Fic Rec: Far Shore by Angelfish

[callistosh65.livejournal.com]

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.

Comments

[jgraeme2007.livejournal.com]

I've mixed feelings about this story. I loved the setting and didn't mind the stock background characters because, as someone else mentioned, I basically read these fics for the central relationship. So...I excuse or ignore in a fic what I would rate harshly in a novel or short story. It's a different art form entirely.

The suddenly amorous doctor took me, like everyone else, aback -- in fairness I thought he was an otherwise well-drawn character.

The supernatural element needed to have been foreshadowed, no ifs ands or buts. Subtly. Because without the foreshadowing it came out of left field, and instead of resonating, resulted in a huh? moment.

The writing, as usual, is beautiful, but the lyrical gymnastics occasionally get in the way -- it's a sort of flexing of writing muscles performed (and this will sound unkind) for the mirror. Or other writers. Less is more in effective writing -- of course that's strictly my own opinion. Some people just prefer more and more.

From my perspective she's still having problems with structure and dramatic arc, but she's getting better, and where she's good, she's very good and (for me) makes up for any weaknesses. And she ended cleanly this time.

All that said, I really liked this -- it genuinely moved me, which is strange because it's chock-full of all kinds of things that drive me nuts: weeping, fainting Doyle for starters. Her vision of the lads is so...off-kilter at times that it almost feels AU to me. Yet...I buy it. I bought it in All These Years as well. Or maybe it's because, although these characters are not the Doyle and Bodie I know, they are vivid and appealing enough in their own right to draw me along.

I have to admit she certainly gives adequate reasons for fainting, weeping and nosebleeds -- not to mention suicide and nervous breakdowns.

I was disconcerted by the amount of anguish and damage she heaped on them -- and the thing with the kid sickened me. Not a comfortable or pleasant read, which is not a bad thing necessarily.

The idea that Bodie would abandon Doyle was painful in the extreme, but I thought both times she created believable circumstances for it. The betrayals angered me, but felt believable.

Maybe I was in the mood for soap opera? I don't know. This caught me.

[callistosh65.livejournal.com]

The suddenly amorous doctor took me, like everyone else, aback -- in fairness I thought he was an otherwise well-drawn character. Yes he was, wasn't he? And it's not Doyle making the pass that's the problem, either. It's the doctor's response to it that seems to jar.

And yes, Far Shore genuinely moves me, too. Which is rare in fanfic for me. I don't think of it as soap-opera, though, I don't feel that my emotions are being manipulated by trauma for the sheer sake of it. Her world and her vision of the lads is one she sells me. Like Kate Maclean, she's never an easy read but entirely worth the effort.

[jgraeme2007.livejournal.com]

And it's not Doyle making the pass that's the problem, either. It's the doctor's response to it that seems to jar.

I agree that Doyle's reckless behavior seemed in keeping with his level of pain. And I could have bought the doc's response if there had been some foreshadowing.

And yes, Far Shore genuinely moves me, too. Which is rare in fanfic for me. I don't think of it as soap-opera, though, I don't feel that my emotions are being manipulated by trauma for the sheer sake of it.

I was responding to the earlier use of soap opera; I don't know that it really was soap opera so much as there's a problem with (for lack of better term) the emotional pacing. Not enough lulls between the crests.

I thought a couple of crucial bits were left out -- from the point of the surgery -- scenes that would have allowed us to watch the relationship building and deepening -- and that would have evened out and balanced the occasionally frenetic/histrionic tenor of the rest of the story.

Granted it's always tricky to know what's essential.

Her world and her vision of the lads is one she sells me. Like Kate Maclean, she's never an easy read but entirely worth the effort.

Now MacLean...whole different kettle of fish. Very accomplished and experienced writer. Clean, spare prose, tight structure, careful, even pacing (although I'd probably have chopped 30 - 40K out of Redemption, but that's just me). I think her Yellow Brick Road is one of the best things ever written in Pros.

[callistosh65.livejournal.com]

I think her Yellow Brick Road is one of the best things ever written in Pros. Me too. justacat got me hooked on Kate Maclean, and zine-free zone that I am, (due to expensive, problematic geography *g*), YBR is possibly the best Pros investment I ever made, and I'm looking forward to Redemption.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

You've read "Telling Marge", up at Hatstand? (Just butting in to check... *g*)

[jgraeme2007.livejournal.com]

You've read "Telling Marge", up at Hatstand? (Just butting in to check... *g*)

Ah... Yes. And a couple of short fics that Justacat was kind enough to send me. All of which I enjoyed, but something about YBR just...hit home in a way that nothing else has. An almost perfect blending of canon and original writing.

[callistosh65.livejournal.com]

Yup, certainly have. It's good, but it's her first fic, I think? So for me she really hits her stride with Scenes From the Edge, All or Nothing, and the absolutely brilliant Choosing.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I don't know that it really was soap opera so much as there's a problem with (for lack of better term) the emotional pacing. Not enough lulls between the crests.
Yes! (Butting in, cos I think it was me first used the term "soap opera" about it) Yes, this is a much better way to describe the way I feel about it. If there'd been more breathing space between each crisis/miracle then I would have been much more comfortable reading The Far Shore!

I often love fic that's "Never an easy read" (Elizabeth Holden's "Forever True" (zine only) springs to mind, oh and Castalia - "Snowman With A Dark Coat" is another of my favourite fics for that very reason!) I find it hard to compare MacLean (who I also adore) with Angelfish though - such different styles, and yet they've both got ways of making you feel deeply. I'd say Angelfish was better for this in her first two stories though... less overwrought, and therefore a cleaner emotional impact?

[callistosh65.livejournal.com]

and Castalia - "Snowman With A Dark Coat" is another of my favourite fics for that very reason!) God, I love that story. All that..stillness, especially in that opening scene; it has always stayed with me.

And I was comparing Angelfish and Maclean in my initial post in terms of the effect their writing has on me, the way they draw me in to their visions of Bodie and Doyle. As you say, very different styles and visions - a Bodie who emotes in far Shore and one who is almost brutal for much of YBR. But for me they create believable contexts for their Bodies, so I do feel deeply involved.

[magenta-blue.livejournal.com]

Have to say - your description of 'Snowman With A Dark Coat' - All that..stillness, especially in that opening scene; it has always stayed with me. - is absolutely perfect. That is exactly how I feel, 'all that...stillness'. Ahh, achingly lovely!