Return of the Rogue Readers discussion

From what I hear everyone is done reading, so I thought I would open the discussion up a little early.

Even the names Constance and Merricat(merry-cat) give credence to their own characters respectively. Perhaps even Jonas was a symbol of Merricat as if they were on the Moon that's how she would be. I as well really enjoyed the story. I found myself wishing bad things on the townsfolk. The audacity of them to destroy their home and still show up afterwards. As if their self-righteous apologies( only used to ease their own conscious) and chicken and pity filled baskets held any merit in the Blackwood's eyes.

This is definitely worth a second read in the future. Great choice.

Personally, I could not wait for this book to end. For me, it was the narration from Merricat's point of view that did me in. It was mentioned early on that she was in her teenage years, yet it seemed that her views were entirely infantile and very often forced throughout (if I heard her say she was "chilled" by one more thing, I may have poisoned my Kindle in defiance). The choice of character type by Jackson is one that I do not mind (the aloof, crazed, and superstitious young girl) generally speaking, but I felt that I was given the same basic descriptive information over and over throughout the novel: she was upset; she nailed something somewhere; she was still upset; she wanted to go to the moon; yep...still upset; she still wants to go to the moon; hey, there's a cat; something has incredibly upset her; someone said something that "chilled" her, and yes, it made her upset.

The one saving grace for me was the character of Uncle Julian, and this was mostly because I hope that an older me has access to time travel and will record me at an age where I can say those types of comments and act as eccentric as possible, come back in time to my present and show me this video so I can laugh and cry...

...

...

...

...seems to not be this present time, so on with my discourse.

Page 43 of my Kindle edition has a delightful quotation I saved:

"Julian," Helen Clarke said quickly; Mrs. Wright seemed mesmerized. "There is such a thing as good taste, Julian."

"Taste, madam? Have you ever tasted arsenic?"

Another great line from page 90:

"I really think I shall commence chapter forty-four," [Julian] said, patting his hands together. "I shall commence, I think, with a slight exaggeration and go on from there into an outright lie. Constance, my dear?"

"Yes, Uncle Julian?"

"I am going to say that my wife was beautiful."

To this degree, the novel did evoke an emotional response out of me other than disgust. When Uncle Julian died, I was upset, and this proved to me that Jackson did not have an imperfect story, but perhaps I was the imperfect reader for this story and that perhaps I missed the point somewhere along the line.

All in all, I'm not sure that I would ever read this novel again, but I did give it two stars rather than one simply because it did have shining moments, a believable backdrop, and a wheelchair-bound character that I would hang out with on my days off.

I didn't read it. Surprise, surprise.

I agree with your interpretation, Sarah. At first I dismissed Merricat as "just insane," and was doing insane things because that's what quirky, whimsical young girls do. Well, they don't usually murder their family, but you know what I mean.

I thought the story was moving in a different direction and when it ended how it did I initially felt that it was incomplete. At that point I enjoyed the story, but that was mostly because I like the setting and the overall vibe. The idea that Merricat killed the family because of how they treated Constance completes that picture for me.

The way the townsfolk trashed the house and then later roamed freely chilled me too. Yes, I was upset. I think that was part of the story I wished had been written, some kind of retribution. I suppose it's much more realistic that no such thing occurred.

My favorite line in the book was “All cat stories start with this statement: "My mother, who was the first cat, told me this...”

Garret, you mentioned that Uncle Julian was your favorite character. Who was your least favorite?

Everybody! Tell me your favorite and least favorite characters!

I am inclined to agree with Sarah as per my favorite/least favorite characters.

My favorite character was Jonas. I feel he was a very accurately written cat and I enjoyed reading about him.

My least favorite character was the one townsman who harassed Merricat in the coffee shop and later was responsible for throwing the first stone. I forget his name and the internet has failed me.

Speaking of the townsfolk, I think they left the food there out of some misguided superstition or a feeling that it would work towards exempting them from the wrath of the crazy people who lived there. It was strictly selfish and not done out of any sort of remorse.

While trying to find the name of that character I mentioned above I read a few summaries on various websites and one of them referred to this book as "A haunted house origin story." I think that perfectly sums up what we read here. If you have lived in a town long enough you have heard about the crazy old lady who lives in the big house in the woods and is probably a witch. Our local legend was Old Lady Loftess and depending on who you asked she had either murdered her husband and his paramour or she was involved in some kind of satanic gobbledygook.

Over time her story grew and eventually her house became the place for local kids to prove their toughness or to bring a date in hopes that the scare factor might result in her getting a little closer to you than she would elsewhere. I've been there. Garret and (probably?) Tye have with me. This book has given me an interesting new perspective on that.

Yes! Old Lady Loftess. I have been there. A few times. I got the same impression about the Blackstone house. I want to say the coffee shop harasser was Jim something... I think the book did a good job of making him somewhat loathsome.

Also, i second gobbledygook. I like that word.

Edit: Blackwood...what was that guy thinking. Geez.

Late to the party on answering your query, Jordan, but here I am. My least favorite character would have to be Merricat, our chilled narrator. I think I discussed enough all my reasons why in my previous post, so I did want to continue with the vein as this as a haunted house origin story:

I love that idea so much I could leap for joy. Bringing up Lady Loftess is a great example of how this would fit in, as she was a local nurse who was just eccentric and a bit crazy, so the legend was built on that and became even wilder as the years went on (I think my mom and grandmother would have gotten in that car accident with her around the 70s, so time flies when witches and ghosts need be born). To this, though: there was something off about her that those who knew her saw, and it was this seed that helped plant that legend. Taking this in the view of the Blackwoods, it fits perfectly. The town looked at them as strange and had an almost superstitious outlook at them for the most part, so I can think of no better way for the reader's epilogue to end than with the house being abandoned years later and everyone KNOWING it is filled with ghosts and witches and everything spooky. What a neat idea.