You know, what I'm mostly in awe of about this entry is your memory for detail. I don't come away with that from most books--I come away with themes, arcs, ideas--and I definitely didn't come away with that from A Thread of Grace, probably because the cast is so big. I agree with you to an extent that it's a shame so much is conveyed in dialogue, but on the other hand I think it's completely deliberate, an attempt to convey that these are lively, chattering people. You could do both, I suppose, but it would have altered the pacing of the book fairly radically.
It's interesting that Schramm's your favourite character; everything you say about him is true, and his arc is a brilliant examination of the possibility of redemption, but as a character he never quite came off the page for me (possibly if I'd made the Londo Mollari comparison he would have done--you're right, there's something there). For me, I think Claudette was the most interesting. Her arc was full of exaggeration, melodrama, but also, I think, moments that were really beautiful and felt honest. Renzo was great, but in hindsight perhaps a little too obvious.
On the overall merits of the book (my original, brief, thoughts here)--I have a lot of time for it. It's clearly not on the same level as The Sparrow (I think that book has a sense of clarity that Thread lacks; and ok, maybe that's deliberate, but it didn't grab me as much), but it's better than Children of God (which I didn't hate, just thought wholly unncessary).
And now I'm going to add you as a friend, if that's ok, because if there are going to be more character analyses like these I don't want to miss them. :)
no subject
It's interesting that Schramm's your favourite character; everything you say about him is true, and his arc is a brilliant examination of the possibility of redemption, but as a character he never quite came off the page for me (possibly if I'd made the Londo Mollari comparison he would have done--you're right, there's something there). For me, I think Claudette was the most interesting. Her arc was full of exaggeration, melodrama, but also, I think, moments that were really beautiful and felt honest. Renzo was great, but in hindsight perhaps a little too obvious.
On the overall merits of the book (my original, brief, thoughts here)--I have a lot of time for it. It's clearly not on the same level as The Sparrow (I think that book has a sense of clarity that Thread lacks; and ok, maybe that's deliberate, but it didn't grab me as much), but it's better than Children of God (which I didn't hate, just thought wholly unncessary).
And now I'm going to add you as a friend, if that's ok, because if there are going to be more character analyses like these I don't want to miss them. :)