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Wednesday, October 12, 2011

A Trick of the Light

by Louise Penny

I am a big fan of Louise Penny's and have loved all her books, so far.  I didn't like this one so much.  I know it was the language that kept getting in my way.  The characters, writing, story were fabulous but the heavy use of the f word kept getting in my way of settling comfortably into a mystery by my favorite author.  That said, the objectionable language did fit in with the story and it did make a point.

Three passages that caught my attention:
"Armand Gamache knew no good ever came from putting up walls.  What people mistook for safety was in fact captivity.  And few things thrived in captivity."

"Our lives, when we were drinking, were pretty complicated.  Pretty chaotic.  We got into all sorts of trouble.  It was a mess.  And this is all we ever wanted.  a quiet place in the bright sunshine.  But every day we drank we got further from it."  (probably true of most addictions)

"And he recognized it for what it was.  Chief Justice Thierry Pineault was pissing on him.  It was delicate, sophisticated, genteel, mannerly.  But it was still piss.  The problem with a pissing contest, as Gamache knew, was that what should have remained private became public."
I am looking forward to her next book.  If the f word is used as much as in that book, I'll probably quit reading this series.  I hope it's not because I love the characters, love Penny's story telling abilities and love the intricate mysteries.

This was my husband's favorite of the series.  Read his review on his blog, Live and Learn.