The castle awaits

[pallas_athena]

So I've just read Linda Medley's excellent fairy-tale-inspired graphic novel Castle Waiting, and I loved it-- it's full of very human characters doing their best to help each other and make the world a better place. If the castle itself is a safe sanctuary for fairy-tale misfits, then the book provides a similar harbour for the misfit mind. Also, the art is very, very good.

One of the things this book makes me wonder, however, is: how much of my response to it is a product of gender? I'm a firm believer that people shouldn't be expected to fit into boxes marked "male" and "female"; I think that differences between individuals are greater than differences between genders. Still, I wonder if I would feel as much at home in the world of Castle Waiting if I were male. Most of the characters are women; the subjects of the various chapters are things like witchcraft, pregnancy and baby-having, nuns, wives escaping from unworthy husbands, and ... well... feelings. All of which are seen by today's [intensely fucked-up] society as being essentially feminine matters.

I've heard that Medley's plan is to tell the backstory of everybody in the castle. (In the hardcover collection I've read, Sister Peaceful is the only one to get the full treatment.) If that's still the plan, it'll be interesting to see what happens when Medley gets to characters like Sir Chess and Iron Henry. Meanwhile, I'd be interested to hear from anyone else out there, of any gender, who likes Castle Waiting. I ask with some trepidation: is it the graphic-novel equivalent of a chickflick? What do you think?

Comments

don't know this one

[myriadim.livejournal.com]

but it sounds loverly. Mainly just wanted to drop by and say welcome back to merrie olde englande, which mercifully doesn't suffer from the need to make things look old by putting an 'e' on the end, unlike cringeworthy Australian pubs et al.

But I digress. ;-) It's late here. I've been meaning to ask for ages; have you read "The Truth Will Out" - can't remember who it's by, but the allegedly groundbreaking research that reveals that Shakespeare was in fact this noble who got himself locked up in the Tower, and paid Will for the use of his name to hide his identity? I haven't read it, but have heard some excellent interviews etc. The evidence actually sounds pretty compelling, and I've been wondering what an old bard-hand such as yourself has made of it?

Your parcel is sitting in my office, waiting for me to stop being on the road for work. I am pleased to say it has another beautifully illustrated grown-up book in it of a different kind that a) I'm 90% sure you won't have seen 'cause it's Australian, and b)figure you'll like! Sorry, can't help it, like being a tease.

Hope you're recovering well from the 'lag.

Im

Re: don't know this one

[artnouveauho.livejournal.com]

Im, you evil tease! Can't wait to see what's in the parcel.

I haven't read "The Truth Will Out". I'll see if I can pick up a copy somewhere or other. I am more or less convinced that Shakespeare was Shakespeare; anything else reeks of crackpottery and snobism. If Shakespeare wasn't Shakespeare, why would he have left substantial amounts of money in his will to actors from the Globe to buy mourning rings? But what the hell, anything's possible; and I need to stay informed of the authorship debate, so this sounds like something I should read.

...So, shall I send you Castle Waiting?

wait and see

[myriadim.livejournal.com]

if you like what I send first.

Ugh. 3 das on the road this week, 2 of them spent helping interview a dozen candidates for 2 jobs. Over the phone.

lashings of Ugh.

The only good bit was the sole face to face interviewee we had brought in a baby orphan womabt she's looking after. sooooooo cute.

Re: wait and see

[artnouveauho.livejournal.com]

ooohboy. Sounds like quite a week! Hope next week is easier.

But, baby wombat!! aaaawwwww. You didn't take pictures, did you??

[laughingmagpie.livejournal.com]

Well well well. My amazon books wishlist has just grown by one more! I didn't know about this one.

Since I haven't read it, I can't comment on it in particular. But I try not to get too worried about where my responses to things come from. Gender is just as much a part of me as being the daughter of a Franciscan friar, for instance. And just like I'm not like all the other daughters of Franciscans (I'm sure there must be more than my sister and I!), we all reflect our gender a little differently. But we can't deny it has an influence. And why would we want to? I'm happy to hear about a graphic novel that might appeal to my feminine interest in interpersonal relationships :-)

[artnouveauho.livejournal.com]

That's an interesting point (and an interesting background!) I like the phrase "we all reflect our gender a little differently"; as though it's the sun and we're all differently-shaped mirrors. I admire your balance of mind.

[laughingmagpie.livejournal.com]

Somedays I'm not sure how balanced it is! :-)

One of the things a medical geneticist (like me) does is get consulted on newborns with ambiguous genitalia. I have a little speech on gender determination that underlines how, just like when our hearts or fingers get made, our gender arises from multiple, complicated steps - and some of them happen well after birth. It's not just your chromosomes (and even then, there are plenty of variations). Anyway - I feel that since, even on a strictly physical level, we vary so so much, it seems natural to me that our personalities reflect it differently too.

[artnouveauho.livejournal.com]

That makes sense. I know that decisions arbitrarily taken at birth can cause a lot of grief to some, and I think those kids and their families are lucky to have you around.

[speedlime.livejournal.com]

Yaaaay!!! I'm so glad you liked Castle Waiting. It really is charming, isn't it? That's an interesting point you raise about it being chick-lit. I think it probably is... but I'm at peace with that :) The world has enough Warren Ellis blood-guts-and-Hitler's porn-type stuff in it already.

[artnouveauho.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the recommendation, lovely! It was a really excellent read.

Hope you're having a great weekend!! Miss you.

[speedlime.livejournal.com]

Miss you too! In an interesting sort of coda, I went to the comics store today and gave the nice man behind the counter lots of grief for not liking Castle Waiting (something he had previously confessed to me). He agrees with you-- it's a bit too chicklity for his taste.