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3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
dark
slow-paced
Somehow this book was compelling and plodding.
Wow, can McCaughrean write! She has a great knack for creating a setting so believable that you just fall right into it and lose yourself entirely. I loved learning about the world of St. Kilda, the remote island archipelago off the coast of Scotland that I'd never heard of before. One of those islands, the "Warrior Stac," is just a big rock sticking up out of the ocean, buffeted by winds and huge waves, occupied only by various water birds, barely habitable, and yet these 9 boys and 3 men manage to live there for months. With only the birds to rely on for a food source, and the occasional fish, which apparently are much harder to catch than birds. The group of "fowlers" is there for the annual hunt to bring back enough food to feed the village on their home island, but when the usual deadline passes and no boat has arrived to bring them back, they start to wonder what's going on back at their home. And then all the birds leave for the winter... This is a survival story of the most extreme kind, based on a true historical event no less (from 1730). I had NO IDEA there were so many different species of what to me all look like "seagulls!" I found it particularly fascinating that the boys could stick a wick inside one kind of bird, the fulmar, and use it as a lantern because it is basically full of oil. Whoa! The characters all really grew on me, especially Davie and Quinn, and all of their relationships and how they each reacted to their predicaments in different ways. There's a strong spiritual element to the story too, with an unlikable preacher and various "signs" and spirits woven into the narrative to give it a really unique vibe. And then the ending...oof! Great writing, totally deserved a Printz Honor.
When the author learned of a particular historical event that happened in St. Kilda in the early 18th century, it set a series of questions loose in her mind. Then she wrote an incredible reimagining, with a memorable cast of characters and haunting series of events. The story would have been enough of a marvel if described only in terms of fiction. But the histories and collective experiences require a narrative, a story to answer the questions—a belief the author will play out in the novel where questions (and their survival) demand answers. The fowling party will attempt to rely on the stories they’ve been given, and circumstances will change them—the stories, I mean, not just characters.
“At least Cane had offered them Heaven, angels, Judgment Day. At least Don was offering them family and hope. Farriss’s only explanation lay in tragedy, in having been utterly forgotten, and in a god who had turned his back and walked away.”
McCaughrean will not only translate the depth and ingenuity of human will in the face of survival, but the power of storytelling as its necessary life-partner.
McCaughrean tells the story of a fowling party sent to pillage the bounty of Warrior Stac. (Stacs/Stacks defined.) The party of “three men and nine boys” will collect a number of resources that will cover the islander’s rents and supply their households. It is a part of their life and livelihood and is seen as a rite of passage for the young males of the island. The female islanders form their own fowling parties and expeditions. The story is very much set in its time and place.
All goes according to tradition until the boat that is to retrieve them fails to arrive. In its continued absence, the crew begin to wonder why. That they settle on The Rapture is a fascination, and a horror… [and*] The revelation is one you must experience and I hope no one has/will spoil it for you beforehand. I was already impressed with McCaughrean’s pacing, but that moment is so well timed.
McCaughrean is a masterful storyteller twice over. Her protagonist, Quilliam spins and tunes and turns mythologies, crafting them to circumstance. He does so humbly, desperately, which makes him all the more compelling. It becomes Quill’s role, to tell the stories, to assign characters/crew members their roles. Each long for a purpose in a world that has suddenly become meaningless. They’d been seemingly forgotten and their work bent away from its earlier sense of fulfillment; their resources would be repurposed.
The course of time and its events challenges Quill’s ability to sustain his role, his narrative. And McCaughrean, again, poses a good question.
“Night had reinforced the storm’s cloaking blackness and there were no stars, no moon, only flickers of lightning like the ghosts of murderers sharpening their knives. More omens, thought Quill with a nauseated, bitter resentment. What good were omens without the wisdom to make sense of them?”
Quill hasn’t the experience: he is neither among the youngest, but neither is he a man fully grown. But then, the grown men seem to have exhausted their experience; their own minds and wills breaking. How much loss and unknowing can a body and a community survive. Quill and company’s grit is awe-inspiring, even in their failures. Again, the stories, and McCaughrean’s sentences/images that spin out of this life here ‘where the world ends’ are remarkable.
McCaughrean will bring it all together, stunning in the consistency of her characters who have also undergone a definite change. The heart-break is beautiful and it stops up the throat and widens the eyes. You’ll flinch plenty during the course of the novel, but you’ll not be able to look away. You can’t help but hope for these humble fowlers' rescue and wonder what the future might hold should they survive the stac.
The story changes them, the fowlers. And it will change the reader, themes transcending place and time; some circumstances all too familiar. But McCaughrean doesn’t just leave the reader with a sense of how powerful a story/narrative can be—many a reader understands this---but Where the World Ends is a reminder of how powerful a determined storyteller can be, how life-giving; that power to create and recreate; to sustain and (re)write a culture into the present--into one that survives.
+
Where the World Ends is a must. A historical fiction for those who rarely indulge in the genre. For those history-lovers who need more lyricism and an appreciation for the question and need for fiction. For those curious how to handle misogyny in a historical time period without normalizing it because historical realism (…employ a father of daughters who claims them).
“At least Cane had offered them Heaven, angels, Judgment Day. At least Don was offering them family and hope. Farriss’s only explanation lay in tragedy, in having been utterly forgotten, and in a god who had turned his back and walked away.”
McCaughrean will not only translate the depth and ingenuity of human will in the face of survival, but the power of storytelling as its necessary life-partner.
McCaughrean tells the story of a fowling party sent to pillage the bounty of Warrior Stac. (Stacs/Stacks defined.) The party of “three men and nine boys” will collect a number of resources that will cover the islander’s rents and supply their households. It is a part of their life and livelihood and is seen as a rite of passage for the young males of the island. The female islanders form their own fowling parties and expeditions. The story is very much set in its time and place.
All goes according to tradition until the boat that is to retrieve them fails to arrive. In its continued absence, the crew begin to wonder why. That they settle on The Rapture is a fascination, and a horror… [and*] The revelation is one you must experience and I hope no one has/will spoil it for you beforehand. I was already impressed with McCaughrean’s pacing, but that moment is so well timed.
McCaughrean is a masterful storyteller twice over. Her protagonist, Quilliam spins and tunes and turns mythologies, crafting them to circumstance. He does so humbly, desperately, which makes him all the more compelling. It becomes Quill’s role, to tell the stories, to assign characters/crew members their roles. Each long for a purpose in a world that has suddenly become meaningless. They’d been seemingly forgotten and their work bent away from its earlier sense of fulfillment; their resources would be repurposed.
The course of time and its events challenges Quill’s ability to sustain his role, his narrative. And McCaughrean, again, poses a good question.
“Night had reinforced the storm’s cloaking blackness and there were no stars, no moon, only flickers of lightning like the ghosts of murderers sharpening their knives. More omens, thought Quill with a nauseated, bitter resentment. What good were omens without the wisdom to make sense of them?”
Quill hasn’t the experience: he is neither among the youngest, but neither is he a man fully grown. But then, the grown men seem to have exhausted their experience; their own minds and wills breaking. How much loss and unknowing can a body and a community survive. Quill and company’s grit is awe-inspiring, even in their failures. Again, the stories, and McCaughrean’s sentences/images that spin out of this life here ‘where the world ends’ are remarkable.
McCaughrean will bring it all together, stunning in the consistency of her characters who have also undergone a definite change. The heart-break is beautiful and it stops up the throat and widens the eyes. You’ll flinch plenty during the course of the novel, but you’ll not be able to look away. You can’t help but hope for these humble fowlers' rescue and wonder what the future might hold should they survive the stac.
The story changes them, the fowlers. And it will change the reader, themes transcending place and time; some circumstances all too familiar. But McCaughrean doesn’t just leave the reader with a sense of how powerful a story/narrative can be—many a reader understands this---but Where the World Ends is a reminder of how powerful a determined storyteller can be, how life-giving; that power to create and recreate; to sustain and (re)write a culture into the present--into one that survives.
+
Where the World Ends is a must. A historical fiction for those who rarely indulge in the genre. For those history-lovers who need more lyricism and an appreciation for the question and need for fiction. For those curious how to handle misogyny in a historical time period without normalizing it because historical realism (…employ a father of daughters who claims them).
This wasn't for me despite being a fan of the author descriptive writing style. I was left bored and disinterested in the story, and more often than not, found myself zoning out and not really paying attention to what was happening. Unfortunately this was a miss for me but I will definitely consider giving this another try in the future.
adventurous
emotional
informative
relaxing
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
I hated this so much. I can’t find one interesting thing to say about it
Historical fiction set off the coast of Scotland in 1727. A group of boys go birding on a stac and their return ship never shows back up. Lord of the Flie- esque. I enjoyed this one! Passages were oddly relevant to quarantine, but mostly in a positive way. Loosely based on a historical event.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Upplifði mig mikið inn í bókina og leið eins og ég væri þarna með þeim. Mjög vel skrifuð og vel þýdd.
Sagan er byggð á sönnum atburðum en er í raun skáldskapur frá byrjun til enda.
Gefur samt sem áður hugmynd um þá miklu þrautsegju, hugvitssemi og hugrekki sem þessir menn bjuggu yfir til að komast í gegnum 9 mánuði á skeri þar sem einungis var hægt að klifra til að komast á milli staða.
Sagan er byggð á sönnum atburðum en er í raun skáldskapur frá byrjun til enda.
Gefur samt sem áður hugmynd um þá miklu þrautsegju, hugvitssemi og hugrekki sem þessir menn bjuggu yfir til að komast í gegnum 9 mánuði á skeri þar sem einungis var hægt að klifra til að komast á milli staða.
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No