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eitaneverett's review against another edition
3.0
The language is a neat trick, and I love the atmosphere and world building, but the plot drags in the last third. Beautiful work, though, worth reading.
cknickerbocker's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
eclectictales's review against another edition
3.0
I was approved an ARC of this book by the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This review in its entirety was originally posted at eclectictales.com: http://www.eclectictales.com/blog/2015/04/23/review-the-wake/
My initial impressions of this book definitely focused on the writing. It does take a good number of pages to get a feel for how the language works, understand how certain letters sound, and what certain words may mean in contemporary English; I suppose a drawback to reading the book in an eCopy format is that the glossary is at the end rather than something you can flip back and forth to at your convenience. It can be tough, but it does colour the story and the way the reader approaches the story, Buccmaster’s world and society of the time. I also found that reading it out loud helped.
Story-wise, it was a curious read albeit the pacing had its moments. It starts off and the reader has no idea where the story is headed: there are signs and portents, you know that there’s tension in the air and you’re waiting for the other shoe to drop. It does, but then the story hits another lull of sorts. Events slowly begin to pick up when Buccmaster decides to revolt and gains a small band of men to join in the revolt against William the Conqueror (love that they call him by his French name here). It was also intersting to follow as this group tries to recruit more people from other communities to their cause, with varying results.
My favourite part of the book had to be the ending though. Buccmaster for the most part had been a strange character–he’s crude, he’s paranoid, he’s suspicious, his treatment of people left for wanting, and has a bit of self-importance going for him. Despite of this, I really felt for him though at the end of the novel.
Overall I’m glad to have finally read The Wake. Readers who are looking for something different to read may want to check this title out.
My initial impressions of this book definitely focused on the writing. It does take a good number of pages to get a feel for how the language works, understand how certain letters sound, and what certain words may mean in contemporary English; I suppose a drawback to reading the book in an eCopy format is that the glossary is at the end rather than something you can flip back and forth to at your convenience. It can be tough, but it does colour the story and the way the reader approaches the story, Buccmaster’s world and society of the time. I also found that reading it out loud helped.
Story-wise, it was a curious read albeit the pacing had its moments. It starts off and the reader has no idea where the story is headed: there are signs and portents, you know that there’s tension in the air and you’re waiting for the other shoe to drop. It does, but then the story hits another lull of sorts. Events slowly begin to pick up when Buccmaster decides to revolt and gains a small band of men to join in the revolt against William the Conqueror (love that they call him by his French name here). It was also intersting to follow as this group tries to recruit more people from other communities to their cause, with varying results.
My favourite part of the book had to be the ending though. Buccmaster for the most part had been a strange character–he’s crude, he’s paranoid, he’s suspicious, his treatment of people left for wanting, and has a bit of self-importance going for him. Despite of this, I really felt for him though at the end of the novel.
Overall I’m glad to have finally read The Wake. Readers who are looking for something different to read may want to check this title out.
yanulya's review against another edition
4.0
First: 2 tips for readers: 1) do read his brief notes on language & history at the end of the book (before beginning -- it will help, not hinder), and 2) do read the short glossary at the end as well. The language does get much easier to process, very quickly -- after 20-30 pages you'll find it's nearly second nature. At least if you're a language nerd like me you will.
Review: I really enjoyed this book. Unique reading experience, the language was lovely and musical, the storytelling compelling. His decision to write this book in a "shadow tongue" mixing Old English & Modern English (while restricting himself to a set of rules, e.g. using only words & letters that actually existed in Old English, none derived from French or other later influences), was risky, but I thought very successfully pulled off. I'm often very skeptical of books written w/ significant language gimmicks or restrictions, as often they don't seem to serve much purpose other than just being a neat trick (e.g., the Perec novel written entirely without the use of the letter "e" -- what is the point?). But in this book, it actually serves a purpose, and serves it quite well. The author's explanation in the back of the book as to why he decided to write it this way, makes total sense. And indeed the omission of the often more flowery or abstract French-origin words that we're used to seeing throughout our language, gave it a very specific and unique feel. He succeeds in creating a mood an environment where you're much more rooted in the concrete, in the hard details of the landscape, in the colors, smells, sounds, & sights, and not abstractions. Yet you still feel the emotions of the characters. He manages to let you inside the head of a protagonist who is delusional and somewhat mad, yet still find a way to make you sympathize with him just the tiniest bit -- for his feelings of loss, of nostalgia, of a lost past to which we can never return. Worthy themes and timeless ones.
Given the author is known mostly for his environmental writings, I wonder whether he intended this to be in some small part an allegory for what's happening with our planet now, and whether his criticisms of Buccmaster are a dig at those who are watching the earth burn around them, and expressing their outrage, yet not really taking action to right the wrongs, not really brave enough to accept dramatic lifestyle changes, are stuck in old ways that feel comforting. Of course it could be he intended nothing of the sort... but I'm curious now to read more of his writing.
Review: I really enjoyed this book. Unique reading experience, the language was lovely and musical, the storytelling compelling. His decision to write this book in a "shadow tongue" mixing Old English & Modern English (while restricting himself to a set of rules, e.g. using only words & letters that actually existed in Old English, none derived from French or other later influences), was risky, but I thought very successfully pulled off. I'm often very skeptical of books written w/ significant language gimmicks or restrictions, as often they don't seem to serve much purpose other than just being a neat trick (e.g., the Perec novel written entirely without the use of the letter "e" -- what is the point?). But in this book, it actually serves a purpose, and serves it quite well. The author's explanation in the back of the book as to why he decided to write it this way, makes total sense. And indeed the omission of the often more flowery or abstract French-origin words that we're used to seeing throughout our language, gave it a very specific and unique feel. He succeeds in creating a mood an environment where you're much more rooted in the concrete, in the hard details of the landscape, in the colors, smells, sounds, & sights, and not abstractions. Yet you still feel the emotions of the characters. He manages to let you inside the head of a protagonist who is delusional and somewhat mad, yet still find a way to make you sympathize with him just the tiniest bit -- for his feelings of loss, of nostalgia, of a lost past to which we can never return. Worthy themes and timeless ones.
Given the author is known mostly for his environmental writings, I wonder whether he intended this to be in some small part an allegory for what's happening with our planet now, and whether his criticisms of Buccmaster are a dig at those who are watching the earth burn around them, and expressing their outrage, yet not really taking action to right the wrongs, not really brave enough to accept dramatic lifestyle changes, are stuck in old ways that feel comforting. Of course it could be he intended nothing of the sort... but I'm curious now to read more of his writing.
timbo001's review against another edition
5.0
Imagine a post-apocalyptic novel set immediately following the Norman invasion of England in 1066, and written in a shadow-language combining Old English and modern English and you may still be unsure what to make of this book. A historical novel, adventure story, Bildungsroman, revenge fantasy, and war story written in sharp, keen words.
kathedron's review against another edition
3.0
What a strange and difficult book... and not because of the fake Old English it's written in. (I read a couple of pages out loud when nobody else was around and soon got into the swing of it.)
Billed as a "post-apocalyptic novel set a thousand years ago" I was struck by the grief and rage of a man whose world has ended. Yet Buccmaster is thin-skinned, delusional and self-aggrandising. He is a broken man: he is also a gobshite.
I think I must have expected more post-apocalyptic action because I'm left thinking, "Is that it?" Buccmaster and his few followers spend most of the book skulking about in the woods. They kill the odd Norman here and there as the opportunity presents itself. Buccmaster supplements these actions with frequent communion with the old gods and with temper tantrums whenever someone brings up the name of Hereward the Wake. After he finally takes decisive action, the book stops, rather than concludes, and I'm left confused as to the author's intentions.
If, as seems to be the case judging from the afterword, this is a "take back control" narrative, why put this weight upon the shoulders of such an anti-hero as Buccmaster? It becomes apparent that the Norman conquest lets his personal demons out of the bag, but the demons were already there. He has seen little of the atrocities that supposedly drive him: he comes upon the aftermath of them or hears of them secondhand. Add to this the distancing effect of the language, and its role in deadening the force of Buccmaster's own violent actions and the one thing standing out in relief is *his* grief, *his* rage, *his* accelerating mental disintegration.
What am I to make of this? I'm really not sure.
Billed as a "post-apocalyptic novel set a thousand years ago" I was struck by the grief and rage of a man whose world has ended. Yet Buccmaster is thin-skinned, delusional and self-aggrandising. He is a broken man: he is also a gobshite.
I think I must have expected more post-apocalyptic action because I'm left thinking, "Is that it?" Buccmaster and his few followers spend most of the book skulking about in the woods. They kill the odd Norman here and there as the opportunity presents itself. Buccmaster supplements these actions with frequent communion with the old gods and with temper tantrums whenever someone brings up the name of Hereward the Wake. After he finally takes decisive action, the book stops, rather than concludes, and I'm left confused as to the author's intentions.
If, as seems to be the case judging from the afterword, this is a "take back control" narrative, why put this weight upon the shoulders of such an anti-hero as Buccmaster? It becomes apparent that the Norman conquest lets his personal demons out of the bag, but the demons were already there. He has seen little of the atrocities that supposedly drive him: he comes upon the aftermath of them or hears of them secondhand. Add to this the distancing effect of the language, and its role in deadening the force of Buccmaster's own violent actions and the one thing standing out in relief is *his* grief, *his* rage, *his* accelerating mental disintegration.
What am I to make of this? I'm really not sure.
oldmansimms's review against another edition
5.0
Most of the time when I rate something 5 stars, it means it's the kind of book that I will recommend to all sorts of people. Occasionally, though, it's a book that is narrowly and specifically FOR ME. There are a lot of potential obstacles to people's enjoyment of this book -- the pseudo-old-english language, the stream of consciousness style, Buccmaster being an unrepentant asshole and delusional murderer ... but I dug all of it. The story is good, and Buccmaster is memorable in a "Patrick Bateman meets Holden Caulfield meets your uncle who's always talking about the decline of society and the good old days" kind of way, but the language is where it really shone for me. I say this as a linguistics/etymology nerd with an interest in Old English and how that intersects with modern German, so I had an easier time following the language than most people probably would. I can only really recommend this book if you happen to have the exact same set of linguistic and historical interests I do; but for anybody that describes, it's excellent.
thebearnest's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25