(no subject)

[violsva]

The magic in that country was so thick and tenacious that it settled over the land like chalk-dust and over floors and shelves like slightly sticky plaster-dust. (Housecleaners in that country earned unusually good wages.) If you lived in that country, you had to de-scale your kettle of its encrustation of magic at least once a week, because if you didn't, you might find yourself pouring hissing snakes or pond slime into your teapot instead of water. (It didn't have to be anything scary or unpleasant, like snakes or slime, especially in a cheerful household--magic tended to reflect the atmosphere of the place in which it found itself--but if you want a cup of tea, a cup of lavender-and-gold pansies or ivory thimbles is unsatisfactory. And while the pansies--put dry in a vase--would probably last a day, looking like ordinary pansies, before they went greyish-dun and collapsed into magic dust, something like an ivory thimble would begin to smudge and crumble as soon as you picked it up.)

The best way to do it was to have a fairy as a member of your household, because she (it was usually a she) could lay a finger on the kettle just as it came to a boil (absentminded fairies could often be recognized by a pad of scar-tissue on the finger they favoured for kettle-cleaning) and murmur a few counter-magical words. There would be a tiny inaudible thock, like a seed-pod bursting, and the water would stay water for another week or (maybe) ten days.

--Robin McKinley, Spindle's End

I am posting this for two reasons: 1, it is one of my favourite book-beginnings ever, and 2, my mother got us a new electric kettle for Christmas and, unlike the old one, it is made of metal, and I apparently still have not gotten used to this.

Comments

[genarti]

I recognized this passage within the first sentence, even though I've only read Spindle's End once and that years ago; it stuck with me that much. It's just so evocative and lovely and whimsical, and it sets the tone of the book and the world so well! (And now I really want to reread, which I've been kind of wanting to do anyway...)

[violsva]

Reading the first couple pages when I'm anxious instantly calms me down, it's amazing.

[edenfalling]

I knew at once that this was from Spindle's End, which is kind of astonishing since I only read the book once, and that at least fifteen years ago, and I can't remember the plot or characters worth beans. But it's a wonderfully memorable opening!

My electric kettle is plastic, but the one at the rental company office is metal. They both do just fine, as far as I can tell. May I ask what about the switch from plastic to metal is catching you off-balance?

[violsva]

If I accidentally brushed my fingers against the plastic one, or tapped it to see if the water was still hot, that was totally fine. If I do it with the metal one, it hurts!

[edenfalling]

Ah! That makes sense. I hold my hand just a hairsbreadth away from the kettle surface, which is my hard-learned habit with kitchen appliances in general. (I accidentally burned myself on quite a lot of pots and toasters and cookie trays as a child... *sigh*)

[teaforlupin]

This is absolutely delightful?? I need to read this book (also, sorry about your metal kettle woes)!

[konsectatrix]

Oh, I like this very much. I've read McKinley befote, but not this particular one.

(It's weirdly comforting to me to have book passage pop to mind for a random real life experience)

[anarfea]

What an awesome snippet.