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I am not speaking only of balls that are present in many books such as Sense and Sensibility where Marianne learns that Willoughby has deserted her for another young lady who has money. Actually, I enjoy reading about balls especially masked balls. Even non-fiction books mention balls. In the biography of Gertrude Bell, it mentions how her folks would be giving a New Year Eve’s ball while she herself was camping in a desert.
The dvd of The Irish RM shows a servant’s ball where Flurry Knox leads his grandmother out to dance, each with a glint in their eye that is wonderful to behold.
But, tonight, I am thinking about the grand metaphorical dance between characters. There is the dangerous dance between opponents as they defy each other up to the climax of the story while the reader watches in fear and trembling. There is the dance of two lovers or often of three who circle each other while we readers hope they will discover that they do want to be partners and we feel sorrow for the one left out. The author creates tension and suspense as he crafts the dance.
One reason why I have re-read Kay’s Fionavar Tapestry trilogy so many times is because of the many and varied dances that are going on in the book. When Diarmuid courts Sharra in the garden after entering the country by stealth, we hold our breath. She has refused so many and he is supposedly a shallow playboy. A very different Romeo and Juliet, but equally tragic.
Arthur, Guinevere, and Lancelot appear in the story to be freed from their eternal dance of love and disaster.
Francis Crawford of Lymond dances a dangerous dance on a tightrope with many evil characters in Dunnett’s Lymond Chronicles. His dance with his mother is nearly fatal for which I have not forgiven her. Physically, he dances across roof tops, up in the rigging of ships, and many other places. It is a form of dancing that he does with Oonagh to try to save her from Cormac. He dances a savage dance with those who love him sometimes until they see what he has been trying to do.
There are sword dances in many stories such as The Princess Bride and dances in courtrooms as prosecutors and defenders tangle. The readers all stand up with Jem as Atticus walks by in To Kill a Mockingbird after his courageous dance.
The characters who dream of power or who have it thrust upon them dance with the wish to succeed at any cost while not harming their subjects. Those like Kieri, King of Lyonya, not only has to dance with new subjects, but also with the elves he is related to in the Elizabeth Moon stories that have been recently written.
The dances in many books turn deadly. The characters win or lose, or win by losing. The readers give a sigh of relief or mourn. Thus, it is that we read, knowing the games that will be played. We root for Harry Potter to stay true. We cheer for Neville. We care about Hagrid’s trials. In the end, we even sympathize with Snape.
There are dances with fate. In the film, The Seventh Seal, the characters are led by death in a dance across the film’s world. Only the genius of the Knight who holds the attention of Death in a chess game allows a family to escape.
In Helprin’s Winter’s Tale there is the dance of the stars, of the machines, of the great animal that is Manhatten…all is grand and sweeping and heart-breakingly beautiful. Peter Lake and Beverly Penn dance at Mouquin’s on New Year’s Eve, her one wish though Peter risked his life to take her there.
Pg. 177 Peter Lake glanced at Pearly, a giant white cat all suited-up in clothes half a century out of date, and wondered how long his enemy would be immobilized. Beverly seemed able to push Pearly deeper and deeper into a condition in which he was cemented in a body that was trapped absolutely in stilled time…
Pg. 179 Now the floor of Mouquin’s pounded under the pure white reels of the winter countryside, and the magic of the Lake of the Coheeries swirled almost visibly about them. Beverly, in a blue dress, danced with Peter Lake. There was much talk among the crowd as Pearly and the Short Tails began to thaw. Glasses sparkled until they broke. The room grew hot. Beverly was dancing. In the oyster houses, in the stove-lit salons of the ferryboats out on the bay, in the ballrooms uptown so gilt and argent that in the daytime they thought they were banks, in the common rooms of hospitals, and in the miserable dark cellars, they danced- even if only for a moment.
We open a book and the first words, “Once upon a time,” invoke the shiver of the beginning of a grand dance to come. We enter into that world and we dance along with the characters...reading and dancing through the journey to the conclusion, bitter or sweet.
Which are your favorite grand dances?
Write On! The roads to plot.
by SensibleShoes
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Donna Tartt Awarded Pulitzer Prize For 'The Goldfinch'
By Susie Madrak April 15, 2014
http://crooksandliars.com/...
Contemporary Fiction Views: Making connections via T.C. Boyle
by bookgirl
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Religion in a Dignitarian World
by Robert Fuller
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Robert Fuller says:
The Rowan Tree serialization has reached Book 3. This part is written in first person, in journal style. It's also shorter than the previous books, so the whole novel will be complete in a couple of months.
http://www.rowantreenovel.com/....
The memoir of my father, Calvin S. Fuller, is now in the final stages of publishing - this has been a great project that involved my whole family. What a busy year! I'm in hibernation mode to work on a play now.
The Kindle version of The Rowan Tree still free on Kindle:
http://www.amazon.com/...
My memoir Belonging still free via Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/...
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