PF as YA

Allan Anderson · 20 Apr 2009, 14:31 · from 2009-April.txt.gz

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From: rubel at goosemoon.org (Allan Anderson)
Date: Mon, 20 Apr 2009 07:31:21 -0700
Subject: (urth) PF as YA
In-Reply-To: <49EC0D09.6060701 at mindspring.com>
References: <37bfbeb60904151450l562f1efap639973f799cb6aaa at mail.gmail.com>	<49E7735A.50009 at colby.edu>	<49E8C201.90806 at mindspring.com>	<49E8C5A3.3020002 at colby.edu>
	<49EC0D09.6060701 at mindspring.com>
Message-ID: <49EC8739.2020105 at goosemoon.org>

Henry Eissler wrote:
> Fernando Q. Gouv?a wrote:
>
>> See my other comment about "YA". I'm not sure what that means any 
>> more. But I still think the themes in PF are appropriate for young 
>> adults, and especially young men. This seems to be a concern of 
>> Wolfe's. Our society seems no longer interested in "manliness", but 
>> Wolfe is.
>>
>    I think I would have worded that differently, but that in the end 
> we'd be talking about the same thing.  I agree.  I hadn't thought the 
> novel was intended for a younger audience, but it could have been.  I 
> think the spectre of "Treasure Island" helps that impression.
I should ask my sister the youth librarian what she thinks. She's pretty 
much of the, "hey, if it gets them to read, it's okay" school when it 
comes to sex and swashbuckling in novels. But would it draw in and 
reward a Young Adult audience, that slippery category?
>  
>> That is my reading as well, though I think that we're also expected 
>> to see that some of Chris's choices are pretty bad choices. The 
>> business at the end about the vow of celibacy is a particularly 
>> discomforting one.
>    I realize now that I was somewhat stating the obvious.
>    I didn't get the part about Chris making bad choices.  His plan to 
> break the vow of celibacy, for instance- didn't disturb me.  At that 
> point Chris was long past having decided that his own relationship 
> with God was unique.  Perhaps the danger of that is part of what the 
> book tries to explore.  But also, the woman in question was his wife.  
> Why he made such a vow in the first place, I don't know; but the idea 
> of breaking it bothered him enough to mention it in his "confession".
>
You make some very good points! Hey, do you think he took his vow 
partially because he thought, "there can be no other woman for me but 
Novia"? IIRC, he doesn't figure out that he can possibly go back until 
after doing so; I'm not 100% on this chronology, though.

It's still creepy. Hey, you know that old monk guy who's living with 
you? Well, he's really the same person as your dashing teenage pirate 
husband! On the up side, you have someone to help take care of the baby 
(possibly with a lot of loot). On the down side, you've traded in your 
handsome young man for someone much older (something you ran away from, 
if I recall). Plus, there's this priest who keeps checking out your ass.

At what point does Chris wearing the cassock become seriously deceitful?

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