I'm a little hesitant about approaching Fathoms Five because I think it's a fic masterpiece. Another one. We're going to run out at this rate. Well, there's still Sokol.
I'm very much in sympathy with everything amyhit wrote, in that Penumbra absolutely takes Mulder and Scully to a place none of us will ever have to visit, in which they use vaguely familiar coping mechanisms to grapple with an unthinkable situation, an ironic life crisis of sorts. I once called this a science fiction tragedy, an upside-down tragedy. Classic tragedy always ends in death. FF ends with a tunnel vision of unending life. Fortunately it's also a very American tragedy, so there's a sense that someone might achieve a resolution. Physics-student William may be able to find a way for his mother to die.
That's a unique description of a happy ending and a pretty tough career path. Mulder is right to say the kid should chill out and play guitar.
The suicide opening is intense, no question, and although I originally felt it wasn't congruent with the mellow family scenes that follow I now think it forces the reader into a more subtle understanding of them. Here is a woman who sees her husband age and her son mature and she can't figure out a way of being wife and mother as she sees herself as the most brutal of X-files. She thinks she has hit the wall of natural explanation and she has to prove it. Nobody has an answer for her; we can only pray that one is found. The response is love. Scully is withdrawing, even from the old dog who adores her, but Mulder presents her with a video from the old days, when they were young, gorgeous and contentious. As she, appallingly, still is. So she quips and eats popcorn. Surrounded by love.
Penumbra has been criticized for her elaborate, descriptive style. Here is a subject that calls for an excruciatingly careful treatment, one that requires all the talent she has. And if we have to pause to appreciate a consciously crafted line every once in a while, it gives us a breather before the next emotionally difficult moment.
Oh, about praying. Did we notice that Scully is still wearing her cross, and that the Mulder-Scully's give thanks before eating lasagna? Possibly being the recipient of an unwanted miracle opens one's eyes to the possibility of an ancient one.
I haven't scratched the surface on this one. Maybe someone else (cough) can come up with a unified theory.
no subject
I'm very much in sympathy with everything amyhit wrote, in that Penumbra absolutely takes Mulder and Scully to a place none of us will ever have to visit, in which they use vaguely familiar coping mechanisms to grapple with an unthinkable situation, an ironic life crisis of sorts. I once called this a science fiction tragedy, an upside-down tragedy. Classic tragedy always ends in death. FF ends with a tunnel vision of unending life. Fortunately it's also a very American tragedy, so there's a sense that someone might achieve a resolution. Physics-student William may be able to find a way for his mother to die.
That's a unique description of a happy ending and a pretty tough career path. Mulder is right to say the kid should chill out and play guitar.
The suicide opening is intense, no question, and although I originally felt it wasn't congruent with the mellow family scenes that follow I now think it forces the reader into a more subtle understanding of them. Here is a woman who sees her husband age and her son mature and she can't figure out a way of being wife and mother as she sees herself as the most brutal of X-files. She thinks she has hit the wall of natural explanation and she has to prove it. Nobody has an answer for her; we can only pray that one is found. The response is love. Scully is withdrawing, even from the old dog who adores her, but Mulder presents her with a video from the old days, when they were young, gorgeous and contentious. As she, appallingly, still is. So she quips and eats popcorn. Surrounded by love.
Penumbra has been criticized for her elaborate, descriptive style. Here is a subject that calls for an excruciatingly careful treatment, one that requires all the talent she has. And if we have to pause to appreciate a consciously crafted line every once in a while, it gives us a breather before the next emotionally difficult moment.
Oh, about praying. Did we notice that Scully is still wearing her cross, and that the Mulder-Scully's give thanks before eating lasagna? Possibly being the recipient of an unwanted miracle opens one's eyes to the possibility of an ancient one.
I haven't scratched the surface on this one. Maybe someone else (cough) can come up with a unified theory.