Birth of Venus 1-4: Ash's observations

Hi All,

I wasn't sure how we wanted to format the blog....whether it would be one post per block of chapters with individuals responding in the comments section OR if each member would post separately. I decided to post separately from Librarychik so that people could respond to my observations without the comment 'strings' getting all confused. I can post differently next time if we decide to set it up another way.

Okay, enough of boring "how do I blog" talk. My take on the first four chapters:

• First off, it took me a little while to get into this book. I didn't realize how seldom I stray from my usual reading habits and this is a different kind of book for me. By the end of chapter 4 though, I was getting interested in the characters.
• I find that I am getting interested in the history of the setting...Lorenzo de Medici, for example, was a real person. I may start eyeing some of the books that the author used as reference material.
• Like Librarychik, I think it is obvious that Alessandra and Sister Lucrezia are the same person since Alessandra's story is told as "The Testament of Sister Lucrezia." I am intrigued as to how her life takes her to the convent. I am particularly curious as to why she fakes her cancer...and if the cancer isn't real then why did she die? Did she kill herself? Did she fake her own death? Did she die of something else entirely and, if so, why bother to make the nuns think it was cancer?
• I am curious about the mention of Sister Lucrezia's supposed vanity...does Alessandra seem vain? Plautilla seems more vain than Alessandra.
• As for the tattoo, I haven't yet decided if I think the apprentice painter is the one who tattoos her or if I think that she chose to do it to herself. Currently, I am leaning towards the idea that she chose to tattoo herself as a secret way of continuing her interest in art. Although, I also wonder if the body is that of Alessandra at all or if she dressed someone else to look like her...but there seem to be too many barriers to that idea. I mean, if she lived in the convent for that long, surely it would be impossible to replace her body with that of someone else without the other nuns realizing the switch.
• I'm expecting Alessandra to have a relationship with the painter. I am not sure if they will actually become lovers, though, or if they will be stopped before anything can actually happen. Oh - and I agree - with her mind and wilfullness, she is definitely going to be in serious trouble.

Those are my thoughts for now - I'll continue to post when I have read more!