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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
adventurous
informative
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The epitome of the perfect book for me. I didn't want it to end - I was absolutely gripped from start to finish.
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is one of the clearest "both sides are the bad guys" books I have read, and congratulations to Robert Harris for managing to convey that in a very realistic historical fiction story!
The story follows Ned Whalley and William Goffe, military commanders for Cromwell's army in the English Civil War of the 17th century, who have fled to the colonies of New England after the restoration of monarchy to avoid a torturous death at the hands of Charles II and his regicide hunter, Ricahrd Nayler.
Whalley and Goffe may seem like the underdogs of the story, the men who fought for a republic against an absolute monarchy, but history is not as rosy as that: the Commonwealth of England (Cromwell's de facto dictatorship) was ruled by religious fanatics: Puritans. People almost insane in their religious zeal, whose every action and thought of everyday life revolved around pety religious disputes, and Old Testament-inspired traditions, rules and punishments.
It is not possible to like Goffe for example: a true believer in this version of Christianity, causing at least as much pain as he suffered after the restoration. Whalley is more relatable: while he did buy in the whole "God wants us to win" narrative, he was always highly sceptical of the zealots and as age and life wore him down, he started seeing his life and his past more clearly.
Nayler is a bitter, vengeful man, with flashes of humanity, which in the end get strangled by his worst insticts. A decades-long manhunt, taking pleasure seeing men hanged, disembowelled and chopped into pieces, he was a man of a brutal era, who rose and fell with the mercurial tides of 17th century England.
The highlight of the book for me is how Harris captures the atmosphere of a wild New England, a glimpse 350 years ago into a country so different now. Massachusetts and Connecticut are almost frontier land, tiny settlemtns ruled by reverents and priests, the people fighting for survival against the weather and their own beliefs. Another reminder of how harsh this world was is the non-existent hygiene: from the trans-Atlantic voyages to the squallor of London and the hiding places of Whalley and Goffe in America, you will smell the despair in every page.
This isn't the most action-packed book, and it is slow to take off - the 1st part is its weakest, especially because the constant talk about God and religious quotations, albeit accurate for the historical era, is very tiring and not particularly interesting. But it takes off, and you will be hooked to finish this glimpse into the history of England and America (which was not yet USA) and find out what happened to the story's very flawed protagonists!
The story follows Ned Whalley and William Goffe, military commanders for Cromwell's army in the English Civil War of the 17th century, who have fled to the colonies of New England after the restoration of monarchy to avoid a torturous death at the hands of Charles II and his regicide hunter, Ricahrd Nayler.
Whalley and Goffe may seem like the underdogs of the story, the men who fought for a republic against an absolute monarchy, but history is not as rosy as that: the Commonwealth of England (Cromwell's de facto dictatorship) was ruled by religious fanatics: Puritans. People almost insane in their religious zeal, whose every action and thought of everyday life revolved around pety religious disputes, and Old Testament-inspired traditions, rules and punishments.
It is not possible to like Goffe for example: a true believer in this version of Christianity, causing at least as much pain as he suffered after the restoration. Whalley is more relatable: while he did buy in the whole "God wants us to win" narrative, he was always highly sceptical of the zealots and as age and life wore him down, he started seeing his life and his past more clearly.
Nayler is a bitter, vengeful man, with flashes of humanity, which in the end get strangled by his worst insticts. A decades-long manhunt, taking pleasure seeing men hanged, disembowelled and chopped into pieces, he was a man of a brutal era, who rose and fell with the mercurial tides of 17th century England.
The highlight of the book for me is how Harris captures the atmosphere of a wild New England, a glimpse 350 years ago into a country so different now. Massachusetts and Connecticut are almost frontier land, tiny settlemtns ruled by reverents and priests, the people fighting for survival against the weather and their own beliefs. Another reminder of how harsh this world was is the non-existent hygiene: from the trans-Atlantic voyages to the squallor of London and the hiding places of Whalley and Goffe in America, you will smell the despair in every page.
This isn't the most action-packed book, and it is slow to take off - the 1st part is its weakest, especially because the constant talk about God and religious quotations, albeit accurate for the historical era, is very tiring and not particularly interesting. But it takes off, and you will be hooked to finish this glimpse into the history of England and America (which was not yet USA) and find out what happened to the story's very flawed protagonists!
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
informative
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Robert Harris’s Act of Oblivion is thoroughly researched, with believably distinct characters. Even those on the same side show a wide moral range, highlighting the personal nature of ideological conviction and the unsettling reach of religious and political extremism. Graphic torture scenes make clear how deeply people of the period were shaped by beliefs worth both dying and killing for. One character’s reflection on the mirrored martyrdoms of Charles I and the captured regicides, each convinced of their righteousness, is especially poignant. Some plot points, like the fugitives’ long-term hiding, stretch plausibility, but then, it is an unbelievable story. The decades-long pursuit unravels unpredictably, though the final resolution is clearly telegraphed. Overall, an absorbing work from Harris.
Novel about regicides during English CW fleeing to America
adventurous
informative
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
well besides the clearly GLARING oversight of calling the town house the old state house before it would've been referred to as such, this book was an absolute banger. definitely took me a second to get into it, but once i did, i couldn't stop going. a lot of similar strengths to conclave here, most obviously feeling like the characters are the strongest part of the whole thing and really are the story more than the plot or setting or any other elements combined. i found myself getting emotional over them. damn it. solid work again mr. harris.