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The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith - NO SPOILERS

298 replies

CrossPurposes · 17/02/2023 21:41

I know we still have a long wait but JK Rowling has announced she has completed the next Strike novel: twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/1626688428523016192?s=20

OP posts:
tribpot · 06/10/2023 17:14

Oh I didn't pick up on a thin = good message. Certainly Robin's weight loss was not presented as if it was a good thing! And Strike needed a complete health overhaul given how the old stump was behaving at the end of the previous book.

ChessieFL · 06/10/2023 18:56

Yeah I didn’t think the weight loss was presented like that. For Strike it’s made very clear it’s about health rather than looks. And Robin, as a pp said it’s about what she went through, not a choice she made to look better.

2Rebecca · 06/10/2023 19:26

I thought thin was linked to being underfed and malnourished in the commune. For most people having a BMI of 20-25 is healthier. It's not more virtuous, it's just better for your joints. It's also better for your liver not to have internal fat. Being underweight was not presented as positive though.

StBrides · 06/10/2023 23:17

MorrisZapp · 06/10/2023 16:23

No I won't be fair 😂

I just feel there's a 'slim is good' air to the whole thing. And the shrinking waist of our heroine is all a bit 'ooh I forgot to eat' although of course that's not at all the situation.

'I just happen to be getting hotter' said many, many fictional characters.

😆

It's definitely a trope, but I still think you're reaching a bit re this book re Robin & strike

I have noticed shades of if re her descriptions of other characters though and although you can argue that she's reflecting present-day prejudices i agree it's a bit too much a staple in her characterisations and it rankles me.

fruitstick · 07/10/2023 03:51

I actually think weight is handled well.

Strike's diet is quite endearing really, and most references to it are around how much more comfortable his leg feels, rather than his looks or 'virtue'. He's still vaping away etc.

And Robin's weight loss is absolutely not presented as a good thing.

It feels like a stretch.

HighzoNe1986 · 07/10/2023 03:57

This reply has been deleted

This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines.

EggTheParrot · 07/10/2023 05:03

Just incase people want to keep this one spoiler free. Join us on the spoiler thread

Spoilers spoilers spoilers the running grave http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/4906913-spoilers-spoilers-spoilers-the-running-grave-spoilers-thread

InTheCludgie · 07/10/2023 07:59

StBrides · 06/10/2023 23:17

😆

It's definitely a trope, but I still think you're reaching a bit re this book re Robin & strike

I have noticed shades of if re her descriptions of other characters though and although you can argue that she's reflecting present-day prejudices i agree it's a bit too much a staple in her characterisations and it rankles me.

Ooo can you go over to the spoilers thread and talk a bit more about this clue please?

StBrides · 07/10/2023 10:13

@InTheCludgie yes can you link to the thread please, I can't find it

WobblyLondoner · 07/10/2023 10:57

fruitstick · 07/10/2023 03:51

I actually think weight is handled well.

Strike's diet is quite endearing really, and most references to it are around how much more comfortable his leg feels, rather than his looks or 'virtue'. He's still vaping away etc.

And Robin's weight loss is absolutely not presented as a good thing.

It feels like a stretch.

Totally agree with this. Invariably descriptions of the weight of Robin and fellow residents is accompanied by descriptions that make it crystal clear they are not healthy.

MargotBamborough · 07/10/2023 11:15

There was quite a lot of focus on Robin's weight in Career of Evil too when she was on a diet before her wedding. There's a moment where Strike notices that she has lost quite a lot of weight and that it doesn't suit her. I mean realistically this is something a lot of women struggle with, isn't it? Even women who are slim and beautiful feel pressure to conform to these beauty standards and I think showing Robin as someone who struggles with that and feels like she isn't quite good enough even as she's doing all these brilliant things is more realistic than anything else.

MargotBamborough · 07/10/2023 11:18

And I also think that maybe JKR is trying to say something when she writes about Strike working his way through this succession of rich, beautiful girlfriends even though he's a grumpy, one legged pauper who eats too much junk food and smokes like a chimney. He's clearly not being held to the same standard as Robin. Would an overweight one legged woman with lots of bad habits have her pick of all these good looking rich guys? Not a chance.

MorrisZapp · 07/10/2023 11:27

Ok another small but annoying point.

Three times now Strike has phoned someone in the course of his enquiries and said 'hi, I'm CS, I'd like to speak to you about (subject)' and all three times the response has been "ok I suppose, is next Thursday alright, in the Coach and Horses?".

It reads so weirdly. If a guys on the phone wanting to talk about something, you'd say what do you want to know. Not ok let's have this conversation in person, in a pub, a week from now.

Please agree with me.

paranoidnamechanger · 07/10/2023 11:29

Also, WTF is her rationale for stating the race of black characters when it’s of no relevance to the story?

ChesapeakeBay · 07/10/2023 11:57

paranoidnamechanger · 07/10/2023 11:29

Also, WTF is her rationale for stating the race of black characters when it’s of no relevance to the story?

Maybe because when she didn't state the race of characters in HP she got accused of white washing?

Would you also like her to not mention sex, hair colour, accent etc? Personally I find writing without character descriptions or adjectives terribly dull!

paranoidnamechanger · 07/10/2023 12:14

Like I said, there’s no relevance to the story. She doesn’t describe white characters as ‘white’, does she?

StBrides · 07/10/2023 12:45

paranoidnamechanger · 07/10/2023 11:29

Also, WTF is her rationale for stating the race of black characters when it’s of no relevance to the story?

Agreed.

On the one hand, someone could argue she's portraying minority characters in the most acceptable way she feels she can but on the other...why is it always one of the first or only points she makes about a character? And it's often a repeated fact about them too.

She doesn't point out whiteness in Caucasian characters in the same way.

Again, someone could argue that her intended audience reflects the national demographics where white people are a majority, but its also a multicultural society in which racism has increased exponentially in recent years (and racist rhetoric gets worse each month).

Is there implicit belief in her writing that readers will assume a character is white unless it's explicitly stated? And therefore is she attempting to demonstrate diversity while backing off from other ways of writing about it which could leave her open to more criticism?

Does the fact that it makes some people who are white uncomfortable because it feels to them prejudicial actually say more about them (and I make no inference to your own race here)?

Are some white people only comfortable if they can adopt colour-blindness towards characters?

How far is the reader to assume character descriptions originate from the point of view of either Strike or Robin?

Notably, when Hermione was cast for the stage , she was applauded for pointing out she never explicitly stated Hermione-of-the-books is white but when she said Dumbledore is gay, she was accused of co-opting lgbqt+ issues.

StBrides · 07/10/2023 13:06

Thanks for the links to the spoiler thread & I asked my post to edit out last comment in case some people felt it was a hint

MargotBamborough · 07/10/2023 13:11

paranoidnamechanger · 07/10/2023 12:14

Like I said, there’s no relevance to the story. She doesn’t describe white characters as ‘white’, does she?

Well, no, but if she describes someone as having blonde hair and blue eyes we can assume they are white.

AInightingale · 07/10/2023 13:18

I am very ignorant here but what kind of adult thrillers does JK write? I've never read any. Are they murder mysteries or what? I am looking for some new books, bedtime reading kind of thing (I'm usually exhausted), bit skint so they will be library borrowings.

tribpot · 07/10/2023 13:38

Yes, they're murder mysteries @AInightingale - investigated by a team of private detectives with (as detective stories always have) complicated personal lives.

BabyStopCryin · 07/10/2023 17:37

Oh now what was the first one - set in a little village? Not a Strike one.

NunsKnickers · 07/10/2023 18:33

BabyStopCryin · 07/10/2023 17:37

Oh now what was the first one - set in a little village? Not a Strike one.

The Casual Vacancy

Hedjwitch · 08/10/2023 15:16

Just finished it and LOVED it. Best one yet.

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