strange and random happenstance

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
Published by: Virago Press
Publication Date: 1938
Format: Paperback, 448 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy (different edition than one reviewed)

"Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again. It seemed to me I stood by the iron gate leading to the drive, and for a while I could not enter, for the way was barred to me. There was a padlock and chain upon the gate... Then, like all dreamers, I was possessed of a sudden with supernatural powers and passed like a spirit through the barrier before me. The drive wound away in front of me, twisting and turning as it had always done."

As she looks back on the twists and turns that brought her to Manderley, the second Mrs. de Winter can't help but wonder how her life ended up as it did. She had resigned herself to an existence as a paid companion trailing behind whomever had hired her, the reprehensible Mrs. Van Hoppper being her employer at the beginning of her story. That all changed when Maxim de Winter entered her life in his fast car. He was in the south of France fleeing the memories of his dead wife Rebecca and the one thing that blotted her out was the young girl who would become his second wife. Yet perhaps their union was foolish, or Maxim's dream to return to Manderley was unwise. Because back in England their life is haunted by the memories of his first wife, Rebecca. The specter that is hallowed by the housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers, and is a constant comparative presence for the new wife. Could Rebecca destroy their happiness from beyond the grave? Or will Rebecca need a little assistance from Mrs. Danvers?

When I was young my mother subscribed to The Franklin Library Mystery Masterpieces. Each month a new book would arrive and we'd set it in pride of place on our console bookshelf that housed our most prized possessions, this being the eighties it mainly housed records and our record player. The little nine year old that I was loved that each month another volume would come and expand the display on that orangey wood that just glowed with an inner light. Then one day The Franklin Library sent us the biggest box I had ever seen. They were discontinuing the Mystery Masterpieces and they sent us the remaining volumes all at once. At this time we probably had only ten volumes, so forty-two books showed up one day to our great astonishment and delight.

Until recently these books have been packed away as self space was scare; all but a few choice volumes which I had secreted away. When I was young I loved to spend time reading the spines and looking at the pictures and wondering what the books were about and making up my own stories, especially about The Thirty-Nine Steps, which really disappointed me when I found out what it was truly about. When they first arrived I was too young to read most of the titles, and when I was older I was too into movies to bother with books. That all changed. Obviously. But Rebecca, the movie, was like a gateway drug. I adored the film and then I looked on our shelf. There was Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier, one of the first books we'd gotten in this series, after the obligatory Agatha Christie volume that is. This particular edition would make it's way into my library and my heart.

Rebecca is that rare book that cries out to be read and re-read over and over again, each time a different interpretation and meaning unearthed. The opening line that transports you, like a dream, to Manderley. You can get lost in the happy valley among the flowers and never want to return from those magical pages. But I don't think that you truly get the book's greatness without knowing the context of Du Maurier's world, mainly her obsession with the Brontes. This is much in the vein of why people don't realize the genius of Northanger Abbey, which is a parody of the Gothic genre, not "serious" like Austen's other books! Du Maurier's first book, The Loving Spirit, takes it's name from a poem by Emily Bronte. More then twenty years after writing Rebecca her misguided biography on Branwell Bronte was published and forever secured her connection to them. Therefore the echoes of Jane Eyre that haunt Rebecca should not be thought a surprise or the least bit unintentional. Du Maurier was writing a new classic that would pay homage to and reflect Jane Eyre. A Jane Eyre for modern sensibilities, if you will.

Just as Jamaica Inn is to Wuthering Heights, so is Rebecca to Jane Eyre, just look at the similarities. The naive young girl ready for love, the misanthropic hero, the crazy wife, the destructive fire. What amazes me is that if you look at just the building blocks of these two books they should be eerily similar, yet they aren't. Each book is a classic in it's own right, but the ghost of Jane Eyre isn't the only ghost that Rebecca tackles, after all there is Rebecca herself. While there is that chilling line delivered by Mrs. Danvers "Do you think the dead come back and watch the living?" What we think of as ghosts can take many forms. There are no spectral apparitions here, no things that go bump in the night, but that doesn't mean Rebecca doesn't haunt Manderley.

Rebecca recurs persistently in the consciousness of the second Mrs. de Winter causing her distress and anxiety, but she was also the bosom friend of Mrs. Danvers. Mrs. Danvers, more then anyone, works to keep Rebecca alive and in doing so makes her specter part of the foundation of Manderley itself. This is an interesting conceit on Du Maurier's part, because really, this is a ghost story without a ghost. The memory and emotion left behind is what haunts us, and if anyone could do this, it's Rebecca. As Captain Jack Harkness said on Torchwood, "Human emotion is energy. You can't always see it or hear it, but you can feel it. Ever had deja vu? Felt someone walk over your grave? Ever felt someone behind you in an empty room? Well there was. There always is."

Yet Rebecca isn't the only ghost. There's another person who haunts Manderley, she is always there, ever present, but in the shadow of Rebecca. I am of course talking about the second Mrs. de Winter. She is but mere shadow, a trace, a semblance of a person. She in fact has no name but that which Rebecca had, Mrs. de Winter. This is the most fascinating aspect of the book and many others have discussed it's importance, that the heroine has no name. One result of this namlessness is that she is a ghost, a cipher, a way to tell Rebecca's story through new eyes but without complicating the matter by creating a character with backbone.

Of course this is a two edged sword, on the one hand Du Maurier is pushing the second Mrs. de Winter into the background, but on the other hand by creating a blank slate, a character who has no real "character" we are able to put ourselves more easily into her shoes. This literary trick, I mean, really, I want to stand and applaud Du Maurier. By giving us this conduit there are so many ramifications to the narrative. By being one with the second Mrs. de Winter you therefore embrace Maxim, her husband, and therefore condone his actions. The genius of Rebecca is that Daphne Du Maurier has made you complicit in murder and you loved every second of it.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Bronte, Captain Jack, Daphne Du Maurier, Du Maurier December, Jamaica Inn, Jane Eyre, Manderley, Maxim de Winter, Mrs. Danvers, Northanger Abbey, Rebecca, The Loving Spirit, Torchwood, Wuthering Heights

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
Published by: Virago Press
Publication Date: 1938
Format: Paperback, 448 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy (different edition than one reviewed)

"Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again. It seemed to me I stood by the iron gate leading to the drive, and for a while I could not enter, for the way was barred to me. There was a padlock and chain upon the gate... Then, like all dreamers, I was possessed of a sudden with supernatural powers and passed like a spirit through the barrier before me. The drive wound away in front of me, twisting and turning as it had always done."

As she looks back on the twists and turns that brought her to Manderley, the second Mrs. de Winter can't help but wonder how her life ended up as it did. She had resigned herself to an existence as a paid companion trailing behind whomever had hired her, the reprehensible Mrs. Van Hoppper being her employer at the beginning of her story. That all changed when Maxim de Winter entered her life in his fast car. He was in the south of France fleeing the memories of his dead wife Rebecca and the one thing that blotted her out was the young girl who would become his second wife. Yet perhaps their union was foolish, or Maxim's dream to return to Manderley was unwise. Because back in England their life is haunted by the memories of his first wife, Rebecca. The specter that is hallowed by the housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers, and is a constant comparative presence for the new wife. Could Rebecca destroy their happiness from beyond the grave? Or will Rebecca need a little assistance from Mrs. Danvers?

When I was young my mother subscribed to The Franklin Library Mystery Masterpieces. Each month a new book would arrive and we'd set it in pride of place on our console bookshelf that housed our most prized possessions, this being the eighties it mainly housed records and our record player. The little nine year old that I was loved that each month another volume would come and expand the display on that orangey wood that just glowed with an inner light. Then one day The Franklin Library sent us the biggest box I had ever seen. They were discontinuing the Mystery Masterpieces and they sent us the remaining volumes all at once. At this time we probably had only ten volumes, so forty-two books showed up one day to our great astonishment and delight.

Until recently these books have been packed away as self space was scare; all but a few choice volumes which I had secreted away. When I was young I loved to spend time reading the spines and looking at the pictures and wondering what the books were about and making up my own stories, especially about The Thirty-Nine Steps, which really disappointed me when I found out what it was really about. When they first arrived I was too young to read most of the titles, and when I was older I was too into movies to bother with books. That all changed. Obviously. But Rebecca, the movie, was like a gateway drug. I adored the film and then I looked on our shelf. There was Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier, one of the first books we'd gotten in this series, after the obligatory Agatha Christie volume that is. This particular edition would make it's way into my library and my heart.

Rebecca is that rare book that cries out to be read and re-read over and over again, each time a different interpretation and meaning unearthed. The opening line that transports you, like a dream, to Manderley. You can get lost in the happy valley among the flowers and never want to return from those magical pages. But I don't think that you truly get the book's greatness without knowing the context of Du Maurier's world, mainly her obsession with the Brontes. This is much in the vein of why people don't realize the genius of Northanger Abbey, which is a parody of the Gothic genre, not "serious" like Austen's other books! Du Maurier's first book, The Loving Spirit, takes it's name from a poem by Emily Bronte. More then twenty years after writing Rebecca her misguided biography on Branwell Bronte was published and forever secured her connection to them. Therefore the echoes of Jane Eyre that haunt Rebecca should not be thought a surprise or the least bit unintentional. Du Maurier was writing a new classic that would pay homage to and reflect Jane Eyre. A Jane Eyre for modern sensibilities, if you will.

Just as Jamaica Inn is to Wuthering Heights, so is Rebecca to Jane Eyre, just look at the similarities. The naive young girl ready for love, the misanthropic hero, the crazy wife, the destructive fire. What amazes me is that if you look at just the building blocks of these books they should be eerily similar, yet they aren't. Each book is a classic in it's own right, but the ghost of Jane Eyre isn't the only ghost that Rebecca tackles, after all there is Rebecca herself. While there is that chilling line delivered by Mrs. Danvers "Do you think the dead come back and watch the living?" What we think of as ghosts can take many forms. There are no spectral apparitions here, no things that go bump in the night, but that doesn't mean Rebecca doesn't haunt Manderley.

Rebecca recurs persistently in the consciousness of the second Mrs. de Winter causing her distress and anxiety, but she is also the bosom friend of Mrs. Danvers. Mrs. Danvers, more then anyone, works to keep Rebecca alive and in doing so makes her specter part of the foundation of Manderley itself. This is an interesting conceit on Du Maurier's part, because really, this is a ghost story without a ghost. The memory and emotion left behind is what haunts us, and if anyone could do this, it's Rebecca. As Captain Jack Harkness said on Torchwood, "Human emotion is energy. You can't always see it or hear it, but you can feel it. Ever had deja vu? Felt someone walk over your grave? Ever felt someone behind you in an empty room? Well there was. There always is."

Yet Rebecca isn't the only ghost. There's another person who haunts Manderley, she is always there, ever present, but in the shadow of Rebecca. I am of course talking about the second Mrs. de Winter. She is but mere shadow, a trace, a semblance of a person. She in fact has no name but that which Rebecca had, Mrs. de Winter. This is the most fascinating aspect of the book and many others have discussed it's importance, that the heroine has no name. One result of this namlessness is that she is a ghost, a cipher, a way to tell Rebecca's story through new eyes but without complicating the matter by creating a character with backbone.

Of course this is a two edged sword, on the one hand Du Maurier is pushing the second Mrs. de Winter into the background, but on the other hand by creating a blank slate, a character who has no real "character" we are able to put ourselves more easily into her shoes. This literary trick, I mean, really, I want to stand and applaud Du Maurier. By giving use this conduit there are so many ramifications to the narrative. By being one with the second Mrs. de Winter you therefore embrace Maxim, her husband, and therefore not just identify but condone his actions. The genius of Rebecca is that Daphne Du Maurier has made you complicit in murder and you loved every second of it.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Bronte, Charlotte Bronte, Daphne Du Maurier, Emily Bronte, Franklin Library, Jane Austen, Jane Eyre, Manderley, Maxim de Winter, Mrs. Danvers, Northanger Abbey, Rebecca, Sweet Reads, Torchwood

Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill
Published by: William Morrow Paperbacks
Publication Date: June 18th, 2013
Format: Paperback, 400 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

Judas Coyne acquired quite the reputation as a death-metal rocker. His love of the macabre has resulted in a unique collection of grim occult artifacts. Those from ardent fans and those he has sought out himself. From cooking for cannibals to a used hangman's noose, though perhaps the oddest item in his possession is an honest to goodness snuff film. But he doesn't have a ghost. Jude's assistant Danny discovered the listing on an online auction house. A woman is selling the spirit of her step-father which she is convinced has attached itself to his Sunday suit. This is bona fide proof of the afterlife and Jude wants it, buying it immediately for $1,0000. If only he knew why this suit was for him and what would happen once it arrived at his New York farm in a heart-shaped box. There is no doubt that the suit is haunted and the ghost is a vengeful spirit set on destroying Jude. Because Jude hasn't just spent his life collecting supernatural specimens, he has also collected groupies. Each named after the state they're from he hopes one day to have a complete set. His current squeeze is Georgia. But the ghost? The ghost is there because of Florida. And the ghost won't settle until Jude, Georgia, and anyone close to them is dead. The couple set out on a road trip with Jude's two dogs, Angus and Bon, in tow. They aim to exorcise the poltergeist. But will it kill them first?

Every once in awhile you stumble on a book that you know is flawed, you no it's not perfect, in fact you have many issues with it, but it's still somehow the right book at the right time and you devour it as fast as you can and enjoy the ride. For me that was Heart-Shaped Box. I had just finished reading the abysmal Newt's Emerald and, masochist that I am, had heard that the original e-book version was different than the printed version and as I already had it... I therefore tortured myself by reading the EXACT SAME BOOK. TWICE! Picking up Heart-Shaped Box after this experience was a relief. I should have realized once I started the book that Joe Hill was Stephen King's son, because the book had the same feeling, that quality of fast food, you know you shouldn't, but you crave it and enjoy it the whole time and then wonder at the end if perhaps it was worth it. For me it was. This book tapped into a more modern Gothic sensibility than Shirley Jackson. Shirley Jackson's writing is timeless, whereas this felt more of the moment, of the now. I don't think it will stand up over time but it does capture the time in which it was written, the feel of the American Gothic of that precise moment. Of music and road trips and hauntings from memories and past sins and actual real ghosts. Oh, I was SO ready for this book.

Because while this is a ghost story at the same time it's not really a ghost story. Like his own father, Hill explores the idea of what exactly ghosts truly are. Because while Jude is literally being haunted by the ghost of Craddock he is also haunted by his past, mainly his own father. Yes, Hill went there, much like his father did with Jack Torrance's daddy issues, but with the added irony that King is his own father... oh, can we say meta? Which is why Jude isn't able to defeat the actual ghost without confronting his own ghosts, by going home again. In a messy final act Jude is able to defeat Craddock by confronting the life he ran away from. Because memories, past experiences, emotions, they imprint on us and the world around us, they leave a residue. I always think of the Torchwood episode "Ghost Machine" where the team encounters "ghosts" which turn out to be fragments of emotion and memory imprinted on time. As Captain Jack says: "Human emotion is energy. You can't always see it, or hear it, but you can feel it. Ever had deja vu? Felt someone walk over your grave? Ever felt someone behind you in an empty room? Well, there was. There always is." That episode was able to shift my perception of the paranormal so that I was able to appreciate what Hill himself is doing in his approach to the concept of ghosts.

Yet for what the book got right it is flawed. In several regards, but to me and most members of my book club the biggest flaw was in the treatment of animals. If you are at all squeamish about animal abuse... this book has a lot of troubling incidents not for the faint of heart. I mean, yes, you should know what you're getting into, this is Gothic Horror, but still, animal cruelty is a whole separate kettle of fish. I seriously think I could handle the most graphic of depravities humans can inflict on each other but if a puppy or kitty dies, I can't deal. So know this going in, Angus and Bon are going to die. Horribly. Both from gunshot wounds protecting Jude as his familiars. Yet their deaths could have been noble if Jude had deserved their sacrifice. Because throughout the book, even before his trouble with Craddock, he treats these lovely dogs like shit. THAT is unacceptable. These dogs love him blindly and as is obviously apparent, he was unworthy not just of their love but any love. This story, to an extent, has a redemptive side, but I think there is no redemption for someone who mistreats animals. More than that, both dogs didn't have to die. Angus survived the initial fight that killed Bon and IF he had been taken to a vet and not thrown in the back seat of Jude's car, there was a chance. But he's just left there in pain to bleed to death. That's unacceptable.

But then again Jude and Georgia do some of the stupidest things imaginable. They never do what's logical. Then again, does anyone in horror do anything logical? There's a reason the Scream movies, poking fun at the stupidity of the horror genre, were so popular. Why would they take Angus to the vet when they don't even go to the hospital for Georgia's finger. This is perhaps the most vomit inducing aspect of the entire book. Georgia pricks her finger on a pin attached to Craddock's haunted suit. It quickly goes septic. The details are kind of lavished on this disgusting injury. Instead of going to the hospital she spends much time ignoring it or sucking on it like a little child with a wound. I'm not even going to address the issues that insight brings to light, but just harp on about the fact she never went to a hospital. I mean, she was convinced it was supernatural so that obviously it would only get worse until they defeated Craddock. How does she know this? Yes, she's kind of zoning out occasionally and watching snuff films in a trance, but I personally would demand an examination by a medical professional prior to blaming it on spirits. Who knows what could have been put on that pin as a secondary offensive attack? Plus. Just too much eww for me.

The nail in the coffin though, as it were, is that in the end this book is predictable. Because the trope that is the card played too often is sexual abuse, this time used with a side of incest. Obviously Florida had to have had a horrible upbringing to have her kill herself and to have Craddock have a need to exact revenge, but is sexual abuse the only trauma available? It certainly seems that way from all the books and TV shows and movies that go to that explanation. What I wouldn't give for say a serial killer or a cult, anything that doesn't go straight to the creepy sex place. But I think the reason why it always comes back to sexual abuse is because this is the worst it could be. Everyone can imagine the horror. Everyone can imagine the shame however unwarranted. Everyone can imagine it and wish it away. In fact, I wonder, how many people, when asked what their worst nightmare was wouldn't say sexual abuse? Hill though has a need to compound the creep factor by having Florida's sister complicit in the abuse and even offering up her own daughter to Craddock. This takes it to a level of creepy that I just don't want to go to. But more than that, I felt that because of who Jude is, because of the damaged women he drew to himself, it was just too expected. So while this book is a journey I enjoyed, it wasn't one that was always scenic and unexpected. Like a commute, there are some days it feels nice, familiar, but in no way was it unique.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: American Gothic, Animal Cruelty, Captain Jack, Going Gothic, Haunting, Heart-Shaped Box, Incest, Jack Torrence, Joe Hill, Judas Coyne, Newt's Emerald, Sexual Abuse, Shirley Jackson, Torchwood

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
Published by: Virago Press
Publication Date: 1938
Format: Paperback, 448 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy (different edition than one reviewed)

"Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again. It seemed to me I stood by the iron gate leading to the drive, and for a while I could not enter, for the way was barred to me. There was a padlock and chain upon the gate... Then, like all dreamers, I was possessed of a sudden with supernatural powers and passed like a spirit through the barrier before me. The drive wound away in front of me, twisting and turning as it had always done."

As she looks back on the twists and turns that brought her to Manderley, the second Mrs. de Winter can't help but wonder how her life ended up as it did. She had resigned herself to an existence as a paid companion trailing behind whomever had hired her, the reprehensible Mrs. Van Hoppper being her employer at the beginning of her story. That all changed when Maxim de Winter entered her life in his fast car. He was in the south of France fleeing the memories of his dead wife Rebecca and the one thing that blotted her out was the young girl who would become his second wife. Yet perhaps their union was foolish, or Maxim's dream to return to Manderley was unwise. Because back in England their life is haunted by the memories of his first wife, Rebecca. The specter that is hallowed by the housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers, and is a constant comparative presence for the new wife. Could Rebecca destroy their happiness from beyond the grave? Or will Rebecca need a little assistance from Mrs. Danvers?

When I was young my mother subscribed to The Franklin Library Mystery Masterpieces. Each month a new book would arrive and we'd set it in pride of place on our console bookshelf that housed our most prized possessions, this being the eighties it mainly housed records and our record player. The little nine year old that I was loved that each month another volume would come and expand the display on that orangey wood that just glowed with an inner light. Then one day The Franklin Library sent us the biggest box I had ever seen. They were discontinuing the Mystery Masterpieces and they sent us the remaining volumes all at once. At this time we probably had only ten volumes, so forty-two books showed up one day to our great astonishment and delight.

Until recently these books have been packed away as self space was scare; all but a few choice volumes which I had secreted away. When I was young I loved to spend time reading the spines and looking at the pictures and wondering what the books were about and making up my own stories, especially about The Thirty-Nine Steps, which really disappointed me when I found out what it was really about. When they first arrived I was too young to read most of the titles, and when I was older I was too into movies to bother with books. That all changed. Obviously. But Rebecca, the movie, was like a gateway drug. I adored the film and then I looked on our shelf. There was Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier, one of the first books we'd gotten in this series, after the obligatory Agatha Christie volume that is. This particular edition would make it's way into my library and my heart.

Rebecca is that rare book that cries out to be read and re-read over and over again, each time a different interpretation and meaning unearthed. The opening line that transports you, like a dream, to Manderley. You can get lost in the happy valley among the flowers and never want to return from those magical pages. But I don't think that you truly get the book's greatness without knowing the context of Du Maurier's world, mainly her obsession with the Brontes. This is much in the vein of why people don't realize the genius of Northanger Abbey, which is a parody of the Gothic genre, not "serious" like Austen's other books! Du Maurier's first book, The Loving Spirit, takes it's name from a poem by Emily Bronte. More then twenty years after writing Rebecca her misguided biography on Branwell Bronte was published and forever secured her connection to them. Therefore the echoes of Jane Eyre that haunt Rebecca should not be thought a surprise or the least bit unintentional. Du Maurier was writing a new classic that would pay homage to and reflect Jane Eyre. A Jane Eyre for modern sensibilities, if you will.

Just as Jamaica Inn is the Wuthering Heights, so is Rebecca to Jane Eyre, just look at the similarities. The naive young girl ready for love, the misanthropic hero, the crazy wife, the destructive fire. What amazes me is that if you look at just the building blocks of these books they should be eerily similar, yet they aren't. Each book is a classic in it's own right, but the ghost of Jane Eyre isn't the only ghost that Rebecca tackles, after all there is Rebecca herself. While there is that chilling line delivered by Mrs. Danvers "Do you think the dead come back and watch the living?" What we think of as ghosts can take many forms. There are no spectral apparitions here, no things that go bump in the night, but that doesn't mean Rebecca doesn't haunt Manderley.

Rebecca recurs persistently in the consciousness of the second Mrs. de Winter causing her distress and anxiety, but she is also the bosom friend of Mrs. Danvers. Mrs. Danvers, more then anyone, works to keep Rebecca alive and in doing so makes her specter part of the foundation of Manderley itself. This is an interesting conceit on Du Maurier's part, because really, this is a ghost story without a ghost. The memory and emotion left behind is what haunts us, and if anyone could do this, it's Rebecca. As Captain Jack Harkness said on Torchwood, "Human emotion is energy. You can't always see it or hear it, but you can feel it. Ever had deja vu? Felt someone walk over your grave? Ever felt someone behind you in an empty room? Well there was. There always is."

Yet Rebecca isn't the only ghost. There's another person who haunts Manderley, she is always there, ever present, but in the shadow of Rebecca. I am of course talking about the second Mrs. de Winter. She is but mere shadow, a trace, a semblance of a person. She in fact has no name but that which Rebecca had, Mrs. de Winter. This is the most fascinating aspect of the book and many others have discussed it's importance, that the heroine has no name. One result of this namlessness is that she is a ghost, a cipher, a way to tell Rebecca's story through new eyes but without complicating the matter by creating a character with backbone.

Of course this is a two edged sword, on the one hand Du Maurier is pushing the second Mrs. de Winter into the background, but on the other hand by creating a blank slate, a character who has no real "character" we are able to put ourselves more easily into her shoes. This literary trick, I mean, really, I want to stand and applaud Du Maurier. By giving use this conduit there are so many ramifications to the narrative. By being one with the second Mrs. de Winter you therefore embrace Maxim, her husband, and therefore not just identify but condone his actions. The genius of Rebecca is that Daphne Du Maurier has made you complicit in murder and you loved every second of it.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Bronte, Charlotte Bronte, Daphne Du Maurier, Du Maurier December Deux, Emily Bronte, Franklin Library, Jane Austen, Jane Eyre, Manderley, Maxim de Winter, Mrs. Danvers, Northanger Abbey, Rebecca, Torchwood

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
Published by: Virago Press
Publication Date: 1938
Format: Paperback, 448 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy (different edition than one reviewed)

"Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again. It seemed to me I stood by the iron gate leading to the drive, and for a while I could not enter, for the way was barred to me. There was a padlock and chain upon the gate... Then, like all dreamers, I was possessed of a sudden with supernatural powers and passed like a spirit through the barrier before me. The drive wound away in front of me, twisting and turning as it had always done."

As she looks back on the twists and turns that brought her to Manderley, the second Mrs. de Winter can't help but wonder how her life ended up as it did. She had resigned herself to an existence as a paid companion trailing behind whomever had hired her, the reprehensible Mrs. Van Hoppper being her employer at the beginning of her story. That all changed when Maxim de Winter entered her life in his fast car. He was in the south of France fleeing the memories of his dead wife Rebecca and the one thing that blotted her out was the young girl who would become his second wife. Yet perhaps their union was foolish, or Maxim's dream to return to Manderley was unwise. Because back in England their life is haunted by the memories of his first wife, Rebecca. The specter that is hallowed by the housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers, and is a constant comparative presence for the new wife. Could Rebecca destroy their happiness from beyond the grave? Or will Rebecca need a little assistance from Mrs. Danvers?

When I was young my mother subscribed to The Franklin Library Mystery Masterpieces. Each month a new book would arrive and we'd set it in pride of place on our console bookshelf that housed our most prized possessions, this being the eighties it mainly housed records and our record player. The little nine year old that I was loved that each month another volume would come and expand the display on that orangey wood that just glowed with an inner light. Then one day The Franklin Library sent us the biggest box I had ever seen. They were discontinuing the Mystery Masterpieces and they sent us the remaining volumes all at once. At this time we probably had only ten volumes, so forty-two books showed up one day to our great astonishment and delight.

Until recently these books have been packed away as self space was scare; all but a few choice volumes which I had secreted away. When I was young I loved to spend time reading the spines and looking at the pictures and wondering what the books were about and making up my own stories, especially about The Thirty-Nine Steps, which really disappointed me when I found out what it was really about. When they first arrived I was too young to read most of the titles, and when I was older I was too into movies to bother with books. That all changed. Obviously. But Rebecca, the movie, was like a gateway drug. I adored the film and then I looked on our shelf. There was Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier, one of the first books we'd gotten in this series, after the obligatory Agatha Christie volume that is. This particular edition would make it's way into my library and my heart.

Rebecca is that rare book that cries out to be read and re-read over and over again, each time a different interpretation and meaning unearthed. The opening line that transports you, like a dream, to Manderley. You can get lost in the happy valley among the flowers and never want to return from those magical pages. But I don't think that you truly get the book's greatness without knowing the context of Du Maurier's world, mainly her obsession with the Brontes. This is much in the vein of why people don't realize the genius of Northanger Abbey, which is a parody of the Gothic genre, not "serious" like Austen's other books! Du Maurier's first book, The Loving Spirit, takes it's name from a poem by Emily Bronte. More then twenty years after writing Rebecca her misguided biography on Branwell Bronte was published and forever secured her connection to them. Therefore the echoes of Jane Eyre that haunt Rebecca should not be thought a surprise or the least bit unintentional. Du Maurier was writing a new classic that would pay homage to and reflect Jane Eyre. A Jane Eyre for modern sensibilities, if you will.

Just as Jamaica Inn is the Wuthering Heights, so is Rebecca to Jane Eyre, just look at the similarities. The naive young girl ready for love, the misanthropic hero, the crazy wife, the destructive fire. What amazes me is that if you look at just the building blocks of these books they should be eerily similar, yet they aren't. Each book is a classic in it's own right, but the ghost of Jane Eyre isn't the only ghost that Rebecca tackles, after all there is Rebecca herself. While there is that chilling line delivered by Mrs. Danvers "Do you think the dead come back and watch the living?" What we think of as ghosts can take many forms. There are no spectral apparitions here, no things that go bump in the night, but that doesn't mean Rebecca doesn't haunt Manderley.

Rebecca recurs persistently in the consciousness of the second Mrs. de Winter causing her distress and anxiety, but she is also the bosom friend of Mrs. Danvers. Mrs. Danvers, more then anyone, works to keep Rebecca alive and in doing so makes her specter part of the foundation of Manderley itself. This is an interesting conceit on Du Maurier's part, because really, this is a ghost story without a ghost. The memory and emotion left behind is what haunts us, and if anyone could do this, it's Rebecca. As Captain Jack Harkness said on Torchwood, "Human emotion is energy. You can't always see it or hear it, but you can feel it. Ever had deja vu? Felt someone walk over your grave? Ever felt someone behind you in an empty room? Well there was. There always is."

Yet Rebecca isn't the only ghost. There's another person who haunts Manderley, she is always there, ever present, but in the shadow of Rebecca. I am of course talking about the second Mrs. de Winter. She is but mere shadow, a trace, a semblance of a person. She in fact has no name but that which Rebecca had, Mrs. de Winter. This is the most fascinating aspect of the book and many others have discussed it's importance, that the heroine has no name. One result of this namlessness is that she is a ghost, a cipher, a way to tell Rebecca's story through new eyes but without complicating the matter by creating a character with backbone.

Of course this is a two edged sword, on the one hand Du Maurier is pushing the second Mrs. de Winter into the background, but on the other hand by creating a blank slate, a character who has no real "character" we are able to put ourselves more easily into her shoes. This literary trick, I mean, really, I want to stand and applaud Du Maurier. By giving use this conduit there are so many ramifications to the narrative. By being one with the second Mrs. de Winter you therefore embrace Maxim, her husband, and therefore not just identify but condone his actions. The genius of Rebecca is that Daphne Du Maurier has made you complicit in murder and you loved every second of it.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Bronte, Charlotte Bronte, Daphne Du Maurier, Du Maurier December Deux, Emily Bronte, Franklin Library, Jane Austen, Jane Eyre, Manderley, Maxim de Winter, Mrs. Danvers, Northanger Abbey, Rebecca, Torchwood

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
Published by: Virago Press
Publication Date: 1938
Format: Paperback, 448 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy (different edition than one reviewed)

"Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again. It seemed to me I stood by the iron gate leading to the drive, and for a while I could not enter, for the way was barred to me. There was a padlock and chain upon the gate... Then, like all dreamers, I was possessed of a sudden with supernatural powers and passed like a spirit through the barrier before me. The drive wound away in front of me, twisting and turning as it had always done."

As she looks back on the twists and turns that brought her to Manderley, the second Mrs. de Winter can't help but wonder how her life ended up as it did. She had resigned herself to an existence as a paid companion trailing behind whomever had hired her, the reprehensible Mrs. Van Hoppper being her patron at the time. That all changed when Maxim de Winter entered her life in his fast car. He was in the south of France fleeing the memories of his dead wife Rebecca and the one thing that blotted her out was the young girl who would become his second wife. Yet perhaps their union was foolish, or Maxim's dream to return to Manderley was unwise. Because their life is haunted by the memories of his first wife, Rebecca. The spectre that is hallowed by the housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers, and is a constant comparative presence for the new wife. Could Rebecca destroy their happiness from beyond the grave? Or will it need a little assistance from Mrs. Danvers?

When I was young my mother subscribed to The Franklin Library Mystery Masterpieces. Each month a new book would arrive and we'd set it in pride of place on our console bookshelf that housed our most prized possessions, this being the eighties it mainly housed records and our record player. The little nine year old that I was loved that each month another volume would come and expand the display on that orangey wood that just glowed with an inner light. Then one day The Franklin Library sent us the biggest box I had ever seen. They were discontinuing the Mystery Masterpieces and they sent us the remaining volumes all at once. At this time we probably had only ten volumes, so forty-two books showed up one day to our great astonishment and delight.

Until this past summer these books have been packed away as space was scare; all but a few choice volumes. But when I was young I loved to spend time reading the spines and looking at the pictures and wondering what the books were about and making up my own stories, especially about The Thirty-Nine Steps, which really disappointed me when I found out what it was really about. When they first arrived I was too young to read most of the titles, and when I was older I was too into movies to bother with books. That all changed. Obviously. But Rebecca, the movie, was like a gateway drug. I adored the film and then I looked on our shelf. There was Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier, one of the first books we'd gotten in this series, after the obligatory Agatha Christie volume that is. This particular edition would make it's way into my library and my heart.

Rebecca is that rare book that cries out to be read and re-read over and over again. The opening line that transports you, like a dream, to Manderley. You can get lost in the happy valley among the flowers and never want to return from those magical pages. But I don't think that you truly get the book's greatness without knowing the context of Du Maurier's world, mainly her obsession with the Brontes. This is much in the vein of why people don't realize the genius of Northanger Abbey, which is a parody of the Gothic genre, not "serious" like Austen's other books! Du Maurier's first book, The Loving Spirit, takes it's name from a poem by Emily Bronte. More then twenty years after writing Rebecca her misguided biography on Branwell Bronte was published and forever secured her connection to them. Therefore the echoes of Jane Eyre that haunt Rebecca should not be thought a surprise or the least bit unintentional. Du Maurier was writing a new classic that would pay homage to and reflect Jane Eyre. A Jane Eyre for modern sensibilities, if you will.

Just look at the similarities. The naive young girl ready for love, the misanthropic hero, the crazy wife, the destructive fire. What amazes me is that if you look at just the building blocks of these books they should be eerily similar, yet they aren't. Each book is a classic in it's own right, but the ghost of Jane Eyre isn't the only ghost that Rebecca tackles, after all there is Rebecca herself. While there is that chilling line delivered by Mrs. Danvers "Do you think the dead come back and watch the living?" What we think of as ghosts can take many forms. There are no spectral apparitions here, no things that go bump in the night, but that doesn't mean Rebecca doesn't haunt Manderley.

Rebecca recurs persistently in the consciousness of the second Mrs. de Winter causing her distress and anxiety, but she is also the bosom friend of Mrs. Danvers. Mrs. Danvers, more then anyone, works to keep Rebecca alive and in doing so makes her spectre part of the foundation of Manderley itself. This is an interesting conceit on Du Maurier's part, because really, this is a ghost story without a ghost. The memory and emotion left behind is what haunts us, and if anyone could do this, it's Rebecca. As Captain Jack Harkness said on Torchwood, "Human emotion is energy. You can't always see it or hear it, but you can feel it. Ever had deja vu? Felt someone walk over your grave? Ever felt someone behind you in an empty room? Well there was. There always is."

Yet Rebecca isn't the only ghost. There's another person who haunts Manderley, she is always there, ever present, but in the shadow of Rebecca. I am of course talking about the second Mrs. de Winter. She is but mere shadow, a trace, a semblance of a person. She in fact has no name but that which Rebecca had, Mrs. de Winter. This is the most fascinating aspect of the book and many others have discused it's importance, that the heroine has no name. One result of this namlessness is that she is a ghost, a cipher, a way to tell Rebecca's story through new eyes but without complicating the matter by creating a character with backbone.

Of course this is a two edged sword, on the one hand Du Maurier is pushing the second Mrs. de Winter into the background, but on the other hand by creating a blank slate, a character who has no real "character" we are able to put ourselves more easily into her shoes. This literary trick, I mean, really, I want to stand and applaud Du Maurier. By giving use this conduit there are so many ramifications to the narrative. By being one with the second Mrs. de Winter you therefore embrace Maxim, her husband, and therefore not just identify but condone his actions. The genius of Rebecca is that Daphne Du Maurier has made you complicit in murder and you loved every second of it.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Branwell Bronte, Bronte, Captain Jack, Charlotte Bronte, Daphne Du Maurier, Emily Bronte, Franklin Library, Jane Austen, Jane Eyre, Manderley, Maxim de Winter, Mrs. Danvers, Northanger Abbey, Rebecca, Torchwood

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
Published by: Virago Press
Publication Date: 1938
Format: Paperback, 448 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy (different edition than one reviewed)

"Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again. It seemed to me I stood by the iron gate leading to the drive, and for a while I could not enter, for the way was barred to me. There was a padlock and chain upon the gate... Then, like all dreamers, I was possessed of a sudden with supernatural powers and passed like a spirit through the barrier before me. The drive wound away in front of me, twisting and turning as it had always done."

As she looks back on the twists and turns that brought her to Manderley, the second Mrs. de Winter can't help but wonder how her life ended up as it did. She had resigned herself to an existence as a paid companion trailing behind whomever had hired her, the reprehensible Mrs. Van Hoppper being her patron at the time. That all changed when Maxim de Winter entered her life in his fast car. He was in the south of France fleeing the memories of his dead wife Rebecca and the one thing that blotted her out was the young girl who would become his second wife. Yet perhaps their union was foolish, or Maxim's dream to return to Manderley was unwise. Because their life is haunted by the memories of his first wife, Rebecca. The spectre that is hallowed by the housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers, and is a constant comparative presence for the new wife. Could Rebecca destroy their happiness from beyond the grave? Or will it need a little assistance from Mrs. Danvers?

When I was young my mother subscribed to The Franklin Library Mystery Masterpieces. Each month a new book would arrive and we'd set it in pride of place on our console bookshelf that housed our most prized possessions, this being the eighties it mainly housed records and our record player. The little nine year old that I was loved that each month another volume would come and expand the display on that orangey wood that just glowed with an inner light. Then one day The Franklin Library sent us the biggest box I had ever seen. They were discontinuing the Mystery Masterpieces and they sent us the remaining volumes all at once. At this time we probably had only ten volumes, so forty-two books showed up one day to our great astonishment and delight.

Until this past summer these books have been packed away as space was scare; all but a few choice volumes. But when I was young I loved to spend time reading the spines and looking at the pictures and wondering what the books were about and making up my own stories, especially about The Thirty-Nine Steps, which really disappointed me when I found out what it was really about. When they first arrived I was too young to read most of the titles, and when I was older I was too into movies to bother with books. That all changed. Obviously. But Rebecca, the movie, was like a gateway drug. I adored the film and then I looked on our shelf. There was Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier, one of the first books we'd gotten in this series, after the obligatory Agatha Christie volume that is. This particular edition would make it's way into my library and my heart.

Rebecca is that rare book that cries out to be read and re-read over and over again. The opening line that transports you, like a dream, to Manderley. You can get lost in the happy valley among the flowers and never want to return from those magical pages. But I don't think that you truly get the book's greatness without knowing the context of Du Maurier's world, mainly her obsession with the Brontes. This is much in the vein of why people don't realize the genius of Northanger Abbey, which is a parody of the Gothic genre, not "serious" like Austen's other books! Du Maurier's first book, The Loving Spirit, takes it's name from a poem by Emily Bronte. More then twenty years after writing Rebecca her misguided biography on Branwell Bronte was published and forever secured her connection to them. Therefore the echoes of Jane Eyre that haunt Rebecca should not be thought a surprise or the least bit unintentional. Du Maurier was writing a new classic that would pay homage to and reflect Jane Eyre. A Jane Eyre for modern sensibilities, if you will.

Just look at the similarities. The naive young girl ready for love, the misanthropic hero, the crazy wife, the destructive fire. What amazes me is that if you look at just the building blocks of these books they should be eerily similar, yet they aren't. Each book is a classic in it's own right, but the ghost of Jane Eyre isn't the only ghost that Rebecca tackles, after all there is Rebecca herself. While there is that chilling line delivered by Mrs. Danvers "Do you think the dead come back and watch the living?" What we think of as ghosts can take many forms. There are no spectral apparitions here, no things that go bump in the night, but that doesn't mean Rebecca doesn't haunt Manderley.

Rebecca recurs persistently in the consciousness of the second Mrs. de Winter causing her distress and anxiety, but she is also the bosom friend of Mrs. Danvers. Mrs. Danvers, more then anyone, works to keep Rebecca alive and in doing so makes her spectre part of the foundation of Manderley itself. This is an interesting conceit on Du Maurier's part, because really, this is a ghost story without a ghost. The memory and emotion left behind is what haunts us, and if anyone could do this, it's Rebecca. As Captain Jack Harkness said on Torchwood, "Human emotion is energy. You can't always see it or hear it, but you can feel it. Ever had deja vu? Felt someone walk over your grave? Ever felt someone behind you in an empty room? Well there was. There always is."

Yet Rebecca isn't the only ghost. There's another person who haunts Manderley, she is always there, ever present, but in the shadow of Rebecca. I am of course talking about the second Mrs. de Winter. She is but mere shadow, a trace, a semblance of a person. She in fact has no name but that which Rebecca had, Mrs. de Winter. This is the most fascinating aspect of the book and many others have discused it's importance, that the heroine has no name. One result of this namlessness is that she is a ghost, a cipher, a way to tell Rebecca's story through new eyes but without complicating the matter by creating a character with backbone.

Of course this is a two edged sword, on the one hand Du Maurier is pushing the second Mrs. de Winter into the background, but on the other hand by creating a blank slate, a character who has no real "character" we are able to put ourselves more easily into her shoes. This literary trick, I mean, really, I want to stand and applaud Du Maurier. By giving use this conduit there are so many ramifications to the narrative. By being one with the second Mrs. de Winter you therefore embrace Maxim, her husband, and therefore not just identify but condone his actions. The genius of Rebecca is that Daphne Du Maurier has made you complicit in murder and you loved every second of it.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Branwell Bronte, Bronte, Captain Jack, Charlotte Bronte, Daphne Du Maurier, Emily Bronte, Franklin Library, Jane Austen, Jane Eyre, Manderley, Maxim de Winter, Mrs. Danvers, Northanger Abbey, Rebecca, Torchwood

Paradox Lost by George Mann
Published by: BBC Books
Publication Date: June 23rd, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 256 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy (different edition than one reviewed)

Rory, Amy and The Doctor have once again ended up where they didn't intend to go. They have landed in London in 2789, not the Rambalian Cluster. There there is a team dragging a thousand year old automaton out of the Thames. An automaton that recognizes The Doctor and gives him a warning that The Squall, a dangerous race of monsters that feed off psychic energy and destroy whole planets, are coming. Using his sonic screwdriver, The Doctor finds that he must go back to 1910 to fend off the invasion of The Squall. But seeing as the tear in time needed to bring about the Earth's destruction has two ends, he sends Amy and Rory to look for a Proffesor Gradius, who started the damage here in 2789. 

Working the case from both ends Rory and Amy get the help of Professor Gradius's assistant, an automaton that Amy affectionately names Arven, while The Doctor teams up with the only man in Edwardian London who seems concerned about the rash of recent unexplained deaths, a Professor Angelchrist. Their timelines going the consistency of noodle soup, one might wonder if all this wouldn't have happened if they had left well enough alone. But The Doctor and Amy aren't ones to let mysteries remain unsolved and monsters left undefeated.

Now I'm not saying I'm the biggest Doctor Who fan out there. I mean, I haven't watched every single episode, after all some episodes are lost.... But besides all the DVD sets and VHS tapes, posters, gadgets, and scarves, I do have several bookshelves filled to capacity just with Doctor Who books to give you an idea of how my addiction has spread over the years. You can see my old Tom Baker paperbacks sharing shelf space with the newer line of books with the 9th, 10th, and 11th Doctor, as well as some Torchwood books thrown in for good measure. There's also the infamous set of books released for the fiftieth anniversary last year. Why infamous? Because while they look darn pretty sitting there on my shelf, some of the books selected are pure dreck. Taking all eleven doctors, the average star rating was less then 2.5. The psychic toll it took on me to actually finish those books was painful and almost made me not want to pick up another Doctor Who book ever again.

Needless to say the experiment of last year has left me with one clear talent, and that's to distinguish a good Doctor Who book. You read enough of the bad you get to know the good, and Paradox Lost is good. One clear reason it works is that George understands the show. While he does little things that make a fangirl sqwee, like referencing past regenerations and putting in the "in" jokes, it's the bigger things he really nails. Meaning George gets the characters voices as depicted by the actors. It's not just that I am allowing a certain suspension of disbelief in order to enjoy the book, oh no, while you are reading it you can see the action unfolding before you just as if it was an actual episode. There is Amy Pond, there is Rory, and there is 11, Matt Smith in all his goofy glory. George nailed these characters! The dialogue, the description of their actions, the book whizzed by as fast as if it was a forty minute episode instead of a two-hundred page book.

What really makes the story work though is that George uses Rory as our entre into the action. If in recent years there is one companion who is universally loved and who everyone wanted to stay, it has to be Rory, hands down. I spent much time thinking of ways in how the show could just ditch Amy and have Rory be the main companion. Alas, that wasn't to be. But because Rory is so loved and relatable he makes the perfect conduit for us, the readers. By seeing the action of the story through his eyes we become a part of the story in a way that I don't think the show is ever able to do.

We see Rory's world, Amy and The Doctor, in a clearer way that totally just expands on what we know from the show. Plus, unlike Amy and The Doctor, Rory actually is more of an everyman, he has fears, he has loves, and danger and daring do aren't just a way to spend the afternoon! George counters Rory's POV with that of Angelchrist. Thus balancing the more knowledgeable with the more naive. Angelchrist is the character to relate to if you knew nothing about Doctor Who. He's there to ask the questions that the trio wouldn't ask as well as to be the link to the current time period, aka 1910. The switching between the two makes the story stay fresh but also provides different insights, resulting in a well balanced book.

But as I have been working my way through George's oeuvre, I can not forget to mention that yes, indeed, this book ties into his greater universe. Angelchrist himself has shown up in the Newbury and Hobbes books as well as the short stories. In fact in the short stories there are a few nudges and winks to this very book and the adventures that Angelchrist shared with The Doctor. Not to mention a certain Arven.... But what I really liked was a subtler reference, the blink and you miss it because it's only mentioned twice.... What you might be saying is this reference? It's a reference to where Arven was made... a certain company that may have been up to some truly nasty things with an "Affinty Bridge." Yes George's work stands on it's own. Yes you will enjoy it whatever you pick up, but for the fans in it for the long haul... well, there's just so much more to find! George knows how to thank his long suffering fans (I mean seriously, get me The Revenant Express now, it's painful waiting).

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 2 comments  

Labels: Amy Pond, Angelchrist, Doctor Who, Edwardian England, George Mann, Matt Smith, Newbury and Hobbes, Paradox Lost, Rory, The Affinity Bridge, The Doctor, The Revenant Express, Torchwood

The thing with Doctor Who is that it's so ridiculously popular and has such a strong fanbase that you can literally never slack the thirst of the Whovians for more more more. Besides the myriad books and comics and episodes starring The Doctor, there is also that time honored tradition of the "spin-off." While there are the more obvious spin-offs, The Sarah Jane Adventures, K-9 (the successful 2010 spin-off, not the failed 1981 spin-off which ironically costarred Sarah Jane), and of course, Captain Jack's vehicle, Torchwood (an anagram of Doctor Who itself), there are more spin-offs then you might imagine. These books and audios and shows have expanded the Whoverse to be something more. The thing is, Doctor Who isn't just about The Doctor. Look at the most wildly popular episode of the new series, "Blink," and you will see that I am right. This episode is Sally Sparrow's, not The Doctors. So where to begin?

First, let's talk about characters that have actually appeared in the television series. There is the hilarious comedic duo of Henry Gordon Jago and Professor George Litefoot who appeared in the 1977 serial with Tom Baker, "The Talons of Weng-Chiang." These two men made the episode so fun and you just didn't want to leave them at the end of the story when the TARDIS left. The duo of "an upper class gentleman with the voluble cockney showman" was recognised at the time as a winning combination worthy of a spin-off. Sadly, we had to wait over thirty years but Big Finish has now created a series of audio adventures with this daring duo. The fact that characters from one serial could have such a following that they reappear thirty years later shows the loyalty of the fanbase. It must also be noted that if it weren't for Big Finish and their Doctor Who audios, who knows if the series would have ever come back so strong. Other characters from the show that have had spin-offs in printed media are the 5th Doctor's companion Turlough, as well as the 4th Doctor's companions Harry Sullivan, K-9 and Sarah Jane, who all got novelizations in the "Companions of Doctor Who" full-length novels.

But there is another level to this. There are characters now that have been created in the novels that have then spun-off to their own series or made cameos in the authors own works. The two I am thinking of most are Iris Wildthyme and Professor Archibald Angelchrist. Iris Wildthyme is a character that was created by Paul Magrs and was featured in a few of his books where she exhibited some Time Lord like attributes. Flash forward to the short story "Old Flames" and Iris is hanging out with the 4th Doctor because they are old friends. Iris went on to be in four Doctor Who novels, numerous short stories, tons of audio adventures, and two of her own books so far. Iris has made her mark on Doctor Who and gone on to be just Iris. Though in an interesting case of wibbly wobbly timey wimey, in the audio plays she's voiced by Katy Manning who played Jo Grant on Doctor Who... As for Professor Angelchrist, he made his first appearance in the 11th Doctor's book Paradox Lost by George Mann. But that hasn't stopped him from jumping into Mann's other books and weaving himself into that world. Angelchrist has showed up in Ghosts of Manhattan and talked about Newbury and Hobbes... so it's all worlds within worlds. But for the true Whovian, all this commingling, expanding, and wibbly wobbly timey wimey makes this expanded Whoverse that much more rich and rewarding. So go out and see what else this universe has to offer!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 2 comments  

Labels: Angelchrist, Big Finish, Captain Jack, Doctor Who, George Mann, Iris Wildthyme, Jago and Litefoot, K-9, Paul Magrs, Sally Sparrow, Sarah Jane Adventures, The 11th Doctor, The 4th Doctor, Torchwood, Turlough

So, I don't think that I can forgo mentioning the biggest geek news of the year... meaning that we now have a 12th Doctor (or is he the 13th? I guess we'll have to wait for the 50th Anniversary special to see if they are renumbering the Doctors with the introduction of John Hurt). While there was tons of hoopla, aka, worldwide simulcast broadcast, I actually decided to just wait till after the announcement and watch the web go ape shit crazy. That, and I don't think my nerves could have taken the countdown, I'll probably watch it later, so the suspense is less suspenseful. As I was talking with one of my friends yesterday, we were commenting on how cool it would be if we just learned who the new Doctor was say, at the end of this years Christmas special at the time of the regeneration. But sadly, we live in an age of spoilers and telephoto lenses, and well, as the bookies showed, news had gotten out that Peter Capaldi was the odds on favorite with 5 to 6 odds, meaning that, yes, he had been seen and they had to make the announcement on some random Sunday in August... well, I guess less random to use stateside because it is the bank holiday weekend... but still, it didn't have the holiday hoopla that Smith's announcement had.

Now to my impressions... so, they actually chose a "someone"! This is a little surprising to me. And not just a someone, but a someone familiar to Doctor Who, in that he had a role in the abysmally laden in Latin jokes Donna episode 'The Fires of Pompeii' as well as a staring turn in Torchwood: Children of Earth... so in other words, upon looking in the mirror for the first time, if he doesn't say "hang on a minute, this face looks familiar" I will be greatly disappointed. As to my opinions of Peter Capaldi... well... here are the ways in which I will accept Peter Capaldi as The Doctor. He HAS to use his Scottish accent. There's no getting around this fact. He is Scottish, and I don't want him doing a David Tennant and using an English accent. His Scottish accent is a must. Secondly, the evil goaty beard and moustache he's been seen sporting lately, keep it. Makes him look more like The Doctor in my mind, though I have a feeling that I won't get my wish if you look at the first official photo above. Finally, he must publicly apologize for breaking Geraldine's heart on Vicar of Dibley (the one sad note in perhaps the best episode of tv of all time). Yes, I know it's a tv show, but he hurt Geraldine and yes, I know she ended up with Richard Armitage and all was well in the end, but still, would an apology be too much to ask? I liked him in The Hour so I'll give him a chance... but take note on the Scottish accent, he used it in The Hour, so I reiterate a must.

As to all the disappointed people... the people saying, oh, he's not a she, or a minority, or young... well, actually, the older actor gives me faith that they will realize that kids aren't the main fan base for the show and are going to placate us older fans. The fact that he's a he... while making The Doctor a woman might have been cool, it might have looked too much like stunt casting and gimmicky. Also as to the, it's not Benedict Cumberbatch argument.. well, he would have never done it, and well, Peter Capaldi originated the role of Islington in Neverwhere, which is a role Benedict just took on in the new radio production... so it's like we're getting the older Benedict, if that makes sense. In the end though, I'll have to wait and see. I thought Tennant would be awful, I was wrong. I really really really hated the idea of Matt Smith and he's turned out to be, possibly, my favorite Doctor. Also a lot will depend on the rest of the cast, who his companion will be, what the dynamic between them is, because if there's one thing I can state, it's that anything is better then the limpid chemistry of Matt Smith and Jenna-Louise Coleman. How did that go so wrong?

Psst... come back in October for even more Doctor Who...

Posted by Miss Eliza at 5:28 PM 0 comments  

Labels: 12th Doctor, Benedict Cumberbatch, David Tennant, Doctor Who, Jenna-Louise Coleman, John Hurt, Matt Smith, Neverwhere, Peter Capaldi, Scottish, The Doctor, The Hour, Torchwood, Vicar of Dibley

The Teleportation Accident by Ned Beauman
Published by: Bloomsbury
Publication Date: February 26th, 2013
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When you haven’t had sex in a long time, it feels like the worst thing that could ever happen.

If you’re living in Germany in the 1930s, it probably isn’t.

But that’s no consolation to Egon Loeser, whose carnal misfortunes will push him from the experimental theaters of Berlin to the absinthe bars of Paris to the physics laboratories of Los Angeles, trying all the while to solve two mysteries: Was it really a deal with Satan that claimed the life of his hero, Renaissance set designer Adriano Lavicini, creator of the so-called Teleportation Device? And why is it that a handsome, clever, modest guy like him can’t—just once in a while—get himself laid?

From Ned Beauman, the author of the acclaimed Boxer, Beetle, comes a historical novel that doesn’t know what year it is; a noir novel that turns all the lights on; a romance novel that arrives drunk to dinner; a science fiction novel that can’t remember what isotope means; a stunningly inventive, exceptionally funny, dangerously unsteady and (largely) coherent novel about sex, violence, space, time, and how the best way to deal with history is to ignore it.

Looks like it will have a Cabaret/ Christopher Isherwood vibe. Not to mention that cover that is to die for.

Death of Yesterday by M.C. Beaton
Published by: Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date: February 26th, 2013
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When a local woman tells Sergeant Hamish Macbeth that she doesn't remember what happened the previous evening, he doesn't begin to worry. She had been out drinking, after all, and he'd prefer not to be bothered with such an arrogant and annoying woman. But when her body is discovered, Hamish is forced to investigate a crime that the only known witness--now dead--had forgotten."

For my mom, her yearly Hamish Macbeth quota.

Lady of Ashes by Christine Trent
Published by: Kensington
Publication Date: February 26th, 2013
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In 1861 London, Violet Morgan is struggling to establish a good reputation for the undertaking business that her husband has largely abandoned. She provides comfort for the grieving, advises them on funeral fashion and etiquette, and arranges funerals. Unbeknownst to his wife, Graham, who has nursed a hatred of America since his grandfather soldiered for Great Britain in the War of 1812, becomes involved in a scheme to sell arms to the South. Meanwhile, Violet receives the commission of a lifetime: undertaking the funeral for a friend of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. But her position remains precarious, especially when Graham disappears and she begins investigating a series of deaths among the poor. And the closer she gets to the truth, the greater the danger for them both..."

This sounds like spooky awesome Victorian fun! I know the whole undertakers might not seem fun to most, but this sounds like fun to me!

Come Along With Me by Shirley Jackson
Published by: Penguin
Publication Date: February 26th, 2013
Format: Paperback, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A haunting and psychologically driven collection from Shirley Jackson that includes her best-known story "The Lottery"

At last, Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" enters Penguin Classics, sixty-five years after it shocked America audiences and elicited the most responses of any piece in New Yorker history. In her gothic visions of small-town America, Jackson, the author of such masterworks as The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle, turns an ordinary world into a supernatural nightmare. This eclectic collection goes beyond her horror writing, revealing the full spectrum of her literary genius. In addition to Come Along with Me, Jackson's unfinished novel about the quirky inner life of a lonely widow, it features sixteen short stories and three lectures she delivered during her last years."

Ok, I couldn't care less about her famous stories, they're all in my American Library edition. What I'm excited for it "Come Along with Me"... which every time I read the title I think of the Torchwood episode with the faeries... come away with us human child...

Fables the Deluxe Edition Book 6 by Bill Willingham
Published by: Vertigo
Publication Date: February 26th, 2013
Format: Hardcover, 224 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Bill Willingham's hit series FABLES continues here, for the first time in hardcover. In FABLES: THE DELUXE EDITION BOOK 5, the threat of the Adversary looms ever closer as the drums of war begins its steady beat. The Fables prepare for battle, but first they need to find their would-be commander: Bigby Wolf!"

While this wasn't my favorite of the comics, who couldn't be tempted by these beautiful deluxe editions, especially if you are used to the dog eared copies from the library like I am...

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Bill Willingham, Cabaret, Christine Trent, Christopher Isherwood, Fables, Hamish Macbeth, Lady of Ashes, M.C. Beaton, Ned Beauman, Shirley Jackson, The Teleportation Accident, Torchwood

When I set out to create my first Steampunk outfit there where a few things that had to be taken into consideration. Firstly, this was going to be my first foray into Steampunk in a convention setting, and what if I didn't like it? What if I outlaid a huge amount of money to get this fabulous costume and then had a cruddy time (this was proven totally false, best convention ever in fact.) Secondly, what do you do at a convention mostly? Sit. Or stand. Uncomfortably. I was not about to compound the lack of comfort by having an already uncomfortable costume. I've been to my share of cons, and they can try your patience in the most comfortable of clothes, add a corset and it's time for the torture. Lastly, budget. I didn't have much money at that time last year having spent it on things I needed more, ie, a new digital camera and a wacom tablet... so, there's $1000 outlay on things I needed... trust me, I needed a new digital camera, the wacom, well, not so much, but I adore it and used it on almost every assignment last fall. So back to the whole budget. The outfit had to be affordable, but also versatile, meaning, I could wear these clothes for other non-Steampunk related events. Multitasking with clothes, if you will.

At this time I hadn't really read up on all the subsets: Street Urchin, Tinker, Explorer or Aesthete, thank you Steampunk Bible! What I noticed clearly was two trends, more functional work-a-day clothes (Street Urchin, Tinker and Explorer) and more tradiational Victorian (Aesthete). Within the functional clothes there where a lot of explorer costumes. Instantly I felt drawn to that! I have always dreamed of being an explorer like Amelia Peabody Emerson, yes, I know she's fictional! I wanted to climb pyramids and dig up artifacts, I wanted to be an explorer! Yet an explorer with pants. I'm not much of a girly girl and don't own a number of skirts, so I wanted to wear pants.

I started by searching all over the internet, also, a big thanks to Pinterest, which I'm addicted to and which is so handy for keeping my visuals in one place. I stumbled on this image.

The golden age of aviation, which in style has much to recommend itself and has some crossovers with explorers, they are kind of the explorers of the skys. I really was drawn to the light pants, the short bomber jacket, the adorable gloves and the goggles. It also reminded me of Diane Holmes of Torchwood, and if that doesn't scream Steampunk, I don't know what show does.

I found this more recent bomber jacket, and it was totally the style I was hoping to find. Initially I was in favor of the lighter color, but as you'll see soon enough, I was won over by the darker hue. Also, this is just a very nice functional jacket.

Here was really the whole look that inspired me. If you look at it in a deconstructed manner, it's boots, gloves, pants, jackets, t-shirt, all the rest is just fun accessories. The accessories are the only thing that couldn't be worn everyday. That is, unless you felt like it.

Here was the same basic idea but leaning even further towards Steampunk. I liked it, but mainly the belt, gloves and goggles. The front is a little too fluffy for me.

This "inspiration board" I found perfectly captures the feel I was going  for. Now lets see if I could source all the requisite materials and items to make the costume I wanted... you'll just have to stop by next Sunday to see!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Aesthete, Amelia Peabody, Aviation, Bomber Jacket, Explorer, Inspiration Board, Pinterest, Sartorial Sundays, Steampunk, Street Urchin, Teslacon, Tinker, Torchwood

Ok, so apparently every baddie in time and space is decending on the Pandorica which is under Stonehenge, aka "Underhenge", because it's been built to trap The Doctor, which I kind of saw coming. But you've got to give it to Steven Moffat, he's told to bring in the baddies, he does it in style. Every baddy EVER, from Torchwood to Sarah Jane, they are all there. There are Weevils in their jumpers in Underhenge! It kind of warms the cockles of my heart. But really, with all these Romans and Rory's reappearance, because of course he had to reappear, because otherwise, I would be hunting down Steven Moffat across all of time and space myself, nothing, and I repeat, nothing, compares to River Song convincing some faux Romans that she's Cleopatra, despite Cleopatra being dead in Rome. Well... maybe her defacing the oldest cliff face in existence to get The Doctors attention. But with all two parters, we'll have to see... you can't get much bigger of an ending than this, I mean every baddy ever? Plus, Amy's kind of dead, Rory's kind of made of Plastic and The Doctor is in a giant puzzle box... well it can only go up right?

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Cleopatra, Doctor Who, River Song, Sarah Jane Adventures, Steven Moffat, Stonehenge, The Doctor, Torchwood, Underhenge, Weevils

So the second two-parter of the season and the second hard review, cause as I've said before, you can't judge a half, you have to judge the whole. And with the Weeping Angels, I think part two detracted from what could have been an awesome one-parter. With "The Hungry Earth" Steven Moffat yet again delivers on the promise to bring back monsters from the Doctors past that aren't the Cybermen and Daleks. The Silurian's have returned and the make-up is unbelievable. In fact, just that alone made the episode cool. But I also liked the return of the writer Chris Chibnall, who I know some fans are vehemently set against, mainly cause of the Cyberwoman episode of Torchwood, but that had Russell written all over it and Chris also wrote for Life on Mars, so he's cool in my book. I also like the kind of close knit, small group of people trapped Stephen King Under the Dome style and having to fight the ground beneath them in a small Welsh villiage. It was very spooky and eerie, and one of my fears when I was a kid was quicksand, and seeing Amy being pulled under the earth, totally creeped me out (and yes, they did pull her through the earth, into a car pit underneath). But again, this episode is all set up for the reveal of the "monster" at the end and the three hostages for one the Doctor proposes to the few Silurians he believes are hanging out under ground, otherwise called a few million... and cliffhanger to next week...

Posted by Miss Eliza at 2:54 PM 0 comments  

Labels: Chris Chibnall, Cybermen, Daleks, Doctor Who, Life on Mars, Silurians, Stephen King, Steven Moffat, The Hungry Earth, The Weeping Angels, Torchwood, Two-Parter, Under the Dome

I must apologize, I meant to get my post up for episode three last Saturday after it aired, and then the dreaded homework did interfere. But at least this means, two for the price of one Saturday! It's like a mega sale at K-Mart! A review of two episodes, versus the paltry one you'd normally get, I say that's a win, and not just me covering my ass. Last week's episode saw what appeared to be politically motivated bomb attacks leading up to the Thatcher general election of 1983. Pretty ho hum episode, nothing really big or revolutionary, except this episode exemplifies a tread I'm hating more and more, the PTSD of soldier's pre PTSD. Now, I'm not saying that they didn't have it, far from it, the shell shock is a horror I can never imagine. My problem is the labeling of it as PTSD pre labeling. I guess it's the whole, I know more than you because I know the name smart aleck from the future Alex, versus just dealing with the horror and helping the person afflicted. Ray had some great moments, as did Shazz the week before. I am intrigued by these episodes apparently each having one of the supporting cast being a focal point, as well as the odd fade to black freeze frames that I feel will somehow tie into the overall mythology of the show and the final solution. Plus, what is the significance of the stars and 6-6-20... is that a future date that something happens on or does it relate to the dead man Alex keeps seeing? Nothing really great stood out on the Gene Hunt front, but just for being Gene he gets a 7 out of 10. Now Alex... ah Alex, you did fail this week. Great hair and red earrings, but that strippy/leopardy shirt!?! Knocks you down to a 5, lowest yet for this season!

Ah, look who we have in episode four! Bryan Dick. Now this boy has become synonymous with cult and sci-fi shows that I just happen to love. From Adam on Torchwood, Sykes on Being Human, to even David Tennant's second in command in Blackpool, it's fun to see Bryan! Basic drug syndicate story with a family creating a monopoly and an undercover cop in the middle. Though there was some nice cryptic graffiti for Alex and I'm thinking Gene's license plate might be important, July 75 I believe it said... Alex wore a really ugly turquoise shirt with a hideous necklace, making it a 7 day. But Gene, oh Gene, a perfect 10! You drove, slightly drunk, cause it was near the dinner hour, smashed a desk with a golf club, but best of all said that a crippled man had the right to compliment Alex on her tits cause he was handicapped after all, but nothing can top your speech at the end, you almost had sunshine coming out of your ass. You go my non-pc Gene. You go!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 1:38 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alex Drake, Ashes to Ashes, Being Human, Blackpool, Bryan Dick, David Tennant, Gene Genie, Gene Hunt, K-Mart, PTSD, Thatcher, Torchwood

I gotta say it. I might have been wrong. I think Matt Smith will work as The Doctor. "The Eleventh Hour" was funny, engaging, just that little bit scary, but in the end, though it wasn't David Tennant, it was Doctor Who. I don't think it will ever happen again for me, that emotional connection that I felt with David Tennant, that empathy, where his pain was my pain. But my favorite tv show has not been ruined, so I'm breathing a sigh of relief, as I think any Whovian out there is, the consensus seems to be good. Unlike most regenerations, at the time of his death The Doctor didn't have a companion, so therefore, whoever is the new companion will view this Doctor as the only Doctor. A clever concept, so we don't have to sit through the whole, it's me but not me shtick one more. But added to this is a little girl who, due to The Doctor and his miscalculation of time, ends up waiting for The Doctor a little longer than 5 minutes... a girl, who might know The Doctor better than he does, cause while he's been himself for a short time, to Amy, he's been The Doctor practically all her life. Amy, a feisty red head who won't take shit from The Doctor, after all, she's been stood up a few times by him already. As is the case with all Doctor Who Earth episodes, the world will end if a monster isn't stopped, this time a Prisoner whose guards are trying to find him. Of course the Earth is saved and Amy runs off with the Doctor, even if it's the night before her wedding.

Of course, me being me, I must find fault. Problems... looks like we're lumbered with yet another stupid boyfriend/fiance. Didn't they learn after ass face Mickey? Who knows... maybe he will be better, more like Rhys on Torchwood and less like ass face. Don't really like the new Tardis, it's hard to feel the space, it's too jumbled. The new sonic screwdriver... it looks ugly , green and vice like. But the negatives are far less than the positives, could change once those overused metal heads the Cybermen and Daleks show back up. The new opening credits, love the theremin being back. Great how Amy being a cop turned out, also addressing the "overtly sexy" criticism at the same time. Loved the scene where Amelia cooks for him. And I loved the preview of whats to come, River Song floating to the Tardis! All in all, a solid start, in fact more solid than David Tennant ever had, so we'll have to see if they can keep this up now won't we?

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 3 comments  

Labels: Amy Pond, Cybermen, Daleks, Doctor Who, Matt Smith, River Song, The 11th Doctor, The Doctor, The Eleventh Hour, Torchwood

In an interesting development for fans of Doctor Who, Christopher Eccleston has been cast to star in a one-off drama as John Lennon. Lennon Naked will be a 90 minutes movie centering on his evolution from Beatle to enduring and enigmatic icon, therefore Yoko will play an important part. Filling that part is the 9th Doctor's Torchwood associate Tashiko Sato, Naoko Mori. Naoko, besides being the sad sack of Torchwood (did she ever have a functional relationship?) might be known to non-Whovians as Sarah, Saffy's Baby Spice obsessed friend in Ab Fab, or even as the Spice Girls' pregnant friend in Spice World. The cast will be rounded off by Claudie Blakley. Plus, come on, Christopher, in his eerily ability to morph into someone new all the time looks very much like Lennon!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 5 comments  

Labels: Ab Fab, Christopher Eccleston, Claudie Blakley, Doctor Who, John Lennon, Lennon Naked, Spice Girls, Tashiko Sato, The 9th Doctor, Torchwood

The Doctor is dead, long live The Doctor. Regeneration is one of those givens in Doctor Who... it doesn't mean I have to like it. The end of the 10th Doctor has been immanent for some time, and in the intervening months I have had much denial followed by anger (last week)... but I think I've reached acceptance, of a kind. The episode, while overall not the best, did have it's moments where David shined and made me repeat his utterance "I don't want to go." I don't want a new journey, I don't want to go to a new Doctor, I want him to stay. I'm going to sound old, but this young guy looks too flash, too, not David Tennant. Oh no... it's not the denial coming back again is it? Because me and denial, we're good friends... for example in my world, Jonathan didn't die on Buffy, neither did Anya, Zander is a pirate though, which seems kind of impossible without the others, and Wes and Fred are happy as can be over on Angel... and how may years has that been? Six, seven... see, me, denial, friends! Especially when it comes to Joss Whedon shows, and Russell T. Davies is kind of the British Joss. Also Wash didn't die in my world, come join me!

But I think I'll let the 10th Doctor have his death. It was a good death, it was a noble death, not some lame ass spider bite, it was a death. I think that's what hits home more then the other regenerations, and it's what Russell T. Davies tried, and I think accomplished, doing, he gave the Doctor a death. Before it was always more a moving on not a full stop. The man goes on with just a different face, but it's not that... it's more. It's the death of a man the world loved and this new guy, we're not sold on. When Christopher Eccleston died, it was a kind of transcendence and a glory, here we are left with sadness.

Coming up in the next paragraph, as River Song would say: "Spoilers!"

We begin were we left off, the "Master Race" has taken over the world and there are no more humans. After some more Master ranting The Doctor, Wilf and the two cacti retreat to outer space to regroup. All this is inter cut with more Star Wars prequel Timelord delusions of Russell T. Davies which are saved from being pure tack by Timothy Dalton being awesome. He was made to play villians, he never worked as Bond because bad is in his bones... Hot Fuzz anyone? So the Timelords have gone major bongo crazy and have actually created the drumming in The Master's head so as to escape the timelock that was created for the Time War. What's even more crazy is that they don't seem to care that they would bring about the end of time, quite literally, when Pandora's box is reopened in the form of this timelock, because they all believe in the Rapture and ascending to another plane. To put it simply... The Master even thinks they're a little not all there. Of course things work out as they should, but not without some more Star Wars references thrown in. Gallifrey falls again and The Master Peter Petrelli's his way out, which made me think that he was going to go nuclear and The Doctor would die of radiation... I was right on the radiation, wrong on the why.

The prophecy of doom, the knocking of four, turns out to be Wilf, trapped in the radiation chamber... he's the Doctor's doom. A person he loves and would willingly die for, is his death, not the Timelords, not The Master. He could live if he wanted, he could let Wilf die, but that's not The Doctor we know and love. The soliloquy of David's is heartrending. You know he'll save Wilf, it's what The Doctor does... but for once he breaks down, rages against the world, how he, someone who is a Lord of Time could die to save a no one. But it's those who deserve saving all the more. And Wilf knows what's coming, he begs The Doctor to let him die, he knows how important the Doctor is to the world.

What Russell T. Davies leaves us with is just designed to tie up loose ends while pulling at the heart strings. Because we're having a changing of the guard at Doctor Who, Russell and Julie are leaving with David, and hence all those companions are too. It's, presumably, the end of Wilf and Mickey and Donna and Martha... we'll see Sarah Jane and Jack, but what about Jackie and finally, what about Rose. I'm beyond pissed that apparently Mickey is with Martha... icky icky, I hate Mickey and Martha deserves better. Donna, while getting what she wanted pre-Doctor, still is so unrealized as a human and looses out the most. Jack... I should have seen that Jack would be in some Star Wars dive bar and then run into Alonso, aka Russell Tovey, and that, they would say, seems the beginning of the next season of Torchwood... Jack has his new Ianto. Allons-y Alonso! And Rose... it's a farewell without her ever knowing, and that's what makes it all the more powerful. Russell didn't reunite them to fight a common enemy, he didn't have them all flying the TARDIS and banishing the foe, he had The Doctor, alone, watching over his friends, some of them without them ever knowing, as his final goodbye. It was the quiet that was needed and lacking in the first part. I will miss the 10th Doctor, but hopefully the 11th Doctor won't be all bad, he just won't, and can't be David.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 PM 3 comments  

Labels: Angel, Buffy, Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant, Doctor Who, Donna, Gallifrey, Joss Whedon, Russell T. Davies, The 10th Doctor, The 11th Doctor, Time War, Timelords, Torchwood, Wilf