Nigredo storylines amid albedo imagery: the how and why of the oddly inverted alchemy of The Hallmarked Man.

I actually started this post way back in my initial reading of The Hallmarked Man;  occasionally making notes as idea occurred to me, but it quickly became clear to me that it was going to take multiple re-reads and in-depth consideration to make any sense of this.  As is common in Rowling/Galbraith books, expectations were regularly subverted, but the results were both intriguing and ultimately quite satisfying. 

I went into The Hallmarked Man thinking this would be a second albedo volume, following The Running Grave, which was clearly albedo with all of the baptisms, rivers, rain and cleansing showers we saw, along with Strike's own self-improvement, with his weight loss and smoking cessation. There were huge hints of this from the author's Tweets, which showed us silver ships and white swans. We were told that Dean Martin's "Silver Bells" would feature, suggesting Christmas, with snow and twinkling white lights. Even the title referred to a "hallmark"-- a stamp indicating the degree of purity in a precious metal. The scene was indeed set for a silverly-white, cold and snowy journey to purification, similar to what was seen in The Half-Blood Prince and Catching Fire. 

Another reason I was fully expecting  albedo was that, after Strike's nigredo-duo of Troubled Blood and The Ink Black Heart, and his albedo in The Running Grave, another albedo would fit well with the "extended play" model proposed by Kathleen on Hogwartsprofessor several years ago as a means of stretching a seven book series out to ten.  

Did that come to pass?  Well, not exactly.....

The Hallmarked Man paperback published: were there any errors corrected?

The news today from the Galbraith website is that The Hallmarked Man paperback is available for purchase.  To date, I have not bought any of the paperbacks, though I get the hardbacks and audiobooks on the day of publication.  One thing I am always curious about, though, is to what extent errors in the original text get corrected in later editions. I am always wondering if we'll get another substantial re-write like we did when Australian Vashti-saleswoman Mia Thompson was added to Cuckoo's Calling. 

If anyone out there is reading the paperback and notices any error corrections, please her me know either in the comments or in the direct messages.  The errors noted in THM to date can be found here:

General errors noted by myself and others:  

Substantial mix-up in dates and times in 96-98. 

Another list of errors and why I think they weakened THM as a whole. 

There are also lots of timeline inconsistencies highlighted in red in the timelines I have prepared for Robin and Strike's lives. 

Please let me know what, if anything, you find. 

Having trouble subscribing or commenting?  Try the Substack Sister site.  All content is free!

New Sleep Tight Evangeline Twitter Header, Robert Raikes Statue: Seven good reasons to be excited.

My friend and occasional fellow blogger Kurt quickly identified JKR/RG's new twitter header today as a statue of Robert Raikes at London's Victoria Embankment Gardens.  Robert joins the cities of York and  Portsmouth, some creepy dolls, a treehouse and a charm bracelet chock full of clues as header-hints given to date to the next book in the Strike series, which the author claims is 60% complete at Chapter 74.  Let's take a look at this latest clue and some reasons to be excited.  

Travel as a Strike fan: The things you notice.

 I am just back from a fantastic trip to Germany and Denmark, with day trips into the Czech Republic and Sweden. When you take a trip like that after months of immersion in the latest Strike book, it can't help but color your perspective. At the Gemaldegalerie in Berlin, for instance, two paintings jumped out at me. 

The first is this Marriage of Cupid and Psyche, by Pompeo Girolama Batoni. A few interesting facts to note: 

• Psyche's face is modeled after Batoni's wife, said to be one of the most beautiful women in Rome.
• That is Venus assisting her son in placing the ring on Psyche's finger, while Hymen, the god of marriage supports Psyche. 
• Zephyr, the west wind who orginally carried Psyche to Cupid, is blowing a blast of air on the happy couple. 
• All the gods are positioned on clouds, while the mortal Psyche stands on the floor. 

What struck me was the fact that this is one of the few depictions of the marriage I have seen that shows Cupid as a child, the way he is often depicted when alone. Not only do they appear to have the opposite age issue that Strike and Robin have, Psyche appears to be drifting dangerously close to Tim Ashcroft territory. Compare Batoni's painting to the one Galbraith tweeted. 

Quick-Quote Quills and odd Cupid/Psyche allusions: Myth-retelling or signpost reminders?

Greetings from sunny-if-chilly Auburn, Alabama, where I have had the privilege of spending the weekend with my extended family celebrating my nephew's university graduation. I had a little time to start putting some Cupid and Psyche thoughts together, so I will at least try to get this long-planned post started, though finishing it may have to wait until I am home in Virginia. 

Minor note:  I have learned that a Quick-Quotes Quill -wielding website has misrepresented my overall take on The Hallmarked Man, claiming I characterized it as "a real stinker" and "the worst book ever."  After over three decades as a PhD student, post-doc and tenured university professor, I have learned to be more amused that irritated when this sort of thing happens. Even the best readers get careless sometimes, so focused on inventing a straw-man antithesis to their own position that they gloss over helpfully highlighted summaries, such as that which appeared in the final post of my Real-Time Re-read. 

I will admit, however, to being a bit perplexed as to why someone would believe me so foolish as to spend eight months writing over 70 lengthy blog posts about a novel which I found so utterly without merit. 

Ah, well. Uva uvam vivendo varia fit. On to Cupid and Psyche!

Taking an interbook break: and a special announcement.

I had tremendous fun with the real-time re-read of The Hallmarked Man, and picked up a lot of great comments, new subscribers and new insights in the process. Though it didn't move THM out of last place for me, I did gain a new appreciation of the mental health challenges that both our protagonists have been facing. 

I've been pondering my next blogging steps and concluded that I need to take a break from regular blogging for a time. I am working on a post on all the Cupid and Psyche pointers that were seen in THM, and puzzling over why so many of them point at Strike rather than Robin, but I clearly need some time to compose something coherent out of those natterings. I had thought of doing a read-through through C.S. Lewis's Til We Have Faces, but I see from the headlines that Nick and John are already discussing that at hogwartsprofessor and those two know collectively more about the Inklings than I ever will.* And, while I am eager to do another read-through of Career of Evil, one of the books that I did not re-read in preparation for THM, but which turned out to have multiple connections, I am not quite up to plunging into my second-least-favorite book of the series after so many weeks poring over THM. 

That, plus the multiple work, travel, non-blogging writing projects and family obligations currently on my plate, means I am going to step away from regular blogging for the next few months, and possibly through the summer. I'll continue to keep an eye on social media for any new Evangeline hints, and comment if something amazing like the charm bracelet arises. But, my life will change in a major way in early August, when I become a grandmother for the first time, so it seems wise to deprioritize blogging and focus on other aspects of my life, for now. 

I'll be back when I have time to say more.  Thank you, dear readers, for taking the Hallmarked Express with me for the last six months. 

*Note, I have neither read the posts nor watched their videos. so I can't say anything about what the discussion is like. 

The Hallmarked Man Real-Time Re-read Wrap-up: Was it better this time through? Yes, but it's still the worst in the series, and here's why.

A recent Reddit poll ranked The Hallmarked Man last of the eight Strike books, and, if I recall correctly, it wasn't a particularly close vote. A lot of THM fans insist, it's better when you re-read, and I think that is absolutely true. Then again, that's true of all of the Strike series, and RG/JKR's other works as well. Part of the huge success of the Harry Potter series can be attributed to the details uncovered as kids and adults read them again and again. One reason I think the Strike books will never hit that level of popularity is that they are marketed squarely in the mystery category. Many adults do not read whodunnits more than once, since the thrill for them is gone once you know whodunnit. 

I've read or listened to the earlier Strike books dozens of times. I've lost track of how many times I've re-read THM, but, given that I read each section at least 2-3 times when doing a detailed blog-through like the one I have just completed, it must be six or seven by now. Did THM improve on re-reading?  Yes, absolutely. Did it, for me, lift itself out of last place? No, it didn't.  For this summary I have re-read not the book but all of my detailed blog posts, from the Advent Adventure to the Real-time Re-read, for the purposes of summarizing what changed for me and what didn't.