#tlt readthru

[dashingtothestars]

Latest update on my first-time readthru of Gideon the Ninth:

I made it to the Griddlehark pool scene. I have not stopped thinking about the Griddlehark pool scene since reading it last night.

I think what's hitting the hardest is just how succinctly this chapter recontextualizes so much else about Gideon and Harrow and how they've been dancing around one another up until this point in the story. This scene finally gives us the Why thru Harrow's confession, and god it crushed me when I finally understood how all the pieces fell into place...So THAT'S why there aren't any other children in the Ninth House...sheesh...

I knew that GtN was a book that required the reader to be okay with being confused, but it really is rewarding to let the story run its course and guide you to the truths in due time instead of being impatient and frustrated by the mystery. That's the fun of it!!

Also I'm dropping this quote here because it hasn't left my mind since reading it:

"I've lived my whole wretched life at your mercy, yours alone, and God knows I deserve to die at your hand. You are my only friend. I am undone without you." (356)

Absolutely soul crushing. Harrowhark Nonagesimus, they could never make me hate you.

[dashingtothestars]

paper mentions in TLK tangent I keep noticing how Gideon's narration in Gideon the Ninth makes note of the value of paper--how she keeps pointing out when letters are written on real paper VS something of lesser quality. I noticed it first at the very start, when Harrowhark offers Gideon the Cohort letter to persuade Gideon not to ditch the Ninth House so quickly. "...Harrowhark drew a fresh piece of parchment. It was paper--real paper!--with the official letterhead of the House of the Ninth on the top. She must have raided the coffers for that one" (p. 27) And then just recently while I was reading further (I'm up to chapter 15 now!!), I picked up on this little snippet when Magnus the Fifth invites Griddlehark both to his anniversary dinner thingy: "It was a plain, heavy envelope--real paper, creamy brown." (p. 166) and also: "...she withdrew a piece of flimsy--less impressive than the envelope, but who barring the Emperor would use real paper for a letter" (p. 166) So there's definitely an ongoing acknowledgement of the value of real paper going on here, one that Gideon seems fascinated by. The question I'm still trying to figure out is: Why? What's made paper so precious that Gideon keeps pointing it out whenever she encounters real paper? I'm assuming it's as simple as: the Ninth House is mainly stationed underground, and having been raised there her entire life, Gideon has had little interaction with trees. Where would she have had the opportunity? But then it gets curious again, because Gideon notes that only the Emperor would be able to use real paper for his letters instead of anybody from any of the Houses, not just the Ninth House in its underground environment. So what's up with that?? Why the scarcity of paper in this planetary system? I think part of what's got me so intrigued by this tiny little detail about paper is how it reinforces the Emperor's authority and might in the story: Of course the Most Powerful Wielder of Life and Death in the story so far is the only one allowed to use paper parchment made from once-living trees so liberally, enough to send real letters to all Nine Houses and invite the heirs to come together. People like Harrow have to loot for their paper, and people like Magnus can only afford to use the real paper for the envelope of their invitation, not the parchment within. Or, y'know. Maybe I'm over-theorizing here, and this Emperor guy just lives somewhere with a shit ton of trees. Good for him!

[dashingtothestars]

Last time that I liveblogged about my Gideon the Ninth readthru, I was only around 4 chapters in. I'm 10 chapters in now!! I wish I could slow down and write up more specific thoughts each chapter, but damn, this book is just too damn easy to get immersed into! Once I'm sat down to read, I tear thru these chapters! At this point in the story, Gideon and Harrow have made it to the House of the First. I finally get to meet the heirs of the other Houses!! Assorted thoughts on Dulcinea as a character and Gideon's general narration so far:

Not sure if I'm supposed to be, but I'm wary of Dulcinea and her intentions. I can't get a read on whether she's sincere in her interest in Gideon, or if she's trying to sus out the competition...She's keenly perceptive when it comes to figuring out other people, and I can see that Gideon at least was alert enough to realize that too. Chapter 10--where Gideon encounters Dulcinea in a garden room--even ended with Gideon's narration noting that Gideon had "said too much already [to Dulcinea], and all without speaking a single word" (p. 108). Not even Gideon's self-imposed silence could keep Dulci from figuring her out!! There's something gently disarming about Dulcinea, and she seems really well-practiced in using her charm to learn what she wants to know about others. Will she even end up being significant beyond these opening scenes of all the heirs at the First House together? Am I distrusting her for nothing?? I can't figure out how big a role she's going to play yet! She's named after the character with the same name from Don Quixote, who was an idealized fairytale love interest made up by the protagonist Don Quixote himself. So I'm curious if her tale is going to end up paralleling her namesake by having Gideon's (or perhaps the reader's) perception of her be far more ideal than the truth. SPEAKING OF GIDEON!! Seeing her explore her new environment at the First House and investigate the other necromancers and cavaliers has been sooo interesting (and also a little sad, in a way?). My heart goes out for Gideon because of just how isolated she was growing up in the Ninth House...given that it sounds like Harrow is her only peer close in age (because something happened to the other youth in Ninth House, I think? Didn't they all die out or something? I think I'm going to learn more about that later in the book). Now, all of sudden, Gideon is surrounded by peers who are not staggeringly older than she is like the nuns and guards of the Ninth House all were--she finally has other young adults around her, and yet she can't fully enjoy the opportunity for connection to others yet because of all the stakes at play! How unfair is that!! Gideon's narration has so much curiosity and wonder in it, amongst all the snide and snarky commentary, and it's sad to have to watch her still feel out of place and Wrong even after leaving the Ninth House like she's always dreamed of doing. Will any of these new characters from the other houses end up befriending Gideon, or will it be Gideon & Harrow vs everybody else for the entire book?? Guess I'll have to keep reading to find out! If you've read this far, feel free to ask me more specific questions if there's anything else you want me to discuss from my readthru so far! 🦴