- Do you think Strike could have inadvertently killed Bristow if Robin hadn't stopped him?
- This is the first time we see Strike seriously hurt his leg. It is interesting that, even though he is not so injured that he can't wear the prothesis, he does go to the doctor. He seems a lot more resistant to it in later books, particularly in books two and four. Is it only because he had already been to the hospital for the stab wound, and was therefore more amenable to a follow-up. or does he become more resistant to medical help as his career progresses?
- I really love the scene with Strike and Jonah in the pub, and how they connect as fellow soldiers. This is another Book 1-4 echo that could be picked up in Book 7 (or when the series winds up in Book 10: someone (Joanh, Izzy) coming into a windfall of cash but being atypically unexcited about it. It is even possible that the "someone" is Strike himself, finally accepting his old child support fund from Rokeby.
- As much as I love the Green Dress, I must admit being a bit put off by the extravagance of the gesture. This is a nearly three thousand pound dress; that could well be a month's salary for Robin. I can't imagine what I would ever do with a clothing item that expensive, or why I would want to own such a thing. And I know we are supposed to smile at Strike's poor gift-wrapping ability, but who stuffs a three thousand pound dress into a kit bag? I have never purchased a clothing item anywhere close to that price, but the most expensive things I've ever bought (wedding dresses, academic regalia, mother of the bride dress) have all come in a garment bag. A place like Vashti is going to wrap up anything it sells pretty carefully before it leaves the store. Even if it is "reasonably priced" by Vashti standards, at the very least they are going to put it in a nice box or shopping bag with tissue paper. Strike may not understand women's clothing, but as a military guy he knows what a dress uniform is; he's going to be at least as careful with a dress that expensive.
- Matthew says that it is up to Robin what she does, but we know that her low salary, much more than the dangers of the job, is what will eventually become a point of contention between them. Of course, we now know that Strike could have the financial means to pay Robin more if he would take the Rokeby child support. He wouldn't have to necessarily spend huge chunks of it, but it would be what they both say they want in Lethal White: a healthy enough bank balance to see them through the lean times. Of course, financial security would make the next few books less interesting, but I can't help but wonder what Robin, after her marriage breakdown and her willingness to live in a box room in order to keep working with Strike, thought when she found out that financial safety next was there for the asking.
- Thinking back to the first time I read this book, I can remember really hoping Strike and Robin would be platonic friends, rather than romantic partners at this point. I hadn't yet given up on Matthew. Had you? What was the breaking point?
That wraps up The Cuckoo's Calling! Tune in next week for the first 25 chapters of The Silkworm. I'll cover the first 13 on Monday: the beginning through the Roper Chard party.
I completely agree on the green dress spend! I was thinking it was like a thousand pounds until my most recent reread and found the price shocking for his situation! I think it shows us his unguarded gift giving nature for someone he truly appreciates or cares for but Robin was a special circumstance because she was leaving so he wouldn’t have to deal with any of the things he fears emotionally from relationships. He didn’t even want to see her open it, or see her again after she did! It’s a real contrast to every other present he gives her up until the Ritz where he let down some of his safe guards around the relationship. My guess is he only ever gave gifts like this to Charlotte in the past, so some day in the future there is going to be a real whopper of a present for Robin that will knock all our socks off.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting. I have argued before that the "different world" of the ultra-rich is the equivalent of the magical world of Harry Potter and that Strike, like Harry, is caught between the two. He was raised in poverty, but caught glimpses of this world through the occasional treats he got through the Rokeby child support, just as Harry occasionally experienced cloaked figures bowing to him in shops. Now, his business regularly puts him in contact with people like Ciara and Guy who know his father better than he does, just like Harry, once restored to the magical world, regularly encounters people who knew his parents and Harry's own reason for fame.
DeleteThe word "magic" is mentioned four times in CC. The first is when Robin connects her luck in finding herself in a detective office and connecting it to the "magic" of Matthew's proposal, even though the two are unrelated. The other three times are specifically associated with wealth and privilege: the expensive green dress that "magically" transforms Robin's figure, the "magic" cards Lula used to give Rochelle occasional breaks from her poverty and the doors of Uzi that "magically" opened to admit Strike and Ciara.
At the end, Strike gives her the green dress and the job she's always wanted and the expensive green dress: essentially gifting her with the two things she's connected with magic. Matthew, of course, hates both, and it will take Robin until LW to fully appreciate that Matthew, like Petunia, cannot be a part of her world.
I have always thought that the green dress was rewrapped intentionally (by Rowling) so that it could 'slither' thus reminding us of the grass snake and serpentine goddess. Robin being a 'snake of temptation' in Strike's agency's Garden of Eden. Will she be the unwitting downfall of the agency, that has been rather portentously set up by their congratulatory toast at the Ritz?
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