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primeideal) wrote2023-10-13 10:09 pm
primeideal) wrote2023-10-13 10:09 pm
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(SFF Bingo): From All False Doctrine, by Alice Degan
Found this one via a Yuletide promo post and it seemed RTMI. And, parts of it are, but parts of it are not. This is tricky to review in part because it's tricky to categorize. Because it was advertised as a fantasy, I'm primed to read between the lines and look for supernatural happenings, but the characters don't know that they're in that genre, from their perspective it's a meet-cute or an academic detective story for a long time.
Premise: in 1920s Toronto, a pair of best friends meet another pair of best friends on a beach. Elsa Nordqvist is starting her masters' in classics; Harriet Spencer is a flirty, lighthearted undergrad; Peverell "Peachy" Peacham is an effervescent musician who can't hold a real job, and Christopher "Kit" Underhill is quiet but wise. When Harriet and Peachy meet, sparks immediately fly; Elsa and Kit are also quietly drawn to each other, but mostly interested in setting up the Harriet/Peachy romance. Elsa is talkative about her research, her childhood on a farm in Saskatchewan, and her attitude of healthy skepticism. Only when they're going their separate ways does she realize that Kit...is actually an Anglo-Catholic priest. Oops. Awkwardness ensues.
Elsa and her advisor are researching a manuscript called the Bibliotheka Orphika, which purports to be a collection of ancient Greek texts from a cult built around the mystic worship of Orpheus, who has to descend to the underworld to rescue his Eurydice; according to the Bibliotheka, the pure soul needs to descend to the metaphorical otherworld to unlock its spiritual powers and overcome the base world of matter. Elsa doesn't really believe in any of this stuff, but is intrigued enough by it as an academic exercise to research its provenance.
So there's a lot of "what would you do if you could overcome the world of base matter? Would you want to become someone else? How?" that has different resonances in 1925 versus 2014 (when it was written) versus today. Elsa admires her advisor because he represents her ideal of an independent scholar, unbeholden to worldly concerns.
I'd known about the Gnostics, and John's emphasis on "no, the Word actually became flesh, Jesus wasn't a hologram projected down from a purer universe, he was made of meat-stuff like the rest of us" theology as a response, but it hadn't occurred to me that the importance of "world" in the famous John 3:16 verse is actually tied up in all of this too!
So as you can see, the Christian stuff can get kind of technical and in the weeds, so I don't blame you for skipping it if it's not your thing. An important caveat here, however, is that even if it is your thing (it sure is mine!), the book is still pretty slow. People speak in unrealistically long infodump paragraphs to each other. There's a lot of timeskip "a week later, Elsa was upset, several pages later we're going to have a flashback as to why she was upset." (This awkwardness is similar to "Hench"; also like "Hench," Elsa has an unpronounceable last name and someone has to be special if they get it right the first time!) And a lot of stuff happens offscreen, in terms of "Harriet and Peachy get together, then timeskip, now they're engaged, then timeskip, Peachy broke it off oh no." And on and on and on. There's a subplot about "the men have survivors' guilt because they didn't fight in World War I," and then it's like, "is that actually true, or is Peachy just making stuff up? If he is, why?" The descriptions of shell shock were an unexpected parallel to "Ghost Talkers." Ultimately Kit's war trauma is an important plot device, but I felt like "Peachy is just a compulsive liar" wasn't meaningful enough for that element to be integrated well.
The characters are wrong-genre savvy; they compare their relationships to Jane Austen novels, but there aren't any obviously-to-them speculative elements for a long time. The academic stuff is interesting--Elsa's insight into how the Bibliotheka might have been written, if it wasn't an authentic compilation, was an impressive twist. Kit's calm matter-of-factness about how important Elsa's research is to her makes me want to root for him and their relationship; it shouldn't be a high bar to clear, but unfortunately, in 1925, it is. And the existence of a character named "Anastasiya Graves" (!!) was very intriguing. (There are also academic rivals named "Arthur" and "Hallam," which I assume can't be a coincidence.) But it is not a fast read, and a lot of that time, even if you suspect some of what's really going on, the characters do not. Elsa's father, it turns out, has maybe-prophetic dreams, he's like "hey, pay attention if you see someone who looks like XYZ, I dreamed about him once!" Is this really important or necessary for the plot? Not really! Couldn't it just as easily be a manifestation of his worries about his daughter in the big city? Yes.
Even in the ending, I felt like a lot of scenes kind of duplicated each other. There's a touching, dramatic scene where something clearly supernatural is going on, and Kit survives in part because Elsa's love is powerful enough to overcome his fear. Very sweet. Okay, is the climax going to be that? Kit and Elsa confessing their love for each other? Elsa's relationship to the church?
No, a couple chapters later...there's another scene that's plot-wise and thematically the same thing. And this later "ending" scene is very well-written, I teared up at the portrayal of Peachy and Kit's friendship and the integration of individual, personal love with liturgical, multisensory tradition of worship! It's great! I don't often find myself moved that strongly! So when I say this book stuck the landing, it really stuck the landing and my feelings of it will probably warm with hindsight. But it's hard to rec to anybody looking for a fast read, or even a clearly-fantasy read.
I learned some things about Prohibition in Canada, it was one of those "I've never considered this but I probably should think beyond my horizons a little more." Anyway, in Ontario, the Prohibition era was 1916-1927. Now you know!
Here are a couple more examples of the dry humor:
“It’s ten thirty!” Peachy exclaimed. “What are you doing in bed?”
Content note: there's an attempted scene of "mind rape" as well as physical assault which is ultimately fended off, it's treated seriously and with concern by the victim's loved ones after the fact.
Bingo: Probably using it for Angels and Demons. Could also count for Mundane Jobs and Self/Indie Published.
Premise: in 1920s Toronto, a pair of best friends meet another pair of best friends on a beach. Elsa Nordqvist is starting her masters' in classics; Harriet Spencer is a flirty, lighthearted undergrad; Peverell "Peachy" Peacham is an effervescent musician who can't hold a real job, and Christopher "Kit" Underhill is quiet but wise. When Harriet and Peachy meet, sparks immediately fly; Elsa and Kit are also quietly drawn to each other, but mostly interested in setting up the Harriet/Peachy romance. Elsa is talkative about her research, her childhood on a farm in Saskatchewan, and her attitude of healthy skepticism. Only when they're going their separate ways does she realize that Kit...is actually an Anglo-Catholic priest. Oops. Awkwardness ensues.
Elsa and her advisor are researching a manuscript called the Bibliotheka Orphika, which purports to be a collection of ancient Greek texts from a cult built around the mystic worship of Orpheus, who has to descend to the underworld to rescue his Eurydice; according to the Bibliotheka, the pure soul needs to descend to the metaphorical otherworld to unlock its spiritual powers and overcome the base world of matter. Elsa doesn't really believe in any of this stuff, but is intrigued enough by it as an academic exercise to research its provenance.
So there's a lot of "what would you do if you could overcome the world of base matter? Would you want to become someone else? How?" that has different resonances in 1925 versus 2014 (when it was written) versus today. Elsa admires her advisor because he represents her ideal of an independent scholar, unbeholden to worldly concerns.
It’s 1925. The ‘confines of your sex’ aren’t what they used to be—are they? I don’t know. Admittedly it isn’t really my field.
Kit and Peachy's conversation on the subject was pretty interesting; they interpret the "soul is good and pure, matter is base and evil" philosophy in the context of the Gnostics, an early Christian sect that the Gospel of John was written in response to.Peachy was staring thoughtfully at the ceiling. “I find that quite depressing, actually. Maybe not the implications—I mean, I’m as much in favour of debauchery as the next man—but the fundamental idea. I like the world. And I was under the impression that God loved it. You know, to the extent of sending his only begotten Son … ”
I'd known about the Gnostics, and John's emphasis on "no, the Word actually became flesh, Jesus wasn't a hologram projected down from a purer universe, he was made of meat-stuff like the rest of us" theology as a response, but it hadn't occurred to me that the importance of "world" in the famous John 3:16 verse is actually tied up in all of this too!
So as you can see, the Christian stuff can get kind of technical and in the weeds, so I don't blame you for skipping it if it's not your thing. An important caveat here, however, is that even if it is your thing (it sure is mine!), the book is still pretty slow. People speak in unrealistically long infodump paragraphs to each other. There's a lot of timeskip "a week later, Elsa was upset, several pages later we're going to have a flashback as to why she was upset." (This awkwardness is similar to "Hench"; also like "Hench," Elsa has an unpronounceable last name and someone has to be special if they get it right the first time!) And a lot of stuff happens offscreen, in terms of "Harriet and Peachy get together, then timeskip, now they're engaged, then timeskip, Peachy broke it off oh no." And on and on and on. There's a subplot about "the men have survivors' guilt because they didn't fight in World War I," and then it's like, "is that actually true, or is Peachy just making stuff up? If he is, why?" The descriptions of shell shock were an unexpected parallel to "Ghost Talkers." Ultimately Kit's war trauma is an important plot device, but I felt like "Peachy is just a compulsive liar" wasn't meaningful enough for that element to be integrated well.
The characters are wrong-genre savvy; they compare their relationships to Jane Austen novels, but there aren't any obviously-to-them speculative elements for a long time. The academic stuff is interesting--Elsa's insight into how the Bibliotheka might have been written, if it wasn't an authentic compilation, was an impressive twist. Kit's calm matter-of-factness about how important Elsa's research is to her makes me want to root for him and their relationship; it shouldn't be a high bar to clear, but unfortunately, in 1925, it is. And the existence of a character named "Anastasiya Graves" (!!) was very intriguing. (There are also academic rivals named "Arthur" and "Hallam," which I assume can't be a coincidence.) But it is not a fast read, and a lot of that time, even if you suspect some of what's really going on, the characters do not. Elsa's father, it turns out, has maybe-prophetic dreams, he's like "hey, pay attention if you see someone who looks like XYZ, I dreamed about him once!" Is this really important or necessary for the plot? Not really! Couldn't it just as easily be a manifestation of his worries about his daughter in the big city? Yes.
Even in the ending, I felt like a lot of scenes kind of duplicated each other. There's a touching, dramatic scene where something clearly supernatural is going on, and Kit survives in part because Elsa's love is powerful enough to overcome his fear. Very sweet. Okay, is the climax going to be that? Kit and Elsa confessing their love for each other? Elsa's relationship to the church?
No, a couple chapters later...there's another scene that's plot-wise and thematically the same thing. And this later "ending" scene is very well-written, I teared up at the portrayal of Peachy and Kit's friendship and the integration of individual, personal love with liturgical, multisensory tradition of worship! It's great! I don't often find myself moved that strongly! So when I say this book stuck the landing, it really stuck the landing and my feelings of it will probably warm with hindsight. But it's hard to rec to anybody looking for a fast read, or even a clearly-fantasy read.
I learned some things about Prohibition in Canada, it was one of those "I've never considered this but I probably should think beyond my horizons a little more." Anyway, in Ontario, the Prohibition era was 1916-1927. Now you know!
Here are a couple more examples of the dry humor:
They went down the hall by and by, to check on the suicidal poet, and found him toasting a cheese sandwich in his fireplace. He insisted they join him, fetched out more bread and cheese from a desk drawer, and wanted their help with an article that he was writing called “Transcendence: What Is It?” The answer seemed to be “I don’t know, and neither shall you.” Kit thought that was more or less all right. The cheese sandwiches were delicious.
“It’s ten thirty!” Peachy exclaimed. “What are you doing in bed?”
“It’s ten thirty on a Saturday—what are you doing out of bed? I’ve already been to Morning Prayer and a Chancel Guild meeting and had a long conversation with a madman who has pinpointed the date of the Eschaton and wants to know what I am going to do about it. And what I am going to do about it is drink my tea and read my book and take a nap.”
“Nonsense—what you’re going to do is come golfing with me! When is it, by the way?”
“What?”
“The end of the world.”
“Some time in 1952. You’ve ages to repent.”
A police officer came across the wide expanse of St. Clair to investigate the crowd on the church steps.
“Has anything happened?” he asked.
“Of course something has happened, Officer,” said Mr. Cox with dignity. “It is Easter.”
“Yes?”
“Christ is risen.”
“He is risen indeed!” chorused the departing torchbearers and Charlie Boult, and the rest of the congregation joined in, raggedly. “Alleluia!”
“Oh, quite, yes.” The policeman touched his hat and backed away.
Content note: there's an attempted scene of "mind rape" as well as physical assault which is ultimately fended off, it's treated seriously and with concern by the victim's loved ones after the fact.
Bingo: Probably using it for Angels and Demons. Could also count for Mundane Jobs and Self/Indie Published.