So, my vow to savor the experience lasted about two days. Once I hit chapter 64 I pretty much couldn't stop. I sat up most of the night reading, finally couldn't keep my eyes open any more, fell asleep about 7 and woke up this morning to finish it. Wow is all I can say. I am going to go through my own notes for the full book before listening to any podcasts, just so I can keep by own ideas in my head, but I can't wait to start discussion with other fans.
Spoilers in Blue:
The double bombshells about Charlotte are probably what tipped me over the edge and kept me reading. First, her new bazillionaire boyfriend has her arrested for assault. It'a also enough to make me wish Strike had thought of that, oh, a decade or two ago. Then, we have the shock of her suicide in Chapter 64. I don't know when a book has move me to such a mixture of surprise, shock and relief. Half of me wanted to pour Strike several large whiskeys and commiserate with him, because we can absolutely understand the mixture of grief, guilt and relief that she must be feeling. The other half wante to put on some music and dance around Munchkinland.
I was touched by how all of Strike's loved ones, even the ones who loathed Charlotte and thought both Strike and the rest of the world would be better off without her in it, still expressed their sympathies.
I thought the detour to the tower, and subsequently to the church was one of the more moving scenes in the book, with Strike at least considering drawing comfort from, if not from faith itself, but through the rituals and religious symbols to which he was exposed as a child. Like the Graves, Strike frames Charlotte's suicide as the natural end of a long illness. The "suns rise and set" poem is Catullus 5. But Strike puts aside what he now sees as the "messed-up kid's" solace in the pagan poetry, and instead draws comfort from the Christian setting that surrounds him. In doing so, he comes to terms with his past with Leda, Charlotte and Lucy, which is what he needs to do before he can acknowledge that he does not just want, but needs Robin. If you would like to know who else is buried in Brompton Cemetery with Charlotte, check here.
Back to the beach and the drowning witnesses. This whole scene with the Heaton's and the Cox's was strange to me, with the people on the sofa serving as either s Greek-drama style chorus or a sit-com laugh track. There is, of course, a yapping dog to indicate another important clue nearby. And there are lots that we learn about, including the straw in the truck, the fact that Cherie was a strong swimmer, her "I could have stopped it" and her poking at the "seaweed" at the water's edge.
Luck was certainly with Robin on the search for the mother-of-pearl fish, and she is able to foil Becca's sabotage. Her wish to help Lin, even at risk to herself and her courage in Jonathan Wace's study makes it clear why he calls her "Artemis." Robin's revulsion to his unwanted touch was fully understandable and it is a credit to her courage that no panic attack was triggered. Has she even had one (other than the breakdown on the verge in LW) since she left the Flobberworm?
I was a bit surprised that age was the factor that Littlejohn was blackmailing Pat about. Strike finally uncovering his treachery and Littlejohn confessing his gambling issue was gratifying. The best news about this is that Carver's been forced out of the Met. I don't think we knew that.
Marion's red hair is clearly dyed and now has visible silver roots. Why wasn't she instructed to remove the dye at the same time Robin and Penny were? Robin's Hail Mary effort with Will in the Retreat room shows us she is serious about getting out. Unfortunately, we are only at the end of Part 5, so there's still some hardship to go.
Names
Leonard: "Lion's strength" Also Jonny Rokeby's middle name.
Shelly: "Ewe, little rock, rest, purity, meadow's edge" Multiple meanings, but I like the tongue-in-check interpretation of "lion and lamb" for this bickering couple.
Suzie: (from Suzanne) "graceful lily"
George: "Farmer"
Cox: "Rooster, hill, hound of the woods, red."
Dilly: "From the sea." Appropriate for a dog whose yapping indicates a sea-related clue.
Yixin: "Happy soul" Wan was "gracious" to give her baby to Mazu.
Matilda: "Mighty in battle" Honbold's wife.
Rhoda: "Rose, or from Rhodes."
Littlejohn: (updated) It is clear here that his name is much more of a Pettigrew/Wormtail illusion than anything relating to Robin Hood's Merry Men. Though Littlejohn attempts to persuade Strike he could be part of his loyal and faithful band. Stirke clearly sees through him.
Farah: "Happiness"
Navabi: "Pleasant, lovely" Patterson's agent is certainly attractive, but not pleasant or bringing happiness right now.
Harry Potter Echoes
This will most likely be the subject of a more lengthy post later, but I think the question of which Harry Potter character is Charlotte most closely resembles has been answered, and for me, that is Voldemort. I have said before that I thought Strike's show-down with Dennis Creed was an echo of Harry's final duel with Voldemort, and I still believe that. But, in the end, Charlotte died with no capacity to feel love or remorse. Voldemort was convinced he would get want he wanted (Harry's defeat and immortality) with the Elder Wand; Charlotte believed, right until the end, that she could get what she wanted (Strike) by threatening the things Strike cares about most, first his agency, and then his relationship with Robin. As he mused when listening (and deleting) her final voicemails, "Charlotte's flashes of insight and extraordinary ability to sniff out weak spots always had something of the witch about them." Charlotte was, at the end of the day, the most evil witch in Strike's life, just as Voldemort was the most evil wizard in Harry's. And, in a way, Charlotte was dispatched by her own rebounding spell. She may have believed. up until the end, that he would hear her message and rescue her, as he had managed to do before, even when she was locked away in Symonds House. but. as with her wedding to Jago, she overplayed her hand and it backfired on her.
Once Robin is living on "borrowed time" at the farm, we get a sense of the same type of "race" we get between Harry and Voldemort at the end of DH, with us wondering what information Robin can gather before the powers that be figure out what she is doing.
Though clearly eager to sack Liitlejohn immediately, Strike "spares" him for now, not unlike Harry did for Pettigrew in PoA. The tape Littlejohn promises may be of poor quality, but it does turn out useful.
Ring Structure
Strike's attraction to the church tower and desire to know what is in the aftermath of Charlotte's death reminds us of Robin, as a child, wanting to know what the crab crawling out of her church was. Of course. she had a loving mother who she could not only ask, but who would go find the answer for her, even if Linda could not understand that, for Robin, the curiosity was more important than the answer. Strike is instead revisiting a painful childhood memory, one his mother's neglect, naivete and selfishness inflicted on him, and making his own peace, not only with Charlotte but with Leda.
Carver made his digusting debut in CC and reached his peak in CoE. We learn here that he has been forced out of the Met. Tangling with Mitch Patterson is also a link to CoE.
Literary Alchemy
The Mother-of-Pearl Fish is associated with the sign of Cancer, seawater, and the moon, making it an albedo element. As far as spiritual properties:
Given that Robin searches the forest in the rain for it, this is a multiply albedo element. Of course, she finds the destroyed pig-pen and its burned rope.
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