This Is All

The first thing that I found surprising about "This is All" was the fantastic wordplay throughout 'The Red Pillow Box,' though at times I felt it got a bit annoying and became a parody of itself and a parody of wordplay - "giggle, giggle... giggle, giggle, giggle" (p.36) was annoying, but other times it was great - "O lordy lordy, it's going to happen at last, really going to happen, and the boy I chose, my William, who I love to the other side of besotted" (p.161). As I read further along in 'The Green Pillow Box,' I also wondered how realistic of a character Cordelia was. While at times I found her to be endearing and true, with the blatant sexuality, other times I felt it was overly sentimental and overly blatant - I wondered if the obsession on her "boobs" is meant to be realistic or humorous. I also found the different styles changes within the book tedious, and I felt like I was reading "Ulysses" for teenaged girls. But then I tried to think about the message that Aidan Chambers is trying to give. And I get it. I think it's valid, though sometimes it seems like Chambers is trying to be too clever for his own good, since while he finds himself giving in to the sentiment of unsatisfied teenaged love, he seems to have gotten the grasp of what one might expect a teenaged girl's obsessions to be, and no man ought to be this sure of those obsessions. But I feel like the way Cordelia adores Will, and the way you are really able to see her angst as she tries to get him back, is the truest part of the story, and the part that I felt is the most relatable. More than anything, it can be a fun read, and I will go along to the end.