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chalicotherex's review against another edition
5.0
"lif is a raedel for dumb folc but the things i has seen it is not lic they sae. the bocs and the preosts the bells the laws of the crist it is not like they sae"
this is a good boc about a triewe anglisc man who was feotan the ingengas who cwelled harold cyng he is buccmaster a socman with three oxgangs but the fuccan frencs beorned his hus and his wifman so he macs himself a grene man who lifs in the holt hwit the treows
this is a good boc about a triewe anglisc man who was feotan the ingengas who cwelled harold cyng he is buccmaster a socman with three oxgangs but the fuccan frencs beorned his hus and his wifman so he macs himself a grene man who lifs in the holt hwit the treows
skolastic's review
5.0
If you can pierce the "shadow Old English" the book is written in (and I certainly don't blame you if you can't - I read the entire thing aloud to myself in order to parse it and there were still sentences I didn't understand) this is an incredible depiction of both a society and a man coming unglued in a jarring, disturbing way.
e_austin's review
5.0
Last night I finished my journey through this novel. It contains a story of brutality and overwhelming sadness, conveyed in a shadow tongue quite removed from modern English.
Within this context, Kingsnorth perceptively examines humanity through lenses of history, religion, language, and relationships. The prose, in its starkness, brings a world removed from us by a millennium into sometimes beautiful, sometimes painful focus. I have seldom felt so united with the past, even as differences became acutely visible.
While it is a challenging book in several ways, The Wake is also very rewarding.
Within this context, Kingsnorth perceptively examines humanity through lenses of history, religion, language, and relationships. The prose, in its starkness, brings a world removed from us by a millennium into sometimes beautiful, sometimes painful focus. I have seldom felt so united with the past, even as differences became acutely visible.
While it is a challenging book in several ways, The Wake is also very rewarding.
rue_knee's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
mattk's review against another edition
4.0
A remarkable, audacious experiment: a modern novel of interior turmoil, set in the 1060s and told in a "shadow dialect" based on Old English. I have a mild obsession with weird English folklore (particularly from the fens), and so this was an absolute treat. (Also the second pop-culture item I've consumed this year that involved a "blood eagle," which I'm not sure what that says about me.)
Anyway, though it's a slow read, its peculiar rhythms really sweep you along after a while. Highly recommended for language and history nerds.
Anyway, though it's a slow read, its peculiar rhythms really sweep you along after a while. Highly recommended for language and history nerds.
abetterjulie's review against another edition
5.0
This book will not be for everyone. As the author explains, it is written in pseudo-Old English, a type of shadow language. It requires some patience at the beginning, but it reads like swimming in wild water. There is a pull and glide with effort rewarded in muscles stretched and smoothed. There is a brief appendix for those words that don't untangle easily, but it was rarely needed.
The unreliable narrator is beautifully done. The story itself is simple, and the reader knows things will not end well, but the mystery comes in the parsed language. There is little punctuation. The description is sparse. The dialogue is clipped. There is just the stroke of one sentence leading to the next and next drawing the swimmer to the far shore. The old gods are brought into a dark light. The French are there to stay. The English ways are gone. It is a solid perspective on life under oppression, and the land and people never fully recovering.
The unreliable narrator is beautifully done. The story itself is simple, and the reader knows things will not end well, but the mystery comes in the parsed language. There is little punctuation. The description is sparse. The dialogue is clipped. There is just the stroke of one sentence leading to the next and next drawing the swimmer to the far shore. The old gods are brought into a dark light. The French are there to stay. The English ways are gone. It is a solid perspective on life under oppression, and the land and people never fully recovering.
ktonks's review against another edition
4.0
A necessary read for anyone interested in English history. The pseudo Old English was surprisingly easier to read as the book went on. Makes me wish all historical writers went to such lengths.
thebobsphere's review
5.0
I would have never believed that I would enjoy reading a book taking place during the Norman invasion of Britain AND it's told through a modified form of Old English.
The Buccmaster of Holland is living well. He has two sons, a lot of land, a huge house and a loving wife. Then after the Battle of Hastings, he loses everything and decides to put together a band of mercenaries to kill all French citizens.
However there are some problems, the main one is that The Buccmaster is stuck to the old ways i.e believing in pagan gods and old fashioned rites and refuses to keep up with the the current (1066) mentality of his kinsfolk, coupled with a dodgy past which is revealed slowly throughout the novel and you have got a riveting read.
Whilst reading The Wake I couldn't help comparing the Buccmaster's attitude to last year's 'Brexit' campaign. Think of this. One person does not want foreign people in England in order to keep it pure and tries his utmost to get rid of them. Sounds familiar? I do understand that the Norman Invasion was a time of rape and pillaging but there are some similarities with the mentality.
A good number of reviews seem to point out the language but honestly after a couple of pages the language becomes poetic and fun to read, there is a glossary for the more obscure worse and the Kingsnorth does give an explanation on pronunciation so reading The Wake is not a chore. If one can cope with books such as Trainspotting or A Clockwork Orange, even Shakespeare then there's no reason why this book should be a turn off.
The blurb of my copy states that The Wake could easily become a modern classic. Although such statements bother me, I have to agree with this one as it hits all points: creative, slightly funny, dashes of mythology and pagan rituals, and more importantly, a strong story.
The Buccmaster of Holland is living well. He has two sons, a lot of land, a huge house and a loving wife. Then after the Battle of Hastings, he loses everything and decides to put together a band of mercenaries to kill all French citizens.
However there are some problems, the main one is that The Buccmaster is stuck to the old ways i.e believing in pagan gods and old fashioned rites and refuses to keep up with the the current (1066) mentality of his kinsfolk, coupled with a dodgy past which is revealed slowly throughout the novel and you have got a riveting read.
Whilst reading The Wake I couldn't help comparing the Buccmaster's attitude to last year's 'Brexit' campaign. Think of this. One person does not want foreign people in England in order to keep it pure and tries his utmost to get rid of them. Sounds familiar? I do understand that the Norman Invasion was a time of rape and pillaging but there are some similarities with the mentality.
A good number of reviews seem to point out the language but honestly after a couple of pages the language becomes poetic and fun to read, there is a glossary for the more obscure worse and the Kingsnorth does give an explanation on pronunciation so reading The Wake is not a chore. If one can cope with books such as Trainspotting or A Clockwork Orange, even Shakespeare then there's no reason why this book should be a turn off.
The blurb of my copy states that The Wake could easily become a modern classic. Although such statements bother me, I have to agree with this one as it hits all points: creative, slightly funny, dashes of mythology and pagan rituals, and more importantly, a strong story.
pumpie's review
5.0
this is a manly man book which i wouldn't normally like but......the language in this is so good + immersive. i love it. it is slow reading but it really gets into u, u feel the connection with england from 1000 years ago. kingsnorth is still angry about the norman conquest this is so refreshing idk
jerianne's review
5.0
This book perfectly illustrates how very similar our time is to the medieval era. I truly believe that we are in the new Dark Age, where flat earthers abound, chaos reigns, and the Christ and the Old Gods alike turn their backs on the farcical self-destruction of humanity. Will we survive? Will we rise? Will we tear each other apart while the true enemy builds fortifications?