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"We never seem to love the people we ought to; I can't think why."
She supposed that houses, after all - like the lives that were lived in them - were mostly made of space. It was the spaces, in fact, which counted, rather than the bricks.
— from The Night Watch by Sarah Waters
~*~
Bree (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
the_gargoyle) has the best taste in books on this planet, or any other. We were talking a few weeks ago, and I let slip that though I love Sarah Waters' stuff, I'd not yet read The Night Watch. She promptly paled and let me borrow it, saying it was for posterity's sake. XD
If you're not gay, you might not recognize the name Sarah Waters, though she's gone above and beyond what many, many, many other gay authors have found possible...but you've probably seen her on bookshelves. Her books, filled with gay primary characters, and gay secondary characters--and, oh hell, A LOT of gay sex, have reached not just gay people. They are best sellers, books that countless straight people have read. She cracked the code, she was able to get a vast amount of literature that would "normally" have been considered gay fiction (and, therefore, relegated to the "gay fiction" section, where few straight people dare to tread) out into the mainstream, won dozens of awards for it, put herself on a bestseller status, and was a complete genius all the while. Let's face it--she's a perfect writer.
It's very, very rare that I consider a book to be truly perfect. I have, perhaps, thought this three times in my life. I thought it about The Night Watch, which is why I'm posting about it, urging and asking you to read it. If you're a writer, I think you should read this book. I you love beautiful, heart breaking stories, I think you should read this book. If you want to feel something extraordinary...read this book.
It's not an easy one. I'll be honest with you--there is cutting, death, body parts, jury-rigged abortions, lots and lots of blood and people being blown up constantly. It's set after and in WWII, in London, and she does not mince scenes, but shows the gruesome bits in startling honesty.
However...the book follows the stories of four people. Four tragic, incredibly flawed, yet astoundingly beautiful people. They are so intensely human, in their decisions and their mistakes and their truths. She builds longing and hope, tragedy and deepest despair with every word, and throughout the book you feel like they move and walk and breathe about you. You have Duncan, put in prison for trying to commit suicide. Viv, his sister, a typist in an affair with a married man. Kay, who lost the love of her life and becomes ghost-like...and Helen, who was the love of her life, and left her.
The way their stories are interwoven, the intensity of longing that is built within every scene...it's startling and sharp and so clear. I did not think I would like the book, to tell you the truth. Jenn hated it, and told me it was horrible and I shouldn't bother reading it. I'm glad I tried it, though (we often have very different viewpoints on our favorite books and debate them endlessly...I should have assumed I would love it. XD). I rarely read books that don't have a supernatural element in them. I thought I'd be bored to tears. A period piece that was not Victorian, where there were only two main lesbian characters? Eh. It didn't sound like my cup of tea. I was very, very wrong.
You may be reading over this thinking "I'm not gay," or "I don't like World War II," or "I'm not really into gore..." That all may very well be true. But if you love beautiful stories, stories that make every bit of you ache, that break your heart, that burn you to the marrow of your bones...then none of these things will matter. The deep humanity of our shared heartbreak, the deep bones of our truth, what you feel, what you can feel, in the midst of horror and sadness and supreme despair, and not--somehow--be turned into a monster...that is what this story is about. This beautiful, horrible, incredible story.
It is exquisitely told, perfectly executed...a gem of storytelling, and I've never read anything like it, and it breaks my heart that it's over.
A very rare and perfect book--I recommend it wholeheartedly.
~*~
For me, personally, the book brought so much to light for me that I think about but don't share; that I wonder about. There is this scene in the very beginning of the book where Helen and her new lover, Julia, are sitting out in the park. It's 1947, the war is over (the story is told backwards, beginning in 1947 and ending in 1941), but Helen remembers what it was like, and can't understand how such horror could have existed...but now it's sunny, there are children playing in the pond, and the blue sky overhead shines down on a world that's filled with atrocity--but also perfect beauty. She brushes her fingers across Julia's back, the only tiny sign of affection she feels she's allowed to show (if people knew they were gay, they would probably get killed), and she's so completely grateful for that tiny touch. It was surreal, reading that. I know we're lucky, now--I understand that--but it's still strange, remembering all of the lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgendered people who have gone through history, who have gone through so, so much...and now we're here and now. It's not perfect, not by any stretch of the imagination...but I have so much to be grateful for.
I identified with Kay so much. So, so much. Her story, what she went through, what happened to the love of her life, and what she felt when she was with her. It broke my heart on every level. I love being chivalrous, I love doing little things that make Jenn smile, and I do everything I can to protect and cherish her. Kay is so butch that she's often mistaken for a man. I'm not butch--I'm so far from butch, it's not even funny--but the need to protect her, the need to take care of her, to cherish her and spoil her and love her with all my heart...I felt the ache that Kay felt, the beauty in that love, of having found your soul mate, of the joy and gift of being with her. I think, because I identified so much with Kay, the heartbreak throughout the book was much worse than it might have been ordinarily.
I hope you give the book a try. I hope you love it~ <3
— from The Night Watch by Sarah Waters
Bree (the_gargoyle) has the best taste in books on this planet, or any other. We were talking a few weeks ago, and I let slip that though I love Sarah Waters' stuff, I'd not yet read The Night Watch. She promptly paled and let me borrow it, saying it was for posterity's sake. XDIf you're not gay, you might not recognize the name Sarah Waters, though she's gone above and beyond what many, many, many other gay authors have found possible...but you've probably seen her on bookshelves. Her books, filled with gay primary characters, and gay secondary characters--and, oh hell, A LOT of gay sex, have reached not just gay people. They are best sellers, books that countless straight people have read. She cracked the code, she was able to get a vast amount of literature that would "normally" have been considered gay fiction (and, therefore, relegated to the "gay fiction" section, where few straight people dare to tread) out into the mainstream, won dozens of awards for it, put herself on a bestseller status, and was a complete genius all the while. Let's face it--she's a perfect writer.
It's very, very rare that I consider a book to be truly perfect. I have, perhaps, thought this three times in my life. I thought it about The Night Watch, which is why I'm posting about it, urging and asking you to read it. If you're a writer, I think you should read this book. I you love beautiful, heart breaking stories, I think you should read this book. If you want to feel something extraordinary...read this book.
It's not an easy one. I'll be honest with you--there is cutting, death, body parts, jury-rigged abortions, lots and lots of blood and people being blown up constantly. It's set after and in WWII, in London, and she does not mince scenes, but shows the gruesome bits in startling honesty.
However...the book follows the stories of four people. Four tragic, incredibly flawed, yet astoundingly beautiful people. They are so intensely human, in their decisions and their mistakes and their truths. She builds longing and hope, tragedy and deepest despair with every word, and throughout the book you feel like they move and walk and breathe about you. You have Duncan, put in prison for trying to commit suicide. Viv, his sister, a typist in an affair with a married man. Kay, who lost the love of her life and becomes ghost-like...and Helen, who was the love of her life, and left her.
The way their stories are interwoven, the intensity of longing that is built within every scene...it's startling and sharp and so clear. I did not think I would like the book, to tell you the truth. Jenn hated it, and told me it was horrible and I shouldn't bother reading it. I'm glad I tried it, though (we often have very different viewpoints on our favorite books and debate them endlessly...I should have assumed I would love it. XD). I rarely read books that don't have a supernatural element in them. I thought I'd be bored to tears. A period piece that was not Victorian, where there were only two main lesbian characters? Eh. It didn't sound like my cup of tea. I was very, very wrong.
You may be reading over this thinking "I'm not gay," or "I don't like World War II," or "I'm not really into gore..." That all may very well be true. But if you love beautiful stories, stories that make every bit of you ache, that break your heart, that burn you to the marrow of your bones...then none of these things will matter. The deep humanity of our shared heartbreak, the deep bones of our truth, what you feel, what you can feel, in the midst of horror and sadness and supreme despair, and not--somehow--be turned into a monster...that is what this story is about. This beautiful, horrible, incredible story.
It is exquisitely told, perfectly executed...a gem of storytelling, and I've never read anything like it, and it breaks my heart that it's over.
A very rare and perfect book--I recommend it wholeheartedly.
For me, personally, the book brought so much to light for me that I think about but don't share; that I wonder about. There is this scene in the very beginning of the book where Helen and her new lover, Julia, are sitting out in the park. It's 1947, the war is over (the story is told backwards, beginning in 1947 and ending in 1941), but Helen remembers what it was like, and can't understand how such horror could have existed...but now it's sunny, there are children playing in the pond, and the blue sky overhead shines down on a world that's filled with atrocity--but also perfect beauty. She brushes her fingers across Julia's back, the only tiny sign of affection she feels she's allowed to show (if people knew they were gay, they would probably get killed), and she's so completely grateful for that tiny touch. It was surreal, reading that. I know we're lucky, now--I understand that--but it's still strange, remembering all of the lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgendered people who have gone through history, who have gone through so, so much...and now we're here and now. It's not perfect, not by any stretch of the imagination...but I have so much to be grateful for.
I identified with Kay so much. So, so much. Her story, what she went through, what happened to the love of her life, and what she felt when she was with her. It broke my heart on every level. I love being chivalrous, I love doing little things that make Jenn smile, and I do everything I can to protect and cherish her. Kay is so butch that she's often mistaken for a man. I'm not butch--I'm so far from butch, it's not even funny--but the need to protect her, the need to take care of her, to cherish her and spoil her and love her with all my heart...I felt the ache that Kay felt, the beauty in that love, of having found your soul mate, of the joy and gift of being with her. I think, because I identified so much with Kay, the heartbreak throughout the book was much worse than it might have been ordinarily.
I hope you give the book a try. I hope you love it~ <3