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Post by AllSoulsAngela on Sept 19, 2015 17:24:24 GMT -5
"The leather bound book was nothing remarkable." We start with that opening line and details that lay the foundation not only for the story but Diana Bishop as a character. Straight away we settle in with details from Diana's POV.
This seemingly simple chapter is jam packed with details. What did you find interesting to learn in this chapter?
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Post by jennifer on Sept 21, 2015 17:44:51 GMT -5
ADoW sets our stage, which initially is the campus of Oxford. Oxford, despite Diana’s wishes, is a very magical place. As a matter of fact, magic is all that is on Diana’s mind throughout the first chapter, despite her continued renouncement, “More important, my life was now my own” (p10). This life, of course, was meant to be free of magic.
It is important to note, that the story also begins in a twice over liminal place. There is the transition taking place during the day as it is afternoon, the middle of the day, a place between morning and evening. Also, the time of year is telling, the delicate frame of season surrounding Mabon where it is no longer summer but not quite winter. Certainly, this treats the reader to a scene in a mostly abandoned library, as the school year has not begun as of yet, but the setting also provides a unique time-frame for the action to begin. To top everything off, Diana, herself, is in a liminal space insomuch that she is a witch pretending to not be a witch. She is in-between a great many things including, but not limited to, her research.
In conclusion, we have a witch that is not a witch in a mostly empty library during a time that is neither morning nor evening in a season that is neither summer nor winter. There is a careful balancing act going on here and we the reader, are now confronted with the same quandary that Diana is upon finding the manuscript.
“Scholars do one of two things when they discover information that doesn’t fit what they already know. Either they sweep it aside so it doesn’t bring their cherished theories into question or they focus on it with laser like intensity and try to get to the bottom of the mystery. If this book hadn’t been under a spell, I might have been tempted to do the latter. Because it was bewitched, I was strongly inclined toward the former. And when in doubt, scholars usually postpone a decision.” (p13).
We might, after all, postpone our assessment until at least, Chapter Two.
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Post by Laura V. on Sept 24, 2015 18:08:12 GMT -5
I love Jennifer's assessment of the "in-betweeness" in chapter 1. It's the perfect set up for Diana. *applauds* I hadn't thought about it before And the in-betweeness in the setup of chapter 1 foreshadows chapter 36 (and many other chapters) when the ghost in the Bishop House tells Diana, "You're a creature of the cross-roads, neither here nor there." [...] "You have always been a child between, a witch apart." I think the foreshadowing we see early on is a testament to Deb's genius. This begs a question. Have you tried to re-read ADOW paying very close attention to all the future events foreshadowed in the first few chapters? For example, when Diana "meets" Ashmole 782 (page 1), three things happen: the muffled voices, the iridescent shimmer escaping through the pages, and her skin prickling. I initially believed that they were due to the manuscript's magic. However, after reading SON and TBOL, I started to wonder how much was due to Ashmole 782's magic, versus magic that Stephen Proctor might have weaved to get Diana's attention. "A mild shock made me withdraw my fingers quickly." [...] "Even at this safe distance, this manuscript was challenging me." (page 3). Probably Ashmole's magic. "Its magic pulled something dark and knotted inside me." (page 6) Is this an early hint about Diana possessing dark magic and being a weaver (the word 'knotted')? "My fingers returned to the smooth leather. This time the prickling sensation felt familiar. I vaguely remembered experiencing something like it once before, looking through some papers on the desk in my father's study." (page 6) I'm guessing this was a signal from Stephen. Squee! I'm a huge Stephen's fan "The guilt numbers on the spine winked." (page 6) Ok. This is definitely Stephen's doing. Right? "The manuscript let out a soft sigh." (page 10). Probably Ashmole's own magic, but it could be Stephen saying "finally!" Net-net, after re-reading chapter 1, I felt as if Stephen was somewhere with Diana in the Bodleian observing Diana meeting Ashmole 782. Am I reading too much into it?
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Post by Mz.Val on Sept 28, 2015 12:46:16 GMT -5
"The guilt numbers on the spine winked." (page 6) Ok. This is definitely Stephen's doing. Right? I love your speculations! The numbers "winking" in my opinion was a choice of words that Deb used to describe the twinkling guilt letters would emit in low light. Like a "sparkle". Or *bling!* --->(in a cartoon context!). Is that what you meant? That it winked literally? I'm sure anything is possible, seeing that it is magic!
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Post by Laura V. on Sept 30, 2015 14:37:53 GMT -5
I didn't mean it to wink literally. More like a sparkle, but I do "see" Stephen all over the Bodleian when Diana finds Ashmole 782. But again, I do have a big Stephen bias And here is yet another question. Did Philippe have a hand in planning the Diana/Ashmole 782 reunion? In TBOL, we do find out that Philippe, Em and Diana's parents, all worked together to make sure that Diana and Matthew could meet. #swoon
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Post by AllSoulsAngela on Oct 2, 2015 11:02:44 GMT -5
"My fingers returned to the smooth leather. This time the prickling sensation felt familiar. I vaguely remembered experiencing something like it once before, looking through some papers on the desk in my father's study." (page 6) I'm guessing this was a signal from Stephen. Squee! I'm a huge Stephen's fan And here is yet another question. Did Philippe have a hand in planning the Diana/Ashmole 782 reunion? In TBOL, we do find out that Philippe, Em and Diana's parents, all worked together to make sure that Diana and Matthew could meet. #swoon For the first comment: I always thought (later) that the prickling sensation of Ashmole 782 was familiar because Diana experienced the same sensation when she unknowingly came across the page of Ashmole 782 that was sent to Rebecca and Stephen (i.e., it was on his desk when she was looking through the papers). Later when Diana is opening the envelope that contains Rebecca's letter and the page, she says about the page: "“I recognized that power and had felt it before.” For the second comment: I don't know that Philippe had as much to do with Diana and Ashmole 782 as Stephen. In Shadow of Night, when Stephen learns how/where Matthew and Diana met and more about Ashmole 782, he says "“You’ve married the creature equivalent of Charles Darwin. And is he interested in origins as well as extinction?”. I think it was then he started planning the "reunion" (goes back to 1859, puts the inscription in and spell on Ashmole 782 and makes sure it's in the Bodleian ready to recognize Diana). Philippe definitely had a lot of irons in the fire - maybe more than anyone else; the conductor of the orchestra. It's telling what Matthew says to Diana " “Philippe told me that mating was destiny. Once I found you, there would be nothing to do but accept fate’s decision. ” I believe that was Philippe priming Matthew for meeting with Diana. Fate goes by another name...Philippe.
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Post by jennifer on Oct 2, 2015 21:15:48 GMT -5
I love Jennifer's assessment of the "in-betweeness" in chapter 1. It's the perfect set up for Diana. *applauds* I hadn't thought about it before ;) And the in-betweeness in the setup of chapter 1 foreshadows chapter 36 (and many other chapters) when the ghost in the Bishop House tells Diana, "You're a creature of the cross-roads, neither here nor there." [...] "You have always been a child between, a witch apart." I think the foreshadowing we see early on is a testament to Deb's genius. This begs a question. Have you tried to re-read ADOW paying very close attention to all the future events foreshadowed in the first few chapters? You're on to something, Laura. She not only is a "creature of the cross-roads" but she is also a creature, that in later chapters crosses both space and time. How interesting is it, then, to consider Diana as a sort of bridge? She is that creature that binds together the past and the present, Europe to the Americas, and all of these creatures together. As she is first met and initially exists in a liminal space, she is the nucleus of the story in a way that not all protagonists are. I am sure there are some delightful weaving and tying metaphors in there too but I will leave those for later chapters.
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