Sudsy

Phineas Finn is, quite simply, a soap opera. Reading it is the equivalent to watching a 19th century soap opera. It's also really, really long (over 700 pages), but overall the length isn't so bad, because it's just a frothy, sudsy little read.

The basic plot is following the career of Phineas Finn, a young Irishman who goes into British Parliament as his first career move. He semi falls in love with (proposes to or is proposed to by) four women, including two who are close friends, one of whom is in love with the brother of the other one, etc. Characters marry the wrong characters, there are duels and scandals, and lots of political intrigue that didn't mean all that much to me.

If you ship properly, you can really enjoy this one (that is, do you see Violet and Oswald as OTP?), though the duel did bug me. Overall I was able to accept the gender issues for what they were at the time and such, but duels and violence like this just make me crazy. Probably because this sort of behavior defending a woman's "honor", fighting (physically) about a woman with no input from her as though she's a desirable piece of cake or something, and such is still seen as romantic, not as creepy, objectifying, and problematic. So, yes, I get it in the context, but we've not gotten past it really, so it bugs.

Completely different direction, but while reading this, I have become (re)obsessed with watching various YouTube clips from old One Life to Live episodes. I've alluded to my love of the Jessica Buchanan character before, actually (Erin Torpey version). That said, if you're ever confused and looking for a way to tell me and Sarah apart, there are actually many good ways (two words: soul gestures), but one solid option is to ask with whom we ship Christian on OLTL.