Review Detail

Reader reviewed by Stephanie

Janet Carter, an English major, starts college at Blackstone, a liberal arts enclave in the Midwest. She and her friends fall in with a group of beautiful and talented male Classics majors (and they all quote from heavy literature 24/7why??). Its a retelling of the Scottish ballad of the same name, where Janet must battle a faerie queen (Professor Medeos?) for the possession of Tam Lins (Thomas Lanes) heart and soul.

I feel like this is one of those books that you either lovelovelove or hatehatehate. Those who love it do so because of Pamela Dean's skillful descriptions of life at a liberal arts college in the mid-70s. Those who hate it complain about the fake, pretentious characters, the slow pace, and the too-detailed descriptions and dialogue.

Me, I guess I'm in the second camp. I heard such good things about this book and so ordered it with high hopes. However, I found the characters annoying and unrealistic. I'm attending a liberal arts college now, but no one I know speaks in such a high-fallutin', quote-filled manner. I found myself irritated at the overexuberant descriptions of the campus; must NOTHING be left for me to imagine? Must I know the location of every building, bridge, rock, and tree on Blackstone's campus?

TAM LIN is more a detailed sketch of college life rather than a retelling of a fairy tale. I was disappointed that there was not more fantasy in it--guess I was expecting some. I have a feeling that those who love this book are those who can relate to the liberal arts college student life back in the 70s. It's the 21st century, college is so much different, and I just couldn't get into this book.