Among Others

to tears. The awful thing about Deirdre is that she’s such a cliche. She’s Irish, and she’s not the brightest bulb in the box. Karen gave her a bite of a muesli bar and she said it tasted like uncooked Christmas tree. She meant to say cake, of course, because that is what they taste like, but now everyone makes jokes about them cooking Christmas trees in Ireland. I had to laugh when I heard it, just because it’s so surreal. I mean she laughed herself. That wasn’t unkind. It’s going on and on about it that’s unkind, and of course that’s what they’re doing, because they see it hurts her. I have to make sure they don’t see that I care about the stupid “Jake the Peg with his extra leg” nonsense.
    I still can’t forgive Lewis for his allegory. I understand now why Tolkien said in the prologue that he hated them. You can’t take something that’s itself and make it stand for something else. Or you can, but you shouldn’t push it. If I try to think of it as a retelling of the gospels, that diminishes Narnia. I think I’m going to have trouble re-reading them without thinking about it. That’s so annoying! However, Carpenter says Lewis wrote some books directly about Christianity—overtly about it, I mean. Maybe I should try them. I have to say I feel horribly mixed up about religion. And RE is no help. We’re droning through the Journeys of Paul, and I’m reading my way slowly through the Bible. There are some good stories in it, in between all the tedium. But most of it is history, not so much theology, and I’d be very interested to know if Lewis says anything about fairies—because he has the maenads in Prince Caspian and they always remind me of fairies a bit. There’s nothing here but the Interplanetary books, but I’ll see if they have Mere Christianity in the town library, and if not, well, that’s what interlibrary loan is for.
    Just as I was writing that, Miss Carroll came over.
    “Has your father signed the form for the book club?” she asked.
    “Not yet,” I said. “I’m sure he will, but there hasn’t been time yet.”
    “If you like, I could take you tonight. If I’m there the whole time, in loco parentis , that would be all right. It would be like taking girls to the theatre. I’ve checked with Miss Ellis, and she says it would be fine.” She smiled at me.
    “But do you want to go?” I asked. I can’t help being such an ungracious lump when people are nice to me. It isn’t what I mean, it just comes out before I think.
    “It should be interesting,” she said.
    “Do you even read SF?”
    “I try to read a sample of what’s in my library, so I can recommend things to people. I’ve certainly read some SF. It isn’t my favourite, like it is yours, but I have read some. I’ve even read some Ursula Le Guin; I’ve read A Wizard of Earthsea .”
    “Did you like it?” I asked.
    “I thought it was excellent.” Miss Carroll sat down opposite me across the wooden table and looked at me quizzically. “What is this? I didn’t expect to be interrogated on my suitability for the book club, I thought you’d be pleased.”
    “I am pleased,” I said. “Thank you. I really want to go. I’m just not used—I mean I can’t quite believe you’re giving up your evening for me.” She’s quite young really. She must have boyfriends, or at least somewhere she lives and cooks herself dinner and reads her book without being disturbed. To be honest, I find it quite hard to imagine her life away from the school. But whatever it is, she could be doing it tonight, and instead she’s going to the SF book club because I want to. Why would she do that? I didn’t know magic worked this well. It’s frightening.
    “It’ll be an interesting experience,” she said. “It’ll be nice to see how they do these things at the town library. And I always like hearing about books. Maybe we could start a book club here. Some of the older girls might be interested. Besides,” she leaned forward and lowered her voice, even though we were the only people in the library, as usual. “One of the things they tell you in library school is that you have to consider the needs of the clients and keep them happy. Now you’re definitely my best client, and one of the few people who is really using this library, so keeping you happy is important.”
    I laughed. “Thank you,” I said. “Thank you very much.”
    So I am going to the book club tonight! Miss Carroll is going to pick me up