Reviews

The Castle of Argol by Peter Halley, Julien Gracq, Louise Varèse

briancrandall's review against another edition

4.0

They entered the sanctuary through a low door. A heavy, dense air, a fragrant and almost total obscurity filled this refuge of prayer, in the middle of which, hanging from the vaulted ceiling, shone a lamp in a red globe whose marvellously fragile flame was constantly flaring up, bent over and lifted as by the beating of invisible wings. There were large breaches in the roof through which glided pell-mell, as into a deep abyss (and without the soul that was pierced to its very depths like the sharp point of a spear, being able to distinguish the sound of the light the yellow and vibrant cry of the sun) the dazzling darts of the flaming breast of a bird. And the whole chapel, submerged in the green dusk diffused by its stained glass windows against which the leaves, indistinct through the dirt and thickness of the panes, floated with a movement more indolent and softer than seaweed, seemed to have descended into the gulfs of the forest as into some submarine grotto that pressed with all the force of its cool palms against these walls of glass and of stone, and to be held over these vertiginous depths only by the marvellous cable of the sun. [84–5]

Long lingered the hours of the profound night. And now a vague feeling they were powerless to resist invaded the souls of Heide and of Albert. It seemed to them that the planet, swept along by the heart of the night which it belaboured with the crests of all its trees, overturned and spun backward following the obstinate direction of the avenue, more unreal than the axis of the poles, more abundant than the sun's rays drawn in chalk on a blackboard. And as though lifted by a prodigious effort onto the roof of the smooth planet, onto the nocturnal ridge of the world, they felt, with a divine shudder of cold, the sun sinking under them to an immense depth, and the unballasted avenue as it climbed right through the thickness of the true night revealing to them, minute by minute, all its secret and untrodden paths. In the silence of the woods, hardly distinguishable from that of the stars, they lived through a night of the world in all its sidereal intimacy, and the revolution of the planet, its thrilling orb, seemed to govern the harmony of their most ordinary gestures. [116–7]

kingkong's review against another edition

3.0

This book is like one of those electronic albums without any lyrics where you can't tell if it's good or not

acantha's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

bookwomble's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• 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

5.0