One of the best revenge scenes is how flabbergasted Anna's sexist boss is when she completes the diving challenge:
'One is Kerrigan, sir,' Marle shouted over the wind.
Even in her exhaustion, Anna knew she would not forget the look of appalled bewilderment that blighted the lieutenant's childish face. Shaking his head, he peered at the diving benches.
'No,' he said. 'No, no.' And then, 'Which one?'"
I should also say here that I LOVE Marle. I love how he is similar to Anna in that he hangs back from the group because he feels like an outsider (his reason being his race). He is so quiet that I want to know more about him and keep hoping a friendship will develop between him and Anna (or maybe something more).
And yeah, what a steamy sex scene ... shall we read a Harlequin Romance next??
And yet there was a problem with the girl in his car - this smart, modern girl with correct values, joined to the war effort, a girl matured by hard times and familial tragedy - and that problem was that all he could think of doing, in a concrete way, was fucking her."
And then after they have sex she section ends with her admitting who she really is. What a cliffhanger....
(me and Meg are the same person)
ReplyDeleteQUITE THE SEX SCENE AMMIRITE?? Any adaptation of this will be like a wartime 50 shades of grey.
I loved this section so much purely for all the technical aspects of diving that we got to learn about. I love the elimination style testing they did, weeding out claustrophobics, etc. I love that Anna made it in the end and Axel was so pissed.
I also loved the way Egan writes the Anna-Marle relationship. Obviously, racial and gender politics play into this a ton, and both Anna and Marle were reasonably nervous to befriend the other. But then how in the end they make the best team, and he forces her to pull herself up the ladder. Ugh it was very perfect.
My favourite part, however, was the very beginning of chapter 17. As readers, we don't usually get to read other people describing our protagonist, something I take for granted I've learned. Egan's split narrative allows us to read Dexter describing Anna:
"And yet there was a problem with the girl in his car- this smart, modern girl with correct values, joined to the war effort, a girl matured by hard times and familial tragedy- and that problem was that all he could think of doing, in a concrete way, was fucking her".
I really like Dexter's play on people (like his brother in laws in previous chapters).
I also want to know now what Anna's newfound obsession is with finding her dad... I thought she was convinced he'd died???