The Maidens by Alex Michaelides
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
“Reading about life was no preparation for living it”
“My argument with so much of psychoanalysis is the preconception that suffering is a mistake, or a sign of weakness, or a sign even of illness. When in fact, possibly the greatest truths we know have come out of people’s suffering.”
“The childhood shows the man, As morning shows the day.”
“What if, like the Lady of Shalott, she stopped looking at life through a mirror – and turned, and stared at it directly?”
The Maidens is about a murder that occurs at Cambridge. A former student, Mariana, has a niece, Zoe, who currently attends the university. One night she receives a phone call from Zoe who seems upset as she thinks her roommate might be the murder victim. Mariana goes to the college for support and ends up being a bigger part of the investigation than she intends. Mariana is a group therapist who looks at things with that lens. She has a patient that causes issues and could be dangerous. There is a professor, Edward Fosca, who seems like a good candidate for the main suspect. There is a group of women called The Maidens that he teaches and the victim was part of that group. Then another victim is found from that same group. What is going on at this university? Who is the murderer? Will Mariana be able to figure it out before she becomes the next victim?
Alex Michaelides creates a mood of suspense while integrating fun connections with ancient culture. I loved the setting of an old university like Cambridge. It creates this sense of history and lore that permeates the novel. I felt transported to a different time even though the story takes place in the modern age. Mariana is a tough character to like. She seems like a pushover and some of her conclusions didn’t really at up like when she associated intelligence with trauma or that police onsite talking to the dean meant the victim could only be this one particular person. Also, why would she choose to run down an alley? I didn’t understand Mariana. Zoe was also unlikeable as she constantly came across as not liking her aunt and treating her badly. Edward is conceited and a little creepy. There are a lot of creepy men in this book…”men are not to be trusted.” The first person to be assumed a suspect (one of the few not creepy men) and the subsequent interview is where the book really grabbed my interest. Up until that point I was coasting along a lazy river but then this point of the book is where the rapids began. I was carried along at a nice clip, interested in finding out how it wrapped up. There was a scene where Gauloises cigarettes were mentioned which evoked a vivid memory of me smoking those in Paris. It brought a smile to my face. On the flip side, there was a description of watching your mother cry and I related fiercely with it. “It’s horrible watching your mother cry. You feel so impotent, so powerless.” I know it is pedantic of me but Alex used the term serial killer when only two murders happened whereas the definition includes 3 or more victims. He also missed an opportunity to really bring in the gay male fans. He described a guy on stage that was shirtless with the torso dripping in sweat but didn’t go any further in descriptive detail. He could have described the abs or muscles or something but nope. I love when I make connections between books. In this one, there was two points I wanted to call out. One is when the Goldberg Variations were brought up and I read The Gold-Bug Variations in college. I listened to Bach as well. The other was by the author himself in a self-referential moment. He brought in a character from another book, a book I actually read as well. It was cool and clever with a little wink implied. Some of the words I ran across that I liked were menis, Byronic, stygian, and anagnorisis. Alex did have me guessing on who the killer could be and I never guessed how it would wrap up. Though I didn’t like how it ended, it was a surprise. It was a little too weird and out there for me. This is exactly the type of book I would pick up because it referenced ancient cultures, murder, rituals, and mythology.
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Tag: London
Secret Secrets And The Lack Of Intrigue
“With our thoughts, we create the world.”
“’The human mind hates change…and the mind despises abandoning existing beliefs.’”
“’The right book at the right time can save your life.’”
The Secret of Secrets reunites us with Robert Langdon. This time he has a love interest with potential and the main topic deals with the mind. The story takes place mainly in Prague with a little bit in London and New York. It all starts with a brilliant scientist, her studies, and her manuscript. There are powerful forces involved, who will stop at nothing to prevent people from discovering a secret and letting the world in on this powerful knowledge. Robert Langdon finds himself opening his mind and willing to look at things with a new perspective. He is racing against a shadowy organization to prevent more deaths and save himself in the process. Will he be able to save the one he loves or will the clandestine forces succeed in silencing everyone, permanently?
I was so excited when I heard that a new Robert Langdon was being released. I loved the earlier books and I flew through those. I was so engrossed in them that I could not put them down. This time around I felt somewhat similarly but not close to the extent as before. I did want to keep reading and find out what was going on though. Dan Brown does have a way with creating suspense and enticing the reader to keep turning the page. He is a very entertaining author. However, this time around I felt a little let down. I didn’t like the Golem character as it was too “out there” for me. I am all about fantasy and sci-fi and mythology but not in this realistic context. It just didn’t fit for me. One thing I have always liked about Robert Langdon books was the puzzles, history, and secrets but I found that severely lacking in this book. I enjoy topics like when Langdon was thinking to himself about the usage and difference between the Rod of Asclepius and the caduceus. I also felt that this book didn’t have as much thought put into it. It felt rushed and lazy. I didn’t think of it before but there were several reused tropes like the protagonists being chased by a bad cop, a separate character (turns out to be connected) doing a lot of the dirty work, and a female that is right there alongside to help. It is also a little hard to believe after everything that Robert has been through that he wouldn’t be more skeptical and cautious. He just runs off without even thinking things through. It seems uncharacteristic. Some things I could see coming from a mile away too. A few things I predicted including the deciphering of a clue. I also felt that there were unrealistic scenes like pausing to just talk in an alcove while being chased by a madman. There was some interesting real-life information like experiments and theories that were referenced. I found these fascinating topics like retrocasuality, fractals, TMT, and habituation filtering throughout. I am just more interested in history, buildings, groups, and myths than the science, even though it can be very fascinating. There were some scary things brought up in this book too like In-Q-Tel. Who watches the watchers? Fun that the ambassador drives the same car as me! The word play on a specific page was so enjoyable! “Abomination of indolence…not only adroit, it brings propitious consolation.” I did find the name of this book a little pompous but describing the internet as a kind of nonlocal consciousness and the last page describing the Statue of Liberty was pretty cool. This is exactly the type of book that I would read just to complete the series.
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