"Dead Cold" Reading blog

A.)
C.C. de Poitiers: “Calm was not a word anyone would apply to CC de Poitiers.” (Pg.3). C.C. is a very cold and mean person throughout most of the novel. She was even mean to her own daughter (Crie) who was overweight and very quiet.

Ruth Zardo: “Tall and dignified, leaning on her cane for support, Ruth Zardo limped back to her small desk in a corner of the huge store, to wait for someone to ask her to sign her book.” (pg. 29). In the novel Dead Cold Ruth Zardo is a poet who is very nice and also mean at the same time. By that, I mean she can’t say anything nice to someone without sticking in a snarky rude comment as well.

Clara Morrow: “Clara saw what others couldn’t. Like that little boy in the six sense, but instead of seeing ghosts, Clara saw good.” (p58). In the novel Clara is a very nice and kind person to everyone. This quotation shows that she can see what other people can’t in people. C.C. on the other hand dislikes Clara (like everyone else) because she is jealous of how nice and perfect she thinks she is.

Inspector Beauvoir: ““He tried to shove past Gamache, even though a piece of paper wouldn’t get by. ‘Use the axe,’ he said, his voice rising. He could feel his skin tingling and his breathing coming in quick shallow gulps. His head felt light and he thought he might just pass out.” (Pg. 299). Throughout the novel Beauvoir is really motivated to show that he is a good, hard worker in front of Gamache. This quote shows that he’ll do anything even squeeze past Gamache.

B.)
Crie Lyon is the daughter of C.C. de Poitiers and Richard Lyon. She is overweight and very quiet. Throughout the novel many people bully her, like her fellow classmates and even her own mother. “She’s your daughter. Look at her. Fat and ugly and lazy. Like you. Are you crazy, Crie?” (49). This quote is when C.C. makes fun of Crie’s appearance for dressing up as a snowflake and looking ridiculous while at their Christmas service at church where Crie sings. C.C. also said Crie sang badly and too loudly. This is very sad because this is the first time Crie has participated in a play. All of the other times she had been to scared to go on the stage so she helped backstage. Most of the time C.C. thinks Crie is embarrassing her but while Crie was singing at the Christmas service C.C. thought they were staring in shock of how horrible she looked but the audience was in shock of how good Crie was at singing.

While Crie is at school getting made fun of by her peers, her teachers often join in and make fun of her. In Dead Cold it shows that Crie is actually very smart at science but nobody notices because they always judge her on her looks.

C.)
Throughout the novel Dead Cold Louise Penny uses humor in many different ways. The character Ruth Zardo uses humor a lot but most of the time it is pretty dark humor. “Five o’clock. Time to go.’ Ruth stood up and turned to Reine-Marie. ‘You’re the first reason I’ve seen to believe your husband isn’t a complete moron.’
‘Merci, madame.’ Reine-Marie inclined her head in a gesture reminiscent of Émilie. ‘Et bonne année.’ ‘I doubt it.’ Ruth limped out of the room.”’ (pg.369-370). Another funny scene in the novel is when Clara meets Ruth at her book signing and she says, “It’s about fuckin’ time.’ Ruth Zardo limped over to Clara. ‘You look like a bag lady.’ She gave and received a kiss on each cheek. ‘And you stink.”’ (pg.29). I think this quote is funny cause I love how Ruth Zardo always snuck in silly but rude remarks about people. Louise Penny does a great job of using comedy to keep the attention of the reader and to give the reader a break from all the deaths and seriousness in the novel.

Overall Dead Cold was a great novel to read. It has a nice mix of comedic parts and serious parts that will keep the reader’s eyes glued to the book.

Logan Semple