The Running Grave - possible spoilers

[thevegetablesoup]

I've just finished this and really loved it, felt it was a return to form after the ink black heart which I still Enjoyed but not my favourite.

Anyway, in this one, strike and Robin are investigating a cult called the United humanitarian church and I did notice a lot of parallels between the church and trans ideology.....

For example

The church has a difficult relationship with the truth
It encourages members to cut themselves off from family members
Its emphasis on the spirit over the body- at one point Robin is chastised when she is undercover as a cult member for referring to someone as gay- she is told "bodies don't matter, spirit matters"

It was brilliant and thought provoking and JKR is a genius.

I agree - I just finished it as well, and thought how clever it was to make it so clear that anybody that asks you to take the discrepancy between your eyes and the facts on faith is an untrustworthy liar with their own agenda.

Also the recurring theme throughout the book that many people thought the cult a bit strange but they didn’t want to be judgemental so they didn’t trust their first instincts…

“Live and let live”, isn’t it?’ said Strike. ‘If nobody wants to speak out, and with the charity work there as a smokescreen, plus all the useful celebrity idiots…’”
**
🤔

There was bit in it along the lines of 'just because you think they're a harmless weirdo; doesn't mean they're not dangerous'.

Great book, I've about twenty pages left...

On my birthday list cant wait

Loved Troubled Blood but didn't get on well with Ink Black Heart, I think because I was listening on audiobook the online chats were really difficult to grasp, so went in with medium expectations and I loved Running Grave, its up there with TB for the best in the series.

I thought there was so much explained about Lucy and so much character development in that one chapter when they talk about Aylmerton. Loved all the bits with Strike and Prudence. Pat as usual is a stand out character, so glad we got to know more about her and her private life.

JKR's description of Robin's time in the cult were so detailed and visceral at times, it was extremely well written. My heart was in my mouth when she was finally escaping after everything that happened including the box.

Did anyone catch the panama papers reference, I think JKR is too classy but I hoped it was a dig at Emma Watson, funny how none of her costars felt compelled to speak out about her participating in tax avoidance but did about JKR standing up for womens rights.

I’ve recently finished it, I have whizzed through 34 hours on audible and am now going to savour the hardback. There are so many parallels. None in your face but there and very powerful. “It is the spirit self that is important” reminded me so much of lesbians being exhorted to include men in their dating pool. Having seen what UN women have posted on Twitter today about lesbians they are part of the cult too (as we know).

Yes I agree it is so powerful. I felt like punching the air when strike said "I'll burn your church to the fucking ground"

And the ending ❤️

And the Wikipedia pages being updated with lies to smear Strike. In my head that was the equivalent to what's happened to Glinner but that might be an overreach.

I loved the "useful celebrity idiots" line.

Oh it was wonderful. And yes, I thought the exploration of how ideology takes hold and then cannot be challenged was very clever, and very pointed (although whether anyone inside GI will get it, I'm not sure). I do think that JKR needs a better editor (felt this about the two preceding books) as it still reads a bit like a film script but the story was magnificent. And yes, the ending 👀

I actually thought the Ink Black Heart was great and didn't have a problem following it as an audio book. Although I really don't care about the Strike/Robin romance, for me it's the weakest part of the series.

I love the fact that, for the last couple of books at least, JKR has essentially taken a massive amount of inspiration from the people trying to "cancel" her, written very successful books and made a load of money off them. She sees straight through them and, unlike them, can put herself in their shoes and write accurate and sympathetic characters based on her own detractors.

To mangle one of her own quotes, even some of her detractors must acknowledge: You may not like her books but you can't deny: JKR's got style.

Yes, JKR can see them and through them with far more accuracy than they have self-awareness. It’s exquisite.

Ha, I was also slightly searching the cult for double meanings. I think there were a couple of nudges but not full on analogy. It was a new and very different kind of mystery that was thoroughly worth exploring on its own merits.
The cult were disturbing and skillfully written to draw in not just new members but also the reader in to a level of sinisterness you wouldn't credit straight off.
I spent the last third of the book not wanting Robin to let Strike out of her sight for fear of sinister cult members popping up and murdering her. Not very feminist of me, lucky Robin is more resilient than me!
And I totally fell for the red herring. Hats off JKR.

The ending was pretty good too ❤️. I feel a proposal from Ryan maybe in the offing which I hope will crystallise Robin’s feelings about both relationships.

I predict Robin will start the next book very cross with Strike. You don't /do/ that.

I thought there were more parallels with Scientology, tbh, than gender ID. "Pure spirit" is very like "clear" - the goal, when you become magic. Scientology also went all out with Wiki smears etc. when they were criticised.

I think it was sensible for JKR to show that she's interested in all the varieties of crazy out there and not obsessed with one. This also makes the people twisting it to make it all aimed at them look foolish.

I thought there were more parallels with Scientology, tbh, than gender ID. "Pure spirit" is very like "clear" - the goal, when you become magic. Scientology also went all out with Wiki smears etc. when they were criticised.

I agree. There are a lot of elements of scientology in there, and obviously of other cults. Clearly JKR did her research thoroughly. And don't forget, she did a series of interviews with Megan Phelps Roper, and had read her book, so she probably drew on some of her experience of being brought up in something very akin to a cult, the Westboro Baptist Church.

It's also the case that cults tend to share common features. It's not surprising that many of the elements of the cult in The Running Grave are also features of trans ideology, because the brainwashing, the separation of the victim from their family, the punishment of people who leave the cult, the vilification of the outside world are features that all cults possess.

It's funny how opinions vary on these, I think each book has been better than the one before it. I LOVED Ink Black Heart. And running grave is the best yet. Also think JKR has form for books getting longer as the series progresses so I'm not surprised by IBH and RG being massive.

And I think that although there are a couple of parallels with the whole trans/GC positions on material reality vs feelings, it's an injustice to project all of that onto RG which is fundamentally about a cult. I think it's dangerous territory for us to infer our own interpretation on things and then use that interpretation as fact, especially if the links are tenuous. A huge part of the problem with the TRAs is their wilful misinterpretation of things and stating as fact things which are incorrect, untrue or only partially based in reality.

Agree that this is the best one yet.

For me the main parallel was that Robin had a pretty good idea of what she was letting herself in for when she chose to take on the cult, but she still went ahead. It really was an act of staggering bravery. My heart was in my mouth the whole time she was under cover.

I can't help but be reminded of how JKR will have had a pretty good idea of how much it would cost her to speak out against the TRA cult, but she still chose to do what was right.

I never buy new fiction in hardback, or read massive bricks whilst commuting, but made an exception for this. Wasn't disappointed. In fact, whilst reading it on the Tube last Friday two women asked me about it so I spread the word.

I agree that you can read parallels with gender ideology in the cult, but that the UHC combines elements of many famous and powerful brainwashing organisations. The line about "useful celebrity idiots" jumped out at me too.

The bits with Robin undercover were so tensely written I was relieved when a chapter reverted to Strike on the outside. I remember an old episode of Time Team where they were excavating a medieval nunnery and they made one of the archaelogists spend two days living as a nun, ie small meals, lots of silence, interrupted sleep with the regular prayer times etc. She said she was surprised by how trance-like she found the religious chanting on an empty stomach. Fascinating stuff.

I also loved learning more about Pat. The little details are so clever; like the brief bit in which her husband is grumpy about alleged cheating in the pigeon racing world.

I've been to Cromer and Whitstable and many of the London boozers featured in the series; hoping to bump into Rowling when she's doing location research at some point...

I also loved learning more about Pat. The little details are so clever; like the brief bit in which her husband is grumpy about alleged cheating in the pigeon racing world.

I loved that too. This is why these books are so good - they're far more than whodunnits. You get a sense of a whole world, with real characters and real-life problems. It's probably why the books are so long.

My own favourite is Troubled Blood, I think because she managed to give us such a vivid sense of who Margot Bamborough was while alive. I also liked The Ink Black Heart, and found The Running Grave slightly weaker, though still good.

It's probably why the books are so long.
And get longer through the series, there are more and more characters we need to be caught up on.

I struggled a bit with Ink-Black Heart, but found this one totally gripping and compelling.

I came on to mention that Mumsnet got a mention: as a place on social media to find women of a certain age (40s if I recall correctly), I did wonder if it was a subtle call out to all her fans on this site!

There were a few editing errors (if that's the right phrase) in the text, eg at one point the characters place an order for food, have words, then one says something like 'lets order then talk about (issue)', I found 3 in the whole book, never seen anything like it in previous books. Am tempted to email the publisher but would that be OTT?

I agree with this, I suspect she is steering clear of providing any kind of ammo for TRAs (even though they would find it in fresh air)