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laurasullivan's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.5
jgwc54e5's review against another edition
I couldn’t be bothered finishing this book. Once upon a time I would’ve loved the challenge of reading a book like this but frankly I don’t have the time. I’d argue with the author that his made up old English is the best way to get across the characters of the times minds because how would he know anyway? Even when I was used to words the flow was never even and didn’t convey the mood, atmosphere etc of the subject.
lisabee's review
Too depressing. And I found the main character too "ugly male" to want to spend any more time with him.
toniapeckover's review against another edition
4.0
I'm kind of blown away by what Kingsnorth has done here in creating a version of Old English that fits the time period of his novel and is also somehow, amazingly, readable to a modern audience. When I first began, I thought I would just have to slog through the whole book half understanding, but it really only took a few pages before I got the textual clues and could decipher it. The vocabulary is necessarily limited and that makes Kingsnorth's accomplishment even more incredible. Somehow, even through repetition and limited vocabulary, he brings you right into the world of Buccmaster (what a character!) and his personal and social challenges navigating the end of the world as he knows it.
whitneyborup's review against another edition
5.0
This was hard to read and so worth it. The language choice just completely transports you to a setting in a way that you rarely experience with a novel.
bobholt's review against another edition
5.0
While it takes focus (and nerdery) to get into the Anglo-Saxon/modern English pidgin language the book is written in, the reward is worth it. Often perceived as the birth of modern England, we see the flip side of the Norman invasion through the eyes of a flawed narrator. While this could have easily been a Braveheart-like revenge story, it introduces enough complexities to keep the reader interested and sympathizing with the narrator's companions: unsure whether this is a man worth following after all.
angrywombat's review against another edition
5.0
Wow. I totally understand how this won all those awards.
This is probably the best historical novel I've read - and one of the top novels i've had the good fortune to encounter. This was so immersive and I can't get Buccmaster out of my head :)
Buccmaster is a self-important man of some rank in middle ages england. A "socman of holland with three oxgangs" A man who despite his language and beliefs would be oh so familiar to anyone - one of those annoying people who needs to impress on you how important they are, and how noone is giving them their proper respect, and how everything would be better without interference from the government etc etc. But this long suffering (to his eyes) man has a horrible vision of the coming future, which no one believes.
The the Normans invade and England begins to burn... including his home, farm and town.
I don't want to give away spoilers, but this is a powerful book, and Buccmaster and his reluctant followers try to act as ancient guerrillas against the staggeringly powerful normal knights and their burning and pillaging of the english countryside. But the attitudes of these english resistance fighters is quite ironic given their hate of the "ingengas" (foreigners) but then also consider the welsh (the original britons who were invaded by the saxons) to be annoying and not worth anything..
This book plays with the idea of invasions, cultural change, religions, superficial racism and all manner of topics that feel especially familiar given todays politics and how no one seems to be aware that the things they hold so dear against "foreign ideas" are in fact just as foreign, just a few generations older...
I was totally blow away by this book, and almost feel bad trying to read something new after it - I just think anything will pale in comparison.
This is probably the best historical novel I've read - and one of the top novels i've had the good fortune to encounter. This was so immersive and I can't get Buccmaster out of my head :)
Buccmaster is a self-important man of some rank in middle ages england. A "socman of holland with three oxgangs" A man who despite his language and beliefs would be oh so familiar to anyone - one of those annoying people who needs to impress on you how important they are, and how noone is giving them their proper respect, and how everything would be better without interference from the government etc etc. But this long suffering (to his eyes) man has a horrible vision of the coming future, which no one believes.
The the Normans invade and England begins to burn... including his home, farm and town.
I don't want to give away spoilers, but this is a powerful book, and Buccmaster and his reluctant followers try to act as ancient guerrillas against the staggeringly powerful normal knights and their burning and pillaging of the english countryside. But the attitudes of these english resistance fighters is quite ironic given their hate of the "ingengas" (foreigners) but then also consider the welsh (the original britons who were invaded by the saxons) to be annoying and not worth anything..
This book plays with the idea of invasions, cultural change, religions, superficial racism and all manner of topics that feel especially familiar given todays politics and how no one seems to be aware that the things they hold so dear against "foreign ideas" are in fact just as foreign, just a few generations older...
I was totally blow away by this book, and almost feel bad trying to read something new after it - I just think anything will pale in comparison.
fishface's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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
2.5
The use of pseudo old English language in this book is exceptional and really captures a feeling of time far removed from the modern world. Buccmaster is however so irritating that he drops the rating down to 2.5 stars.
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.