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2.65 AVERAGE
2.65 AVERAGE
I love Robert Graves and really wanted to love this book, but I just couldn't. Unlike his historical fiction masterpiece, I, CLAUDIUS, this book is a futuristic flight of fancy that is untethered from any recognizable version of actual human experience. Don't get me wrong, I love good fantasy and science fiction, but this book is a good illustration of the truth that the further removed the plot and setting of a story is from what we might call "objective reality," the more grounded it needs to be in terms of sentence and scene-level emotional and sensory accuracy. The book's fanciful story-world and highly implausible premise require suspension of disbelief on nearly every page, and Graves makes little to no effort to meet the reader halfway. An amusing diversion at best.
A crucial book for anyone baffled by the White Goddess and a far purer look into what the Goddess actually meant to Graves (not to mention Laura Riding). Also, funny, satirical and a kind of spiritual autofiction. Fascinating for all these reasons but also perhaps the most relaxed and truthful of his fictions.
Edward Venn-Thomas is a "barbarian" from the past, according to the some future people of New Crete. That must also be true to most people in our epoch, it seems, by reading the other reviews of this little gem.
Although not a masterpiece, this book leads us to discover a weird utopia which, by outsourcing its customs from the antiquity, stands as somehow believable even now, and it does so in a pleasant way which makes you involved in its strange yet increasingly relatable characters. I loved the feeling of not knowing what was going to happen at every page as well as not being sure of what was happening - a feeling surely shared by the protagonist for most of the novel.
As scandalous as a tale on such delicate themes can be, the plot touches many difficult subjects in unexpected ways, but it is the way it deals with good and evil which makes it interesting if not extraordinary - how values can change according to time and culture.
Those who remarked how the novel had been partial to several classes of people should pay better attention to how the different points of views are shown throughout it, as if underlining how no opinion or custom can be perfect.
I might be wrong, but I think this is a work that can only be disliked if not properly understood in its keen sense of humour and provoking way to depict humanity.
Although not a masterpiece, this book leads us to discover a weird utopia which, by outsourcing its customs from the antiquity, stands as somehow believable even now, and it does so in a pleasant way which makes you involved in its strange yet increasingly relatable characters. I loved the feeling of not knowing what was going to happen at every page as well as not being sure of what was happening - a feeling surely shared by the protagonist for most of the novel.
As scandalous as a tale on such delicate themes can be, the plot touches many difficult subjects in unexpected ways, but it is the way it deals with good and evil which makes it interesting if not extraordinary - how values can change according to time and culture.
Those who remarked how the novel had been partial to several classes of people should pay better attention to how the different points of views are shown throughout it, as if underlining how no opinion or custom can be perfect.
I might be wrong, but I think this is a work that can only be disliked if not properly understood in its keen sense of humour and provoking way to depict humanity.
I’m not sure what exactly to write about this book. The concept was interesting but the writing is of course (based on publication date) out of touch with the modern society. I think you def need to have knowledge about Ancient Greek goddesses/structures/philosophy to understand the book. I would like to see someone do a similar concept with todays modern world. I don’t feel like I gained anything having read this book unlike other utopian novels that make me think about the world or myself differently. So if your looking for a way to spend a few hours and know about Ancient Greek society you would probably enjoy it otherwise skip.
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
Read to meet local reading group challenge criteria! This wasn't enjoyable so much as it was interesting - I know Graves' non-fiction work, and think that's generally better (or at least more up my alley), but I'm pleased to have branched out into something I wouldn't normally look at
The plot, insofar as it matters: A 20th century poet is whisked into the future (which values poets) and learns about their society.
Apparently a rule of thumb is that one ought to read 50 pages before abandoning a book (and the equivalent of your age, I'm told, if you're older than 50). And I certainly read 50+ pages before returning this to the library, even after being a bit put out at the rather casual condemnation of homosexuals (this society puts them to death) and the comparison with two-headed calves. I'm a big boy, I can handle these things, especially from a 1949 book where perhaps the protagonist doesn't agree with this this utopia's new norms and will launch a "save the homosexuals" campaign on page 110 (he probably won't, but I don't know, I gave up around page 80).
For almost all of the first third of this book it's a description (in dialogue) of the dullest exposition imaginable, about the workings of this future society. It's the sort of thing that even the most workmanlike of today's writers would realise should be kept in the background while more interesting matters like plot and characterization take the foreground--these days one does the world-building, but we make it subtext, not text. It really was painful (reminded me of an absurd class assignment I did in grade 9 where I imagined what might happen if the Vikings had persisted in North America, and then wrote up an elaborate alternate history of events--nobody needs to read that!)
The writing was not delectable enough to enjoy the book purely in terms of the felicity of word choice and phraseology, the society not interesting enough to want to read more about it (and yet more, much more, is given), and the characters, such as they are, not compelling (or even realistic) enough to warrant any empathy or identification. One might as well call them man, young woman, and woman--that's as exciting as they get.
This could be one of those works which was unusual or groundbreaking in some respects during its original publication (though I can't imagine what those would be), but it's definitely not a classic (like, say, The Hobbit, which has lost none of its charm, or Titus Groan, roughly contemporaneous, which has all its original power and then some--reading this book was a tiresome slog, and I dropped it and picked up a well-regarded Georgette Heyer instead, feeling fully satisfied with myself.
Picked it up originally because I'd mistakenly thought it was on the Pringle list of great Modern Fantasy and just couldn't imagine why he thought this was so good, only to realise I'd got my lists mixed up and it was really from my list of unusual GoodShowSir bad book covers. Sigh.
Apparently a rule of thumb is that one ought to read 50 pages before abandoning a book (and the equivalent of your age, I'm told, if you're older than 50). And I certainly read 50+ pages before returning this to the library, even after being a bit put out at the rather casual condemnation of homosexuals (this society puts them to death) and the comparison with two-headed calves. I'm a big boy, I can handle these things, especially from a 1949 book where perhaps the protagonist doesn't agree with this this utopia's new norms and will launch a "save the homosexuals" campaign on page 110 (he probably won't, but I don't know, I gave up around page 80).
For almost all of the first third of this book it's a description (in dialogue) of the dullest exposition imaginable, about the workings of this future society. It's the sort of thing that even the most workmanlike of today's writers would realise should be kept in the background while more interesting matters like plot and characterization take the foreground--these days one does the world-building, but we make it subtext, not text. It really was painful (reminded me of an absurd class assignment I did in grade 9 where I imagined what might happen if the Vikings had persisted in North America, and then wrote up an elaborate alternate history of events--nobody needs to read that!)
The writing was not delectable enough to enjoy the book purely in terms of the felicity of word choice and phraseology, the society not interesting enough to want to read more about it (and yet more, much more, is given), and the characters, such as they are, not compelling (or even realistic) enough to warrant any empathy or identification. One might as well call them man, young woman, and woman--that's as exciting as they get.
This could be one of those works which was unusual or groundbreaking in some respects during its original publication (though I can't imagine what those would be), but it's definitely not a classic (like, say, The Hobbit, which has lost none of its charm, or Titus Groan, roughly contemporaneous, which has all its original power and then some--reading this book was a tiresome slog, and I dropped it and picked up a well-regarded Georgette Heyer instead, feeling fully satisfied with myself.
Picked it up originally because I'd mistakenly thought it was on the Pringle list of great Modern Fantasy and just couldn't imagine why he thought this was so good, only to realise I'd got my lists mixed up and it was really from my list of unusual GoodShowSir bad book covers. Sigh.
challenging
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Yeah, this one sucks.
So I read this because it's a friend of mine's favourite book and I honestly cannot comprehend how or why. This is the kind of book that would never, ever get published if it had been written nowadays. It's basically just a fuckfest of symbolism, metaphors, and social criticisms all mixed in with a bunch of misogyny, borderline pedophilia, homophobia, transphobia, and obnoxiously bad writing.
I have to admit that I was interested at first because it starts off with a bunch of worldbuilding as our main character, Edward "a-poet-from-the-past" Venn-Thomas is introduced to New Crete and the people that take him there (through some weird evocation) explain how the society works and how it came to be. That was slightly interesting, although kinda boring and unnecessary. But then came the "plot" (emphasis on the quotation marks) which barely exists. Turns out, Edward was taken to New Crete by their goddess because the new cretans have become too comfortable with their perfect lives and they need some chaos to wake up. But even though this is an interesting concept, it's so badly executed that it hurts.
There's a bunch of references to gay men and trans men being freaks and mistakes and errors (at the end there's a ballet and one of the scenes in it includes a group of Perverts - yes, they're called that - that dance maniacally and are described as being men who like to do womenly things - like sowing - and want to be women but they're also incredibly sacred because they want to be close to the goddess and the men in the theatre get extremely uncomfortable with their presence - like wtf did I really read that???).
So, all in all, terrible book, don't bother reading it. There are many many better books that deal with these topics. Save yourself the trouble.
So I read this because it's a friend of mine's favourite book and I honestly cannot comprehend how or why. This is the kind of book that would never, ever get published if it had been written nowadays. It's basically just a fuckfest of symbolism, metaphors, and social criticisms all mixed in with a bunch of misogyny, borderline pedophilia, homophobia, transphobia, and obnoxiously bad writing.
I have to admit that I was interested at first because it starts off with a bunch of worldbuilding as our main character, Edward "a-poet-from-the-past" Venn-Thomas is introduced to New Crete and the people that take him there (through some weird evocation) explain how the society works and how it came to be. That was slightly interesting, although kinda boring and unnecessary. But then came the "plot" (emphasis on the quotation marks) which barely exists. Turns out, Edward was taken to New Crete by their goddess because the new cretans have become too comfortable with their perfect lives and they need some chaos to wake up. But even though this is an interesting concept, it's so badly executed that it hurts.
There's a bunch of references to gay men and trans men being freaks and mistakes and errors (at the end there's a ballet and one of the scenes in it includes a group of Perverts - yes, they're called that - that dance maniacally and are described as being men who like to do womenly things - like sowing - and want to be women but they're also incredibly sacred because they want to be close to the goddess and the men in the theatre get extremely uncomfortable with their presence - like wtf did I really read that???).
So, all in all, terrible book, don't bother reading it. There are many many better books that deal with these topics. Save yourself the trouble.
I really tried to read this, but it was just too much of a loose wander. And it was boring, which is never good in something you expect to entertain you.