The Dark is Rising Christmas Re-read #1

[LugaJetboyGirl]

We could do The Grey King at Halloween. :)

Edit: And Greenwitch in June!

Oh snap! That would be awesome.

Okay then let's do something like this:

20th Dec - Midwinter's Eve

21st Dec - Midwinter Day, The Sign-Seeker

23rd Dec - The Walker on the Old Way

24th Dec - Christmas Eve, The Book of Gramarye, Betrayal

25th Dec - Christmas Day

27th Dec - The Coming of the Cold]

28th Dec - The King of Fire and Water, The Hunt Rides

29th Dec - The Joining of the Signs

Does that work? I wonder if we should have a spoiler policy for the Noob Ones? Something along the lines of 'read at your own pace, but spoiler text appropriately given the dates above'?

I'm psyched.

[Kosciuszko]

I'm not going to follow any kind of schedule but you've just made me re-read The Dark is Rising. That book introduced me to fantasy and I still consider it superior to most stuff out there.

I'm going to see if its as good as I remember it. Go Will Stanton!

Also, order pretty much doesn't matter. I read them in seemingly random order from my school library.

[Angalin]

Oh snap! That would be awesome.

Okay then let's do something like this:

20th Dec - Midwinter's Eve

21st Dec - Midwinter Day, The Sign-Seeker

23rd Dec - The Walker on the Old Way

24th Dec - Christmas Eve, The Book of Gramarye, Betrayal

25th Dec - Christmas Day

27th Dec - The Coming of the Cold]

28th Dec - The King of Fire and Water, The Hunt Rides

29th Dec - The Joining of the Signs

Does that work? I wonder if we should have a spoiler policy for the Noob Ones? Something along the lines of 'read at your own pace, but spoiler text appropriately given the dates above'?

I'm psyched.

Works for me :) thanks for thinking of this!

Ben - if you can't find a copy, let me know. I may have an extra kicking around somewhere.

[beniowa]

Ben - if you can't find a copy, let me know. I may have an extra kicking around somewhere.

Thanks, Ang! I might take you up on that. :)

[Jon AS]

I ordered a copy of the complete sequence, so by tomorrow evening I should be all set.

[beniowa]

I managed to find a copy at the library so I'm good to go as well. Thanks again for the offer, Ang!

[Bran the Voyeur]

I enjoyed these books immensely in elementary, and I pop them out now and again to find the magic of those childhood years still lingering. I bought most of the books a while back, but I think I'll put myself through another re-read once more.

[RedEyedGhost]

I freaking loved these books in elementary school - must have read them 5 or more times. I've ordered the entire sequence in a convenient box set, and will try to participate if my holiday schedule will allow it.

[Angalin]

I managed to find a copy at the library so I'm good to go as well. Thanks again for the offer, Ang!

No worries :) glad you found one!

[Slick Mongoose]

White in the moon the long road lies,

The moon stands blank above;

White in the moon the long road lies

That leads me from my love.

[MinDonner]

Why don't we bump some of the sequence so that Christmas Eve only has one chapter (not three), and we have a break on Christmas and Boxing Days because lots of people have family shit to do then. So we'd have something for the time in between too, something like:

20th Dec - Midwinter's Eve

21st Dec - Midwinter Day, The Sign-Seeker

23rd Dec - The Walker on the Old Way

24th Dec - Christmas Eve,

27th Dec - The Book of Gramarye

28th Dec - Betrayal

29th Dec - Christmas Day

30th Dec - The Coming of the Cold]

5th Jan (Twelth Night Eve) - The King of Fire and Water, The Hunt Rides

6th Jan (Twelth Night) - The Joining of the Signs

I know this pushes the actual Christmas Day chapter to a few days late, but for purposes of a reread and discussion, might be a bit more practical...

(now I just need to find where the hell I've put my copy...) :leaving:

[LugaJetboyGirl]

Sure, whatever works for you guys!

[Angalin]

Why don't we bump some of the sequence so that Christmas Eve only has one chapter (not three), and we have a break on Christmas and Boxing Days because lots of people have family shit to do then. So we'd have something for the time in between too, something like:

20th Dec - Midwinter's Eve

21st Dec - Midwinter Day, The Sign-Seeker

23rd Dec - The Walker on the Old Way

24th Dec - Christmas Eve,

27th Dec - The Book of Gramarye

28th Dec - Betrayal

29th Dec - Christmas Day

30th Dec - The Coming of the Cold]

5th Jan (Twelth Night Eve) - The King of Fire and Water, The Hunt Rides

6th Jan (Twelth Night) - The Joining of the Signs

I know this pushes the actual Christmas Day chapter to a few days late, but for purposes of a reread and discussion, might be a bit more practical...

(now I just need to find where the hell I've put my copy...) :leaving:

Or we could limit it to a chapter a day, which would put "The Sign-Seeker" on 22 Dec and "The King of Fire and Water" on 4 Jan. But like you, I haven't found my copy yet, so I can't remember how tightly those chapters are tied together.

[lady narcissa]

I'm just going to keep my rereading to the schedule originally discussed because I like to read the chapters on the day they take place.

However, as I've read the books multiple times before its not really going to bother me if others read and discuss at a faster pace. I can keep up discussion wise even if I stay behind reading wise.

[Kosciuszko]

Is it overly geeky that I completely ignored the schedule and started it today and finished it today?

And its still awesome.

[beniowa]

Heh.

I'll probably stick to Luga's original schedule or read one chapter a day. I'll still keep up with the discussion however other people choose to read the book.

[LugaJetboyGirl]

Okay, so we've got two propositions then.

Either we spread out the chapters to account for people's busy holiday schedules and to make discussion easier, or we match our reading to the events in the book. It seems to me that we could do either, but if we are going to adjust the schedule to account for holiday schedules, we might as well just split the book in half or in thirds - the reason I say this is because it's such a short book and it is a really quick read. There's no need to drag it out for the purposes of discussion, since we could just as well start up a normal thread for the book anyways.

I think I am becoming more convinced that Lady Narcissa's policy of reading along with the book's timeline would be most fun, since it adds a symbolic and ritualistic character to the reading, which fits nicely with the themes and tone of the book. After all, it's a book about the eternal repetition of seasons, the power of rituals and words, the magic of our oldest festivals and the stories they embody. A little symbolic approach to time in our reading schedule seems appropriate. :)

So why don't we do that instead. We'll stick with the schedule Lady Narcissa originally posted. If people don't read it at exactly that pace or they don't have time to post in the thread accordingly, that's cool. We can always go back and address older chapters if need be. I hope that's cool with everyone. Here's Lady Narcissa's original timeline:

20th Dec - Midwinter's Eve

21st Dec - Midwinter Day, The Sign-Seeker

23rd Dec - The Walker on the Old Way

24th Dec - Christmas Eve, The Book of Gramarye, Betrayal

25th Dec - Christmas Day

[sometime in between - The Coming of the Cold]

5th Jan (Twelth Night Eve) - The King of Fire and Water, The Hunt Rides

6th Jan (Twelth Night) - The Joining of the Signs

The countdown to Will's birthday begins!

[felice]

I think I am becoming more convinced that Lady Narcissa's policy of reading along with the book's timeline would be most fun

So why don't we do that instead.

Works for me!

[MinDonner]

First chapter down. And I always forget just how creepy that opening is. So beautifully atmospheric, with the sinister rooks wheeling in the grey sky, the Walker scuttling just out of sight, the animals and the radio behaving strangely... so much better than just bloody Hagrid turning up or whatever. I love the way you get the contrast between the warmth and bustle inside the house, and the ominous coldness outside...

Also quite funny that the UK is currently being brought to a halt by snow. Makes it a lot easier to relate, this year!

[felice]

Yes, a very effective opening. I like the way it only gradually becomes clear that the strangeness is centered on Will.

Of course it's the middle of summer down here (not that you'd guess from the wind and rain right now), so we don't get quite the same effect with the timing 8)