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I'm trying to sort out the "blood money". Why was it given to Tony?
I can only think that it is something Tony is not telling us - that we haven't had the whole of the story.
Which to my mind is poor storytelling.
I've just looked up the term "blood money" on Wikipedia, and one colloquial meaning is the reward for bringing a criminal to justice... but I don't see how that fits either.
I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that good though the book was, it wasn't good enough to warrant spending time trying to solve the mystery.
I also thought that Tony might have been an unreliable narrator, and that perhaps Adrian, sr. was no more than his Döpplegänger; that would lead to the conclusion that Tony fathered Adrian, jr. It is interesting that important structural elements of the book belie Tony's narration: the nifty premonitory suicide, Tony's adulation of Adrian and his attraction to Veronica's mother, his not accepting that making love to Veronica was a culmination rather than a way for Veronica to control him as well as Veronica's seething anger at Tony.
I think Veronica blames Tony because Tony didn't love her enough or in the right way, and thus she ended up with Adrian.
Yes, Tony comes across as emotionally negligible.
Wasn't the blood money quote simply the feeling of Veronica that Tony's letter contributed to Adrian breaking up with her and going into the arms of her mother? Which ultimately lead to his suicide (blood)? Am I being too simplistic?
According to wiki, Blood money, in English criminal law, the term applied to rewards offered by statute (statutes of 4 and 5 William and Mary, cap. 8) to informers against highway robbers, thieves, burglars, and utterers of false coin or forged bank notes. (btw this act has been repealed). Could it be Sarah Forde's reward to Tony for writing that letter which led to Adrian contacting/getting together with her? She also mentions that Adrian was very happy in his last few months before his suicide (which is presumably before the son is born with Downs, which then precipitates Adrian's guilt ridden suicide). So, blood money as a reward for the blissful time the two lovers had together?
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I'm trying to sort out the "blood money". Why was it given to Tony?
I can only think that it is something Tony is not telling us - that we haven't had the whole of the story.
Which to my mind is poor storytelling.I've just looked up the term "blood money" on Wikipedia, and one colloquial meaning is the reward for bringing a criminal to justice... but I don't see how that fits either.
I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that good though the book was, it wasn't good enough to warrant spending time trying to solve the mystery.
I also thought that Tony might have been an unreliable narrator, and that perhaps Adrian, sr. was no more than his Döpplegänger; that would lead to the conclusion that Tony fathered Adrian, jr. It is interesting that important structural elements of the book belie Tony's narration: the nifty premonitory suicide, Tony's adulation of Adrian and his attraction to Veronica's mother, his not accepting that making love to Veronica was a culmination rather than a way for Veronica to control him as well as Veronica's seething anger at Tony.
I think Veronica blames Tony because Tony didn't love her enough or in the right way, and thus she ended up with Adrian.
Yes, Tony comes across as emotionally negligible.
Wasn't the blood money quote simply the feeling of Veronica that Tony's letter contributed to Adrian breaking up with her and going into the arms of her mother? Which ultimately lead to his suicide (blood)? Am I being too simplistic?
According to wiki, Blood money, in English criminal law, the term applied to rewards offered by statute (statutes of 4 and 5 William and Mary, cap. 8) to informers against highway robbers, thieves, burglars, and utterers of false coin or forged bank notes. (btw this act has been repealed). Could it be Sarah Forde's reward to Tony for writing that letter which led to Adrian contacting/getting together with her? She also mentions that Adrian was very happy in his last few months before his suicide (which is presumably before the son is born with Downs, which then precipitates Adrian's guilt ridden suicide). So, blood money as a reward for the blissful time the two lovers had together?
I'm fine with the issue of unreliable narrators, but I feel disappointed and irritated when mysteries are not resolved. Also, I'm inclined to agree with Georg about Veronica being nothing more than a dumb bitch. It's one thing to say "you just don't get it" to someone when you've patiently tried to explain whatever it is; quite another when you've given impenetrable clues or no clues at all to someone who is honestly trying to understand and who hopes to make amends.
I enjoyed the rest of the book but this aspect was less than admirable.