
( Cut for the sake of your freedom of choice about whether to read it )
( Cut for the sake of your freedom of choice about whether to read it )
But then you read Rose in Bloom. Which, if you recall, is the sequel to Eight Cousins: there are seven boys and one girl, okay, and they're all growing up. Four of the boys are old enough to get married, right? So, okay, one of the boys marries the girl, and another one marries her friend who was a supporting character in the first book. A third gets engaged to a random girl introduced for the purpose. And the fourth, who is "fast" and would not really make a good husband? Dies tragically.
And then there is Jo's Boys. It's not quite so obvious, because Nan doesn't get married and Bess doesn't die (although I still get slightly cranky about the "strong women don't get married" trope as exemplified in Nan - I always thought Nan/Tommy would work out much better), but you have randomly pasted on Tommy/Dora, plus Nat/Daisy, Demi/random girl, Franz/random girl, AND Emil/random girl! And of course one-sided Dan/Bess UST - and because Dan wouldn't make a suitable husband either, his story ends with his death. Death or marriage, take your pick. *snarky*
Er, that did get fairly long... ;P
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(I'm totally cool with Nan not getting married because she is AWESOME and also I am happy to think of her as ace. And I actually like that there's a lot of random girls, because really most people don't actually marry their childhood friends but people they meet in their adult lives.)
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(I don't mind the random girls as much as I do the DEADNESS for everyone who doesn't get married. Except Nan. They just kind of serve to emphasize - "here's a girl for Franz! here's a girl for Emil! here's a girl for Demi! here's a girl for Tommy! Oops, no girl for Dan; he has to go out West and get deaded, for he is Unsuitable for a girl twelve years his junior and clearly there is nobody else for him evar." Sorry, this conversation is obviously making me a bit cranky. *wry face*)
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(Everything about Dan's ending makes me super-cranky. If it weren't for the awesome yuletide fic about Dan/Bess that already exists I totally would have requested that instead. Because it is so stupid that because of his class background and whatever he just isn't suitable for a Proper Girl like Bess. IT MAKES ME ALL OF THE ANGRY. Dan is awesome.)
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(OH HHERTZOF. This story. SO MUCH OF THE AWESOME. I must go and review it! Because, you know, Bess being an actual person instead of the ethereal angel who would be STAINED by someone as grubby as Dan daring to love her! And yet being completely consistent with canon. I WANT MORE FIC IN THIS 'VERSE NOW! *bounces*)
(Dang, it isn't on AO3. It should be! *pouts* XP)
DAN IS AWESOME. This is trufax. He is so much awesome and win. I may have identified with Dan and Nan both, somewhat, as a child. (Okay, I probably still would, if I re-read the books. *g*)
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(yes exactly! That story's summary as I wrote it in my pinboard bookmark is "Dan/Bess of my heart", because it IS. Because it is amazing in all the ways you say. I love it DEARLY.)
As a child I probably identified most with, idk, probably a combination of Daisy and Demi, actually. I loved Nan but in a distant and admiring kind of way.
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(but yeah, not sure if it helps)
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