[Cadfael]

But...

In chapter one... we heard how much Covenant had to forget what life was like before... for the rest of his life... he would have to go to sleep as a leper, wake up as a leper.. never for one moment to forget he was a leper. It was the only way he could survive... and he had decided to survive!!!

We first meet him in the act of refusing to die... or go away... he is determined to pay his phone bill, and not let the town 'shut him out'. he has decided how 'he can live' with his illness. Covenant has been through hell.. but he is getting better :)

Then all that is turned upon its head when he gets to The Land... the very thing that can kill him in our world... cures him in The Land.. ie. dirt= hurtloam, and that is only one example. He is being seduced into beliving he is healthy.. he just spent the last 6 months reconciling himself to the fact he will never be healthy again in his life... every waking minute will be a fight to live.

He CANNOT belive The Land is real... to do so will kill him when he 'comes out of his coma'.. he cannot be seduced into letting his regiem of survival slide.

Also... in reconciling himself to his illness.. he went to the edge of madness, but drew back at the edge... now he is in a strange new world, new rules.. and he is cured. He is convinced he has finally gone over the edge.

[ezchaos]

One thing that drove me crazy throughout the book was how very few of the people that TC met in the Land really made any attempt at learning about the world TC came from (I won't mention the ones that did). Everybody kept saying he was 'closed' to them, so maybe that was the problem.

If a person suddenly arrives from another world and you thought he was your world's savior, wouldn't you still want to know about the world he came from? If more of the people from the Land had tried to learn more about TC's world, maybe they would have figured out why he acted the way he did. Instead they seemed to be totally focused on his ring and the message he bore. They expected him to be an 'instant hero' which he wasn't.

[Nimea]

(I have not read any further yet . . .)

I agree with Cadfael. And that is one of the fascinating things about the book.
But I also agree with Lani about the rape, no matter if he wants to believe he is just dreaming. The rape and everything did not get me furious or something, but that was one thing I hate(d) TC for, even if I feel pity for him.

And ezchaos points out an interesting thing there. I wondered about it, too. But those inhabitants are very different, so . . . it does not feel really wrong. Mmh . . .

Well, maybe part of my opinion will change while reading on.

:) Being happy about this discussion and the book club . . . Hoping that it will keep on being so interesting.

[saintjon]

Well, I find the Land to be more interesting to read about that Covenant himself. It's his reactions to the Land that make it a great story.

I was especially drawn in by the importance of beauty to the theme of the book. As ambiguous as he is about its effects on him, Covenant loves the Land I think. As much as he feels the need to disbelieve it, I think deep down at all times he wishes he could believe it were real. But he cannot hope.

So as much as he convinces himself that he's just going to play it cool and go along with the Land, some of his actions indicate that he has a more deeper involvement with his surroundings than that, whether he's willing to admit it or not. (I want to go into detail but don't want to put up a bunch of spoilers and clutter the thread for those who aren't finished yet)

[Rob B]

I read it originally about 4 or 5 years ago....

Up to about the 150 or so page mark in the US MM paperback now...

I do remember the vivid descriptions of leprosy...after all Donaldson's father did have extensive experience with lepers.

Some things I forgot though were the traveling scenes with Lena's mother (name escapes me now...put the book down a few weeks ago to wait until 1 November got closer). Damn that woman has resolve, she is almost as conflicted and torn a character as Covenant, if not moreso.

Also, Saltheart...it is great to 'see' him again.

[Ladijen]

Possible spoilers (I'm not sure)
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This is the fourth time I have read this book (and the series--I couldn't just stop with book 1! :) ) and I have enjoyed it more with each reading. The story is brilliant, as is the lyricism of Donaldson's prose.

The theme that strikes me most in these books is health versus disease, or potency versus impotence. Covenant's leprosy is a central fact in his life. He was taught that his survival depends on everything else revolving around his disease. This makes the land a particular torment because of its health--people can actually "see" health in each other and in the land and the things around them. He cannot accept a place where even he can be cured, where even he can "see" health in everything, because survival depends on his awareness of his disease.

Throughout the land, the evil is disease: desecration of the land itself, the perversions created by Lord Foul, the rank pollution of the cavewights beneath Mount Thunder. Even the name of the greatest peril, the ILLearth stone, refers to disease. So Thomas Covenant is being asked to fight against that which destroys the health of the Land, but it has been drilled into him that disease is the central fact of his life. He cannot believe in the Land as anything but a dream, a paradise that kills, everything that his life is not. Even the people that he meets reflect the contrast between his "real" life and the Land: (from The Illearth War)
"He was moved by the Land, and by the people who served it--though they made him look so small to himself." The Land is, and contains, everything that he admires and desires but cannot have. It is threatened by the illness of Lord Foul, and everyone believes that he has the power to fight this illness, but he cannot allow himself to have that power. He loves it but cannot but refuse it because it is everything that is impossible for him.

Well, that was a bit sprawling and incoherent, eh? :)

[Eventine]

I'm about 5 chapters in, rereading for about the 3rd time.
One thing that really struck me about the first chapter this time was that Donaldson doesn't actually tell us that Covenant's a leper until right at the end of the chapter. Up until then, we really get to see the bitterness and resolve contained within him and wonder why (at least a first time reader would).

I just read the rape scene again as well, and it seemed a little strange how he snapped. I suppose there is plenty of lead up to it, with Donaldson pointing out at various stages Covenants appreciation of the female form and his impotence; but this also doesn't mesh with the whole anger thing. I suppose it is a releaser of not just his anger, not just his sexual frustrations, not just his bitterness, but everything. And the worse thing is that is only compounds these things for him. He's a tragic character who becomes more so as the book progresses.

Good post about the theme of health ladijen.

[Lani]

I'm done the book now :)
** Spoiler alert for those at the very beginning of the book


I agree with you, Eventine. I thought the rape was a bit unnatural in the place. And I find it strange that Lena would be the recipient of Covenants anger. Another thing is that TC goes through the whole book snapping at people for trying to touch him, while rape would involve quite a bit of body contact.

I really disliked the whole rape idea in the book and I don't think it should have been necessary.

[saintjon]

He was angry at Lena for appreciating him, for being so impressed by him and for thinking he was someone special, all the while being a beautiful and special person.

Basically, he was angry at her for contradicting all of his necessary beliefs.

But this would be the first point in the story where the land gets to him. This is the first point where he secretly wants to succumb to the "illusion".

[estranghero]

Another thing is that TC goes through the whole book snapping at people for trying to touch him, while rape would involve quite a bit of body contact.

That's a good point, Lani. I for one thought that the rape scene was a harsh though important facet in TC's story. However, seeing these posts, I wonder if this was the right outlet (or as Eventine said, his 'releaser') for his frustration. For all of TC's anger, IMHO it would be more natural for TC to vent his frustration by beating up Lena (or other people) considering how much anger he had. Of course this probably needs an assessment of a psychologist to be sure and I can't exactly remember the context of that situation to be sure why this or that happened...