ci5hq | Fic Rec: Far Shore by Angelfish

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Fic Rec: Far Shore by Angelfish

Title: Far Shore
Author: Angelfish
Zine: Never Far Apart
Permission to archive the rec/review at Palely Loitering: Yes
Notes: Following on from bits and pieces that cropped up on

byslantedlight’s post about what we were all reading, and from a back and forth with

noblesentiments, I thought I’d take the plunge! (Folk should note that it's only available in the zine.)
Short review: It’s post-CI5, as it were. Doyle’s invalided out and in the Hebrides, carving out a difficult, solitary existence for himself. He and Bodie have been on the outs for two years, since a disaster in Northern Ireland that saw Bodie basically abandon Doyle and get married. One day, a car draws up, Bodie gets out.. and the rest of the story is the pair of them working out their respective demons amongst the heather and storms of north west Scotland.

I know this fic has caused mixed reactions, so I think I should state my take on it at the outset. I have a blind spot when it comes to Angelfish. I adore her, she’s my favourite writer in the fandom. And my blind spot is what I like to think of affectionately as the Maclean/Fish Syndrome. The pair of them do things to the lads that shouldn’t work in the cold light of day, but through the skill of their writing I’m drawn into their world, their Bodie and Doyle. Hook, line and bloody sinker. Yes, Ray Doyle – and Bodie, actually - weep a fair bit in this, but their demons break my heart in Far Shore, so I’m there. Yes, Ray goes a-scrabbling in the stones and Bodie leaves AGAIN, but my howl of frustration is recompensed by a Bodie who sits with Doyle on the floor and finally realises he has done enough, so I’m there. And yes, Bodie’s abandonment of Doyle remains inaccessible, but he’s such an awkward, tender diamond when it comes to caring for him second time around that, yup, I’m still there.

My favourite part of the story is the beginning of that second time around, actually, when they’re tentatively finding their way with each other again.

Gradually it bore itself in on both of them that they were living happily. It took some accepting. Neither had managed anything remotely like it before…
….They discussed the phenomenon and discovered that each had independently reached the conclusion that he would die on the streets too young to make any permanent attachment worthwhile…. Neither would have believed that each other was the heart of it – it had taken this long enforced experiment, subtracting the high-octane lifestyle, to show them what was left.

And besides all this, I get the Hebrides again. I spent every summer as a child camping there, so to have them again through the eyes of my favourite writer is the icing on a rather windswept cake for me. The weather did its Hebridean thing and soaked them between bursts of brilliant sunshine. Quite! And I love Bodie’s silent appreciation of the headlands and views Doyle shows him, “an uncomplaining serenity, most unlike his normal city self.”

Anyway, feel free to use these ramblings as a springboard. I deliberately haven’t been too detailed, so jump in. What did you love about it? Any misgivings? Why? I will simply end this, my own ‘Appreciation of Far Shore 101’, with her description of Bodie waiting for Doyle to come out of surgery. It catches at my heart everytime and I love it.

He had started to fall and had fallen like Lucifer until somehow Ray had stopped his descent. Somehow forgiven him. Loved him. Warmth like sunlight in winter branches went through Bodie’s limbs as he considered this, deliberately, consciously, for the first time, and the hard plastic chair and the smell of antiseptic faded out. That Doyle had come to love him during the years of their partnership he had eventually allowed himself to know. It had gone without saying, which was just as well. Bodie was not emotionally equipped for declaration, much as he had liked and come to rely on his partner’s affection.

Daily bread, or sunlight. Men like him seldom gave conscious thanks for either. Which was stupid, really, since both could be so easily discontinued. Since everything could.

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Speaking of Doyle being daft to move to such a remote place with such a major and disabling injury… Pride and depression and all allowing, I can't see him being that stupid about it - he had a go at death-wishing, it didn't work, and Doyle's a fighter, to me that's an integral part of his character, and he's smart. Then the rest of that thread - going private for the back surgery (with Doyle's socialist beliefs?), a long NHS waiting list for it (not sure about that either, not when he was in so much acute, life-threatening pain, not back in the eighties - and I've been there, seen it, done that too) and then having it done incredibly quickly privately and walking, absolutely pain-free, after apparently major surgery within 48 hours…

Otherwise, and as

empty_mirrors says above, I have no sense of the characters as people in their own right, let alone Scottish, let alone Islanders. I didn't get the motivation of the doctor suddenly entertaining a gay relationship either - there was absolutely nothing to hint that he didn't have a very happy, stable het relationship with his wife. Yes, these things can come out of the blue, but again there are so many things coming out of the blue in this story that they stop ringing true after a while.

Ditto the earth-child moment about the "upper deck" of Doyle's house, and the bizarre standing stone supernatural trauma - there was so much else going on (I mean Doyle was out there about to die, right?) that it just seemed thrown in there for the sake of it.

Oh, and I must stop now, I'll probably have to double-post as it is! The worst thing is that those are all random things that have occurred to me again as I've flipped through the story - and I won't even go the way of grammar and too many typos - this isn't even me at my most picky. But so many things are what have kept dragging me "out of the story" by the scruff of my neck, it was happening on almost every page. It's not good to start laughing when you realise that one of the lads is about to faint, or burst into tears again, or on top of everything else can't get it up, or… you know? Part way through I realised that I was car-crash reading - not because I cared about these pathetic versions of the lads, but because I wondered what in the world was left to happen next...

I promise that after reading her first two stories (Chances and Broken Cover) my first thought on seeing Angelfish fic has been yeaaaaay - but it's just not panning out in either this story or the last one. It's as though she's lost any sense of balance as she tries to make the words more beautiful, the characters more traumatised, and the world a more magical place.

So... is it just me then? :s

I really enjoyed reading through your reply - Wow. You brought up so many things to talk and think about - thank you! I'll just respond to a couple here..

Okay, I didn't find the plot jerky, though when I realised Bodie was off AGAIN I wanted to throw something. I liked the fact that the plot is... well, that it's basically just the two of them working things out. I didn't need anything other than that to propel them forward through the story, and the Hebrides and its people were fine for me( except that bit with the doc, which I agree with

empty_mirrors jarred).

Doyle's motivation for being in Scotland never struck me as bizarre, I rather like that stoic, spartan exixtence he thinks he deserves. I admit to having little knowledge about the world of supply teaching at that time, so that wouldn't strike me as odd, either. Personally, I would much rather have had more on Bodie's motivation for his intial abandonment of Doyle after Northern Ireland.

"Hardarse" doesn't strike me as American - tho' I could well be wrong. (I'm a Birt who neverthless needs a Brit-check on her fics, so Americanisms don't always jump out at me). And Angelfish always seems to do her own thing to English sentences regarding structures, etc. For me it works and doesn't distract.

Part way through I realised that I was car-crash reading I don't agree for this fic, but boy, you make me laugh! I *love* this expression and will have to remember it for future reference ( Ditto the "earth-child moment"- hee:))

(I love the last sentence of your comment, btw - I don't agree - but I love and wish I had your eloquence..:)))

Oh but it is interesting to disagree strongly about something like this, isn't it?! I'm fascinated by the way people take such different things from stories - can read things so differently. We do it through our own experiences, of course, so I suppose it's to be expected, but... well it's still interesting!

And interestingly enough, I agree with some of the things you've said here too - I adore the idea of Doyle running away to somewhere stark and isolated to lick his wounds. I think that for me the motivation for it is just a little bit out - I can imagine him doing it, yes, but can I imagine him making a decision to do so knowing that he could die a lingering death? It doesn't seem his style - whereas the leap over the concrete floor would - he'd hope in a brief moment of irrationality - be quick and consuming. But that's clearly my little version of how-Doyle-would-reason/react!

...well, that it's basically just the two of them working things out. I didn't need anything other than that to propel them forward through the story
Yes! But that's just what I mean! Their working things out seemed to take in so many other disasters that need not have happened to take them through the just-being-them dealing with the initial huge trauma! Which was enough I thought... Interesting innit - same angle, different ways of seeing it... *g*

"Hardarse" doesn't strike me as American
Oh no, I didn't mean to suggest that it specifically was (though I suspect it is, it's usually spelled "hard-ass", which suggests so...) - but it's a modernism, not something that people would have said back then I don't think, which throws me as much as Americanisms do in Pros. Clearly other people don't mind/notice, and that's interesting too - what's the balance between making something culturally accurate (time-wise as well), and making it accessible to people reading it from both other cultures and other times (ie thirty years later!)? Goes the other way too - I've read O. Yardley stories (and I adore her fic) that make the lads sound very old-fashioned, which isn't right either - though at least they'd know those phrases!

Oh I love people messing around with sentence structure too - variety's the spice and all that, that wasn't a problem for me at all. I didn't really have a problem with her very lush descriptions either, although I believe some people found them too much. It was more the combination of it all, I think...

*wanders off to think some more...* (*and stops using the word "interesting"!*)

what's the balance between making something culturally accurate (time-wise as well), and making it accessible to people reading it from both other cultures and other times (ie thirty years later!)? Ohhh, very interesting point here. Sometimes you get that perfect word for smth in a story as a writer, and you just beat your breast and tear your hair because you can't use it, it's too modern - (Oh, for one of these modern fandoms to grab me!) For 'A Falling Off' I remeber that I wanted to describe smn as a "terrorist wannabe", and of course I couldn't. Came up with 'would be terorist' instead, which is ok, but not nearly as good as the modern equivalent.

And in a S/H fic one time I had Hutch refer to smth as the 'soccer mom save'. I kept it in, because it was the key moment, and nothing else worked. From f/b some loved it *because* of that, others felt jolted out - so as you say, it's all about personal experiences we bring to stories, and striking that balance as a writer.

Oh but it is interesting to disagree strongly about something like this, isn't it?! Absolutely. Vive la difference, my friend!!

(with Doyle's socialist beliefs?)

Look out everyone, but I've been thinking........about this and I think it's an interesting point because I've read it many times and I'm wondering *why* we all think Doyle has socialist leanings? Is there evidence in the episodes to support this? Apart from his recognition of Marcuse and Hegel which wouldn't mean he's a socialist by a long shot, but anyway.... And if there *is* evidence to support this I wonder how it ties in with some of his more misogynistic moments e.g. referring to a woman as a 'slag' without even blinking. (And if there is evidence to show he's a socialist he wouldn't be the first one to go private!).

Oh very good question!

I had to go and look up Hegel and Marcuse, so it definitely wasn't them I was thinking about (*g*) For me it's more those moments in Mickey Hamilton where Doyle's the one who points out that the killer must be sick rather than just evil, his awareness that "there aren't enough doctors", and particularly at the end where he doesn't believe that no one could have helped Hamilton. He feels that someone should have caught Hamilton's situation and thus been able to prevent the deaths - which implies to me a belief that society should be helping people like that.

Of course Cowley accuses Doyle of being an "idealist" - which I know doesn't necessarily equate with socialism, but quite often does...

Then little things - like the fact that he does seem to be affected by some of the deaths that he's involved with (DiaG) rather than taking it as read, that Bodie accuses him of being a "one-man Geneva Convention" in Mixed Doubles, that Doyle has apparently gone out of his way in the past to help kids on the street (not socialism in itself that, but another tendency, perhaps...) Oh, his belief that "hookers are women too"...

As for calling women "slags" being a sign of misogyny (cf calling men "bastards"?) I'm not sure that I necessarily equate socialism with a lack of sexism to be honest - different things, they are! I've known some very sexist socialists! But is calling women names a sign of misogyny when it's in some sort of context? Any more than calling men names is? (Not that I'd encourage either, but then I wouldn't encourage guns on the street either!) I actually think it's far more sexist of him to have told Susan that she shouldn't be out on the streets during Purging - why isn't she, as a trained agent, just as safe as Bodie and Doyle?!

Actually, along these lines, what I always wonder is why Bodie's the one who's always accused of racism (including by Doyle) when Doyle says some extremely racist things about Chinese people in the ep with the stun gas... I know there were different understandings of what was acceptable back when the series was made, but people now who note Bodie's racism in Klansmen don't seem to think anything of Doyle's racism at all! (Maybe they're putting it down to goading the guy that they've picked up..?)

And no, being a socialist doesn't preclude having private treatment (though more these days, I think?) but he accepts the option in a much more year 2000s way than in a 1980s-Doyle way, I thought... And of course this is all through my vision of Doyle, as I said above - and everyone's got their own!

Thanks for considering this and I knew the *rumour* came from somewhere but coudn't think of specifics...

I do agree that there are lots of examples where he's shown to be quite idealistic and yes, Cowley actually says that of him, but I'm not sure that idealism or even caring for people and society itself e.g. not having enough doctors, is the sole property of socialists. Victorian philanthropists and so-called New Liberals at the turn of the century (and the great Liberal himself, Lloyd George) have an admirable record - in some ways unequalled - when it comes to social improvement. But I know what you mean and thanks for reminding me with some very good examples! And yes, as you say, he does have certain left-leaning tendencies (apart from his other tendencies).

As for calling women "slags" being a sign of misogyny (cf calling men "bastards"?) I'm not sure that I necessarily equate socialism with a lack of sexism to be honest - different things, they are! I've known some very sexist socialists!

Yeah, I know what you mean.... and tight-fisted bastards a lot of them are too, but that's another story.....I suppose I'm thinking of the traditional socialist belief in equality, whether it be equality of income, opportunity, race, gender, blah, blah i.e. being opposed to discrimination and prejudice of all kinds, so lumping women together like that in a derogatory way seems inconsistent and hypocritical.

I actually think it's far more sexist of him to have told Susan that she shouldn't be out on the streets during Purging - why isn't she, as a trained agent, just as safe as Bodie and Doyle?!

True and I agree.

Actually, along these lines, what I always wonder is why Bodie's the one who's always accused of racism (including by Doyle) when Doyle says some extremely racist things about Chinese people in the ep with the stun gas... I know there were different understandings of what was acceptable back when the series was made, but people now who note Bodie's racism in Klansmen don't seem to think anything of Doyle's racism at all! (Maybe they're putting it down to goading the guy that they've picked up..?)

Excellent point, I hadn't thought about Doyle and the Chinese connection.
I can't exactly remember what Doyle says about them, but if his opinions were based on his experience of them, then I think that's fair game...he's not pre-judging but post-judging, I suppose? Hmmmm, I think I've just made up a new word. But don't forget Bodie's performance in Klansman - I don't think Doyle equals that anywhere and I would think that must be where Bodie gets his rascist reputation from.

Thanks for that!

Nothing stunning to add here - just to say thank you to you and

byslantedlight for such an interesting tangent - I enjoyed reading both your comments and, it is interesting the asumptions we make based on what we perceive as the characters' backgrounds, etc. And what we try and understand from the comments they make in the eps. Bodie is army, from Liverpool, suave and well-read at times, and clearly portrayed as uncomfortable with black people in the middle-classes - so are we to assume he's a right-wing conservative? One for Thatcher? And then Doyle, based on the way he talks, the few titbits we learn about his background, his sympathy for all and sundry, his tolerance, his impatience with the lack of it in Bodie, his anti-army stance.. are we to think that means he's a left-wing socialist? One for Labour?

Y'know, there is a fic out there waiting to be written about this! The lads, in the Capri, bored out their minds on a stakeout and the talk turns to politics of a wet Monday afternoon...*g*

Sorry, I totally have to jump in again, just cos... oh gawd, it's interesting! *g*

See, I'd never say Bodie was a right-wing conservative, for all what you've said above is true - for me there are other things about his personality that transcend those very basic canon truths. I can't imagine Bodie bothering to vote at all, to be honest - I think he has other priorities in life, other things that he thinks are more important. I can see him being more of the doesn't-matter-who's-in-charge-it's-all-the-same-to-us school of thought. He wouldn't really have a political side to him...

Whereas Doyle would turn around and say summat like "Yeah, but it all affects the little man at the bottom, and they're the ones we've got to watch out for..." He's more bigger-picture, to me...

Be an interesting angle to include in a fic, definitely... *g* Although politics always gets people going, doesn't it - wonder what fans would think if you slanted their favourite character in a way that didn't go along with their own political beliefs?!

but I'm not sure that idealism or even caring for people and society itself e.g. not having enough doctors, is the sole property of socialists.
No, quite true, but these are just some of Doyle's thoughts/beliefs, and for me, when you add them with various other things he's said/done, it suggests socialism in his case.

I suppose I'm thinking of the traditional socialist belief in equality, whether it be... so lumping women together like that in a derogatory way seems inconsistent and hypocritical.
Yeah, I know what you mean, I suppose I'm thinking of it flawed-realistically rather than ideally... That's the trouble with any philosophy/politics isn't it, people being people they never seem to have come out as they were originally supposed to... Which is why I suppose they're called ideal-ologies! *g*

he's not pre-judging but post-judging, I suppose?
Yeah, but he's lumping every Chinese person together as if they all had the exact same thoughts etc, which to me is rather racist stereotyping - I think he says something like "Chinese are like that. They respect authority." but it's as much his attitude as anything else... And then of course he and Bodie do the whole "Birds as well?" - "Oh, especially the birds." - "Never 'ad a Chinese bird" thing, which is also pretty off!

But don't forget Bodie's performance in Klansman - I don't think Doyle equals that anywhere and I would think that must be where Bodie gets his rascist reputation from.
Oh yeah, definitely - but we were supposed to think that Bodie's racist here, that's the whole point. We're supposed to think that Doyle (not just in this ep but presumably as his character) isn't... It's the whole things-that-were-acceptible-back-then thing, I guess, isn't it... But then getting upset about them is like getting upset because five hundred years ago people thought the earth was flat - you can say now Well of course they were wrong but there's no point getting all hoity-toity about it, we've just learned better since... I guess. *g*

Good points, as always.

but I'm not sure that idealism or even caring for people and society itself e.g. not having enough doctors, is the sole property of socialists.
.......No, quite true, but these are just some of Doyle's thoughts/beliefs, and for me, when you add them with various other things he's said/done, it suggests socialism in his case.

I'm not convinced it necessarily suggests socialism......I think Doyle is too much of a free spirit to follow something as hidebound as socialism. He definitely comes across as someone on the left and maybe in his dreams he aspires to something akin to a more libertarian type of socialism - I can see that - even though as a copper he was once part of the 'ideological state apparatus'

I suppose I'm thinking of the traditional socialist belief in equality, whether it be... so lumping women together like that in a derogatory way seems inconsistent and hypocritical.
Yeah, I know what you mean, I suppose I'm thinking of it flawed-realistically rather than ideally... That's the trouble with any philosophy/politics isn't it, people being people they never seem to have come out as they were originally supposed to...

People being people and living practical lives and forced to make practical decisions, I would think it's almost impossible - much of the time - to stick to political principles.

Which is why I suppose they're called ideal-ologies! *g*

I always think of ideology more as the study of ideas and doctrines than ideals!

he's not pre-judging but post-judging, I suppose?
Yeah, but he's lumping every Chinese person together as if they all had the exact same thoughts etc, which to me is rather racist stereotyping - I think he says something like "Chinese are like that. They respect authority."

Yeah, to be fair, I was assuming something unspoken here, some subtext like: in my experience the Chinese respect authority, which I think would have been a fair enough statement.

but it's as much his attitude as anything else... And then of course he and Bodie do the whole "Birds as well?" - "Oh, especially the birds." - "Never 'ad a Chinese bird" thing, which is also pretty off!

Yeah, didn't like that - derogatory to the Chinese and women.

I think Doyle is too much of a free spirit to follow something as hidebound as socialism.
Eep - think we're at cross-purposes here! I completely agree with you, and I'd never call Doyle "A Socialist", I was originally using the word to mean "left-leaning" I suppose - because "left" can mean so many different things these days. Is the current Labour party "left"? No, it so isn't! Is it more left than the Tories? (Hah, well, debatable!) Perhaps... But I think Doyle has more of an tendency towards "socialist" ideals than towards "right-wing" ideals. Mind you, it's never black and white, is it, and he does work for what most socialists would call a crypto-fascist governmental agency! (Don't pick me up on "crypto-fascist", I just think it sounds good! *waves to Red Dwarf*)

I always think of ideology more as the study of ideas and doctrines than ideals!
Bugger, that'll teach me to post during first coffee - I was thinking of Doyle's ideal-ism of course... *headdesk*

Eep - think we're at cross-purposes here! I completely agree with you, and I'd never call Doyle "A Socialist", I was originally using the word to mean But I think Doyle has more of an tendency towards "socialist" ideals than towards "right-wing" ideals.

Sorry, if I put words into your mouth! And yes, I'd say he was left-leaning - in the broadest sense of the word - and it's more the statist element to socialism which I'd think he'd have little truck with. And in some ways they could both be seen as apolitical animals - Doyle in his free spirt sense, and Bodie in the sense that he's ex-army and the army is supposed to be apolitical, following the orders of their political masters whoever they may be and so, he follows Cowley's order fairly unquestioningly, too. And membership of Ci5: well, wasn't it claimed somewhere that it's 'above the law', so maybe it's above the state? Dunno.

I always think of ideology more as the study of ideas and doctrines than ideals!

....Bugger, that'll teach me to post during first coffee - I was thinking of Doyle's ideal-ism of course... *headdesk*

Phew, that's a relief! You really had me worried there for a minute, trying to pick my way through the intellectual subtley of this new word!.

This is a really interesting discussion. Another perhaps example of Doyle's left leaning is during It's Only A Beautiful Picture - when Doyle is being grilled by the copper that he should mind his manners as 'Colonel Sangster is not an ordinary citizen.' And Doyle replies as he goes out of the door 'class system rules, okay' - which reminded me very much of a nod to the BBC comedy Citizen Smith (aired 1977), although it probably wasn't intended as such, as the phrase is, as Doyle says next, 'just a saying'. *g*

Oh, yeah! Great example. Doesn't he stick his arm in the air at one stage, Citizen Smith style? Yes, I'd say he definitely leans to the left, hand on hip.

Thanks for that!

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Fic Rec: Far Shore by Angelfish

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