Reading Meg
Cabot's Avalon High sent me into a complete and utterly déja vu moment. This
moment in particular sent me right back to middle school, where I must admit I
spent so much time in the school library that all the librarians came to know
me on a first name basis. As poisonous as this was to my reputation, I found
that I just didn't care. It was probably this moment that I should have
realized that I was destined to be an English major. This was one of the first
books I had read about any Arthurian legend, so you can imagine how confused I
was until I did a little bit of research.
What I liked best about this book in
middle school was the ending. Not because it meant that the book was finally
over, but because it fueled my want for a 'Happily Ever After'. Ever since I was little, and I am sure that I
am not alone in this, I have been a hopeless romantic looking for the elusive
'One'. Cabot fulfilled all of my romantic hope that Elle and Will would end up
together, no matter what the evil Marco did. To bad it never came with a
disclaimer reading: "WARNING: This does not actually happen in real
life". Anyway, what I honestly
liked best about the book after I read again for class was that portions of
Tennyson's poem were put on the beginning of each chapter (that way, at least,
there is an inkling of intelligence in the 'book').
One thing that really rubbed me the
wrong way about the book was how much Elle stereotyped people. For example:
When Elle assumes things about people based on how they look. Just because a
person has tattoos doesn't mean that they do drugs. I myself am a prime example
of this. I do have a tattoo, and I somehow manage to not do drugs. It can be
done.
Though there are only a few things
in common throughout the many, many texts on Arthurian legend, the single thing
that I consistently abhor is the affair between Gwen and Lance. It is hard for
me to describe in polite words how I truly feel about the entire thing, and had
I been Arthur, I would have beheaded them both and put their heads on stakes at
the gates of Camelot... I guess it's a good thing that I was never destined to
have an ancient kings past intertwined with my modern day life.
(2/5)
