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nissahh's review against another edition
2.0
The cover and blurb drew me in. I thought this book was right up my alley. It sounded so good and promising, but it felled flat for me. It was a DNF for me sadly, I really did try hard to move past it, hoping it would get better, but it didn't. It felt too much like a textbook; I know this is based off actual events, but I wished it was written like something that I would have to read for school. At times the writing was beautiful and I did find some sentences that I did enjoy.
Also on the writing, in the fourth chapter I think, the writing was confusing, I didn't know who we were reading about until I saw names and realized it was switching back forth between Ventia and Kenlem.
One thing that I did love also happened in the fourth chapter, in the beginning, when the author put herself in as a reporter of some sorts.
In the end I didn't like it, the plot sounded good, I just wish that it didn't seem to much like textbook.
I received this book courtesy of Blogging For Books for reviewing purposes
Also on the writing, in the fourth chapter I think, the writing was confusing, I didn't know who we were reading about until I saw names and realized it was switching back forth between Ventia and Kenlem.
One thing that I did love also happened in the fourth chapter, in the beginning, when the author put herself in as a reporter of some sorts.
In the end I didn't like it, the plot sounded good, I just wish that it didn't seem to much like textbook.
I received this book courtesy of Blogging For Books for reviewing purposes
givethatbooknerd's review against another edition
4.0
A great book with amazing anachronisms (a seventeenth century nobleman singing Bowie 's Starman to his kids? Sign me up!). It seemed to however be missing a plot, you read on because you enjoy the story but you don't know the characters' purpose.
mhall'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.
clairebearrich's review against another edition
4.0
A bit of a trudge at times, but meticulously researched and cleverly composed.
fiendfull's review
4.0
Viper Wine is a distinctive and inventive novel about beauty, time, and how neither are quite chronological. Venetia Stanley is a seventeenth-century famed beauty whose looks are fading and whose husband Sir Kenelm Digby prohibits her from taking cures like other noblewomen. But whilst he is off reading about alchemy and bending the rules of time, she discovers Viper Wine, an addictive elixir of youth that seems to do its job very well. With a pre-civil war backdrop full of famed figures from then and later, Eyre’s novel suggests that the price of beauty and long life is—ironically—a lasting question.
The postmodern novel blends a narrative of unnatural deals and cures with seventeenth-century religious conflict, the mores of high society, and snippets of the future bleeding into the older setting. The latter is a novelty, but one that makes the novel distinctive and makes for an exciting version of a historical novel, one which quotes the Wikipedia pages of real people involved alongside their own written works from the time. In a manner not dissimilar to Burgess’ books like A Dead Man in Deptford, the hindsight of the author playfully writing historical figures is made clear, though Eyre’s narrator is far less intrusive and the fourth wall slightly less breached.
Some people will view it as a historical novel ruined by the postmodern elements, but it is this aspect of Viper Wine which makes it stand out and suggests how the pursuit of beauty and youth is timeless. It also allows Eyre to mix comic moments—such as Sir Kenelm eating a Wagon Wheel biscuit—with the somewhat gothic narrative of pursuing an elixir regardless of the costs. Though maybe not to everyone’s tastes, it will appeal to anyone who doesn’t believe that historical fiction should be a static concept, but an ever-evolving genre that treats time and ideas of history in a less stable way.
The postmodern novel blends a narrative of unnatural deals and cures with seventeenth-century religious conflict, the mores of high society, and snippets of the future bleeding into the older setting. The latter is a novelty, but one that makes the novel distinctive and makes for an exciting version of a historical novel, one which quotes the Wikipedia pages of real people involved alongside their own written works from the time. In a manner not dissimilar to Burgess’ books like A Dead Man in Deptford, the hindsight of the author playfully writing historical figures is made clear, though Eyre’s narrator is far less intrusive and the fourth wall slightly less breached.
Some people will view it as a historical novel ruined by the postmodern elements, but it is this aspect of Viper Wine which makes it stand out and suggests how the pursuit of beauty and youth is timeless. It also allows Eyre to mix comic moments—such as Sir Kenelm eating a Wagon Wheel biscuit—with the somewhat gothic narrative of pursuing an elixir regardless of the costs. Though maybe not to everyone’s tastes, it will appeal to anyone who doesn’t believe that historical fiction should be a static concept, but an ever-evolving genre that treats time and ideas of history in a less stable way.
bookbuyingaddict's review
1.0
I'm really struggling with this book it is without doubt the strangest book Iv ever read. Quotes from Naomi Campbell appearing randomly ??? What's that all about. The story should be a fascinating engaging one
But all this strangeness around Kenelm Digby. Yes he
Was ahead of his time but did he really received radio messages and visions from the future? Why is that even
In? I'm very surprised the publishers didn't advice "could be a great book but drop the surreal!" I'm going to
Try & struggle to finish it but it's put me off reading anything from this author again as sadly these interesting people do not make engaging characters in this book.
But all this strangeness around Kenelm Digby. Yes he
Was ahead of his time but did he really received radio messages and visions from the future? Why is that even
In? I'm very surprised the publishers didn't advice "could be a great book but drop the surreal!" I'm going to
Try & struggle to finish it but it's put me off reading anything from this author again as sadly these interesting people do not make engaging characters in this book.
sungmemoonstruck's review
4.0
An original, richly written, immensely intelligent tale of Venetia Stanley, the most celebrated beauty of 17th century London, that blends genres, fascinates the reader, and provides an astute commentary on our own time, and its unrealistic beauty standards, through examining another.
wmhenrymorris's review against another edition
This is a weird situation where I can't say that I liked the novel, but I quite admire what Eyre is trying to do here. Individual sentences and sometimes scenes are lovely. The bringing in of bits and pieces from other time periods is interesting. The two main characters are compelling. But it doesn't all quite cohere for me.