Has anyone noticed that there are two plots in ballet fiction? One is in the vein of The Turning Point: former ballerinas reliving their glory days anHas anyone noticed that there are two plots in ballet fiction? One is in the vein of The Turning Point: former ballerinas reliving their glory days and scheming against each other, using their children as pawns; a faithless but hot male defector is usually involved. The novels Ballerina and Astonish Me fall more or less within this category. The other is in the vein of Center Stage: young dancers struggling to make it in the cruel world of dance; lots of eating disorders, backstabbing, and dastardly company directors. The excellent YA novel Bunheads, Tiny Pretty Things, and every TV show about ballet fall within this category (with the exception of the excellent CW series Bunheads, which is Gilmore Girls with ballet). I guess ballerina-goes-crazy (Black Swan) is another subplot, but that can usually be found within these two larger universes.
Up to this Pointe is excellent and miraculously about something else altogether. Age-old ballet questions (Is my sacrifice enough?) are present but play out in thoughtful ways. Harper’s beloved San Francisco ballet world is pieced together bit by bit in flashback amidst her present-day Antarctic refuge, where she is clearly in mourning. The Antarctic backdrop is one of the strengths of the book; imagine an absurd and glorious universe in which the NSF provides grants for three high school students to winter over at McMurdo Station. McMurdo is populated by credible devotees and nut cases; Harper’s two fellow high school grantees are especially enjoyable as characters. Harper’s forebear is legendary explorer Robert Falcon Scott - but in the throes of T3 (a depressive condition common in winter-overers), she starts hallucinating visits from Shackleton, which are also hilarious. Strong female relationships abound; the best are Harper's with the little girl she teaches ballet to, her McMurdo supervisor Charlotte, her co-research assistant Vivian, her mother, and to a lesser extent, her best friend Kate (not that well-developed but mercifully not a nemesis either).
Boys are also handled nicely. There’s the Peter Pan-ish Irish boy who works in the McMurdo kitchen, whom Harper both sees through and lets herself see through rose-colored glasses. There’s her sweet baker father who cries at the drop of a hat, an equally sweet older brother, and love interest Owen.
Let’s talk about Owen for a second. First of all, glory be! A love interest who happens to be a cute Bay Area Chinese-American boy with nice arms. Chinese boys are cute, y’all! I should know, my husband also happens to be a cute Bay Area Chinese-American boy with nice arms. Still, it remains a nice, novel thing to see in print. The character development of said cute Chinese-American boy is also done surprisingly well. As the child of immigrant parents, Owen’s breakdown of the opposing viewpoints in his life (I’m special because I’m me; don’t be lazy) rings true. His mother giving white girl Harper the stink eye upon introduction also rings true and made me laugh.
Harper is devoted to ballet and San Francisco in equal measures. Her love for her hometown is another strength of the book, and reminiscent of the way very young people can love a city, with total conviction. Timely details make it fun: all of Harper’s hard-earned cash goes to SF Dancewear, which is where every dance student in San Francisco shops (I am going there tomorrow); she gets her hands on a totemic pair of Freeds pointe shoes made by Yuan Yuan Tan’s maker; Owen’s mother loves Yuan Yuan Tan because she’s Chinese (hahahaha). Harper’s brother Luke works for LucasArts in the Presidio and brings their parents to lunch in the fancy cafeteria; hilarity also ensues.
Very tiny quibbles. After meeting Owen, Harper compares him to Bruce Lee and then in true San Francisco fashion wonders if she’s racist. Do people really think these things? In the next book, can they just, like, not? And can the next awesome ballet book not have a ballet pun in its title?...more
This was a total guilty pleasure and I recommend it if you're in the mood for some melodrama set in the ballet world. There's an egotistical BaryshnikThis was a total guilty pleasure and I recommend it if you're in the mood for some melodrama set in the ballet world. There's an egotistical Baryshnikov-like star who defects with the help of a wispy but less talented Gelsey Kirkland figure, and a godlike Mr. K./Mr. B. who dallies a lot but always comes home to his woman. The narrative is choppy, the plot is audacious in its derivativeness, but Shipstead takes so many liberties that you might as well enjoy yourself. ...more
I was astonished by this book because I don't think I've ever actually read anything like it, where the heroine really does wait around passively untiI was astonished by this book because I don't think I've ever actually read anything like it, where the heroine really does wait around passively until a man saves her. Luckily the man saves her from some implausibly wacky scenarios (kidnap, moral dissolution, falling into piranha-infested waters after balancing delicately on a leaf) so the book is pretty fun. The scene-setting in the Amazon and the portrayal of the ballet company are the best parts of the book. There is also an elaborate sub-plot involving jumping out of a cake.
But, angelic Harriet is packed with so much wish-fulfillment it embarrassed me to read it. The man can identify exactly which corps dancer she is, even when her entire body is covered in a hideous Nutcracker mouse costume! She's late to his gala so he goes down to the village and finds her cradling a baby! And (mini-spoiler, not really), her virtue inspires him to change! My mind is still trying to work this one out. ...more
Even though it says "A Novel" right on the cover, I somehow missed that fact when I grabbed this book from the library, thinking it was an actual biogEven though it says "A Novel" right on the cover, I somehow missed that fact when I grabbed this book from the library, thinking it was an actual biography of Tanaquil LeClercq, the Balanchine dancer (and his fourth and final wife) who contracted polio in her twenties and was paralyzed for the rest of her life. The book is actually a novelization of her relationship with Balanchine, based on an indeterminate amount of research. Wth? This is what comes of being susceptible, as I am, to nice new hardcovers with photos of ballet dancers on them at the library. It could have been much worse (check back in a bit for my next review, which will be of an icky book obtained due to the same unfortunate proclivity). But at first, the book was kind of appalling.
It began with the imaginings of young LeClercq in love with much older director Balanchine -- barf. LeClercq's affair with Balanchine while he was married to Maria Tallchief felt glib and disrespectful (Maria confides in Tanaquil that she "wasn't sure" when she married him). Inaccuracies added to the awfulness (an apprentice or corps member is not a ballerina, as I learned from the excellent YA novel Bunheads -- j/k I knew that already, bitches). Balanchine's patois was unconvincing (as ascertained from the way lots of people, including Tallchief, imitate him in various interviews).
But the book improved, the novelized Tanaquil became interesting and admirable as she lived with her paralysis and Balanchine's diddling with younger dancers. Some creative liberties were enjoyable (Suzanne Farrell is a baddie and Balanchine's obsession with her embarrassing -- therefore I will read Farrell's autobiography next). Loss was human and painful, particularly the universal sucker-punch of (view spoiler)[ infidelity (hide spoiler)]. By the end, I was glad at least one book about LeClercq exists, even in novelized form. LeClercq was known for guarding her privacy and it seems that whatever nuggets of truth are in this book are as much as the public could find out.
**spoiler alert** truly excellent gar-bahhge about an unrealistically beautiful blond girl who has just escaped from being locked in an attic for 3 ye**spoiler alert** truly excellent gar-bahhge about an unrealistically beautiful blond girl who has just escaped from being locked in an attic for 3 years with her siblings by her evil mother, only to wreak all kinds of revenge. the kids get taken in by an unrealistically good-looking middle-aged southern doctor whom she gets it on with, then she breaks his heart by leaving him for an unrealistically good-looking but abusive ballerino (my sister's word for male ballet dancer). then she breaks his heart because she is secretly in love with her unrealistically good-looking brother. oh and then she steals her mother's unrealistically good-looking new husband, breaking all hearts except for ballerino's because he's committed suicide after a disabling car crash. then mom's husband dies in a fire, then doctor dies of a stroke, leaving her in an incestuous relationship with her brother. oh, i guess i'd better select the spoiler-alert option.
really, that's the plot! i will comment on v.c. andrews in general, if and when i review 'flowers in the attic.' all in all, a really good, filthy read....more
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