Friday, July 21, 2017

Read-Along: Naamah's Curse by Jacqueline Carey, End

Welcome to my long-delayed final post for the read-along of Jacqueline Carey’s Naamah’s Curse.  This week’s questions were provided by Lynn of Lynn’s Books, and they cover to the end of the novel.  The final read-along of the Kushiel’s Legacy series, of the novel Naamah’s Blessing, is beginning next week, if anyone is interested in getting involved!  The schedule is as follows:

Week 1: Chapters 1-15, July 24th, hosted by Dab of Darkness
Week 2: Chapters 16-29, July 31st, hosted by Dab of Darkness
Week 3: Chapters 30-42, Aug 7th, hosted by Books Without Any Pictures
Week 4: Chapters 43-57, August 14th, hosted by Lynn's Book Blog
Week 5: Chapters 58-71, August 21st, hosted by Tethyan Books
Week 6: Chapters 72-END, August 28th, hosted by Dab of Darkness

And now, to the final questions for Naamah’s Curse, beware of spoilers of the novel below!

1.) What did you make of the mission to retrieve the black diamond and what do you actually make of the black diamond and whether it could be used for good?

Everything seemed to go pretty smoothly.  When they finally got the diamond, it reminded me a bit of the scene with Galadriel refusing the One Ring.  The diamond is not inherently evil, but it seems to be so in practice.  I don’t think anything that is used to override other people’s free will can be used for good.  

2.)The Spider Queen and Amrita - what were your final thoughts on both of them - did you have sympathy for Jagrati?  Do you think Amrita can affect change in the caste system?

I do have some sympathy for Jagrati, since I think there really wasn’t any way she could have improved her life within the system.  I don’t disagree with her leaving society and making a new life for herself, but I do disagree with the particular life she chose.  Having experienced pain does not give anyone a free pass to give pain and death to others.  I don’t see them as on the same tier as the evil of Darsanga, though, where they were seriously just trying to be as horrible as possible.  

Amrita’s plan to remove the untouchable caste went shockingly smoothly.  There were a few mild protesters, but it seemed like pretty much everyone fell into line with the new order.  I wonder if it went that way because it is a small, isolated village, where the people’s loyalty is more to the personality of their leader than to their religion.  I don’t expect this change to be widespread or even permanent, though I admit I’m biased by real-world history.  It is good that she is trying to change the world for the better, though!    

3.)Moirin and Bao - they’ve made peace with each other.  Did you finally forgive Bao?  Do you think they’ve reached an understanding that will work for them?

I think Bao is really just not my sort of person, and he still hasn’t given a reasonable excuse for randomly marrying another woman.  It was good to see them get back together and work out their relationship, though.

One thing I found really odd was how conservative Moirin is about marriage.  She herself is not well-suited to monogamy, and she was raised alone in a cave.  She spent a fair amount of time in Terre d’Ange, where it is pretty common to have a primary partner in addition to other lovers.  Is Moirin’s fear about being a ‘bad wife’ all coming from her trauma with Cillian?  It doesn’t seem relevant to anything Bao has expressed in his expectation for their relationship.  I mean, he certainly hasn’t been physically loyal, either.  Moirin seems to be exactly the kind of wife Bao wants, so I was a little baffled by her worry.

3.)Finally - any predictions for where the journey will take us next? Can you see a purpose in Moirin’s diadh-anam??

It looks like the next book will resolve the issue with Raphael and the demon, as well as finally sending Moirin and Bao off to the New World!  I hope Moirin also gets a chance to introduce her new husband to her mother and father, in between the adventures.  I’m not sure what’s going on with Jehanne, but I hope she gets to move on to the afterlife when everything is finally settled.  I don’t see any over-arching theme with Moirin’s diadh-anam yet, but maybe that will come clear when we see her next tasks.

Other Thoughts:

--It was a bit sad that the lower-caste workers were against abolishing the untouchables caste, but I can see where they were coming from. I bet a lot of the attitudes toward untouchables will now shift to the new lowest caste.  At least Amrita is also trying to implement a kind of inter-caste social mobility to combat this.

--I wonder if Bao is going to have problems with drugs in the future.  I get the impression that it’s often a bit harder to beat a drug addiction than simply deciding one day that you don’t need it anymore.

--Was anybody else a little puzzled that the Falconer did basically nothing?  He had an impressive villain name and everything.

--We’ve got confirmation that the Falconer has zero interest in anyone who has ever given birth.  But why?  That seems like a weird hang-up to have never explain.

--I’ve been noticing that a lot of the changes Moirin is making in the world around her are going to be transient.  I mean, the caste system is still an issue today, and obviously gunpowder is eventually going to be discovered.  It’s a little sad to know that her actions will be undone.

2 comments:

  1. Yes! I also thought of Galadriel refusing the One Ring as well.

    Yep. I think the lower castes felt diminished by having the Untouchable Caste removed. I agree that their petty ire will transfer to the new lowest caste.

    What is up with that? The Falconer was pretty much just a place holder. But the focus for most of this book has been on the ladies so I suspect this was done on purpose. And that is an odd hangup. Perhaps the Falconer had a wife/concubine who had a really stretched out vagina after giving birth so he assumes all ladies are like that after giving birth.

    Yes, Moirin's efforts appear transient to us but she couldn't know that in her time and place. And I feel that in our larger world, that a person can step outside of the caste system even if it takes great effort for some.

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  2. That's a good point--maybe it was trying intentionally to make us think the Falconer was the main villain, so we would be surprised when it was all about Jagrati.

    Yeah, the caste system is, I think, illegal in the current day, though I have heard it still has an impact. I think the biggest barrier to socioeconomic mobility in most countries is probably capitalism now, rather than religion.

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