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3.45 AVERAGE
3.45 AVERAGE
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
This is a combined review of [b:Mr Weston's Good Wine|2562383|Mr Weston's Good Wine|T.F. Powys|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327878662l/2562383._SY75_.jpg|2570874] from 1927 and [b:Unclay|38622804|Unclay|T.F. Powys|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1554903307l/38622804._SY75_.jpg|6489687] from 1931 as these two Powys novels share the same allegorical style as well as some characters, locations and themes. I read them one after the other in the order they were written and that was the perfect way to savour both to the maximum.
These are books full of contrasts, some of them exceedingly marked as in the contrast between good and evil. But they are also very funny books which is not what you'd expect in novels that focus so closely on good and evil. However the dose of fun in each of them is balanced by a small dose of the tragic, just as the measure of evil is balanced by a generous measure of good so that the overall impression is very pleasing.
The characters in these funny tragic books are often compared to animals, and sometimes we don't know which are the humans and which are the animals. To add to the heady mixture, inanimate objects become animate from time to time. It might be an oak tree or it might be a mountain but they come alive and they play a role in reminding us of the age-old nature of the world.
Everything in these stories plays a role so that the finished product is a harmonious whole, for all the world like a good wine, a Medoc for example where up to five different grapes are combined in different amounts, each playing its part to add aroma, colour, elegance, structure and longevity. I wasn't surprised that there was a brief mention in each of these novels of Balbuc, the ancient oracle François Rabelais characterized in the form of a giant bottle of wine: La dive bouteille!
When I finished these two novels, I started a third Powys but soon realised it wasn't by T F Powys but by his brother J C Powys. Though a little disappointed, I've decided to stick with [b:Wolf Solent|905459|Wolf Solent|John Cowper Powys|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347854980l/905459._SY75_.jpg|2162985]. The style is very different but early on I came upon a reference to good and evil, and then there was a reference to the goddess Balbuc followed by a reference to Rabelais so I will continue. It's a very long book though, and I'm not yet sure if its particular combination of themes will suit me but I'm sipping away for the moment and will likely post some tasting notes in a week or two...
These are books full of contrasts, some of them exceedingly marked as in the contrast between good and evil. But they are also very funny books which is not what you'd expect in novels that focus so closely on good and evil. However the dose of fun in each of them is balanced by a small dose of the tragic, just as the measure of evil is balanced by a generous measure of good so that the overall impression is very pleasing.
The characters in these funny tragic books are often compared to animals, and sometimes we don't know which are the humans and which are the animals. To add to the heady mixture, inanimate objects become animate from time to time. It might be an oak tree or it might be a mountain but they come alive and they play a role in reminding us of the age-old nature of the world.
Everything in these stories plays a role so that the finished product is a harmonious whole, for all the world like a good wine, a Medoc for example where up to five different grapes are combined in different amounts, each playing its part to add aroma, colour, elegance, structure and longevity. I wasn't surprised that there was a brief mention in each of these novels of Balbuc, the ancient oracle François Rabelais characterized in the form of a giant bottle of wine: La dive bouteille!
When I finished these two novels, I started a third Powys but soon realised it wasn't by T F Powys but by his brother J C Powys. Though a little disappointed, I've decided to stick with [b:Wolf Solent|905459|Wolf Solent|John Cowper Powys|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347854980l/905459._SY75_.jpg|2162985]. The style is very different but early on I came upon a reference to good and evil, and then there was a reference to the goddess Balbuc followed by a reference to Rabelais so I will continue. It's a very long book though, and I'm not yet sure if its particular combination of themes will suit me but I'm sipping away for the moment and will likely post some tasting notes in a week or two...
The strangest Christian allegory I've yet read. Fascinating, interesting, puzzling. If I remain strictly within the parameters of the genre "Christian allegory," the only other author I can think of it being vaguely similar to is Charles Williams. But honestly, Mr. Weston's Good Wine feels Bradbury-esque. I am thinking specifically of Something Wicked This Way Comes. There is the common element of a mysterious stranger in town planning to sell something to the townspeople; but roles are reversed.
The depictions of evil and corruption among the townspeople are deeply disturbing.
The depictions of evil and corruption among the townspeople are deeply disturbing.
This is a very quirky book, almost 4 stars but couldn't bring myself to go quite that high, whereas I can easily commit to 3.
It's apparently an allegory, but I'm not so sure--it seems to me that it is what it is, given Mr. Weston being another name for God, and that Mr. Weston likes to speak in metaphors, but otherwise it seems to be taken at face value. God (Mr. Weston) comes to town (two of them, but the second turns out to be the important one), and eventually gets involved with the townspeople.
The townspeople are what keeps this from 4 stars-ness. They're an odd bunch, not particularly likeable, not particularly realistic. There's none of the joy of, say, Edward Scissorhands and its offbeat residents. They're all obsessed with something or other, and they seem, most of them, excessively concerned with sex (described as doings under the old oak tree). If it's an allegory, I have no hope of understanding what any of them stood for, especially Mrs Vosper or Mr. Grunter, or why anyone would think Mr. Grunter capable of all he was assumed to have done, or why anyone would think to let him if it were true.
If you enjoy oddities (The Hearing Trumpet, The Towers of Trebizon) of a certain age, and I do, this volume will have some charm, and you will be surprised it was published and has somewhat survived. But this can hardly be a race-out-and-read-at-all-costs kind of book, it just isn't compelling enough, though there are moments throughout that are beautifully written. Skillful ... and strange.
It's apparently an allegory, but I'm not so sure--it seems to me that it is what it is, given Mr. Weston being another name for God, and that Mr. Weston likes to speak in metaphors, but otherwise it seems to be taken at face value. God (Mr. Weston) comes to town (two of them, but the second turns out to be the important one), and eventually gets involved with the townspeople.
The townspeople are what keeps this from 4 stars-ness. They're an odd bunch, not particularly likeable, not particularly realistic. There's none of the joy of, say, Edward Scissorhands and its offbeat residents. They're all obsessed with something or other, and they seem, most of them, excessively concerned with sex (described as doings under the old oak tree). If it's an allegory, I have no hope of understanding what any of them stood for, especially Mrs Vosper or Mr. Grunter, or why anyone would think Mr. Grunter capable of all he was assumed to have done, or why anyone would think to let him if it were true.
If you enjoy oddities (The Hearing Trumpet, The Towers of Trebizon) of a certain age, and I do, this volume will have some charm, and you will be surprised it was published and has somewhat survived. But this can hardly be a race-out-and-read-at-all-costs kind of book, it just isn't compelling enough, though there are moments throughout that are beautifully written. Skillful ... and strange.
slow-paced