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Naiadryade
January 8th, 2014, 12:12 AM
People over in the "I'm getting immune to beautiful long hair" thread were talking about the way long hair is talked about in some books. Specifically, how people in some books are supposed to have "super-long" hair but it's only waist-length, and yet they can supposedly do up-do's that really wouldn't be feasible until tailbone or knee.

It reminded me of a book I read recently which featured truly long hair, but I didn't want to totally derail that thread. So I figured I'd start a new thread where we can share our thoughts on books which partially focus on long hair! To discuss the way hair is talked about in various literature, and also to get book recommendations in line with our favorite obsession.

For each book discussed, please list the title and author, and maybe a few brief words about what kind of book it is. Then follow that with the discussion of the book in a different color. Maybe a light color (which can easily be read by highlighting the text). That way if anyone wants to use this thread to get book recommendations without reading any spoilers first, it's relatively easy to skip over the colored words.

I'll lead by example:

The book I read is The Folk Keeper by Franny Billingsley. It's an older kid/young adult novel which takes place in a world with some magical creatures. It only took me a day to finish, but it contained some really interesting ideas... some of them about fantastical hair! (Which is of course part of why someone suggested I read it. :p) Slight spoilers to follow. I won't give away anything that doesn't have to do with her hair.

The main character has silver hair that grows 2 inches while she sleeps every night. Eventually, when she stops cutting it, it grows to around her knees/calves and then stops on its own. But that's not all: her hair gives her supersensory perceptions. As her long loose hair swishes, it acts basically as an echolocation organ. Through her hair she "sees" an intricate map of everything around her, like a bat or a dolphin does with sound, and as a result is extremely graceful and can "see" in the dark. When she cuts her hair short, and later when she wears her hair in a bun, she loses this ability--in fact, she becomes very clumsy. Furthermore, her long hair gives her the ability to produce original rhyming poetry on the spot, a power which repels the evil creatures of the book's world. Of course, I thought all of this was just so cool! I wish I had echolocation hair that grew 2 inches a night.

Now it's your turn! Has anybody read this book? Any other books you'd like to share about?

askan
January 8th, 2014, 01:49 AM
Oh, interesting topic! I haven't read The Folk Keeper, but your description made me think about that (very questionable) article about Native Americans who supposedly used their hair for supersensory perception just like the character in your book, and lost these abilities when their hair was cut. This (http://www.sott.net/article/234783-The-Truth-About-Hair-and-Why-Indians-Would-Keep-Their-Hair-Long) is the article I'm referring to.

I'm currently re-reading Harry Potter for the millionth time so I thought I'd share some thoughts on it:

The Harry Potter series are seven books in the fantasy genre written by JK Rowling (if you didn't know;)). We get to follow Harry, an orphan boy living with his horrible relatives, as he finds out that he is a wizard and gets accepted to the Hogwarts School (of Witchcraft and Wizardry). The magical community is threatened when the evil Lord Voldemort comes back and tries to take over the reign, and Harry comes to be a key person in the fight against Voldemort and his followers.

There are several descriptions of hair in the Harry Potter series. Hermione Granger, Harry's friend, has big, bushy brown hair that she is sometimes teased about. For the school ball in the fourth book, she suddenly appears with hair that is "no longer bushy, but sleek and shiny and twisted up in an elegant knot at the back of her head". She said later that she had used lots of Sleekeasy's Hair Potion, but she also said it was too much bother to do it every day. Sounds like Hermione is a curly who doesn't bother to bring the curls out!

Harry's own hair is black and standing up whatever he does to it. When his aunt cut his hair extremely short and Harry was embarrased to go to school, his hair magically grew back during the night and looked the same as ever. Apart from that, we never get to know if or when he gets his hair cut, but in the last book Harry's hair is described as shoulder length after he has been on the run hiding from Voldemort for months. The movie features Hermione cutting Harry's hair during this period, but that scene is not in the book.

A bit of haircare perspective on other characters:
Many of the characters are described with their haircolour. Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts, has silver hair and beard which are long enough to tuck into his belt. Impressive! The potionsmaster Snape has black, shoulder length, always very greasy hair. Seems like he could use some advice from the LCH!
Professor McGonagall, Harry's transfiguration teacher, sports a tight knot at the top of her head all year around. Protective style is the way to go!

Harry's godfather Sirius Black has elbow length, tangled, matted hair when he escapes after 13 years in prison. I'm thinking he must have cut it sometime during his imprisonment, or do you think it's his terminal?
Hagrid, the school's gamekeeper, has dark wild hair and beard that almost cover his entire face. In one chapter he has tried to comb his hair, resulting in several broken off teeth stuck in his hair. Hagrid should probably try some conditioner, and maybe a very wide toothed comb if he would want to tame his hair. But he looks fine just the way he is.

Fellow Hogwarts student Luna Lovegood has "straggly, waist-length, dirty blonde hair". I bet she really has gorgeous ash blonde hair :P
The character Tonks can change her appearance and haircolour at will and wears a bubblegum pink haircolour most of the time, but when she gets depressed she looses this ability and her hair becomes mousy brown. Interesting power that makes me kind of jealous..


I guess I would choose Tonks if I could have the hair of any of the characters.. if it comes with the fact that I can change it however I want to!

askan
January 8th, 2014, 02:04 AM
Oh my, I'm sorry I read your first text a bit clumsily. There's no really long hair in Harry Potter and it certainly doesn't focus on hair, I'm sorry! My post is more just me reading with a new perspective. I need to pay attention before I post!

Naiadryade
January 8th, 2014, 02:09 AM
Oh, interesting topic! I haven't read The Folk Keeper, but your description made me think about that (very questionable) article about Native Americans who supposedly used their hair for supersensory perception just like the character in your book, and lost these abilities when their hair was cut. This is the article I'm referring to.:scissors:
Harry's godfather Sirius Black has elbow length, tangled, matted hair when he escapes after 13 years in prison. I'm thinking he must have cut it sometime during his imprisonment, or do you think it's his terminal? :scissors:

Oh yes, I've read that article... I'm not sure whether or not I believe it, as I'm unsure of the validity of the source. I didn't make the connection though until you pointed it out, though. Interesting. There's also the powers of hair in the movie Avatar, which are different but sort of similar. It would seem that, whether or not there is a basis in reality, many people certainly like the idea that hair has some capabilities of connecting each person to the world around us in a way the rest of our bodies cannot.

I haven't read Harry Potter (I know, I know)... but I love your commentary! :laugh: I doubt that's his real terminal. With tangled and matted hair, it sounds like a false terminal to me. I can't imagine he could take very good care of his hair in prison. I bet with better care, including treating it gently and not letting it get so tangled, he could grow it longer if he chose. :lol:

chen bao jun
January 8th, 2014, 06:49 AM
Little Women. Jo cuts her long hair to sell. Then she cries--she only did it to help her family as it was her 'one beauty'. Amy is a blonde and is singled out because of that. Meg fries her hair off at one point with a heated tong curling iron.
I have the feeling that the hair is not described more than it is in the book because long hair is considered normal in the 19th century and readers knew how it looked and how it behaved, unlike nowadays, when it is considered something special even if it's longer than bra-strap. a lot of women then had classic or knee and I think it was only considered extraordinary if it was like to their knees or even feet, like the Sullivan sisters, who got so famous just because they pretty much all had floor length hair, which all women dreamed of.
You can google photos of Louisa May Alcott and get some idea of her hair, she was Jo.
We had another thread on this recently and some interesting things came up, maybe somebody can do a search? I'm busy this morning.