Not ready to spoil

I'm glad to see some interesting comments go up in the postings. There are some interesting perspectives (even those of Devil's advocate, if someone wishes to play that part), and I hope that we all continue to brainstorm on every book.

I must make a confession. I have already read the entire book, however I will not spoil things. Was it that good? We'll talk about that later, for now I did want to comment on some other postings.

I like that Puddleglum points out the symbolism of Classical art/feminism and Christianity/patriarchy. There is alot of symbolism in this book even if the author does not intent it to be so (again, we can talk about our ratings of this book later). I find there is a sense of duality throughout the book that was flesshed out in the beginning: female/male; Classical/Christian; religion/truth; colour/monochrome; peace/war; education/ignorance; beauty/intelligence; passion/piety; dark/light; husband/wife. In the history I have read, these types of diachotomies appear distinct (even if they weren't at the time), however nowadays they seem more blurred.

I, too, agree that without the prologue, much is lost in the story. The prologue provides the tension for the book -- the question I'm seeing from so many of you is: is Alessandra Sister Lucrezia? That was the book's hook. And, yes, I do see a tone change between the prologue and the introductory chapters. This is repeated again in the last parts of the book. But, as I think Puddleglum has also confessed, I also do not think that the ending is in line with Alessandra's character. Despite the two comments that you will have now read regarding the ending of the book, I highly encourage you to finish reading, especially read the comments after the ending, ie. the Epilogue and author's comments. Without us all having read the same material, how can we debate??

That is all for now as I wish not to spoil the rest of the book for you by my comments. Happy reading!