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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
This is a strange and interesting little book, not at all like I had thought it would be. Sometimes there is too much atmosphere, and I tended to skim those parts if they reached a certain length. I understand that du Maurier's style was reflective of its time.
I really enjoyed the end of this book. I could not guess how it was going to finish and du Maurier does a good job of keeping the reader guessing until the absolute last words.
I really enjoyed the end of this book. I could not guess how it was going to finish and du Maurier does a good job of keeping the reader guessing until the absolute last words.
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Interesting period piece. Reminiscent of the Brontes. The only difference was the ending was a little less dark. Orphan goes to live with her aunt who she hasn't seen since she was a child. Aunt married to heathen on the edge of the moors. He is a brute and involved in illegal trade. The Inn that he owns is a lonely and menacing place. The "good" people don't venture there. The only thing that keeps Mary there is her aunt who is a shell of her former self. Of course, Mary falls in love with someone inappropriate, trusts someone who betrays her, and generally holds herself together better than most women of the time were supposed to. The writing is of a different time period, but I enjoyed it. (despite the thirteen-year-old who thought nothing could be more boring)
A book which struggles in places.
The concept is really solid but I lost interest part way through. The plot at times feels slow and drags along. I had to finish it using an audiobook. But the ending was really satisfying which really annoyed me because if it hadn't been for the slow plot in the middle I would have thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.
The concept is really solid but I lost interest part way through. The plot at times feels slow and drags along. I had to finish it using an audiobook. But the ending was really satisfying which really annoyed me because if it hadn't been for the slow plot in the middle I would have thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.
I picked up this book on holiday in Falmouth because I had bought Persuasion in Bath and it only seemed fair. I wish I had read it while in Cornwall because this one excellent Cornish beach read of a book. This is The excellent Cornish beach read of a book in that the beach needs to be cold and rocky and it should be raining. I’ve read Daphne du Maurier before, Rebecca (like everyone) and My Cousin Rachel. This, as those, was excellently written, but, refreshingly, drops all pretence in favour of being a romp of a gothic novel built on the bedrock of girls doin’ it for themselves. (until the end, but you may disagree. Join me in the spoiler section at the end, won’t you?)
Jamaica inn tells the story of Mary, Cornish farmgirl of 23 and newly minted orphan, who goes to live with her Aunt (previously vivacious, now a kicked puppy of a woman) and her awful husband Joss at (thundercrack/lightening) Jamaica Inn. Du Maurier writes with no cliché unturned ‘Oh ye won’t want to be going there’ intones the coach driver when he learns of her intended destinations ‘ The inn’s no place for a young girl like yourself’ etc etc. As with all books of vintage I have a hard time weighing on how much of what seems like obvious cliché now the author had a hand in creating (For a discussion on albinos, join me in the spoilers as before) but in any case it works. This is not a book to challenge you, it just wants you on board, like a story over a campfire.
Anyway, there are indeed dark goings on at Jamaica Inn, building from smuggling and getting darker (this is a Cornish beach read so there is a high number of fatalities mostly gory, several nightmarish). There are moors. Gweek is namechecked like, 3 times and the seal sanctuary is ecstatic (give it a Google). It’s hard to talk about the plot because it’s basically one unravelling mystery so going more than a few steps past the premise gets you into spoiler territory. That said, you pretty much know what’s going to happen. Again, this is no bad thing. You know there will be something in the basement when they go down with a candle, another face in the mirror when they close the GD medicine cabinet. You watch the movie for that, not despite it and similarly with Jamaica Inn.
As further plot discussion will need to wait until the much anticipated spoilers section, let’s discuss the literary gem that is Mary. Fick off Elizabeth Bennet there’s a new modern woman in town. Mary is fantastic. He basic driving force is ‘What the hell, I’ll do it myself’ and she is constantly aware in a factual low key way, that all this self-reliance would be easier if she were a guy and people would just let her get on with it. This ‘if only’ refrain becomes something of a running joke by the end with everyone getting in on it and, at one point or another, musing on how much smoother a situation might run were her gender to be swapped.
Personally, my favourite example, no less so for being absolutely bang on, comes when she is caught in the rain after a day in town with Jem (rouge and scoundrel and dreamy) and he suggests they get a room at an inn and ger her out of those wet clothes (no cliché unturned). She refuses, aware of the social and possible physical ramifications that would follow, and regrets that this has to be true for her gender and she can’t just be like a guy and go get freaky with a guy and then they can just slap each other on the back the next morning and have a good laugh and go their separate ways as buddies. Mary is truly profound.
Also, I’m not sure if this was intentional on the part of du Maurier but, in hindsight, Mary totally should have gotten out of those wet clothes ‘cause the rest of her night was aggressively awful for everyone. Did they have no form of contraceptive in 1900? Didn’t the ancient Egyptian’s have condoms? I digress.
Mary is a boss, is what I’m saying, and acutely aware of the folly of her infatuation with Jem, the afore mentioned rogue and scoundrel and also (much) younger brother of her evil uncle landlord. And horse thief. And polygamist. And man who demands that women make him dinner. To say nothing of his treatment of his mother. Still, a certain amount of ‘phwoar’ where Jem is concerned seeps through the text and you see how Mary could find herself in this dilemma. Especially after that snogging in the rain bit. Phwoar.
What can I say, I really enjoyed this book. Not just liked but enjoyed. I actually read it while not on public transport and that is pretty much the highest honour I can bestow on the written word; choosing it over television. I’m not sure why it doesn’t have a wider reputation but maybe I’ve answered my own question; the more enjoyable a book the harder it is for it to be considered ‘literary’. It’s a snobbishness I’m not entirely free from, hence the 4 stars but I highly recommend Jamaica Inn to everyone, especially people on holiday in Cornwall.*
*roughly 3/5th of the population of the UK for 4 weeks in the summer.
Spoilers
Righto, let’s get down to it; Davey amiright?!?! I didn’t mention him earlier because I don’t feel you can really talk about him without giving the game away. Sure you can blandly introduce him as a pastor in a nearby village who offers shelter and an ear to Mary with suspiciously regularity but then you’d just find yourself blurt-typing ALBINO DRUID ARCHVILLIAN and the game would be given away. Not that we didn’t see it coming. Well, maybe not the Druid bit, but he was definitely creepy AF long before you find his sheep-pictures (if you’re reading this before you’ve read the book that reference was for you).
On a side note, further to our talk of cliché, is evil albino a thing? Obviously (unfortunately) Da Vinci code springs to mind. Also, from my limited experience, there is the henchman in Princess Bride and the hench-rat in Flushed Away (limited but eclectic experience) but somehow Rev Davies just made this into a collection of characters to a full fledged trope. Is it? It seems mean if it is. I think it does bear mentioning, however, that in Davies case his bat sh*t insanity feed on, rather than was caused by, his albinism; i.e. no one else seemed to have an issue with it but he used it as self-proof he was not of this world/time.
Seriously, we did not have enough time with Davies in full cray-cray. I was all up for Mary heading off to Africa with him just so we got to spend a little more time together. Not that I would have condoned this. It doesn’t take a Freudian to look between the lines of Davies’ master plan and read ‘weird sex stuff; consent optional’, but I wanted to hear about his childhood and past history, to learn more of his views on life and how exactly he would be achieving them, to understand (which I think this, at least, we were owed) what exactly he was getting out of the whole Wreckers racket. Was it just a ‘watch the world burn’ thing? All I know is there would never be a dull moment.
You wouldn’t have to pretend to like him either, like poor Mary is going to have to with Jem in 36 weeks’ time when she’s knocked up and he starts smacking her. I apologise to all you romantics out there but there is no chance this is not her future. She even knows it. Jem’s good qualities are the aforementioned ‘phwoar’ and that he hasn’t killed anyone, and that last quality comes with a heavy ‘yet’.(listen to the old gypsy woman!) Also, he was awful to his mother and that sh*t stains. No, there is no good future here. Not with Jem anyway. In the extended version, my future holds and then Mary gets him out of her system and leaves with her infant daughter. She sets up a farm in Helston and the two of them live happily ala Gilmore Girls. This is the best I can do for you Mary.
Update 30.04 - screw it 5 stars I love you Jamaica Inn
Jamaica inn tells the story of Mary, Cornish farmgirl of 23 and newly minted orphan, who goes to live with her Aunt (previously vivacious, now a kicked puppy of a woman) and her awful husband Joss at (thundercrack/lightening) Jamaica Inn. Du Maurier writes with no cliché unturned ‘Oh ye won’t want to be going there’ intones the coach driver when he learns of her intended destinations ‘ The inn’s no place for a young girl like yourself’ etc etc. As with all books of vintage I have a hard time weighing on how much of what seems like obvious cliché now the author had a hand in creating (For a discussion on albinos, join me in the spoilers as before) but in any case it works. This is not a book to challenge you, it just wants you on board, like a story over a campfire.
Anyway, there are indeed dark goings on at Jamaica Inn, building from smuggling and getting darker (this is a Cornish beach read so there is a high number of fatalities mostly gory, several nightmarish). There are moors. Gweek is namechecked like, 3 times and the seal sanctuary is ecstatic (give it a Google). It’s hard to talk about the plot because it’s basically one unravelling mystery so going more than a few steps past the premise gets you into spoiler territory. That said, you pretty much know what’s going to happen. Again, this is no bad thing. You know there will be something in the basement when they go down with a candle, another face in the mirror when they close the GD medicine cabinet. You watch the movie for that, not despite it and similarly with Jamaica Inn.
As further plot discussion will need to wait until the much anticipated spoilers section, let’s discuss the literary gem that is Mary. Fick off Elizabeth Bennet there’s a new modern woman in town. Mary is fantastic. He basic driving force is ‘What the hell, I’ll do it myself’ and she is constantly aware in a factual low key way, that all this self-reliance would be easier if she were a guy and people would just let her get on with it. This ‘if only’ refrain becomes something of a running joke by the end with everyone getting in on it and, at one point or another, musing on how much smoother a situation might run were her gender to be swapped.
Personally, my favourite example, no less so for being absolutely bang on, comes when she is caught in the rain after a day in town with Jem (rouge and scoundrel and dreamy) and he suggests they get a room at an inn and ger her out of those wet clothes (no cliché unturned). She refuses, aware of the social and possible physical ramifications that would follow, and regrets that this has to be true for her gender and she can’t just be like a guy and go get freaky with a guy and then they can just slap each other on the back the next morning and have a good laugh and go their separate ways as buddies. Mary is truly profound.
Also, I’m not sure if this was intentional on the part of du Maurier but, in hindsight, Mary totally should have gotten out of those wet clothes ‘cause the rest of her night was aggressively awful for everyone. Did they have no form of contraceptive in 1900? Didn’t the ancient Egyptian’s have condoms? I digress.
Mary is a boss, is what I’m saying, and acutely aware of the folly of her infatuation with Jem, the afore mentioned rogue and scoundrel and also (much) younger brother of her evil uncle landlord. And horse thief. And polygamist. And man who demands that women make him dinner. To say nothing of his treatment of his mother. Still, a certain amount of ‘phwoar’ where Jem is concerned seeps through the text and you see how Mary could find herself in this dilemma. Especially after that snogging in the rain bit. Phwoar.
What can I say, I really enjoyed this book. Not just liked but enjoyed. I actually read it while not on public transport and that is pretty much the highest honour I can bestow on the written word; choosing it over television. I’m not sure why it doesn’t have a wider reputation but maybe I’ve answered my own question; the more enjoyable a book the harder it is for it to be considered ‘literary’. It’s a snobbishness I’m not entirely free from, hence the 4 stars but I highly recommend Jamaica Inn to everyone, especially people on holiday in Cornwall.*
*roughly 3/5th of the population of the UK for 4 weeks in the summer.
Spoilers
Righto, let’s get down to it; Davey amiright?!?! I didn’t mention him earlier because I don’t feel you can really talk about him without giving the game away. Sure you can blandly introduce him as a pastor in a nearby village who offers shelter and an ear to Mary with suspiciously regularity but then you’d just find yourself blurt-typing ALBINO DRUID ARCHVILLIAN and the game would be given away. Not that we didn’t see it coming. Well, maybe not the Druid bit, but he was definitely creepy AF long before you find his sheep-pictures (if you’re reading this before you’ve read the book that reference was for you).
On a side note, further to our talk of cliché, is evil albino a thing? Obviously (unfortunately) Da Vinci code springs to mind. Also, from my limited experience, there is the henchman in Princess Bride and the hench-rat in Flushed Away (limited but eclectic experience) but somehow Rev Davies just made this into a collection of characters to a full fledged trope. Is it? It seems mean if it is. I think it does bear mentioning, however, that in Davies case his bat sh*t insanity feed on, rather than was caused by, his albinism; i.e. no one else seemed to have an issue with it but he used it as self-proof he was not of this world/time.
Seriously, we did not have enough time with Davies in full cray-cray. I was all up for Mary heading off to Africa with him just so we got to spend a little more time together. Not that I would have condoned this. It doesn’t take a Freudian to look between the lines of Davies’ master plan and read ‘weird sex stuff; consent optional’, but I wanted to hear about his childhood and past history, to learn more of his views on life and how exactly he would be achieving them, to understand (which I think this, at least, we were owed) what exactly he was getting out of the whole Wreckers racket. Was it just a ‘watch the world burn’ thing? All I know is there would never be a dull moment.
You wouldn’t have to pretend to like him either, like poor Mary is going to have to with Jem in 36 weeks’ time when she’s knocked up and he starts smacking her. I apologise to all you romantics out there but there is no chance this is not her future. She even knows it. Jem’s good qualities are the aforementioned ‘phwoar’ and that he hasn’t killed anyone, and that last quality comes with a heavy ‘yet’.(listen to the old gypsy woman!) Also, he was awful to his mother and that sh*t stains. No, there is no good future here. Not with Jem anyway. In the extended version, my future holds and then Mary gets him out of her system and leaves with her infant daughter. She sets up a farm in Helston and the two of them live happily ala Gilmore Girls. This is the best I can do for you Mary.
Update 30.04 - screw it 5 stars I love you Jamaica Inn
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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:
Complicated
Très bien écrit et ultra flippant (ne pas lire la nuit). Une génie de la littérature ?
2.5/5 I loved Daphne du Maurier's other book, but this one was disappointing. Boring, unfortunately.
Definitely not my favourite Du Maurier, but I enjoyed it.