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le_corbeau_romantique's review against another edition
5.0
Wow! What a way to write historical fiction. Unlike some readers, I loved the addition of modern figures, ideas, words into the story: Groucho Marx entertaining at a masque, Mary Shelley attending one of Digby's scientific lectures, and quotes from famous actresses and models. My favorite is when Digby just "knew" the modern science terminology to a concept he was thinking of. It showed that Digby was ahead of his time. He's an interesting man with interesting ideas. I also loved how the author interspersed the novel with quotes from Digby's actual journals, letters, etc.
It also shows how unfortunately apropos this story is to our time- which is one of the reasons why we look at history. This book is about the passage of time and beauty and the lengths we go to to get it all back. This includes, "gums blackened by painting with lead; breasts operated on seventeen times for a non-existent problem; healthy bodies, cut apart by greedy physicians; women misled, traduced, deluded. ...He had not realised vanity had undone so many" (392). Like the time I chemically burnt my upper lip trying to remove its tiny, practically nonexistent hairs after my sister egged me on. Or the time I dyed my hair in high school and it turned black (ie- not the color I was going for) ...Just saying, we've all been there.
The notorious apothecary of this tale, Choice, was quite the character. The author did a marvelous job showing this forefather of ratty quacks and greasy, untrustworthy "doctors"- or money hungry prescription pushers. I wish we got to read more of him or others like him- maybe I'll pick up a few nonfiction books on this subject; I can't believe what they believed back then, but then again, there are still strong parallels of this nowadays!
This was such a refreshing addition to the historical fiction drama- connecting the past with the present. The ending chapters that draw this story to a full circle are lovely.
It also shows how unfortunately apropos this story is to our time- which is one of the reasons why we look at history. This book is about the passage of time and beauty and the lengths we go to to get it all back. This includes, "gums blackened by painting with lead; breasts operated on seventeen times for a non-existent problem; healthy bodies, cut apart by greedy physicians; women misled, traduced, deluded. ...He had not realised vanity had undone so many" (392). Like the time I chemically burnt my upper lip trying to remove its tiny, practically nonexistent hairs after my sister egged me on. Or the time I dyed my hair in high school and it turned black (ie- not the color I was going for) ...Just saying, we've all been there.
The notorious apothecary of this tale, Choice, was quite the character. The author did a marvelous job showing this forefather of ratty quacks and greasy, untrustworthy "doctors"- or money hungry prescription pushers. I wish we got to read more of him or others like him- maybe I'll pick up a few nonfiction books on this subject; I can't believe what they believed back then, but then again, there are still strong parallels of this nowadays!
This was such a refreshing addition to the historical fiction drama- connecting the past with the present. The ending chapters that draw this story to a full circle are lovely.
badseedgirl's review against another edition
4.0
I read Viper Wine by Hermione Eyre for the Worlds Without End 2016 Reading Challenge. It qualified for both the 12 Awards in 12 Months and the Women of Genre Fiction challenges, and since the year is getting late, anytime I can use a single book for multiple challenges, I consider that a win.
Viper Wine is one of those novels that snuck up on me without realizing it. I was sitting in my hairdresser’s chair getting my hair colored and was reading passages from the novel, we were all laughing and were slightly shocked about the moronic lengths women from the 1600’s were going to make themselves look and feel young. Then it hit me, 400 years from now, will there be some group of people laughing at the backwards people from the 2000’s and all the things we did to make ourselves look younger, hair dye, Botox, and the pregnant mare urine used in the “viper wine,” well, guess what a cream and injection called Premarin, made by Pfizer, is made from a hormone isolated from pregnant mare urine, and is used today as a hormone replacement therapy in post-menopausal women. So maybe I should not laugh so hard at these women.
I also struggled with what genre to place this novel in. Is it historical fiction, science fiction, fantasy? The correct answer would be yes. The novel was nominated for a Walter Scott award, which is for historical fiction, and won a Kitschies which is an award for speculative fiction, a term that encompasses SF and fantasy. So, I guess it is a bit of both.
I enjoyed this work of fiction, regardless of what category you want to put it in. I loved how the author was able to make the characters so relatable, and yet were absolutely characters of their own time. I hate to make a comparison to a movie, but this novel reminded me a bit of the 2006 movie “Marie Antoinette.” It had the feel, a period piece, but with a healthy dose of the current. If anything, Hermione Eyre could accomplish this feat much smoother than Sophia Coppola did. The insertion of hints and omens of the future left me the reader with an underlying feeling of unease, which as a reader of genre fiction, I adored.
I would be hard pressed to say I would have read this book if it was not part of a reading challenge. That being said, I found I really enjoyed this story and am ever so glad I read it.
4.5 of 5 stars
Viper Wine is one of those novels that snuck up on me without realizing it. I was sitting in my hairdresser’s chair getting my hair colored and was reading passages from the novel, we were all laughing and were slightly shocked about the moronic lengths women from the 1600’s were going to make themselves look and feel young. Then it hit me, 400 years from now, will there be some group of people laughing at the backwards people from the 2000’s and all the things we did to make ourselves look younger, hair dye, Botox, and the pregnant mare urine used in the “viper wine,” well, guess what a cream and injection called Premarin, made by Pfizer, is made from a hormone isolated from pregnant mare urine, and is used today as a hormone replacement therapy in post-menopausal women. So maybe I should not laugh so hard at these women.
I also struggled with what genre to place this novel in. Is it historical fiction, science fiction, fantasy? The correct answer would be yes. The novel was nominated for a Walter Scott award, which is for historical fiction, and won a Kitschies which is an award for speculative fiction, a term that encompasses SF and fantasy. So, I guess it is a bit of both.
I enjoyed this work of fiction, regardless of what category you want to put it in. I loved how the author was able to make the characters so relatable, and yet were absolutely characters of their own time. I hate to make a comparison to a movie, but this novel reminded me a bit of the 2006 movie “Marie Antoinette.” It had the feel, a period piece, but with a healthy dose of the current. If anything, Hermione Eyre could accomplish this feat much smoother than Sophia Coppola did. The insertion of hints and omens of the future left me the reader with an underlying feeling of unease, which as a reader of genre fiction, I adored.
I would be hard pressed to say I would have read this book if it was not part of a reading challenge. That being said, I found I really enjoyed this story and am ever so glad I read it.
4.5 of 5 stars
moragscot's review against another edition
1.0
This book was so difficult to get into that I gave up. The language doesn't flow, the use of names of modern celebrities felt so out of place, and the pace was almost non existent. I really don't care about the vain, selfish characters and have no interest in how this ends. The only reason I made it to 17% was because it was for a book club and I felt I should persevere. The other member of the book club (yes, there are only 2 of us) also gave up on it.
redheadreading's review
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This is absolutely my jam! The melding of 1630s with contemporary allusions, references and cameos lends itself to both the feeling of Kenelm as a mind too brilliant for its time, the excerpts of contemporary beauty practises points to how women's insecurities are still prayed upon to this day, and the unreality of some of the passages mimics the intoxicating, mind bending effects of the Viper Wine. Venetia and Kenelm love each other dearly but they don't understand each other and these temporal tricks highlight the gulf between them.
I loved the visual spectacles, the dark humour, the way 1600s details painted a vivid scene which was kind of enhanced by introducing achronisms (a la A Knight's Tale, giving unfamiliar readers shorthand to understanding). This absolutely will not work for everyone but very much does for me!
I loved the visual spectacles, the dark humour, the way 1600s details painted a vivid scene which was kind of enhanced by introducing achronisms (a la A Knight's Tale, giving unfamiliar readers shorthand to understanding). This absolutely will not work for everyone but very much does for me!
erboe501's review
5.0
What an inventive novel! It's historical fiction, biography, almost fantasy, with nods to the present sprinkled in. At first, I didn't think Eyre could pull it off, but I soon adjusted to the narrative mode. A catch of computer code, the ghost of Emily Dickinson, an excerpt from a 2012 exotic beauty routine somehow fit so well. They work to remind the reader of how relevant the themes the Digbys face are today. Our culture is obsessed with every new regiment that promises perfect skin, perfect hair.
Following Lord and Lady Digby in the 1630s (right before the English Civil War), VIPER WINE uses historical documents within the novel to make the piece feel real. You believe in the Digby's love for each other, and you believe their obsessions with alchemy (Lord) and beauty (Lady). I learned a lot about 17th century beauty lessons and the falsely calm decade of peace in England before the civil war. Informative, but also immensely fun. You root for this oddball couple, even as you recognize their flaws, which are really rather egregious.
A meaty read.
Following Lord and Lady Digby in the 1630s (right before the English Civil War), VIPER WINE uses historical documents within the novel to make the piece feel real. You believe in the Digby's love for each other, and you believe their obsessions with alchemy (Lord) and beauty (Lady). I learned a lot about 17th century beauty lessons and the falsely calm decade of peace in England before the civil war. Informative, but also immensely fun. You root for this oddball couple, even as you recognize their flaws, which are really rather egregious.
A meaty read.
krobart's review
3.0
See my review here:
https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2015/02/04/day-653-viper-wine/
https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2015/02/04/day-653-viper-wine/
gg1213's review
2.0
Loved the idea, loved the cover, loved the title, really didn't like the execution.
meghan111's review against another edition
5.0
Dude, this is so great and tells its story in such an interesting slipstream weird fiction way. Famed 17th century beauty Venetia Stanley and her husband Sir Kenelm Digby come to life in ways that highlight both the modernity of their age and the radical differences in what people thought and believed about the world.
This is before the Scientific Revolution. Kenelm Digby's interests are wide-ranging - his Powder of Sympathy can heal wounds at a distance of miles, his cookbook is the first to suggest bacon and eggs as a good breakfast, and he vigorously pursues astronomy and alchemy.
His wife is the main character of the book, though, and her story illuminates the parallels between the weird, risky beauty treatments of centuries ago and the weird, risky scientific beauty treatments of our age. Snails, lead paint, clips to pull back the face skin, and as the book title suggests, wine made from snake venom are employed by upper class ladies of the advanced age of 30 or so in attempts to prolong and recapture youthful beauty. It is so interesting and the story comes together in such sophisticated ways.
I loved that in this novel, Kenelm and to a lesser extent Venetia are haunted by the future, meaning that a stray Lou Reed or Bowie lyric slips in, or a reference to Crick and Watson, World War II, or biotechnology advances. It made me contemplate the continuum of science, art, and the progress of centuries. It was also just plain fun to read.
This is before the Scientific Revolution. Kenelm Digby's interests are wide-ranging - his Powder of Sympathy can heal wounds at a distance of miles, his cookbook is the first to suggest bacon and eggs as a good breakfast, and he vigorously pursues astronomy and alchemy.
His wife is the main character of the book, though, and her story illuminates the parallels between the weird, risky beauty treatments of centuries ago and the weird, risky scientific beauty treatments of our age. Snails, lead paint, clips to pull back the face skin, and as the book title suggests, wine made from snake venom are employed by upper class ladies of the advanced age of 30 or so in attempts to prolong and recapture youthful beauty. It is so interesting and the story comes together in such sophisticated ways.
I loved that in this novel, Kenelm and to a lesser extent Venetia are haunted by the future, meaning that a stray Lou Reed or Bowie lyric slips in, or a reference to Crick and Watson, World War II, or biotechnology advances. It made me contemplate the continuum of science, art, and the progress of centuries. It was also just plain fun to read.
sophiedavenport's review
1.0
Took me almost a month to read and in the end I didn't bother finishing it. For me, it didn't have any charm or even a plot that I found emerging.
pixie_d's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 stars. This is one I found one the "new book" shelf at the library. With a name that sounds like a mash up between Hermione Granger and Jane Eyre, and the possibility that it could have been awful, I was astounded by how good this turned out to be. Wide-ranging, engaging themes, and delightfully drawn characters. The tone and approach in this book was very much like Thomas Pynchon's Mason & Dixon, only easier to follow. At first I even wondered if it was Pynchon writing under a pseudonym. I look at the author photo, where she looks like an actress, by which I mean more than half starved, and I wondered about her. Where did all this erudition and mature talent in telling her story come from? Brava.