I Capture the Castle

[osprey_archer]

This weekend I’ve been criss-crossing southern Illinois, which actually is what Indiana is reputed to be: a flat wasteland of corn and McDonalds, without so much as a single Starbucks to soften the drive. No hills or trees either—not even any cows. But there was a river called Kaskaskia, which did brighten things up marginally.

When I wasn’t driving I read I Capture the Castle, which I enjoyed. It’s sprightly and bright and the prose runs like water; the narrator, Cassandra, has a bright and distinctive voice, well-educated and original but not out of keeping for a seventeen-year-old. The descriptions are beautiful, the pacing excellent, and the characters well-drawn.

One caveat: I didn’t like the romances in the book, especially Cassandra and Simon’s. Up until he kissed her there was no indication that she liked him as anything but a friend—and not even a close friend—and then he kisses her and she’s madly in love with him? And what was up with that kiss, anyway? Simon is engaged (to Cassandra’s sister, no less), so that kiss makes him a cad—or a fool, if he thinks kissing Cassandra on the lips is an innocent gesture.

And yes, Cassandra does have the excuse of being young, and her feelings could be (and probably are) just intense infatuation. But if that’s so I wish Cassandra would have realized that before the end of the book instead of going out in tragic romantic style with “I love you, I love you, I love you.”

I also wasn’t crazy about Cassandra’s sister running off with Simon’s brother--one of those “They hate each other! Which means they actually love each other!” stories. I think that kind of confusion is a literary invention; I think real people are sufficiently in touch with their feelings that they don’t mistake love for the irritation and suffocating sense of misery of loathing.

I probably ought not to read romances.



I really did enjoy the book, despite having spent three paragraphs flagellating it. I want to live in Cassandra’s castle—a really castle!—I wish there had been a blueprint for it in the book.

Comments

[girl-called-sun.livejournal.com]

I Capture the Castle is one of my favourite books - in fact this icon is from the film (when Cassandra is sun bathing on the tower on midsummer's day).

I'm glad you like it. I do appreciate your points about the romance, but I like it - awkward and not resolved. I am especially happy that Simon doesn't take Cassandra away, all neat and tidy at the end; I hate that sort of happy ending.

It bears repeated reading, and the film is actually very good. It cuts out bits but has the right tone. It's worth watching just for the beautiful period setting.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

I was so, so relieved that Cassandra and Simon didn't get married at the end. I like happy endings when they're a) earned, and b) actually happy (as opposed to something the author thinks is happy, which actually isn't--I'm assuming this is what you mean by "that sort of happy ending"?), neither of which Cassandra and Simon's descent into marital bliss would have been.

We used to own a copy of I Capture the Castle, but my mother got rid of it (either we were running out of shelf-space or she was on vendetta against books from mid-century Britain, because she got rid of Rebecca too), which will rather cut into my rereading opportunities. :(

But I may get a copy. I need to start building a library.

Have you read Rebecca? The only thing is has in common with I Capture the Castle is the setting, but I thought I'd ask because I love it.

[silksieve.livejournal.com]

*sigh*

I need to read this. It's been on my list forever.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

It spent years moldering on my list before I finally got around to it, and was none the worse for it.