Day 181: Blameless

Blameless by Gail Carriger. ISBN: 9780316074155.

I think Carriger posits an excellent question to her character Madame Lefoux when she is asked whether or not she is seeking immortality (as a werewolf of vampire).  I won't tell you the answer, but Lefoux, being herself, gives a very reasonable answer.

Before you make up your mind about it, here are some facts you must know about being turned in Carriger's universe:

1. It is not always successful.
2. Successful transition relies on the presence of excess soul, of which there is no means of measuring.
3. Women very rarely make a successful transition.
4. A successful transition means you must sustain yourself on either blood or raw meat.
5. A successful transition usually involves losing artistic talents or creative abilities.
6. A successful werewolf transition involves very, very painful transformations than never get less painful.
7. A successful transition means that you will be beholden to either a vampire hive or a werewolf pack, at least until you are strong (read: old) enough to break off on your own, and then you will be looked upon with suspicion by everyone.

With all of these facts stacked up against it, there's almost no point in becoming immortal.  I suppose number 7 wouldn't be all that much different, as in Victorian times I would be bound by the patriarchal family structure anyway and becoming immortal may be a means of escaping it, even if only for another hierarchical form.  I think possibly the biggest concern would be the loss of artistic talents and abilities.

My brain is actually one of my favorite places to visit.  I would be loath to lose that in favor of prolonging my life.  I may not be incredibly smart, but I am clever, and I keep myself well entertained.  In fact, my brain is so inventive that sometimes it throws somewhat random images and word pairings together in a way that delights me to no end.  Most of them I would not dare to speak out loud or share, except apparently with my fiance as most of them come to me when I'm settling down for the night, but other times they lead to some turn of phrase or thought that I truly enjoy exploring and connecting in ways that might not occur to other people.

I know that my blog is not very big right now, that my audience is fairly small compared to some, but I would like to think that it is enjoyed enough by the people who do read it that they would come to miss the "soul" of my blog if it were to go missing.

An excellent and mostly spoiler free review can be found at this ain't livin'.  The blog author does an excellent job of summarizing the flavor of the book without going into boiled down summary (I am not a fan of summaries).