Third time's a charm!
Dec. 3rd, 2007 09:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
blodeueddHad a little scare, there, after writing all this, when my computer suddenly decided, for no apparent reason, that there were "No wireless networks within range".
So, how about a book for today? My disjointed thoughts on
Strangers In Paradise (by Terry Moore)
Ooh, how far the mighty have fallen. In this case, how far this mightily-liked-by-me* series fell after volume 8 or so. Volume 19, the last of the series, finally ties up the loose ends that had been dragging along since... forever, really. Of course, what we've all been wondering (or not) from the beginning, was whether or not Francine would finally accept Katchoo's love, and whether Katchoo would finally get tired of waiting for Francine to make up her mind and go make babies with David. If you thought it was either one or the other, allow me to tell you that you were wrong, in what feels to me like the biggest cop-out ever.
From the very beginning of the series, it's clear we're meant to root for Katchoo and Francine, even though David's a nice guy. Then, while Francine spends volume after volume waffling about the idea of loving a woman -- not to say it isn't a legitimate feeling, what with her always having dreamt of a husband and family, it's just that it gets old after a while -- and Katchoo sits around waiting, we learn that David may be a Nice Guy now, but he has a dark past. Around this time, Katchoo's past is catching up with her. Also, everyone is a former Parker Girl. Or an FBI agent. Or possibly both.
During this time, Francine is confused about her feelings (as usual) and goes back to Tennessee to think things over, but ends up meeting a doctor, marrying him, and getting pregnant. Katchoo takes this rather badly (AND FRANCINE IS SURPRISED?!), deciding to run off to Hawaii with David. This was near the end of volume 12? 14? Whatever, we're meant to believe that they're off being lovey-dovey (on David's part) and settling (on Katchoo's part). Later on, we learn that they in fact only had sex once, because Katchoo is not above a pity-fuck.
Notice how I'm not even addressing the ridiculous retconning (a.k.a. "David's Story") that "explains" why David changed his birth (i.e. Japanese) surname to a Chinese one, and conveniently forgets that his elder sister went by that same Chinese name, when in the flashback she is clearly shown to look down on anything and anyone Chinese. Notice also how I'm not addressing that bizarre mostly-text segment in which Francine's future daughter rewrites the past so that her mother and Katchoo can live happily ever after.
At any rate, things just go on in circles for the last four volumes or so. Francine regrets her marriage, but doesn't do anything about it; Katchoo mourns what she never had with Francine, but fails to move on; David wishes he had more with Katchoo, but is willing to accept whatever crumbs she'll offer.
Oh, and did I mention Casey? That giggly bimbo, Freddy Femur's ex-wife, managed to turn into the most reasonable character of the lot (along with Tambi, even though the idea of herraping forcibly seducing making David an offer he can't refuse had me in stitches -- seriously, woman!), or at least the one with the most self-respect, common sense, and humour. At least coming from her, the "Let's have a baby with David!" idea sounded in-character, even though she can't do it herself, whereas from Katchoo, the same desire can only be read as... I don't even know, momentary insanity when she learns David is dying? At least Casey develops as a character, which is more than I can say about many others. The shocking (!) revelation that she's actually with the FBI, however, disappointed me greatly, and made it seem as though all her personal growth was meaningless, since she'd presumably been acting all along. On top of that, it just reinforced the ridiculousness of having almost every single new person Katchoo meets or befriends during the series (starting with David!) secretly involved with the mob (or syndicate, or yakuza, or whatever) and/or with the FBI.
And seriously, David survived a plane crash, for gods' sake, not to mention being related to Darcy Qin-Parker (yeah, notice the Qin? notice how totally not a Japanese name it is? and how there would be absolutely no reason for Darcy to adopt it except that the author changed gears midway through?) and the sole heir to what is supposed to be a powerful yakuza faction, only to be killed by a brain tumour. I might have respected his decision to eschew the experimental procedure more if I'd respected him more to begin with, but he was one of those annoyingly spineless characters that get on my nerves. I understand that he was trying to leave his former life behind, but his occasional mumblings about God seemed insincere (though I blame to author for this) after the first couple of times. To escape a life of evil, he chose to retreat and ignore it, instead of actively trying to work against it, which is a valid choice, I suppose, but I was hoping for a little more heroism.
My biggest complaint, however, is that the only way the author found to FINALLY get Francine and Katchoo together was to have A) Francine's husband cheat on her (because Francine, though miserable, wouldn't leave him since she was pregnant) and B) David die, thus freeing Katchoo from any guilt about being unable to return his love. I guess that this way, readers don't have to feel sorry for Brad, because he cheated, so he's evil, even though Francine should never have married him to begin with -- but that's still no excuse his for cheating -- or David, because gets to have a final few months of constant sex with Katchoo AND Casey, because apparently no one in their universe has ever heard of this thing called FREEZING that you can do to sperm, you know, in case you need it later. It's just much more fun to exhaust a dying man. And the other person we don't have to feel sorry for is Casey, because she's an FBI agent, so she has a whole other life to go back to! Right? After all, she's only been hanging around these guys for the past ten years or so.
Incidentally, another reason I really wish Casey hadn't turned out to be undercover was that I was hoping for some exploration of the Katchoo-Casey relationship**, and what it would become after David's death. They were friends before, lovers (I guess? Or at least they shared a bed with David, if nothing else) for a while. What would have happened then? Either they would have clung to each other, Casey perhaps becoming a substitute for Francine, or they would have parted ways because the memories were too painful.
Oh yeah, and one other thing? All those songs by "Griffin Silver" scattered throughout the story since the very beginning? Lame. I read them at first, but was quickly bored by them. They were a distraction from the main text. Plus, they weren't very good.
My final verdict: Volume 19 was just as silly as the preceding ones, but I'll give it a 6 out of 10, because of my lingering affection for what could have been so good and also, Katchoo and Francine FINALLY get together, because apparently, being pregnant has given Katchoo another reason to wait around some more for Francine to finally make up her damn mind.
* In spite of the fact that for the first few volumes, neither the author, nor the letterer (assuming it was a different person) nor the proofreader (if, indeed, there was one) was aware of how to correctly use "it's" and "its" and of the fact that "its' " does not exist.
** Yes, I was still hoping. Hoping that the ending would redeem what had become a silly soap-opera, even though the author seemed to want it to be a dramatic mob story.
Please note that this was written without consulting any of the books or any other source aside from my own memory. I may have gotten some bits mixed up, but that's more a reflection of my failure to care than anything else.
So, how about a book for today? My disjointed thoughts on
Strangers In Paradise (by Terry Moore)
Ooh, how far the mighty have fallen. In this case, how far this mightily-liked-by-me* series fell after volume 8 or so. Volume 19, the last of the series, finally ties up the loose ends that had been dragging along since... forever, really. Of course, what we've all been wondering (or not) from the beginning, was whether or not Francine would finally accept Katchoo's love, and whether Katchoo would finally get tired of waiting for Francine to make up her mind and go make babies with David. If you thought it was either one or the other, allow me to tell you that you were wrong, in what feels to me like the biggest cop-out ever.
From the very beginning of the series, it's clear we're meant to root for Katchoo and Francine, even though David's a nice guy. Then, while Francine spends volume after volume waffling about the idea of loving a woman -- not to say it isn't a legitimate feeling, what with her always having dreamt of a husband and family, it's just that it gets old after a while -- and Katchoo sits around waiting, we learn that David may be a Nice Guy now, but he has a dark past. Around this time, Katchoo's past is catching up with her. Also, everyone is a former Parker Girl. Or an FBI agent. Or possibly both.
During this time, Francine is confused about her feelings (as usual) and goes back to Tennessee to think things over, but ends up meeting a doctor, marrying him, and getting pregnant. Katchoo takes this rather badly (AND FRANCINE IS SURPRISED?!), deciding to run off to Hawaii with David. This was near the end of volume 12? 14? Whatever, we're meant to believe that they're off being lovey-dovey (on David's part) and settling (on Katchoo's part). Later on, we learn that they in fact only had sex once, because Katchoo is not above a pity-fuck.
Notice how I'm not even addressing the ridiculous retconning (a.k.a. "David's Story") that "explains" why David changed his birth (i.e. Japanese) surname to a Chinese one, and conveniently forgets that his elder sister went by that same Chinese name, when in the flashback she is clearly shown to look down on anything and anyone Chinese. Notice also how I'm not addressing that bizarre mostly-text segment in which Francine's future daughter rewrites the past so that her mother and Katchoo can live happily ever after.
At any rate, things just go on in circles for the last four volumes or so. Francine regrets her marriage, but doesn't do anything about it; Katchoo mourns what she never had with Francine, but fails to move on; David wishes he had more with Katchoo, but is willing to accept whatever crumbs she'll offer.
Oh, and did I mention Casey? That giggly bimbo, Freddy Femur's ex-wife, managed to turn into the most reasonable character of the lot (along with Tambi, even though the idea of her
And seriously, David survived a plane crash, for gods' sake, not to mention being related to Darcy Qin-Parker (yeah, notice the Qin? notice how totally not a Japanese name it is? and how there would be absolutely no reason for Darcy to adopt it except that the author changed gears midway through?) and the sole heir to what is supposed to be a powerful yakuza faction, only to be killed by a brain tumour. I might have respected his decision to eschew the experimental procedure more if I'd respected him more to begin with, but he was one of those annoyingly spineless characters that get on my nerves. I understand that he was trying to leave his former life behind, but his occasional mumblings about God seemed insincere (though I blame to author for this) after the first couple of times. To escape a life of evil, he chose to retreat and ignore it, instead of actively trying to work against it, which is a valid choice, I suppose, but I was hoping for a little more heroism.
My biggest complaint, however, is that the only way the author found to FINALLY get Francine and Katchoo together was to have A) Francine's husband cheat on her (because Francine, though miserable, wouldn't leave him since she was pregnant) and B) David die, thus freeing Katchoo from any guilt about being unable to return his love. I guess that this way, readers don't have to feel sorry for Brad, because he cheated, so he's evil, even though Francine should never have married him to begin with -- but that's still no excuse his for cheating -- or David, because gets to have a final few months of constant sex with Katchoo AND Casey, because apparently no one in their universe has ever heard of this thing called FREEZING that you can do to sperm, you know, in case you need it later. It's just much more fun to exhaust a dying man. And the other person we don't have to feel sorry for is Casey, because she's an FBI agent, so she has a whole other life to go back to! Right? After all, she's only been hanging around these guys for the past ten years or so.
Incidentally, another reason I really wish Casey hadn't turned out to be undercover was that I was hoping for some exploration of the Katchoo-Casey relationship**, and what it would become after David's death. They were friends before, lovers (I guess? Or at least they shared a bed with David, if nothing else) for a while. What would have happened then? Either they would have clung to each other, Casey perhaps becoming a substitute for Francine, or they would have parted ways because the memories were too painful.
Oh yeah, and one other thing? All those songs by "Griffin Silver" scattered throughout the story since the very beginning? Lame. I read them at first, but was quickly bored by them. They were a distraction from the main text. Plus, they weren't very good.
My final verdict: Volume 19 was just as silly as the preceding ones, but I'll give it a 6 out of 10, because of my lingering affection for what could have been so good and also, Katchoo and Francine FINALLY get together, because apparently, being pregnant has given Katchoo another reason to wait around some more for Francine to finally make up her damn mind.
* In spite of the fact that for the first few volumes, neither the author, nor the letterer (assuming it was a different person) nor the proofreader (if, indeed, there was one) was aware of how to correctly use "it's" and "its" and of the fact that "its' " does not exist.
** Yes, I was still hoping. Hoping that the ending would redeem what had become a silly soap-opera, even though the author seemed to want it to be a dramatic mob story.
Please note that this was written without consulting any of the books or any other source aside from my own memory. I may have gotten some bits mixed up, but that's more a reflection of my failure to care than anything else.
