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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
We all grow into our coffins, Danny. And I saw myself growing into mine.
This is a beautifully written fable about family, community, and wilderness. Mozley sets a slow and steady pace that spreads an ominous shadow to the shocking, yet gripping violence of the last 30-40 pages. Lose yourself in Mozley's sentences and the innocence of Danny. Elmet not only celebrates a quiet peace of place, but its characters are a subtle exploration of gender, masculinity, love, power and survival.
This is a beautifully written fable about family, community, and wilderness. Mozley sets a slow and steady pace that spreads an ominous shadow to the shocking, yet gripping violence of the last 30-40 pages. Lose yourself in Mozley's sentences and the innocence of Danny. Elmet not only celebrates a quiet peace of place, but its characters are a subtle exploration of gender, masculinity, love, power and survival.
What a beautiful story. I always love novels associated with the Man Booker Prize, and this one is no exception. If you asked what it’s about, I don’t know that I could really tell you- it’s not that kind of book. But at the same time, so much happens.
Poor
Yes, it's perfectly readable but that's the least I expect from a woman who has a degree in English from Cambridge. Beyond that, it all felt a little too convenient and unrealistic. As someone who grew up on council estates in the West Riding, the world she's describing looked nothing like the world I knew. Which brings me to my own personal irritation regarding the book. It seemed clear to me that the writer knew nothing of working class northern life at all and wrote about an almost mythical land that didn't really exist except in the mind of an educated southern middle class girl. What bothered me about this was the fact that had she written about being a small black boy growing up in Detroit, I suspect the people praising her novel would have had a lot of negative things to say about that. But writing about working class white people apparently means you can happily know nothing of the subject matter and no-one will give a crap. The middle-class establishment seem keen to fetishise books about working class people that sees them in the role of noble gypsy (like this) or people who have heroin addicted mothers. My mum never touched heroin. She worked for a living, raised two boys, and enjoyed watching Blind Date on Saturday. The bare knuckle fist fights were few and far between.
I found a lot of the writing here overly flowery and unnatural, especially given that we're supposed to believe this is coming from the perspective of a small boy -- though it's later revealed he's actually 15 which took me by surprise. Why the fuck does he keep calling his father 'daddy'? I know the flash forwards suggests an older Daniel narrating about his younger life but that just makes the constant references to daddy even more bizarre. And the fact that Daniel grows up to be a homosexual felt utterly pointless and purely done to keep the Guardian reviewers happy.
As for her use of words like wandt etc to express the Yorkshire dialect, this made no sense to me either. The 'd' isn't pronounced so what's it doing there? It should be pronounced 'want (wasn't), dint (doesn't), wunt (wouldn't) etc etc so again, I'm not sure why the author is being praised for that.
Overall, the book was readable but ultimately uneven and forgettable.
I fear the Booker prize nomination may have done her no favours either.
Yes, it's perfectly readable but that's the least I expect from a woman who has a degree in English from Cambridge. Beyond that, it all felt a little too convenient and unrealistic. As someone who grew up on council estates in the West Riding, the world she's describing looked nothing like the world I knew. Which brings me to my own personal irritation regarding the book. It seemed clear to me that the writer knew nothing of working class northern life at all and wrote about an almost mythical land that didn't really exist except in the mind of an educated southern middle class girl. What bothered me about this was the fact that had she written about being a small black boy growing up in Detroit, I suspect the people praising her novel would have had a lot of negative things to say about that. But writing about working class white people apparently means you can happily know nothing of the subject matter and no-one will give a crap. The middle-class establishment seem keen to fetishise books about working class people that sees them in the role of noble gypsy (like this) or people who have heroin addicted mothers. My mum never touched heroin. She worked for a living, raised two boys, and enjoyed watching Blind Date on Saturday. The bare knuckle fist fights were few and far between.
I found a lot of the writing here overly flowery and unnatural, especially given that we're supposed to believe this is coming from the perspective of a small boy -- though it's later revealed he's actually 15 which took me by surprise. Why the fuck does he keep calling his father 'daddy'? I know the flash forwards suggests an older Daniel narrating about his younger life but that just makes the constant references to daddy even more bizarre. And the fact that Daniel grows up to be a homosexual felt utterly pointless and purely done to keep the Guardian reviewers happy.
As for her use of words like wandt etc to express the Yorkshire dialect, this made no sense to me either. The 'd' isn't pronounced so what's it doing there? It should be pronounced 'want (wasn't), dint (doesn't), wunt (wouldn't) etc etc so again, I'm not sure why the author is being praised for that.
Overall, the book was readable but ultimately uneven and forgettable.
I fear the Booker prize nomination may have done her no favours either.
2.5/5
Elmet is in every way ‘an alright book’; the prose, characters, plot, themes and setting were all fine, but fine is all they were. I didn’t feel moved by the story or connected to the characters. The best aspect in my opinion is the family dynamics and I can’t deny the importance of the topics Elmet brings up, yet I really hoped it would have been more impactful, considering how much praise it’s been getting.
Elmet is in every way ‘an alright book’; the prose, characters, plot, themes and setting were all fine, but fine is all they were. I didn’t feel moved by the story or connected to the characters. The best aspect in my opinion is the family dynamics and I can’t deny the importance of the topics Elmet brings up, yet I really hoped it would have been more impactful, considering how much praise it’s been getting.
Really well written, engaging and gripping, but unsatisfying at the end. I feel like I may be missing something, so I'll probably re-read it eventually.
This lived up to the hype. Mozley's work manages to be simultaneously timeless-- lovers of work that revel in the natural world, read this!-- and so tragically set into its time. Every universe in this story is collapsing around itself: the natural forest, the time of community/unionisation, the feudal universe that still rules the tiny corner of the UK this story inhabits, the tinier universe of this one family. And yet you hope against hope, for the entire book, that the smallest universe can survive. This will be one for the "re-read" shelf. It moves quickly; I read it over two sittings, but I suggest a break or two because the emotional hits keep on coming.
I (rightly or wrongly) tend to avoid prize listed books but I'm so glad I was intrigued enough to pick this up. Written as if it were a pastoral novel of a couple of hundred years ago but dealing with issues of modern day families on the edge of 'society' with reference to travellers, those signing on, food banks etc, it couldn't be more up to date. I can't recommend this enough - This is 21st Century Yorkshire-Ridings England indeed. Awesome.
We leren verteller Daniel kennen wanneer hij samen met zijn oudere zus Cathy en zijn vader John in een afgelegen huisje in het bos gaat wonen. John staat al zijn hele leven bekend als een onverslaanbare vechterskoning. In een poging om komaf te maken met dit verleden, probeert hij met zijn kinderen een teruggetrokken leven te leiden in harmonie met de natuur. Zijn reputatie blijkt echter moeilijker van zich af te schudden dan gedacht, en al snel wordt hij uitgedaagd om de confrontatie terug aan te gaan, met alle gevolgen van dien voor het hele gezin.
Elmet van Fiona Mozley was me al meerdere keren aangeraden, dus is was erg benieuwd naar dit boek. Misschien waren het die hooggespannen verwachtingen die in de weg zaten, maar helaas kon Elmet me maar matig bekoren. Het boek had zeker zijn sterktes, maar er waren toch ook een aantal zaken die me tegenhielden om helemaal enthousiast te worden. Ik goot de pro's en contra's in een overzichtje.
Pluspunten:
- Er wordt erg veel aandacht besteed aan het uitbouwen van de setting, waardoor je je middenin het bos waant.
- De liefde van John voor zijn kinderen wordt geuit zonder woorden, maar is tastbaar en ontroerend.
- Doorheen het verhaal is een onderhuidse spanning voelbaar, die je vooruit blijft duwen en nieuwsgierig maakt naar de ontknoping.
Minpunten:
- Je krijgt weinig inkijk in de gedachten en emoties van de personages, waardoor je niet optimaal kan meeleven met Daniel, Cathy en John.
- Het taalgebruik voelt bij momenten onnatuurlijk (maar dat kan aan de Nederlandstalige vertaling liggen).
- Het einde stelt enigszins teleur en bepaalde wendingen komen nogal uit de lucht gevallen.
Kortom: Elmet bevat potentieel, maar maakt dit in mijn ogen niet helemaal waar.
Elmet van Fiona Mozley was me al meerdere keren aangeraden, dus is was erg benieuwd naar dit boek. Misschien waren het die hooggespannen verwachtingen die in de weg zaten, maar helaas kon Elmet me maar matig bekoren. Het boek had zeker zijn sterktes, maar er waren toch ook een aantal zaken die me tegenhielden om helemaal enthousiast te worden. Ik goot de pro's en contra's in een overzichtje.
Pluspunten:
- Er wordt erg veel aandacht besteed aan het uitbouwen van de setting, waardoor je je middenin het bos waant.
- De liefde van John voor zijn kinderen wordt geuit zonder woorden, maar is tastbaar en ontroerend.
- Doorheen het verhaal is een onderhuidse spanning voelbaar, die je vooruit blijft duwen en nieuwsgierig maakt naar de ontknoping.
Minpunten:
- Je krijgt weinig inkijk in de gedachten en emoties van de personages, waardoor je niet optimaal kan meeleven met Daniel, Cathy en John.
- Het taalgebruik voelt bij momenten onnatuurlijk (maar dat kan aan de Nederlandstalige vertaling liggen).
- Het einde stelt enigszins teleur en bepaalde wendingen komen nogal uit de lucht gevallen.
Kortom: Elmet bevat potentieel, maar maakt dit in mijn ogen niet helemaal waar.
A well-written and descriptive book. I have to admit, the way the book was set out, with the young boy looking for his sister and then zooming far back into the past, did confuse me but I found this book so enthralling and detailed in the way it was written. Reminds me of the quiet before the storm.