Reviews

Delphi: Roman by Clare Pollard

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hi_world_101's review against another edition

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medium-paced

3.0

elsakern's review against another edition

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funny reflective tense

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

lit_laugh_luv's review against another edition

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2.0

[2.5 stars] This is a bit of a tricky one for me to review - Delphi is by no means a bad novel, just not the novel for me. The early days of the pandemic that Pollard explores are something I don't relate to given I was working in healthcare at the time, and the family dynamic she explores during lockdown was also so far removed from my own personal experiences. This is hardly a critique on the novel itself, but given the short length and limited cast it is certainly harder to enjoy when you feel disconnected from the cast.

The book is told in vignettes about prophecies and different methods of prediction. The musings about psychics and the future were interesting, and align well with our narrator's interest in classics. I didn't understand the vast majority of references to mythology, so a lot of the transitions felt terse but creatively executed nonetheless. The plot is very much an insular tale of one person's experience navigating 2020, but a lot of this felt distinctly situated in London; there's certainly some overlapping themes in what we all experienced, but the political commentary and events are definitely a contextual piece I was missing. Despite being a fiction novel it really reads no different than non-fiction throughout.

Pollard is no doubt a talented writer, and the darkly comedic tragedy she depicts here makes sense given her background as a playwright. I can totally respect the merit and talent behind this book, but it wasn't necessarily for me!