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September 2009: Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

A monthly discussion on varying themes guided by our members. (Book of the Month discussions through December 2011 can be found in this section too.)
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diamondlil
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September 2009: Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

Post by diamondlil » Tue September 1st, 2009, 11:51 am

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Please discuss the September 2009 book of the month, Fingersmith by Sarah Waters, in this thread.
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Ash
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Post by Ash » Tue September 1st, 2009, 1:56 pm

I'd never read this author before, but a reading buddy of mine on another forum told me I had to read this one. Oh my. I think my favorite things about the book (besides being very well written) were the two main characters, the sense of time and place, and the twists and turns of the plot. I have since read some of Water's other books but for me none of them hold a candle to this one. Excited to be discussing it here!

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Post by EC2 » Tue September 1st, 2009, 4:26 pm

I was thoroughly engrossed by this novel and it was just the right kind of reading for a chilly autumn evening. In many ways I felt it was Dickensian in execution and feel. It is a few yeas since I read it, so I can't comments in great detail. I do remember guessing the twist straight away, and I did almost give up on the novel later on with the 'Gentleman' incident because it was almost too graphic and violent to continue reading. In the end, I skipped the pages because to me they were unbearable.
Sarah Waters' fiction has that effect on people. I was at a talk she gave where a reading was part of it, and an audience member fainted with a loud thud, and had to be carried out!
My verdict is very powerful, very gripping, but not always pleasant story telling!
I'd give it 5 stars and I'm glad I read it - even if I didn't like it very much!
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Post by Margaret » Tue September 1st, 2009, 4:52 pm

My reaction was similar to EC's, though I didn't skip the uncomfortable pages. Though it wasn't all that graphic, portions of the novel verged on sexual sadism, which is not my favorite kind of reading. It was only the one section, though, that really bothered me, and I was so hooked by the plot I couldn't put the book down - I ended up finishing it at about 3:30 a.m., which shows why EC gave it 5 stars! I don't use a star system, but this is a candidate for my "best of 2009" list, although it's got lots of competition - I've read some very good books this year.

It's interesting to me that the lesbian sex (quite graphic in at least one scene) was not offensive to me, whereas the allusions (most not very graphic at all) to the heterosexual sex did creep me out. The former had a loving quality, though, whereas the latter did not, which explains it.

A disturbing, well-written novel. I just posted my review yesterday at www.HistoricalNovels.info.
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Post by Lady Macbeth » Tue September 1st, 2009, 5:53 pm

It's a few years since I read this and I definitely don't have time for a reread but I can recall being glued to this book and really didn't see the big twist mid-novel coming at all. I don't remember being bothered by the lesbian sex at the time but I do now find this a bit of a recurring theme in her novels.

There was a TV adaptation a few years ago too.
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Post by Leo62 » Tue September 1st, 2009, 11:14 pm

I just finished it late last night. Totally loved it! :D

Didn't guess any of the twists, apart from the one towards the end involving Mrs Sucksby & Maud. Very well written - I didn't find it graphic at all - most of the horror was suggested rather than laid on with a trowel. But yes, Gentleman's fate was truly...memorable. :eek:

I think she's a very powerful and talented writer with few contemporary equals. Great storytelling, unforgettable characters, a strong, true, subtle sense of gothic (The Little Stranger, which I read last month, was just as atmospheric and compelling, but in a completely different way). A definite whiff of Dickens, I thought (note the reference to Oliver Twist in the opening chapter), what with fallen women, orphaned babies etc. And Mr Lilly reminded me a lot of Casaubon in Middlemarch, until the true nature of his "collection" was revealed (a stroke of genius! Didn't see that coming at all :eek :) .


I've been watching the TV adaptation alongside reading the novel. For me it didn't really capture the gothic menace of Briar, but otherwise was pretty faithful - and very well cast. Can't imagine anyone but Imelda Staunton as Mrs Sucksby. :D
Last edited by Leo62 on Tue September 1st, 2009, 11:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by EC2 » Tue September 1st, 2009, 11:33 pm

Most people don't seem to have got the mid novel twist, but I saw it coming a mile off and thought 'Surely she's not going to pull something that obvious. Then I was surprised when other readers said they didn't see it coming. I think my brain must have odd wiring. Generally I'm rubbish at crossword puzzles and picking up clues, so it's not down to a top notch sneaky and deductive mind. I must just have been on the same wavelength as the author at that point.
It is a very, very, powerful novel. Disturbing and visceral. I still shudder when I think of the yellow smoked fish staining on that pair of gloves but the fact that image is still with me years on, when other novels have faded into the mist, goes to show the strength of the writing.
Les proz e les vassals
Souvent entre piez de chevals
Kar ja li coard n’I chasront

'The Brave and the valiant
Are always to be found between the hooves of horses
For never will cowards fall down there.'

Histoire de Guillaume le Mareschal

www.elizabethchadwick.com

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Post by Ash » Wed September 2nd, 2009, 12:31 am

I really didn't see that twist; there were several other twists I thought were happening, but that one was 'whoa!'.

I wasn't bothered by the graphic sex, it was no worse than others I'd read. And I agree, the lesbian sex scenes were very loving, and felt right. BTW, Waters is considered a 'gay lit' author, and in the past her books have been hidden away in the gay lit section of bookstores. This one, and Tipping the Velvet, thank goodness has brought her out of the closet so to speak, and more and more people are reading this excellent author (I just hate those genre shelves, and wish stores would just shelf fiction by last names)

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Post by Telynor » Wed September 2nd, 2009, 5:07 am

I loved reading Fingersmith, and none of Ms. Waters novels yet hold a candle to it in terms of quality. I think the earlier poster had it right about the lesbian vs. heterosexual sex, and how it was used was wonderfully handled. The collection creeped me right out, I knew that part was coming (being raised by a pedophile does tend to make one sensitive to that sort of thing), and there were scenes where I had to put the book down and walk away for a while til I could calm down. Let's just say it was a very cathartic book for me to read.

But O! the language -- I could see some sequences so played out in my head, that I found myself doodling scenes from the book. And the imagery of the gloves and that forbidding house. The Meaning of Night had much the same on me as well, but in a different fashion.

Not to mention the characters. It's one of those books that has earned a permament spot on my keeper shelf.

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Post by Leo62 » Wed September 2nd, 2009, 4:03 pm

[quote=""Telynor""]I loved reading Fingersmith, and none of Ms. Waters novels yet hold a candle to it in terms of quality. [/quote]
Telynor - have you read The Little Stranger yet? I thought it equalled Fingersmith both in term of quality and sheer wonderful gothic strangeness, though the style is very different.

[quote=""Ash""] BTW, Waters is considered a 'gay lit' author, and in the past her books have been hidden away in the gay lit section of bookstores. This one, and Tipping the Velvet, thank goodness has brought her out of the closet so to speak, and more and more people are reading this excellent author (I just hate those genre shelves, and wish stores would just shelf fiction by last names)[/quote]
Hear hear! I think it's an insult to the writers to ghettoise them in this way. Thank goodness it seems to be (slowly) going out of fashion...

The more I think about Fingersmith, the more I see parallels with Oliver Twist. I don't think it's an accident that she mentions OT on the very first page of the book... it's kinda like OT's dark sister, with Mrs Sucksby as Fagin, Gentleman as Bill Sikes, Sue as the Artful Dodger and Maud as Oliver :D

And Dickens was famous for making people faint at his readings too. ;)
Last edited by Leo62 on Wed September 2nd, 2009, 4:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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