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ninety6tearsOnce again, there's an element of near-to-but-not-really-fantasy to French's work, and with The Likeness the premise is quite a bit more uncanny, and is the driving force of the plot rather than something winking from the edges.
Many reviewers read the entire damn thing but still mostly criticized it for the unlikelihood of the central whammy, being of course that Maddox has had a double running around in Dublin, wearing the name of her old alias and thus somewhat chillingly erasing any traces of where she really came from. I'm sure all of those reviewers are really fun to bring to the movies. I mean, come on. If an author thinks up a premise as uniquely ridiculous as that, it's practically their responsibility to write it. This book could be a disaster, but it's not. As with the first book, it may not please those looking solely for a mystery, but the premise would have been tragically wasted on a less character-studied plot.
The introspective style of the novel is very similar to In The Woods, which at first would seem to just be French's style rather than a narrative aspect, but her third novel is quite a bit more straightforward. I like the idea that Rob and Cassie are a lot alike on paper, and they are, the main difference being that Cassie seems a bit more in the moment that she's telling, while Rob often spoke from far forward with more of a reflecting wisdom. Where INW had the slightest bits of foreshadowing, you feel a bit more suspense with Cassie's story, like she could pull a fast one on you at any moment. (And to me, she definitely does.)
There's a rather hefty amount at the beginning before the operation actually gets underway, but a lot of what happens before Cassie goes under is important and interesting; the novel doesn't overlook that making the decision Cassie makes is no casual affair. One of my favorite parts in the whole book is the grueling little confab Frank arranges between UCD and Murder, when Cassie suddenly and helplessly starts to miss Rob. We know that her reasons for transferring out of Murder were way bigger than the mess she got into with her partner, but it's hard to deny there that she could have easily dealt with all the memories if she'd stayed on the squad either way. (I have to add that Frank Mackey was a type of character this book really needed. His sort-of-friendship/professional rapport with Cassie is a breath of fresh air for a reader expecting her primary social connection in the novel to be her boyfriend.)
Once the operation starts, the book is the most mundane page-turner imaginable; even when nothing is happening, you can't put it down. I remember feeling this little bit of dread, this "Oh, please don't make me care about these characters" as the Whitethorn students are finally developed from inside the privacy of their lives, because you know that there's such a nasty turn waiting for them. French takes care to develop a complex web of relationships between all of the characters and how they all individually felt about Lexie, but not without acknowledging that there's another half to it that Cassie can't quite understand. In some ways, Cassie projects her own ideals onto them as she becomes more emotionally involved and at times sees it all as more simple than it turns out to be, but we want to believe that there are times when she was right.
The genius of this book is that the way in which it shows rather than tells is woven right into the plot - the parallels are there, but hardly ever pointed out by the narrator. There's that amazingly evocative and emotional scene when Cassie runs out in the yard with all the other students and gets in a violent fight with the vandalizer; there's that little pinprick of Cassie remembering Rob when she sees Abby and Daniel on the porch swing together. But for the most part there are connections between these two fraudulently interlocked lives that only sometimes make sense to us, as if we are only privy to Cassie's emotionally irrational connections. After all, Cassie hardly belongs with these people, but she becomes fooled by the feeling of safety in the house so that the flawed structure of these relationships shows its underside to her in an ugly shade of irony; there is a level of fiction-within-fiction because of the staged aspect of Cassie's inclusion in the house, and the only actor in the scenario eventually becomes the unwilling audience. Cassie draws an escapist allegory out of someone else's life, one that begins as comforting but only ends in another emotional disaster.
There were certain themes I thought were at play in In The Woods that I didn't quite talk about when I did a reaction post about it; I'm now convinced those ideas carry into the second novel with a lot of momentum, even though I'm still not really sure how to articulate them. To me, both stories feel like a type of coming-of-age novel, even while their main characters are well into adulthood, confronting inevitabilities that aren't particularly emotionally satisfying with this notion that "Innocence isn't enough." The family-like structure of the Whitethorn group was obviously idealistic to the point of unrealistic - sex with each other or sex with other people was inevitably going to force it to either evolve or fall apart, but they were holding back in more ways than one from graduating into "the real world."
What is never directly pointed out but which I think may have been an intentional reference is that Rob and Cassie had this exact problem, if at a lesser degree. Their relationship was intimate to the point that there wasn't room for anyone else. The friendship certainly didn't outlaw the possibility of either of them becoming romantically involved with another person, but when the two of them clearly spent more time with each other than with any other person - more time than many married couples can say they get to spend together - it's hard to believe that either of them becoming involved with anyone else to the point of espousal wouldn't complicate things. The relationship was, ironically, impenetrable only under the condition that it remained stagnant.
I don't think that Cassie's resolute and sudden commitment to Sam is necessarily meant to be read as an entirely happy ending, not if you really read into it. At the beginning of the novel they've only been together a handful of months, and the relationship could not be more obvious in its emotional inequality in that Sam seems to make Cassie feel vaguely and constantly guilty about nothing in particular, if not the simple fact that she's a cop who's willing to do a dangerous job. What happens in the end of the novel is that Cassie gets her detective mojo back, but as for her personal life, she's done taking risks, and chooses safety over greatness. There is no doubt that Sam will make her happy* because he's a great guy. If we're angry that Cassie isn't apparently meant to be with Rob, I find it hard to believe that this isn't how French wants us to feel. Almost every instance in the book that illustrates how Cassie feels about Sam is described in the essence of what he gives her, how good he is to her, how accepting and forgiving he is of her ("Sam" instead of "Mummy"). Good for Sam, I really don't dislike Sam, but with Cassie and Rob - how they were described throughout INW, how they're described in Cassie's memory - the substance of it was something between them, something effortless and immediate that was there from the start.
*Sam and Cassie can't realistically last if they end up on the same squad again. Policies against fraternization aren't there without a reason, and I can only LOL at these kids for thinking there's any reason they should be an exception to the rule when Sam is anything but rational about Cassie's safety. Why Cassie felt there was a bigger rush to get engaged than secure the job she wants, I don't fucking know, but I'm pretty sure when push comes to shove she'd be unable to choose Sam.
Many reviewers read the entire damn thing but still mostly criticized it for the unlikelihood of the central whammy, being of course that Maddox has had a double running around in Dublin, wearing the name of her old alias and thus somewhat chillingly erasing any traces of where she really came from. I'm sure all of those reviewers are really fun to bring to the movies. I mean, come on. If an author thinks up a premise as uniquely ridiculous as that, it's practically their responsibility to write it. This book could be a disaster, but it's not. As with the first book, it may not please those looking solely for a mystery, but the premise would have been tragically wasted on a less character-studied plot.
The introspective style of the novel is very similar to In The Woods, which at first would seem to just be French's style rather than a narrative aspect, but her third novel is quite a bit more straightforward. I like the idea that Rob and Cassie are a lot alike on paper, and they are, the main difference being that Cassie seems a bit more in the moment that she's telling, while Rob often spoke from far forward with more of a reflecting wisdom. Where INW had the slightest bits of foreshadowing, you feel a bit more suspense with Cassie's story, like she could pull a fast one on you at any moment. (And to me, she definitely does.)
There's a rather hefty amount at the beginning before the operation actually gets underway, but a lot of what happens before Cassie goes under is important and interesting; the novel doesn't overlook that making the decision Cassie makes is no casual affair. One of my favorite parts in the whole book is the grueling little confab Frank arranges between UCD and Murder, when Cassie suddenly and helplessly starts to miss Rob. We know that her reasons for transferring out of Murder were way bigger than the mess she got into with her partner, but it's hard to deny there that she could have easily dealt with all the memories if she'd stayed on the squad either way. (I have to add that Frank Mackey was a type of character this book really needed. His sort-of-friendship/professional rapport with Cassie is a breath of fresh air for a reader expecting her primary social connection in the novel to be her boyfriend.)
Once the operation starts, the book is the most mundane page-turner imaginable; even when nothing is happening, you can't put it down. I remember feeling this little bit of dread, this "Oh, please don't make me care about these characters" as the Whitethorn students are finally developed from inside the privacy of their lives, because you know that there's such a nasty turn waiting for them. French takes care to develop a complex web of relationships between all of the characters and how they all individually felt about Lexie, but not without acknowledging that there's another half to it that Cassie can't quite understand. In some ways, Cassie projects her own ideals onto them as she becomes more emotionally involved and at times sees it all as more simple than it turns out to be, but we want to believe that there are times when she was right.
The genius of this book is that the way in which it shows rather than tells is woven right into the plot - the parallels are there, but hardly ever pointed out by the narrator. There's that amazingly evocative and emotional scene when Cassie runs out in the yard with all the other students and gets in a violent fight with the vandalizer; there's that little pinprick of Cassie remembering Rob when she sees Abby and Daniel on the porch swing together. But for the most part there are connections between these two fraudulently interlocked lives that only sometimes make sense to us, as if we are only privy to Cassie's emotionally irrational connections. After all, Cassie hardly belongs with these people, but she becomes fooled by the feeling of safety in the house so that the flawed structure of these relationships shows its underside to her in an ugly shade of irony; there is a level of fiction-within-fiction because of the staged aspect of Cassie's inclusion in the house, and the only actor in the scenario eventually becomes the unwilling audience. Cassie draws an escapist allegory out of someone else's life, one that begins as comforting but only ends in another emotional disaster.
There were certain themes I thought were at play in In The Woods that I didn't quite talk about when I did a reaction post about it; I'm now convinced those ideas carry into the second novel with a lot of momentum, even though I'm still not really sure how to articulate them. To me, both stories feel like a type of coming-of-age novel, even while their main characters are well into adulthood, confronting inevitabilities that aren't particularly emotionally satisfying with this notion that "Innocence isn't enough." The family-like structure of the Whitethorn group was obviously idealistic to the point of unrealistic - sex with each other or sex with other people was inevitably going to force it to either evolve or fall apart, but they were holding back in more ways than one from graduating into "the real world."
What is never directly pointed out but which I think may have been an intentional reference is that Rob and Cassie had this exact problem, if at a lesser degree. Their relationship was intimate to the point that there wasn't room for anyone else. The friendship certainly didn't outlaw the possibility of either of them becoming romantically involved with another person, but when the two of them clearly spent more time with each other than with any other person - more time than many married couples can say they get to spend together - it's hard to believe that either of them becoming involved with anyone else to the point of espousal wouldn't complicate things. The relationship was, ironically, impenetrable only under the condition that it remained stagnant.
I don't think that Cassie's resolute and sudden commitment to Sam is necessarily meant to be read as an entirely happy ending, not if you really read into it. At the beginning of the novel they've only been together a handful of months, and the relationship could not be more obvious in its emotional inequality in that Sam seems to make Cassie feel vaguely and constantly guilty about nothing in particular, if not the simple fact that she's a cop who's willing to do a dangerous job. What happens in the end of the novel is that Cassie gets her detective mojo back, but as for her personal life, she's done taking risks, and chooses safety over greatness. There is no doubt that Sam will make her happy* because he's a great guy. If we're angry that Cassie isn't apparently meant to be with Rob, I find it hard to believe that this isn't how French wants us to feel. Almost every instance in the book that illustrates how Cassie feels about Sam is described in the essence of what he gives her, how good he is to her, how accepting and forgiving he is of her ("Sam" instead of "Mummy"). Good for Sam, I really don't dislike Sam, but with Cassie and Rob - how they were described throughout INW, how they're described in Cassie's memory - the substance of it was something between them, something effortless and immediate that was there from the start.
*Sam and Cassie can't realistically last if they end up on the same squad again. Policies against fraternization aren't there without a reason, and I can only LOL at these kids for thinking there's any reason they should be an exception to the rule when Sam is anything but rational about Cassie's safety. Why Cassie felt there was a bigger rush to get engaged than secure the job she wants, I don't fucking know, but I'm pretty sure when push comes to shove she'd be unable to choose Sam.
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Date: 2011-06-28 09:10 pm (UTC)KaraCassie and Sam really rings true. I can definitely see future tension rising over the job and the pervasive vague feeling of guilt for being herself rising in the long run, even if he is so very accepting/forgiving of it now.Also, I remember when the book came out there was definitely a lot of comparison's to Donna Tartt's The Secret History, very apt ones in fact. That sort of insular nature of the roommates/students and all.
Though I didn't really mind the coincidence of there just happening to be this perfect double of Cassie running around... I do remember being slightly confused late in the book when it was revealed that there was a link of some sort between them, wasn't there? A missing ID maybe? I can't quite recall...
I can't wait for Broken Harbour, even though I'm a bit less invested in Frank and definitely Scorcher. But it sounds like it kind of blends themes (innocence lost tied to a place certainly) from both ITW and TL. She talks about it a little bit here: http://writing.ie/guest-blogs/crime-scene/entry/guest-blogs/down-these-green-streets-with-tana-french-.html
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Date: 2011-06-29 03:24 am (UTC). I do remember being slightly confused late in the book when it was revealed that there was a link of some sort between them, wasn't there? A missing ID maybe? I...I don't remember this! LOL, but I do completely miss things sometimes. It should be more fresh in my boyfriend's mind since he just read it so I might ask him.
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Date: 2011-06-29 09:14 pm (UTC)EtA: I may totally be making that up about the ID thing. I thought there was something about the girl seeing Cassie's ID that she had lost pinned up on a board somewhere but...I think I'm conflating other things now and getting confused. Ignore me!
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Date: 2011-06-29 02:53 pm (UTC)Yeah, of course the premise is utterly unbelievable and surreal, but frankly, I could care less. As its predecessor, this is much more a character study than a crime novel, and what is important to me is the response from reading, not the procedural-ish details --though once you get past the premise, the novel is a page-turner accessible to anyone who enjoys reading. I think what I love about Tana French is that she doesn’t actually write escape reading (though I suppose you can read her that way), she is subtle and sneaky and the vividness of her writing gets under your skin, she always makes you ponder.
And boy, this book left me so frustrated (more than ITW, actually!), because it is supposed to be a "happy" (given the circumstances) ending, but it isn't. You know (especially if you have been there) that all these relationships she describes (the “soulmates” with a bond that sets them apart from the world) involve a naivety about life meant to be shattered, it’s not reality-based, but, but… Tana creates these characters with such a wonderful clarity that you find yourself wanting things to work out for all of them, and when it doesn’t, it comes as a punch in the gut.
I didn’t like Cassie sudden epiphany in the end. I get it, of course I get it, and I can’t really blame her, but I have my doubts that Sam and her life in Domestic Violence will make her happy (needless to say, I don’t think she was in the ideal frame of mind to make a life-altering decision such as getting engaged). You know, something that upset me is that I never bought that Cassie was in love (if you want to put it that way) with Sam (I couldn’t help but smile when she described him as a “this enormous feather duvet wrapped all around my life” LOL). Maybe it is that I don’t like blind devotion and the concept of settling for someone who you know adores you and will treat you well irks me (Sam reminds me too much of the “other” Sam, heh). Or maybe, as someone who craves that true love, best friends, everything to each other kind of relationship, it is just that I was so enamored with Cassie and Rob’s relationship that I can’t let go…
Nevertheless, I really liked Cassie’s longing for Rob, the fact that he was a presence in the book even though he didn’t make an actual appearance (I guess I found it comforting to see that Cassie was as distraught as I was that the second story didn’t involve him LOL)
By the way, did you catch that bit about the abortion near the end? God, I was so shocked, I can't really make up my mind if I like it or not…
Ok, I think I stop here, rambly comment as per usual ;P
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Date: 2011-06-30 03:59 am (UTC)I guess I found it comforting to see that Cassie was as distraught as I was that the second story didn’t involve him LOL Yeah, totally. In some ways it might have been a much more depressing read if Rob was hardly mentioned at all. I do love that Cassie has a mostly rigid way of remembering him, because it's just so Cassie and it makes it all the more affecting when there are these little moments when you feel like she would really do anything to make things go back to how they were before.
When it mentioned that she had to take the boat to England, I literally went "OH MY GOD" right out loud. It's quite a bomb to get dropped right up at the end, and I still don't really know what to think of it. The fact that that was the last time in the book Rob is even mentioned (excluding that "I wanted to tell her that being loved is a talent too" thing, which I can't help thinking was very inspired by him) made me very sad, but it was almost like it was the one thing Cassie could remember about her and Rob that was so ugly it made it possible for her to make Sam that promise and really mean it.
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Date: 2011-06-30 03:36 pm (UTC)Yeah. Given how the Cassie and Sam’s relationship is depicted throughout the book, her realization came across as a bit OOC, but... I don’t know. I struggle so much with the fact that Cassie and Sam seemed to have zero chemistry (as much as I tried, I couldn’t get invested at all in their relationship). I am sure Tana could have made us care a bit more about Cassie and Sam if she had decided to go this route, so I have to assume that the their dynamic was a very calculated decision by her.
Thinking about Cassie’s characterization, though, I think my big issue with her in TL is that I couldn’t quite read her… You can only guess. Her voice is very similar to Rob’s but, at the same time, I have the impression that she is more guarded and elusive –as if she is keeping certain things only to herself, or doesn’t allow herself to be completely honest. Rob was crystal clear to me, but Cassie is another matter entirely, she is quite enigmatic (the fact that, by the end of the book, I couldn’t quite grasp if she was in love with Sam or how she really felt about Rob makes me nuts). But I like to think that this was mostly deliberate, since this trait fits so well with Rob’s portrayal of her in ITW.
excluding that "I wanted to tell her that being loved is a talent too" thing, which I can't help thinking was very inspired by him)
Oh, I like to believe that Cassie was referring to Rob. If the book had ended right after the proposal (“It’s all over now”. Nooooo!), I would have been utterly devastated, but I found Cassie and Abby’s conversation oddly soothing, it helped me to get some closure on the Cassie and Rob front. It didn’t strike me until that moment, how similar Cassie and Abby actually were.
As for the abortion issue, I am so torn. Your take is somewhat comforting, but the whole thing is so fucked-up and sad and… melodramatic? I don’t know *shrugs* (on a shallow note, though, it makes me wonder if Rob and Cassie used protection (which honestly doesn’t seem the case). It seems kind of OOC if they didn’t, but at the same time --in a very twisted way, I know, heh-- there’s something so hot about them just going for it and not caring at all about anything else at that moment).
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Date: 2011-06-30 07:47 pm (UTC)I also found the very end a little comforting. For one thing, there's a hint there that that takes place some time after Rob calls her in the middle of the night (Rob finds out she's engaged when the department is talking about sending them a gift, and she's gotten the gift by then), and because of that one line, I feel like her regard for him has softened a little bit, even though her attitude is still very cryptic. And I couldn't help smiling at that last paragraph about Lexie...Even at the end, Cassie has this vicarious comfort in thinking about a person who was willing to up and leave so many times in her life. It left me with this bittersweet feeling that Cassie still wants to escape but knows that she just isn't quite built that way.
(I didn't mention this in the post but should have: That part when she remembers going to pick up Rob on her moped and how she has this fantasy that the two of them could have just kept riding along the roads forever? It seems to give you this idea that Cassie doesn't just want to get away from everything but wishes she could have done it with him. And it's all the more interesting because I remember at that point in INW, how Rob had this foreboding reflective voice in that scene, like he himself wishes in retrospect that they could have gone on like that forever. Unless I'm just imagining that...)
You know, in a definitely fucked up way, one of the things I liked about Cassie apparently getting pregnant was the implication that they didn't use protection. It does seem very OOC, but the implication that she was in as reckless a place as Rob was at the time says a lot more about the experience than Cassie is willing to divulge. Fuuuuuuuuu, these two...
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Date: 2011-07-01 10:24 pm (UTC)Oh, that last bit is just so wonderful. I don’t usually cry when reading, but those lines brought tears to my eyes, which, truth is, caught me a bit off guard. I didn’t expect to care so much about a character that was a ghost throughout the book, yet I realized then that I did. But I found that passage so beautiful and evocative (it literally transported me), and also, so perfectly Cassie, it left me with this aching bittersweet feeling ever-present in all Tana’s books.
Oh, and I hadn’t made the connection you mention! (I read ITW almost a year ago and I don’t remember some details. So I had to check out, and you are right, both passages are hauntingly similar). Very interesting. That part from Cassie’s POV is crushing, because it’s the only one moment where she lets herself be weak about Rob, and you understand how, despite everything, she wishes she could have frozen that moment and be with him in their special limbo forever. Gah.
that she was in as reckless a place as Rob was at the time says a lot more about the experience than Cassie is willing to divulge
Absolutely, I love the thought of Cassie being as reckless as Rob. Maybe I am delusional, but I like to believe that both wanted that kind of intimacy badly, and that night uncovered a longing they had spent their entire friendship trying to sublimate. So, when the inevitable finally happened, they got a bit… carried away :)
Dude, these two are just my kind of OTP material, star-crossed detectives FTW. Where is Tana French fandom? I wish there were fic about them!
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Date: 2011-09-13 03:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-13 08:50 pm (UTC)