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larryhammerThere's a moment early in Magic or Not? where the kids talk about another of Eager's books, Half Magic. Which at first struck me as gratuitous self-promotion, and then after a moment's thought as betrayal. On consideration, it was, in fact, legit.
It's not the only time Eager mentions Half Magic in another work. For those who don't remember clearly, Half Magic is the start of a loosely connected four-book series about four siblings and then four of their children. (In one gloriously loopy scene, shown in both Magic by the Lake and The Time Garden, the two generations meet each other.) In Knight's Castle, when Aunt Katherine reacts to the magic differently from most grown-ups, it's pointed out that those who've read Half Magic know why. No problem there -- it's the narrator addressing the reader, giving backstory with economy.
Magic or Not? and The Well Wishers are an independent series. There, Half Magic is brought up by the characters. They are aware of the other books as fiction, one of several other fantasies mentioned in the tale. Which is why it feels like a betrayal of the first series, by pointing up just how made up they are. One thing Eager never does is wink at the reader -- his characters' fantastic experiences are always treated seriously and with respect.
Until this incident. He's as good as saying, "Ah, that stuff was just a book." Which hurts, especially given just how good Half Magic and Knight's Castle are.
However, it was the right thing to do in this story. On the purely local level, it works brilliantly. As the title suggests, the entire story of Magic or Not? worries whether the magic is real. Many initially fantastic incidents are shown to be the work of human agents. Even the final episode, someone suggests a rational explanation; as someone else points out, it requires a larger than plausible conspiracy to have pulled it off, but the doubt remains. It could be a rationalized fantasy.
As part of this, his characters talk a lot about fantasies they've read. More than usual for his books, that is -- Eager always puts in one or two references to E. Nesbit. And all of them are recognized as fantasies as opposed to their mundane world, cited as something to be yearned for. This is an important, even essential, rhetorical trope for the book, but even so, it's a bit subtle and not quite enough. By using his own most-popular book that way, he makes it the more effective. "Ah, that stuff was just a book" is exactly what was needed.
It isn't the only time Eager has contradicted a prior book to the service of the current one. At the end of Half Magic, it's said that it would be a long time before the siblings experienced magic again, but Magic by the Lake starts three weeks later (which waved away as being a long time to wait when you're eight). And in The Well Wishers, he finally breaks the balancing act of Magic or Not with magic that cannot be rationalized. But within a given novel, he takes it entirely seriously. He knows that Let's Pretend doesn't work if you say, "Let's pretend." He never winks.
So: the fictionalization of Half Magic is to purpose, and works, and so must be forgiven. But he cannot and should not be forgiven the smugness of the next line: "Just about everyone has [read it]." Bad author. No biscuit.
On to the next, and last, book: Seven-Day Magic. Which is his best. I'm willing to listen to arguments otherwise, but you'd be wrong.
---L.
It's not the only time Eager mentions Half Magic in another work. For those who don't remember clearly, Half Magic is the start of a loosely connected four-book series about four siblings and then four of their children. (In one gloriously loopy scene, shown in both Magic by the Lake and The Time Garden, the two generations meet each other.) In Knight's Castle, when Aunt Katherine reacts to the magic differently from most grown-ups, it's pointed out that those who've read Half Magic know why. No problem there -- it's the narrator addressing the reader, giving backstory with economy.
Magic or Not? and The Well Wishers are an independent series. There, Half Magic is brought up by the characters. They are aware of the other books as fiction, one of several other fantasies mentioned in the tale. Which is why it feels like a betrayal of the first series, by pointing up just how made up they are. One thing Eager never does is wink at the reader -- his characters' fantastic experiences are always treated seriously and with respect.
Until this incident. He's as good as saying, "Ah, that stuff was just a book." Which hurts, especially given just how good Half Magic and Knight's Castle are.
However, it was the right thing to do in this story. On the purely local level, it works brilliantly. As the title suggests, the entire story of Magic or Not? worries whether the magic is real. Many initially fantastic incidents are shown to be the work of human agents. Even the final episode, someone suggests a rational explanation; as someone else points out, it requires a larger than plausible conspiracy to have pulled it off, but the doubt remains. It could be a rationalized fantasy.
As part of this, his characters talk a lot about fantasies they've read. More than usual for his books, that is -- Eager always puts in one or two references to E. Nesbit. And all of them are recognized as fantasies as opposed to their mundane world, cited as something to be yearned for. This is an important, even essential, rhetorical trope for the book, but even so, it's a bit subtle and not quite enough. By using his own most-popular book that way, he makes it the more effective. "Ah, that stuff was just a book" is exactly what was needed.
It isn't the only time Eager has contradicted a prior book to the service of the current one. At the end of Half Magic, it's said that it would be a long time before the siblings experienced magic again, but Magic by the Lake starts three weeks later (which waved away as being a long time to wait when you're eight). And in The Well Wishers, he finally breaks the balancing act of Magic or Not with magic that cannot be rationalized. But within a given novel, he takes it entirely seriously. He knows that Let's Pretend doesn't work if you say, "Let's pretend." He never winks.
So: the fictionalization of Half Magic is to purpose, and works, and so must be forgiven. But he cannot and should not be forgiven the smugness of the next line: "Just about everyone has [read it]." Bad author. No biscuit.
On to the next, and last, book: Seven-Day Magic. Which is his best. I'm willing to listen to arguments otherwise, but you'd be wrong.
---L.
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Date: 22 January 2005 11:51 pm (UTC)Half Magic is I think my favorite of the Eagers, but I have not reread them in quite a while. I don't remember the reference to it in the other book, just references to Nesbit. (Wonder if I can find those upstairs. Har hardy har. Somewhere near 2 meters of advanced math and the ever-expanding poetry pile. Unless I gave 'em away.) If I can find them I'll reread them now... as if I've not got anything else to read...
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Date: 23 January 2005 02:05 am (UTC)Someday, someday I shall have a sundial that says You can do anything you like when you've all the thyme in the world.
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Date: 23 January 2005 02:24 am (UTC)---L.
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Date: 23 January 2005 02:26 am (UTC)The first illustration of The Time Garden is the best of the seven books, with Ann looking bemused and wistful at the sundial.
---L.
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Date: 23 January 2005 02:28 am (UTC)Forgot to mention, and then there are the references to Half Magic in Seven-Day Magic, but that's a textual and rhetorical issue for a post of its own.
---L.
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Date: 23 January 2005 09:11 pm (UTC)I liked hanging out around Front Royal's stretch of the Shenandoah River, and had that part of the Shenandoah in mind when I wrote a river scene into the book I'm working on now.
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Date: 23 January 2005 10:32 pm (UTC)---L.