The People in the Picture: First
Impressions
Oxford 1998 Program Participants Talk About The People in the
Picture
by Kelly
The second book I read was The People in the Picture also
by
Haydn Middleton. I felt this book was much easier to understand and
relate to
than The Lie of the Land. It talks of the troubles a young woman has in
life,
especially in relating to her family. The family seems to be falling
apart.
The main characters, Jasmin Piast and Terrance Lacy, have a
peculiar
relationship. Jasmin is naive, confused, and quiet while Lacy seems rude,
secretive, and boarish. I spent the majority of the book questioning the
character of Lacy. What kind of man is he? I questioned all of his
actions.
How could he know some of that information about her family? He was no
ordinary man.
I said Jasmin is naive because she speaks with a total
stranger
and
allows him to walk her home. Now he knows where she lives. She has an
uneasy
feeling about him yet she goes away with him for the weekend. She doesn't
tell
anyone where she has gone or who she went with.
I find it odd that Jasmin always refers to her parents as
Sidney
and
Eileen. It proves it to me that there is a distance and lack of respect
in
their relationship. Although the family is going through a difficult
time,
Jasmin still wants her family to stay together and not to let them get
hurt.
I thought it was interesting how Jasmin cut Old Alice out
of the
family
picture because it was creased but then Alice died. So it was like Jasmin
had
cut her out of the family. It symbolized her seperation from the family.
Middleton mentions the darkness and shadows around Lacy
several
times.
Ex. "She could sense the darkness again, the darkness that had taken
possession of him" (pg 61). This theme of darkness seems to run in
Middleton's
works. The person of mystery (Lacy- PP and David- LOL) is often seen
surrounded by darkness or it can be seen within the person.
I couldn't help but question Jasmin's mental state. She
was
obsessed
with Lacy. She copied down every single possible spelling of Lacy out of
the
phone book trying to track him down. She calls Lacy repeatedly at any
time of
the day or night. She is sexually attracted to him yet she is afraid of
him.
As mentioned by the others, I don't really understand or
have any
knowledge of the British mythology. It apparently is another theme that
Middleton weaves through his novels. Both Jasmin and Eileen have dreams
relating to these myths. They seem to foretell the future.
When Jasmin meets Roland you can't help but root for him
over
Lacy. He
seems very different from Lacy. Yet they do many things and say many
things
similarly. They are so similar that you, the reader, are led to believe
that
they are in on this game against Jasmin together.
Throughout the book Jasmin is collecting information on
Lacy and
watching her family fall apart. Lacy is spying on Jasmin and worming his
way
into her family. He has been making wooden carvings of the family.
Jasmin
later finds these carvings. She is afraid that he will harm her family.
She
always focuses on the negative. But when she chooses happiness for
herself she
discovers that Lacy was there as her protector.
The ending seemed a little unrealistic to me. It seemed
too
perfect.
I suppose I had gotten so used to all of the twists in the book and
expected
something bizarre to happen. This is still a good book and I would
recommend
it to others.
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