Reviews

Delphi by Clare Pollard

macchamberlain's review against another edition

5.0

Excellent! When all the compartmentalized pieces of ourselves come crumbling down in the face of a pandemic - we get this beautiful work. When there is no longer a separate space to hold intellectual, personal fulfillment, and familial pursuits other than your home - we get this book.

“Tragedy is all about Unity of Place”

I think it beautifully redesigns the Greek tragedy to tell a story out of quarantine. I just think the writing is excellent. I think all the juggling pieces we return to again and again as the narrator’s entire life collapses into one space is engaging and excellent.

Love love love

littlebearj's review

slow-paced

3.0

librarystax's review against another edition

3.0

In 20 years this will be an interesting way to look back on pandemic times. Right now maybe it was too close to be an enjoyable read. I like the format but the subject and main character are both hard to stomach at times

hannah850's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.0

martinoh's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

jogarciareger's review

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

jacki_f's review against another edition

3.0

This is an episodic novel, similar in structure to [b:Weather|37506228|Weather|Jenny Offill|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1566942482l/37506228._SY75_.jpg|59116540]. It's narrated by an unknown woman, a lecturer in Ancient Greece culture, who is navigating the Covid pandemic with her husband and son. The narrator frets about the future and muses about ways that the Ancient Greeks turned to prophecy in their lives.

What I liked the most was her reactions to the pandemic and the way that the lockdowns affected their family. Parts are very witty and at times I was loving this but the Ancient Greek information dump is excessive and around the halfway point of this short novel I realised that it was boring me.

carlamarcella's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

cassandra67b07's review against another edition

4.0

This book was not quite what I expected, but I really ended up enjoying it. I've been reading a lot of pandemic books during our Covid-19 pandemic because there is something rather cozy catastrophe about that experience. I expected more mythological and classical references here based on the book description, but they are really only used for the chapter setup, and then what follows is an account of the pandemic experience in London for individuals and families. It's an interesting read, and it's good to return to those frantic pandemic days and weeks now that vaccines are available, and we are on the other side of that experience. I'm going to look for more from this author-she has a strong writing voice.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC.

maralyons's review against another edition

3.0

Delphi is a short book written in the perspective of a Classics professor in England during the 2020 pandemic. It's written in vignettes, each labeled as a different type of prophecy by tarot, dreams birth date, etc. as she describes her life and what's going on. It's a very literary book and its pace ebbs and flows. I was curious to see what would happen in her life. Clare Pollard captures the mundanity of lockdown, absurdity, and overall sense of dread and aimlessness many of us felt in 2020.

Thank you Avid Reader Press and NetGalley for this ARC. All thoughts are my own.