Subscribe to the Feed
Tam Lin by Pamela Dean
| Tam Lin
By Pamela Dean Release Date:
Purchase on Amazon. |
|
 |
||||||||||
Janet attends a small liberal arts college in the 1970s where she meets odd roommates (including the dorm ghost) and begins to realize that something is a little odd about the classics department, especially the department leader. Along the way she gets birth control pills, has sex, attends a rather odd play within a play, and finds herself drawn into the classic department groupies. All of this is based around the “Ballad of Tam Lin,” an old Scottish tale.
Unfortunately, my rather short conclusion describes everything that happens within the first three hundred pages, and the plot is hardly much deeper than that. Jenny keeps beginning to discover that something is wrong or odd, and then promptly forgets about it. The book has very long periods where the plot wanders off completely and every other line seems to be one of the characters quoting a dead writer for no reason. The characters barely seem to have any thoughts of their own. Perhaps if I understood the quotes, I would see the significance, but instead they mostly go right over my head.
I was excited when I saw this book in the store. I had just finished reading An Earthly Knight, which is another retelling of the “Ballad of Tam Lin” from Jenny’s (Jenny and Janet are both names from different versions of the ballad) point of view and it took place in twelfth century Scotland . That book stayed pretty close to the ballad, but elaborated on it greatly, giving the characters motivations and depth. Since I enjoyed that book so much, I started to read more about the Tam Lin ballad, different translations and such. Therefore, when I picked up Tam Lin, I already had some idea what was going on.
The idea of “Tam Lin” retold in a college environment intrigued me. I immediately bought the book and started reading. My first sign should have been the fact that it took me three days to read the first three hundred pages. I am not a slow reader, but this book was very difficult to get through, because I often had to backtrack and figure out what had just happened. Suddenly, three hundred pages into it, I realized that I had no idea what was going on in the book. What I did understand was only because of my knowledge of the ballad, not because of the storytelling itself. And in those three hundred pages, nothing had really happened. Little hints had been given that something strange was going on. There was the idea that there was a mystery at the college, but the main character had made almost no headway in working on the mystery. The final straw? Three hundred pages in and she is still dating the wrong guy! We know that she has to end up with Thomas Lane (otherwise known as Tam Lin), but instead she is dating another guy in the classics department and has barely even spoken with Thomas yet. There is no establishment for a relationship for them.
The author obviously had some good ideas going into the book. The way she translates elements of the ballad into a new world are rather creative. The use of the classics department to represent the fairies and the fairy queen are especially clever, but she seems to completely forget to give any substance to the story. Constantly, there are little hints that something good is coming up, the pieces for the story are all there, but the author fails to compile them in a captivating way. I still haven’t finished the whole book, because I just can’t bring myself to wade through it with the hope of finding something of value at the end. Reading should not be archeology, digging through the layers in the hopes that maybe you will find something of value, instead of a wad of prehistoric gum.
One element I did like was in the actual construction of the book. They included the ballad at the end, and in the introduction you can find a list of other titles about Tam Lin. Part of me wants to read some of those other books, but after this disaster, maybe I’ll just keep An Earthly Knight as my only Tam Lin story.
Action 1 - … the characters do occasionally move off of their beds/chairs/wherever they are debating literature, so that must prove they are still alive.
Romance 1 - Flipping to the end, she eventually ends up with Thomas Lane . And they have a baby like in the ballad. I would have liked to see this happen sometime before the last chapter though.
Characters 3 - The only saving grace for the book, and the reason I was able to read as far as I did. The characters are interesting enough, and have individual characteristics. Unfortunately, they don’t seem to go through many changes, and Janet is sort of dense.
Overall 2 - I’m sure it could have been worse. The writing (when not quoting) is actually very pretty and descriptive. And the author shows imagination. Looking on Amazon reviews, everyone seems to have either absolutely loved it or hated it. If you went to a liberal arts college in the seventies, it looks like you might enjoy it. Or if you really like the “Ballad of Tam Lin,” you might still want to pick it up. Though really, unless you know the ballad, I think you’ll be lost.
Extras:
Start at the beginning. Tam-lin.org is an excellent resource for everything about the Ballad, including all the versions they can find, songs, artwork, analysis and more. Tam Lin Version X serves as a starting guide to working on the basics of the story, and is a good first read.
There are also many books written with Tam Lin as a basis. My personal favorite is An Earthly Knight, which is a very straightforward translation, bringing the characters behind the ballad to life, and giving Jenny motivation. It also intermixes another ballad called “Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight” .
Two more reinterpretations are Tithe by Holly Black, which I have yet to read, and Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones. I read Fire and Hemlock a few years ago, and didn’t really understand it. Now that I have a more basic knowledge of “Tam Lin,” I might go back and read it when I find the time. It was a decent story, but I didn’t understand why the ending went as it did, because Jones did not really explain about the fairy queen or how Jenny would have to save him. These were elements that I picked up on after I read An Earthly Knight . Winter Rose, by Patricia A. McKillip, is also apparently another “Tam Lin” tale, but I haven’t read it, and it’s been sitting on my shelf for a while without me realizing it was about the tale. Maybe now I’ll have more reason to read it.
Another tale from an English ballad, somewhat similar to “Tam Lin,” is Thomas the Rhymer. Ellen Kushner wrote a book by the same name, and I have heard that is rather good.
For some reason, I also tend to think of the Princesses of Bamarre, by Gail Carson Levin, whenever I think about the “Ballad of Tam Lin.” That’s probably because a lot of the tale is told in ballad form, a writing feat that I have only recently come to appreciate. The ballad is woven into the story in a very masterful way.
Parents:13+ I wouldn’t give this to a kid to read. I think they would be rather bored. Of course, a child has a lot more patience when it comes to reading, and probably would have made it through all the quoting better than I did, though they are not likely to actually care about the character. It’s not a bad book, and if they show interest in the subject, maybe pass it along. There is obvious mention of sex, and the main character is on birth control, but the sex is never graphic (at least not as far as I managed to get)–it all takes placed behind closed doors.
This is actually one of my favorite Tam Lin stories because Pamela dean does infuse the novel with a lot of poetry and stories I have read. It was a dense book on may levels, but very enjoyable.
True, she does incorporate a lot of different peices of literature into the book, but I also feel that is something that the average modern reader won’t connect with. While some references were to things I’ve read, most of people the characters were quoting were not writers I was familiar with. I also felt like she spent more time qouting in the book than telling a story of her own.
Out of curiosity , how old are you?
I’ve certianly noticed that people either loved this book or hated it, I haven’t found many reviews that are inbetween.
I love this book and so do several of the friends I’ve recommended it to. I’ve never been to a small college, I majored in math, and I hate ‘old’ reads. I first read it when I was 19, and I think that was the perfect age for it. I think it’s just a novel that attracts some people and repels others. I suggest giving it a shot if for no other reason than Pamela Dean is obviously a book lover herself.
As far as romance, Janet is going out with someone for the majority of the book (although it is the wrong guy). I really like this book, but I understand your difficulty with the beginning. It is dense, and she does spend the vast majority of the book waffling about in the subplot. I think that the average reader would not understand some of the references, because I definitely did not. All in all, I think it was a great book, and definitely rcommend it.
I didn’t go to college in the 70s and I ADORE this book. I think the thing about is that you have to be totally invested in the world of English Literature and learning to really get this book. Also, you have to be a DIY kind of learner– this book, like Fire and Hemlock, doesn’t explain itself in plain terms. Instead, you, the reader, have to have enough self-motivation to go look up those authors you haven’t read. I’ve discovered so many wonderful poems, authors and novels simply because of this book.