Literary Feast Discussion: Heist Society (pp. 1-72)

Hello Feast Attendees!  Sorry this post is a little late.  There were homeworkz issues.

But Monica and I have dressed in black, put on gloves and masks have have collected our lock-picks, rope...and other thievery gear and are ready to take on Heist Society.  Here are our thoughts for the first quarter of the book.

Shel: The opening of the book reminded me of The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau Banks. Those trickster sophomore girls and prestigious boarding schools.


Monica: See, and I was imagining the scene in Veronica Mars where Weevil and Logan put their teacher's car through the flagpole. I think my literary street cred was ruined with that one.


Shel: Not at all! I love that episode. Logan and the boots! Oh, Veronica Mars, I miss you so.


Monica: I'm sensing a marathon night coming up the next time you're in town..... ;)


Shel: You're on!  I feel like I want to know more about Hale as a character. Aside from the occasional "handsome" or reference to cute clothes, he feels blank to me.


Monica: He seems *old*. Am I the only one who feels that? As they were speeding off in the car and she said something about him being sixteen, I had a moment of really? The cousin I can believe, but he's not working, age-wise, for me.


Shel: I was okay with believing he was young. Especially with the superman jammies and tousled hair. But beyond that, he still seems so blank. I'm not buying him as a love interest. There's no obvious spark. I was also wondering about Marcus, Hale's man servant. Can a servant really be that good. I mean, Butler from Artemis Fowl at least spent all of his life training to be that awesome.


Monica: He's a gentleman's gentleman! He's every manservant out of every trashy regency romance novel ever written! He's polite and smart and unobtrusive and incredibly helpful and knows everything just a little bit before it happens, and (when you get right down to it) he's probably a way better character than most everyone else in the book, but we'll never get to see that side of him. Poor Marcus.... Someone write him into a romantic lead so I feel better.


Shel: To the fantiction-mo-bile!


Shel: Moooooonica, I neeeed help with the French!


Monica: Désolé chérie. Je parle français comme un enfant de trois ans. Ou peut-être comme un perroquet très talentueux.


Shel: But, but...that doesn't help me...*weeps...but only a little*  All of these thieves are legacy thieves or well established. How am I supposed to learn how to break into the biz this way?!


Monica: They'd probably view you the way the first class passengers on the Titanic viewed Molly Brown, what with her being all loud and uncultured and nouveau riche. On the other hand, I have total faith that you could be a completely awesome art thief -- so I say try to break in, if that's your dream!


Shel: Oh my gosh, I just saw that musical on DVD for the first time last week. What ARE the chances?! I just don't want to get caught. I think I'd also have trouble with the whole "Never live anyplace you can't walk away from. Never own anything you can't leave behind" thing. I have two cats. I can't leave them behind. Do you know how hard it is to travel with two cats, one of whom is a control freak with a heart murmur who pants and meows incessantly when he's in any type of vehicle? Plus, what about all my books?! I love my books! I think I'm doomed before I even start my career of crime.


Monica: Yeah, you do have to hope that by the end of the book, she hasn't become completely bitter and crazy at being pulled away from her "normal" life -- if I'd managed to get my heart set on having regular friends and pets and few-to-none run-ins with the law, I'd be pretty upset with my fam.

So, dear readers and fellow potential thieves, what did you think?  Leave your observations in the comments and make another appearance on Thursday, when Monica and I will be discussing chapters 9-19.

Tah-Tah!