More reviews...

[guardians_song]

Hedy's Folly - Richard Rhodes

A mediocre biographical sketch. Hedy Lamarr is depicted as an obviously-interesting woman, firm-minded, acid-tongued, and well-grounded, but she has to share the pages with her melodramatic, borderline-megalomaniac colleague George Antheil, who bores me to tears. Sorry, but I've dealt with enough ~passionate geniuses~ that I can't summon up much sympathy for Mr. Antheil, on the grounds that every would-be Great Person knows that you tamp down the melodrama and grandiose nonsense until after you're ensconced in a suitably dignified position, not when you're starving. (And after... Oi. As I said, I've dealt with enough ~passionate geniuses~.) And, considering that she's the woman referenced in the title, I think she shouldn't have to settle for 50% page space!
(To be harsh about it, were the genders flipped, no one would doubt that Antheil was a bimbo with a technical background and Lamarr was the hard-nosed brains of the operation. And female!Antheil would not receive 50% page space.)

Basically, read this blog post and save yourself the cash. *checks recommended price* $15? Good gad.

just-read-the-blog-post/10

Zelda's Cut - Philippa Gregory

Okay, this... is a weird one. It's a trashy novel about a literary-fiction writer who decides to write trashy novels. Put the appropriate music on...

Of course, because this is Philippa Gregory, there has to be a shocking, scandalous aspect thrown in there. *shrug* The woman has a formula, no matter what she writes about. There is sex, preferably in-some-way-deviant sex, there is hedonism, and there is drama and angst. Ah, and all the women characters, period, tend to fall into Decadent Villain, Virtuous Noble Person, or Empty-Headed Twit. Mind, the decadent ones are the only ones with brains, and the virtuous ones can only get a happy ending if they end up giving a middle finger to conventions and drive off into the sunset. The variance in her formula comes more from the setting than from the characters or plot. :P

If you don’t want spoilers, let’s just say there are experiments with alternate identities, mockery (and celebration) of the shallow mass media and sensationalist marketing schemes, and some really, really stupid people running about the stage of the book. And I don’t mean “unintentionally stupid”, I mean “do you realize the author has a Kick Me sign pasted to your back?”

I enjoyed the exploration of the themes, the unique stupidity of some characters, the musings on How To Write A Sensationalist Novel (thank you, Ms. Gregory, I’ll keep that in mind), and the almost self-referential snark at some points. As such, this novel comes recommended.

That said, the fun’s in the spoilers. So read on…

Isobel Latimer is a disappointed, burned-out literary novelist with a permanently ailing husband, a disinterested audience, and a small paycheck at best. One day, she snaps over dinner with her agent, and proceeds to spill out a ludicrously-over-the-top hypothetical plot of the type of novel that sells. He thinks it’s such a fabulous idea that he tells her to write it straightaway.

Of course, because she is a Good and Proper Woman (yeah, more on this in a bit), she insists on writing such a tawdry novel under a penname. And thus Zelda Vere is born.

Now, here’s the thing – Isobel, as becomes apparent over the course of the novel, isn’t actually that moral a person… She just likes very much thinking of herself as moral. This was one of the things I enjoyed about the novel, as the critical reader can read along line-by-line and point out where her “moral” worldview slips. It’s rather pleasant to be able to take the piss out of such people with the author’s approval, rather than having to read against the text.

As such, I enjoyed the character of Troy (the agent) somewhat more, as he’s a sensual hedonist aware of the ways of the world, and he knows it. This makes him a good deal more sympathetic, even with the Shocking Twist at the end of the novel. (Really, Isobel, you should have seen that coming. And you deserved it.) He at least pursues what is wanted, world be damned, without disclaimers or apologies, rather than kvetching a lot… and then pursuing what is wanted, world be damned, but navel-gazing all the way.

My sympathies lie with pragmatists over hypocritical “idealists”, sorry. :P

And, I repeat, one of the unusual things about Zelda’s Cut is that it does put the quotation marks around “idealists”. For all that Isobel goes on about how concerned she is with Doing The Right Thing, she jumps headlong into the persona of the decadent, sensual Zelda Vere at every opportunity she gets. She avoids “irresponsibility” out of cowardice and shame, not due to any true moral grounding. And, for all that she preaches against the me-first selfishness of the modern era, she throws herself into it with aplomb. Though the novel nominally supports Isobel, since she’s the main POV character, one can’t help thinking that it’s satirizing her and all those like her as well.

(A note: I am all for idealists. Counterfeit idealists, however – those who appropriate grand causes just so they can feel better about themselves and smugly muse about how Serious and Thoughtful they are, and superior to the average scum – those deserve to be mocked and hounded out of every arena in which they raise their righteous megaphones.)

8/10 – recommended
(Incidentally - because I don’t like the main character, I don’t take her negative opinion on transsexuality as the definitive word. That said, just in case… TW for transphobia.)