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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
I mean, I knew how it would end, but I still didn’t think it would end like that… and it was just painful to read, knowing Janet’s fate. Wanted to like it - had potential for 3 or 4 stars, but the ending dropped it to a 2. I did like the writing, just not the story.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I really wanted to like this book based on the title alone, but it felt a little flat to me. While I liked the idea of the book, it just didn't deliver.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Diverse cast of characters:
No
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
4.5 stars.
What a strange and funny and sad story. It starts with a murdered 16-year old Janet dressed in her mother's black lace dress (this isn't a spoiler, it's literally the first few sentences of the book). The story takes us through Janet's upbringing in a cold Scottish castle and the coming of age of a strange and intelligent girl that loves animals and the subjunctive, who doesn't fit into her world in any sense. I've never read a book where you start with the murder of a young person and then as you read the story of the before, never lose hope for the character even though you know she is dead.
Janet is really the only character in this book that I liked. She is the epitome of misunderstood, misanthropic, and someone born in the wrong time/place. There is a lot about Janet that is easy to connect with and I think this is what makes this book as powerful as it is. Don't get me wrong, this is a hidden gem that you never hear about but the people that have read it and liked it, was because of Janet. This book has a TON to say about society and cultural ideals/values of the time and you could easily break it down chapter by chapter but for now I'm just basking in the afterglow of a good story (albeit sad) and the creation of a character that is so darn likable and melancholy. RIP Janet, your jackdaw isn't the only creature missing you today.
What a strange and funny and sad story. It starts with a murdered 16-year old Janet dressed in her mother's black lace dress (this isn't a spoiler, it's literally the first few sentences of the book). The story takes us through Janet's upbringing in a cold Scottish castle and the coming of age of a strange and intelligent girl that loves animals and the subjunctive, who doesn't fit into her world in any sense. I've never read a book where you start with the murder of a young person and then as you read the story of the before, never lose hope for the character even though you know she is dead.
Janet is really the only character in this book that I liked. She is the epitome of misunderstood, misanthropic, and someone born in the wrong time/place. There is a lot about Janet that is easy to connect with and I think this is what makes this book as powerful as it is. Don't get me wrong, this is a hidden gem that you never hear about but the people that have read it and liked it, was because of Janet. This book has a TON to say about society and cultural ideals/values of the time and you could easily break it down chapter by chapter but for now I'm just basking in the afterglow of a good story (albeit sad) and the creation of a character that is so darn likable and melancholy. RIP Janet, your jackdaw isn't the only creature missing you today.
I saw this book on a list of "Gothic fiction," but after picking it up, I don't know if I'd describe it that way. Though it does have Gothic elements, this book is (more than anything) a story about a solitary girl, misunderstood and unloved by everyone except the natural world in the wilds of Scotland. So while I went in with certain expectations, I wasn't disappointed by what I found. Barker's lush prose and atmospheric descriptions are so masterfully worked that it's difficult not to admire the craft of this novel, so for those reasons (plus my love for the protagonist), this book gets 4 stars from me.
WRITING: As I mentioned above, Barker's prose is superb. It's lush and lyrical, well-crafted in a way that betrays a love for language, and I didn't find it to be purple or overly dense. Instead, I felt the literary mode was incredibly effective at creating atmosphere; Barker's Scotland is wild and mysterious, and there was a lot about the prose that echoed the mood of the novel as a whole.
PLOT: The plot of this book follows the life of a girl named Janet from birth until her murder at roughly 18 years old. As a result, it reads like a coming-of-age novel, though the ending is bleak and depressing.
To be clear, this novel is not a mystery. Barker is wholly uninterested in the "whodunit" of Janet's murder. Instead, this book is an in-depth exploration of Janet's psyche: her loneliness, her refusal to change in the face of opposition, her love of books and classics, the companionship she finds in animals, her love of the natural world. In that, there's something melancholy yet sympathetic about Janet's story. I felt a kinship towards her, though that may be in part due to my own weird interest in the classics and romantic books. Above all, readers may adore this story for the way Janet struggles against expectations; not only is she a disappointment to her family, but she struggles to make friends and finds no pleasure in the things that signify "adulthood" or even "womanhood."
Still, some readers may struggle with this narrative, as it moves rather slowly and isn't necessarily trying to be an action-driven novel. Personally, I found it advanced at just the right pace, and I adored all the descriptions of the world and of Janet's reactions to it. The only thing I can't quite figure out if I like or not is the ending; though we know from the very first page that Janet will die, the manner of her death feels rather abrupt, and I neither felt hollow nor satisfied by it.
CHARACTERS: Janet, our protagonist, is rather easy to like because she is rendered so complexly. From the narration, we get a very clear view of Janet's personality, her interests, her shortcomings - everything we would possibly need to know. This in-depth look at a single character was satisfying, and I liked watching how Janet changed (or stayed the same) through different phases of her life.
Supporting characters were similarly complex and oftentimes eccentric. I particularly liked Lila, Janet's father's cousin, who lives in a room alone with her cat and a collection of fungi. Lila and Janet have a bond that stems from the two of them being outcasts, and I liked watching the two interact. Janet's parents seem rather ordinary, but through Janet's eyes, they are cold and unsupportive of their daughter in all the ways that matter.
TL;DR: O Caledonia is a masterful coming-of-age novel, filled with evocative prose that details one girl's short life as a social outcast who finds solace in books and nature.
WRITING: As I mentioned above, Barker's prose is superb. It's lush and lyrical, well-crafted in a way that betrays a love for language, and I didn't find it to be purple or overly dense. Instead, I felt the literary mode was incredibly effective at creating atmosphere; Barker's Scotland is wild and mysterious, and there was a lot about the prose that echoed the mood of the novel as a whole.
PLOT: The plot of this book follows the life of a girl named Janet from birth until her murder at roughly 18 years old. As a result, it reads like a coming-of-age novel, though the ending is bleak and depressing.
To be clear, this novel is not a mystery. Barker is wholly uninterested in the "whodunit" of Janet's murder. Instead, this book is an in-depth exploration of Janet's psyche: her loneliness, her refusal to change in the face of opposition, her love of books and classics, the companionship she finds in animals, her love of the natural world. In that, there's something melancholy yet sympathetic about Janet's story. I felt a kinship towards her, though that may be in part due to my own weird interest in the classics and romantic books. Above all, readers may adore this story for the way Janet struggles against expectations; not only is she a disappointment to her family, but she struggles to make friends and finds no pleasure in the things that signify "adulthood" or even "womanhood."
Still, some readers may struggle with this narrative, as it moves rather slowly and isn't necessarily trying to be an action-driven novel. Personally, I found it advanced at just the right pace, and I adored all the descriptions of the world and of Janet's reactions to it. The only thing I can't quite figure out if I like or not is the ending; though we know from the very first page that Janet will die, the manner of her death feels rather abrupt, and I neither felt hollow nor satisfied by it.
CHARACTERS: Janet, our protagonist, is rather easy to like because she is rendered so complexly. From the narration, we get a very clear view of Janet's personality, her interests, her shortcomings - everything we would possibly need to know. This in-depth look at a single character was satisfying, and I liked watching how Janet changed (or stayed the same) through different phases of her life.
Supporting characters were similarly complex and oftentimes eccentric. I particularly liked Lila, Janet's father's cousin, who lives in a room alone with her cat and a collection of fungi. Lila and Janet have a bond that stems from the two of them being outcasts, and I liked watching the two interact. Janet's parents seem rather ordinary, but through Janet's eyes, they are cold and unsupportive of their daughter in all the ways that matter.
TL;DR: O Caledonia is a masterful coming-of-age novel, filled with evocative prose that details one girl's short life as a social outcast who finds solace in books and nature.