May-28-2010, 10:19 PM (UTC)
Hmm, I'm guessing it's easier to spot that sort of thing in someone you don't know then in someone you know. You live together for many years... you form an image of someone and it's hard to chance that later.
But then Alice was indeed thick to the point of being ridiculous. I didn't like her very much. There was one point in the book where I though she'd turn into someone I could admire, when after their wedding night she decided that if she was going to be nothing more then a means for her husband to get socially accepted, she'd at least make sure he paid dearly for it. But then next time we return to her, she's turned into this downbeaten woman who begs after crumbs of attention.
Don't get me wrong, anyone in that situation would turn into a sad and unhappy person, but for a moment there it seemed as if she was made of stronger stuff, and as if we were being set up for an interesting internal battle between the couple.
Ah well... I liked DH and the topics it dared to touch on, the way it investigated social situations and the development of a small group dealing with difficult situations, but I can't say I liked any of the characters very much. Except Tats, I thought he was cool!
Going back on topic, if there's one thing that this book has made me realise, it's how enormously difficult it must be for a homosexual to live in a society which condems their feelings, so that they are forced to take a partner of the opposite sex. Imagine for one dumb moment that we lived in a world where homosexuality was the norm, and we, as straight people, would be forced to live and sleep together with someone of the same sex. The idea is quite revolting to us and yet it's no different at all then what we are forcing homosexuals to do. That's something that I'd never grasped before this book, that for them it must be equally as hard as their preference would be for us. And in light of that I can understand Hest's disdain and revoltion for Alice... even if I still think he's a bastard.
But then Alice was indeed thick to the point of being ridiculous. I didn't like her very much. There was one point in the book where I though she'd turn into someone I could admire, when after their wedding night she decided that if she was going to be nothing more then a means for her husband to get socially accepted, she'd at least make sure he paid dearly for it. But then next time we return to her, she's turned into this downbeaten woman who begs after crumbs of attention.
Don't get me wrong, anyone in that situation would turn into a sad and unhappy person, but for a moment there it seemed as if she was made of stronger stuff, and as if we were being set up for an interesting internal battle between the couple.
Ah well... I liked DH and the topics it dared to touch on, the way it investigated social situations and the development of a small group dealing with difficult situations, but I can't say I liked any of the characters very much. Except Tats, I thought he was cool!
Going back on topic, if there's one thing that this book has made me realise, it's how enormously difficult it must be for a homosexual to live in a society which condems their feelings, so that they are forced to take a partner of the opposite sex. Imagine for one dumb moment that we lived in a world where homosexuality was the norm, and we, as straight people, would be forced to live and sleep together with someone of the same sex. The idea is quite revolting to us and yet it's no different at all then what we are forcing homosexuals to do. That's something that I'd never grasped before this book, that for them it must be equally as hard as their preference would be for us. And in light of that I can understand Hest's disdain and revoltion for Alice... even if I still think he's a bastard.
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