Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Read Along ~ Mermaid by Carolyn Turgeon, Part 2 Chapters 9-16


Welcome to week 2 of my Read Along, I am so glad you are back or joining us. 

A quick recap as to how this all works, answer the questions below, for each correct response I will enter your name for a chance to win 1 of 3 prizes (a handmade item, a PBS Credit or a $5 Gift certificate from Amazon). You have until Monday January 23rd to answer this set of questions. 
Leave your answers in a comment with a way for me to get in touch with you.
 
This week for the handmade prize I have a set of 6 of my Glittered clothespin magnets the colors were inspired by the book cover.  To go along with that I have a copy of one of Carolyn's other books "Godmother The Secret Cinderella Story" and a German fantasy postcard circa 1918 called "Temptation"
 
 
1.  What was Gregor's Mermaid experience?
2.  What is Margarethe's plan to stop the war?
3.  What name does Prince Christopher choose for Lenia and why?
4.  What does Lenia's life line look like and who reads her palm?  What is special about her?
5.  How did the southern King tell his son about the marriage to Margarethe and how did Christopher react?
 
Bonus:  What did Lenia do with the necklace her sisters gave her from the Prince's Shipwreck?
 
Discussion:
1.  Last week Jenny asked "where do you think the book is set? I.e. what are the north and south kingdoms, or are they completely factious? At first, I thought the setting was Scotland (north) and England (south), based on physical descriptions and history of rivalry, plus the islands Christopher was looking for could easily be the Shetland Islands or Scandinavian ones. As I read further along, I don't think it's really important to the story, but I was curious to see if anyone else pondered this."
 
2. When Gregor told Margarethe about his mermaid experience did you have a moment where you thought he maybe talking about Sybil?  Do you think this was the authors intent?
 
3.  What is your opinion of Prince Christopher at this point?  Do you think he took advantage of Linea or do you feel like much of this is her fault because of her decision to become something she is not?

6 comments:

Jenny said...

1. Gregor, along with some of his fellow villagers, saw a pink haired mermaid on multiple occasions.

2. Margarethe's solution to stop the war is to form a marriage alliance with Prince Christopher.

3. Astrid, because Lenia is beautiful.

4. Lenia's life line looks like that of a young child. Agnes reads her palm. It's relevant because in mermaid years, Lenia is indeed very young.

5. He doesn't. The king throws a banquet and surprises Christopher by publicly presenting Margarethe as his son's new fiancee. Christopher is outaged and leaves the banquet with Lenia/Astrid.

Bonus: Lenia keeps the necklace and wears it, which helps convince the southern king's staff that Lenia is a woman of wealth and importance.

Discussion:
1. n/a

2. Yep, I think it's Sybil. One of the reasons Sybil was banished was that she continued to visit the human world. Based on loose math of mermaid years v/s Gregor's age, Sybil has been sneaking peaks at the world above for many years since her banishment.

3. At this point, I think the prince is a poorly mannered cad. He's intrigued by Lenia, but not in love with her because he clearly tells her he loves the woman who (he thinks) saved him. He realizes she's had her tongue ripped out and clearly been through some trauma, but takes advantage of her anyway. It's not her fault because she was completely unaware of the nature of mankind. To his credit, the prince does seem to eventually love her, thus inspiring his reaction to Margarethe's presence. But he's mad at Margarethe for concealing her identity when he too concealed his identity. What a rake.

WingsPawsNMagick said...

1. when Gregor was a child ..he slipped and fell into the water and couldnt swim..a mermaid saved him and sang to him as she took him to the shore and put him among rocks so that he would be safe..until his parents found him.
2. Margrethe planned on marrying the son of the southern king to join the north and south.
3.Astrid..because she is fair and beautiful.
4.Lenias life line is childlike because she is young in mermaid years. Agnes the Healer woman reads Lenias lifeline. Agnes is a mindreader and knows what Lenia is saying and thinking.
5. the southern king and queen had a beautiful dinner, halfway thru the dinner the king said he had an announcement to make:Princess Margrethe and Prince Christopher will be married we will have peace.
Christopher was livid ..he tells Lenia/Astrid for them to leave the dinner..and left the room.
BONUS: Lenia tossed the necklace back into the water angrily...one day when the prince was talking about Margrethe. Lenia was hoping that her sisters had found the necklace...hoping that they would know she was doing well in the upper world.

Sandy said...

This book really does take a person along like travelling on a wave. Hard not to just read on. :-)
1. Gregor slipped and fell into the ocean and would have drowned if not saved by a mermaid.
2. Margrethe thought that by marrying the son of enemy king, it would unite the two kingdoms N & S together and stop the war.
3. Prince Christopher gave Lenia the name Astrid because she was fair and beautiful, and that is what the name Astrid means.
4.Lenia's lifeline is that of a child, and is read by the village healer, Agnes.
5.The southern king told his son about his arranged marriage while everyone was gathered in the great hall for a meal. The prince was rightly angry... I would've been too, since he was sitting next to the woman he's in love with at the time, and the king was making his decision for him in public.
Bonus-When Lenia heard the prince speaking of Margrethe as if Margrethe was the one who'd saved him when his ship went down, she threw the necklace into the ocean.
--1.No idea where the book might be set. I'm guessing maybe Europe. I'd say the general geographical idea might have been based on some reality, but most likely fictitious.
--2.I had no idea at the time I read it which mermaid Gregor might have been speaking of when he told his boyhood tale of being saved. I think the author was creating a bonding experience for Gregor and Margethe... a kind of relief thing for both, so they'd both know they hadn't imagined and weren't the only ones who'd seen them. Gregor must have been incredibly relieved to know he wasn't alone in his exp.
--3.The prince at this point seems like a sweet caring and attentive person. I don't think he took advantage of Lenia. Evident by how he behaves in public and private with her. He seems to genuinely love her.
Did you all notice the chapters are shorter and shorter?

Andrea said...

1. As a child, Gregor was saved by a mermaid as he was being swept out to sea.
2. As the Northern Princess Margarethe will marry the Southern Prince and unite the two kingdoms.
3. He names her Astrid because she is pale and beautiful.
4.Agnes,the healer,tells Lenia she has a child's lifeline. Agnes can also read her thoughts.
5. The King announces the marriage at dinner. Chris is angry and stomps out with Lenia on his arm.

Bonus: She threw her necklace,in anger,into the sea after learning the Princes feelings for Margarethe.

*I think it's a fictious place with the focus on the continuous rivalry.
*A little bit because of the pink hair but I felt a possible connection to Agnes and Sybil. I feel the intent is to remind us that humans and merpeople have been meeting for a very long time.
* Chris acts like a rich playboy. He doesn't seem to have a good relationship with his Dad and I don't feel he has accepted his place in the Kingdom and the responsibilites that come with it. In a way he did take advantage of Lenia. They just met and badda boom! Lenia let her emotions rule and believed she was gaining his love and ultimately a soul. While she didn't know any better he did.
Can't wait to see where this relationship is headed!



The Pinterest page you set up Caroline is wonderful. I love the Baby Mermaid,a "Fish out of Water" and the glass collection.Nice.

Anonymous said...

1) Gregor was saved by a mermaid. I believe it was Sybil based on his description of her and her pink tail.

2) Margarethe's plan was to steel away in the middle of the night and form a marriage alliance with Prince Christopher through his father the old king.

3) Astrid because she was fair and beautiful.

4) The healer woman reads her palm and says her life line is that of a child's. She can also hear what Lenia says to her through her mind.

5) The southern King announces it at a banquet. Christopher reacts like a child and honestly I wanted to punch him in the face.

Bonus: She threw the necklace into the water after Christopher tells Lenia the story of the "woman who saved him" and tells her they woman was Margarethe's character in disguise a the convent.

Susan said...

1. When Gregor was a child, he was swimming and pulled out to sea. A mermaid rescued him and swam him to shore while she sang to him. Then left him on a rock protected by the wind where his parents could find him.

2. Margarethe’s plan to stop the war is to marry Prince Christopher.

3. Prince Christopher names her Astrid because she is so fair and beautiful.

4. Agnes, a healer woman, reads Lenia’s plam and her life line looks like one of a child. Agnes heals all her injures with a salve and she seems to understand what Lenia is thinking.

5. The southern King doesn’t mention the marriage arrangement to Prince Christopher until he announces it in front of everyone including the prince at a lavish dinner. Prince Christopher’s reaction was to storm out of the dining hall with Astrid.

Bonus:
Lenia threw the necklace in the water after Prince Christopher talked about how Magarethe saved him.

Discussion:
1. I thought of England as the setting of the story.

2. I definitely thought maybe the mermaid in Gregor’s story was Sybil and I do think it was the authors intent to make us think.

3. I see Prince Christopher as a womanizer and do think he took advantage of Lenia, and should have resisted her advances. In addition, he knows that his family will not allow him to marry her. But I also think Lenia brought it on herself by making the decision to be human and being naive about her actions.