Thursday, March 22, 1984
Daily Nebraskan
Pago 11
Story better than soap opera
Seed s of Yesterday
V.C. Andrews
Pocket BooIjs ($3.C5)
The fourth and last book in the
Dollangangcr series by V.C. Andrews,
Seeds of Yesterday, nearly rivals the
first Flowers in the Attic for
literary brilliance. Andrews has con
sistently held onto the same straight
forward style through the series,
and even in the non-series book My
Sweet Audrina.
The books are basically four chapt
ers in the life of Cathy Dollanganger,
who narrates the series, and her
brother Christopher. They were
locked in an attic with their twin
brother and sister by their mother,
Corrine, who eventually betrays
them, and a wicked, rich grand
mother who they need to obey to
survive. It is during this period that
Chris and Cathy begin having an
incestuous love affair which will last
their lifetime. This is very similar to
their mother's romance and mar
riage to her young uncle, their father.-
The second book, Petals. on the
Wind, takes place after the three
living children escape and is about
Cathy's rise to fame as a ballerina,
her pwp marriages, the birth of her
sons, Jbry and Bart and the suicide
of her sister Carrie.
If There Be Thorns tells how Bart
becomes unstable because of his
knowledge that his mother is having
an affair with her brother and is
living with him as though they were
a "married" couple. Cathy finally
forgives her mother for locking her
up and ruining her childhood.
Seeds of Yesterday takes place
when Chris and Cathy are in their
50s. Jory has married his childhood
sweetheart and fellow ballet dancer
Melodic. Bart is about to "come into
his own" by Corrine's will. Bart re
built Foxworth Hall, the building
with the attic "which later burned
down, and furnished it exactly as it
had been. Bart has taken in Joel,
Corrine's long-lost brother everyone
thought had died years ago. Bart
persuades Cathy, Chris, Jory, Melo
die, and his adopted sister to re
turn for his 25th birthday party.
That's when the fun begins.
Bart, never quite fully recovered
from his childhood bouts of termi
nal cruelty, cripples Jory, steals his
wife, beats his sister and her many
boyfriends, gets drunk a lot, and
constantly visits ladies of the night.
He also has a deep-seeded need to
see Cathy without Chris.
, Joel is not the most pleasant of
characters, either. He sneaks around
the house to spy on people, espe
cially Cathy, and instills in .lory's
children the idea they are "devil's
spawn." Needless to say Cathy and
Joel always are at odds with each
other. This is typical of their en
counters: 1 "Out of the dark near' the shrub
bery, Joel spoke out. There are some
who say that lost souls inhabit the
bodies of loons.'
"I asked sharply, turning to stare
at him, 'What is a lost soul, Joel?
."His benign voice said softly, Those
who can't find peace in their graves,
Catherine. Those who hesitate be-.
twecpTeaven and Hell, looking back
totl, time on earth to see what
they leit unfinished. By looking back,
they are trapped forever, or at least
until their life's work is done.'
"I shivered as if a cold wind blew
from the cemetery."
There is always an underlying
sense of forboding and evil in this
book. There also is strong foreshad
owing of Seeds of Yesterday from
Flowers in the Attic. The Dollen
gangers being locked in the attic is
compared to Jory's confinement to
his room and wheelchair. Cathy's
stifled puberty, by her grandmother,
is like Cindy's sexuality being stifled
by Bart. Maybe the most obvious
foreshadowing is in Corrine's be
trayal of her children and Melodie's
of Jory and their children.
Andrews' writing is such that her
books are easy to pick up and read
for a few minutes at a time. That is, if
one can do that. Her style is like that
of a soap opera there is always a
hook to bring the viewer back. But
Andrew's books are better than soap
operas. They can be read any time
and she makes both her story and
her characters believable.
Seeds of Yesterday is a reading
must for everyone.
Stephanie Zink
Poet says arts...
Continued from Page 9
She started teaching because "poets
can't support themselves writing, and
you have to decide what you're going
to do. I love sharing writing and litera
ture with people, and working with
people," she said.
For beginning writers who are fear
ful of poetry classes, Sornberger would
recommend that they "meet the per
son (who teaches the, class) and find
out what their approach is to teaching."
"I'd like to encourage people who are
interested in poetry to read everything
they can get their hands on, to buy
small literary magazines and poetry
books. The little magazines are the
places where real poetry is happening.
These are hard times for the arts, and
harder for poetry than for the per
forming arts," Sornberger said.
Spring maw
turn-up aaece
1 55
Bring your bike out of storage now and tune it up for
only $15.95. Be ready for the warmer weather ahead!
r
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7
'Deathtrap ' proves worthy. . .
Continued from Page 8
Helga Ten Dorp, the
DutchGermanRussian
SwedishChinese Elmer
Fudd of a psychic, wasn't
as confusing -just plain
old obnoxious. Ten Dorp
and Porter Milgram must
have learned their block
ing from a Marine drill
instructor and Ten Dorp's
voice was very rigid. She
had no pitch deviation
and everything was deli
vered loudly, but not clear
ly. Ten Dorp was sup
posed to be comic. Grant
ed, some of the less discern
ing audience was laugh
ing with her, but many
just laughed at her. .
Milgram handled his ac
cent much better than
much of the rest of the
cast, but even he was a
bit stiff.
The only natural per
formance was given by
Heckman as Sidney. Sid
ney didn't push his voice,
he was able to handle the
humor and played off the
other actors as much as
was humanly possible.
He wasn't great, though.
He just seemed wonder
ful compared to the rest
of the cast and product
ion. .
The technical aspects
of the play left much to
be desired. During a thun
derstorm, lightning was
provided by a flashlight
orsomethingsimilarly ef
fective, and the rain sound
ed as if it were rice being
shaken in a pan.
Sidney's collection of
weapons was a neat ad
dition, but the rest of the
set seemed half finished
or trite.
The play continues this
weekend at the Lincoln
Community Playhouse,
2500 S.56th St.
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