Gaudy Night: chapters 7 & 8

[kalichan]

I am so sorry to be so late and no excuse to offer. *hides face in shame* Mea culpa, as Saint George says when he spills the pastries.

Chapters:  7 & 8

Brief synopsis: Harriet the Ghost Hunter spends a goodly amount of time in the library following the model of many scholars of my acquaintance catching up on sleep researching Sheridan Lefanu and

Comments

[ibmiller]

I think Saint George is one of Sayer's cleverest ways of keeping Peter present without him actually being there embracing Harriet outside under trees...wait, hang on. Yes, but his resemblence in body and speech, and the way he brings contact with Peter through letters comes through smoothly and yet completely conveniently. The first time I read the book, I had the same kind of heart-in-throat feeling as Harriet, thinking it was actually Peter

[azdak]

I think Saint George is one of Sayer's cleverest ways of keeping Peter present without him actually being there

He's also very clever way of finessing Peter from amiable-but-slightly-foolish-looking middle aged man to to sex god nonpareil, whose pheremones set the SRC aflutter (and, in BH, apparently half the elderly ladies of London), so that when the Dean says of St George "He's even more decorative than the other one" the readership doesn't go "Huh? Peter? Decorative? Since when?" It's a very clever sleight of hand.

[ibmiller]

Hmmm, I never thought of Peter as being particularly unattractive (see: Have His Carcase - swimsuit edition...er, I mean, objective analysis of bodily features not at all looking at bums...) But Saint George (and Reggie) does rather help in another direction by pointing out that the body isn't much help when the mind and soul aren't up to snuff (or getting there, as Peter has been trying to achieve).

[littlered2]

and, in BH, apparently half the elderly ladies of London

One of whom being, as we learn in Thrones, Dominations, his own godmother, which I can't help but feel a bit uneasy about (although I don't know whether the Countess as Peter's godmother was in DLS's draft or is an invention by Jill Paton Walsh, so it's arguable as to whether or not it was intended).

[nineveh_uk]

I must admit I love the Miss Cattermole scenes, especially the lines about "an angora rabbit that had gone on the loose and was astonished at the results".