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| Keep Alive the Memory by Celeritas | 114 Review(s) |
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| Dreamflower | Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 10/20/2008 |
| Oh my! What a fun chapter! Kira's friends are delightful. I love the loyal Daffy and Roly, but mischievous Tom is adorable! And I like that he offered to help Kira catch up her chores--he's not lazy, it seems, just easily bored. The doctor seems to think that reading might be beneficial, eh? Well, that should help Kira with her mother, at any rate. And the market was just wonderful. I loved the descriptions of all the various stalls and vendors. The mention of the "im port" stall makes it clear that whatever the opinion of Shire society at large is of the Outside, there are those who recognize the benefits of such dealings and who take advantage of it on a regular basis. And Kira's entrancement at the sight of paper and ink makes me think that she may be wishing to take up writing as well. Not an unusual reaction from one who loves reading. I hope that soon she is going to begin to get some more of her questions answered. She has some good ones, but she's still got hold of the wrong end of the stick in trying to prove to herself (in spite of herself?) that the tales are all made up. Author Reply: I have to admit, Tom is one of my favorite characters to write, largely because of his pig-headed obstinacy and his mischievous streak. The other three, do, however, help keep him in check, and when they can't, at least he proves to be entertaining. I'm glad you liked the market descriptions--I usually feel a lot more at home when I'm doing dialogue than extended description, so it's good that it went over well--for you, at least! Since we know that hobbits had coffee and tea, even though these could have been "translations" for locally grown drinks, I like to think that they've historically had a considerable trade relationship with a lot of the foreign lands. But you can have a necessary bit of trade and still be suspicious of those who actually conduct the business with Outsiders--somewhere else in the story I posit a number of travelling hobbits whose job it is to transport goods for Men across the Shire where the Big Folk aren't allowed. It's a good way to make money, but it's not highly esteemed! The Red Book will offer Kira all of the answers to her questions--as long as she accepts that it's true! | |
| Linda Hoyland | Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 10/16/2008 |
| This is a delightful glimpse of Hobbit life.I hope they get to know that Elves are real! Author Reply: Thanks, Linda! Unfortunately with so many of them gone over Sea there are fewer and fewer elves wandering through the Shire, and that makes them harder to find, even for those who still believe in them. But this is still the early 4th Age, so there is hope yet. | |
| Elentarri | Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 10/14/2008 |
| Absolutely brilliant! I love this story. Please update soon :-) Cheers Tanya Author Reply: Does a week sound fine? : ) I'd like to go sooner but I'm actually still on my last layer of revision (the only reason I'm able to promise regular updates at all, actually) and what with Reality getting in the way and all my buffer's starting to get thin! Thanks for reading and reviewing! | |
| Dreamflower | Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 10/13/2008 |
| I am all afire with curiousity now! What was the mysterious business with Sancho that Kira's mother had? What was the "Falling-Out"? Why *did* the Proudfoots move to the Westmarch? Was Aunt Foxglove going to tell Kira something that her mother did not want her to know? Why did Sancho override Kira's mother about the book? And is he the same Sancho as in the Family Tree? I have a feeling Kira's mother is not going to be very pleased with her daughter's fascination with reading that book! Author Reply: The Family Tree Sancho got to some good-intentioned shenanigans during the Troubles (I'm not entirely sure what, but I currently imagine it involved tunnelling extra food into the Lockholes) and the name has stayed in the family ever since. (Thanks for asking; I've wanted to explain that!) As far as the Proudfoots removing to the Westmarch, I imagine that after the postwar baby boom a lot of hobbit towns (especially Michel Delving, where I've historically based the Proudfoots) got a bit crowded. So receiving Westmarch helped with a lot of that strain and maybe the family felt it signified a move up in the world--Kira and her mother live in one of the early family homes with a lot of history to them but few amenities. Since then Michel Delving (I imagine that the western bits of Westfarthing were most affected by the new territory) and its population have been eased, but it's also left a bit of an odd feel, like the abandoned house whose thatch collapsed over the winter. I'm afraid that's due to personal preference more than anything--I grew up in a dying town and couldn't write a similar experience anywhere else. The other questions either will be explained in time (however, a lot of time--Kira's too young to understand some of the goings on) or never get answered because they're not that important to the story. Sorry. : ) | |
| Larner | Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 10/13/2008 |
| I love that her curiosity is nevertheless driving her to learn more, and that she's gone on to Undertowers and been given the original Red Book to read! Hooray! Now the spell has caught her as she reads Frodo's own handwriting. I wonder if she realizes just how blessed that chance is? Ah, but she will learn! Author Reply: She definitely will learn! As someone who's dabbled (only dabbled, mind--none of this psychoanalysis stuff for me!) in graphology for literary purposes, I think that a work as powerful as LotR would only be intensified when written in the hand of one who'd experienced it. Kira is going to find it increasingly difficult to stop now. | |
| Kara's Aunty | Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 10/13/2008 |
| Hellooooo! Yes! You posted!! Fate is absolutely determined that Kira reads the Red Book and nothing - not her mother or mere distance - is going to get in its way. I was thrilled she got a hold of it, made a new friend in Sandra, and got to take it back home. And so compelling were the exerpts from the book, that I wanted nothing more than to be there reading it with her. Splendid work! Maureen :) Author Reply: Glad you approve, Maureen. Now that she's hooked, Kira's going to find it very hard to stop. :-) ~Celeritas | |
| Kara's Aunty | Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 10/9/2008 |
| Hello! Oh I'm so glad Kira managed to save the poor rabbit. I would've cursed Tom forever if he'd killed the poor thing. Where exactly does Kira live? Does she have a club foot? Why is she always so poorly? What happened to her father? Why won't her mother talk of their genealogy? I expect you've got the answers to these and many other questions already written down, so I'll just have to stay tuned. Roll on Monday! Maureen Author Reply: Wow, that's a lot of questions. Tolkien never gave us any maps of the Shire beyond the one at the beginning of FotR, so "on the White Downs south of Michel Delving" is about as specific as I get. I do have a bit of a map crudely sketched out that shows exactly where she lives in relation to the town and her friends. The Burrowses farm the field directly behind Kira's home; Tom lives on a farm that's quite close to town and Kira is a bit south of him. Other than those nuggets of information I don't really have anything, though some of the history of the house gets revealed over time. I haven't given too much detail on the foot both because I want to mask my own ignorance of such matters and because I don't know how easily recognizable things like a club foot (as opposed to other foot defects) would be in the Shire. I dislike it when in stories authors use knowledge from their own times to explain or even identify problems that the characters would not have been able to. (I am a huge fan of the Mysterious Victorian Illness and lament its demise.) What you need to know about the foot is 1). it's crooked, 2). Kira cannot walk on it, and 3). touching it hurts her, a lot. Modern me would say that this is because since it came together wrong (the bone placement is off, for instance), this left some really exposed nerves, but I'm sure you'd be able to come up with a better explanation. If this fits with club foot, feel free to read it that way; if it doesn't it's something else. How Kira can get around with one foot and one crutch beats me, but she did start out early and hobbits are remarkable. Any other medical-type questions I must profess complete ignorance at and hope that it doesn't throw you out of the story at all. The other questions will, of course, be answered in the course of the story. | |
| Kara's Aunty | Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 10/8/2008 |
| Hi there, enjoying this very much. No wonder Kira learnt so fast. She has an intelligent mind trapped in a sickly form and has been unable to exercise it because of the constraints of her health, family, friends and society! She's a sponge waiting to absorb a decent drink of water. Pity that Kerimac is so much older than her - ah well, I'll get over it.... I loved the civilised confrontation between him and Aunt Penny. I think we all have an Aunt Penny somewhere and it's nice to see her (politely) put in her place. She means well, but she smothers. I'll read the next chapter tomorrow and hope you update soon. Maureen. Author Reply: Yup. Kira is extremely bright, although only people like Kerry (certainly not her!) have noticed so far. I've often wondered how in less mobile societies those of the lower classes who were very intelligent managed to cope with their limited means, and if the spark in them was or could ever be thoroughly repressed by society and circumstances. But at least Kira has her chance, especially living in a society that's much more flexible than your average fantasy's. The age comment is quite amusing, because I let out some of the earliest incarnations of this story to some real-life friends who did not quite grasp how hobbit ages worked. There's a bit of a nod to their reaction to Kerry and Kira's relationship in the next chapter. As the summary says, updates occur every Monday. I do this (with great willpower--just about this time every week I tend to get too anxious and want to post the next chapter anyway) for the purposes of prolonging the agony, and also because I would rather update regularly than not at all. Though the story is finished, it's still undergoing a final phase of stylistic revision, and even when that's done I want to get some more work done on its sequel (which will feature romance, btw) so that there won't be a year-long wait between the two, or worse yet highly irregular updates between that story's chapters. | |
| Raksha The Demon | Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 10/7/2008 |
| Kira's mind, and hence her world, are opening up indeed. Good to see that the old mithril corselet is still in the Shire - that can prove to be quite a catalyst. Can't wait to see where Kira's renewed curiosity will take her! Author Reply: Yup--it's hard to see something that awesome, especially when you've read about it, and just dismiss it. "Where" Kira's curiosity will take her is handled in the next chapter. "How far" for me is the real question. Thanks for reading! ~Celeritas | |
| Kara's Aunty | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 10/7/2008 |
| Hello, Poor little Kira and her sore foot! So isolated and lonely and trying desperately not to mind. Thank goodness for Kerry. He seems a nice lad. This is very good. I've never read a story based a hundred years or so in the Shire's future and am looking forward to reading more of this. The characters are engaging and it's going to be nice to hear about the Travellers' from such a different perspective. Will read more tomorrow :) Byee! Author Reply: "Trying desperately not to mind" pretty much sums up the hobbit's (by which I mean hobbitkind, not just Kira) reaction to any sort of trouble which can't be helped. An amazing coping mechanism, but also limited. Most of the 4th Age stories that I've come across are all very questy, action/adventure "oh noes an evil remnant from the Third Age!" type stories, which while great fun often fall flat because they're trying to be sequels to something that just can't be sequelled (Tolkien abandoned his own attempt for that very reason). Which is why I wanted to focus on everyday characters and their relationship to the (true) Myth they've inherited. Thanks for the read and review; I hope you enjoy the next chapter! | |