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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
This debut is on the Man Booker shortlist, which is a fantastic achievement for Mozley: greater exposure, higher book sales, probably guaranteed publication of whatever she writes next. But that achievement also shines a glaring spotlight on a debut that then has to work hard to live up to it. If this was a debut that I had come across another way (and of course without the Man Booker I might well not have), then I would probably be less critical. Being on the short list isn't of course Mozley's 'fault' but it isn't possible to read it without having that in mind.
There was much to like: the sections in italics when Daniel, the narrator was going in search of his sister, Cathy - these were wonderfully written; the earthy feeling of the whole book; the visceral scene when the fighters and their specators gather in the woods; the playing with gender roles - Daniel is softer, while Cathy is hard and self-sufficent.
But I found Daniel's voice very inconsistent. His dialogue (even if he is remembering the time when he is about 15) is often incredibly sophisticated for someone who has been taught briefly by his neighbour, Vivien.
The enemy of Daniel, Cathy and his 'Daddy' is Mr Price - an exploitative, money-grabbing landlord with two bully-boy posh sons. I found him to be a cliché - every bad kind of person rolled up into one. And I found myself having some sympathy for him. Daddy has built a house on land that Mr Price owns, and Mr Price wants him off. He might be going about trying to achieve that in despicable ways, but it is his land.
And finally some inconsistencies in the story (even sometimes very small) that took me out of it: Daniel and his sister are told by Daddy how he knows Vivien and then while at Vivien's house, Daniel wonders how the family knows Vivien; how the family like their coffee; whether the house is built in the copse or outside it.
I'd definitely be interested be interested in what Mozley writes next, but I found this novel patchy.
There was much to like: the sections in italics when Daniel, the narrator was going in search of his sister, Cathy - these were wonderfully written; the earthy feeling of the whole book; the visceral scene when the fighters and their specators gather in the woods; the playing with gender roles - Daniel is softer, while Cathy is hard and self-sufficent.
But I found Daniel's voice very inconsistent. His dialogue (even if he is remembering the time when he is about 15) is often incredibly sophisticated for someone who has been taught briefly by his neighbour, Vivien.
The enemy of Daniel, Cathy and his 'Daddy' is Mr Price - an exploitative, money-grabbing landlord with two bully-boy posh sons. I found him to be a cliché - every bad kind of person rolled up into one. And I found myself having some sympathy for him. Daddy has built a house on land that Mr Price owns, and Mr Price wants him off. He might be going about trying to achieve that in despicable ways, but it is his land.
And finally some inconsistencies in the story (even sometimes very small) that took me out of it: Daniel and his sister are told by Daddy how he knows Vivien and then while at Vivien's house, Daniel wonders how the family knows Vivien; how the family like their coffee; whether the house is built in the copse or outside it.
I'd definitely be interested be interested in what Mozley writes next, but I found this novel patchy.
I bought this book in March 2018 while living in Lancaster because I thought the blurb sounded intriguing, but only got round to reading this now, 6 years later. Overall, Elmet took a long time to do not very much. The initial intrigue carried me through the first 150 pages, I then spent 100 pages wondering where it was going, then the final 50 were more exciting but abrupt.
Plot:
Danny, Cathy, and their father left modern, conventional civilisation behind, and physically and mentally built themselves a new home. However, the land is owned by a typical rich, white man villain, Mr Price, who has a history with the father and their long lost mother. The local people rally together to stop paying rents, which leads to fairer deals for them all. The father wins a fight and gets the deeds to their land. Cathy murders one of Mr Price's sons, which leads to a manhunt for their father. Mr Price and a group of hired men torture the father in front of the children, which only comes to an end when Cathy sets the house on fire with all of them in it. Danny flees, but after Vivien, their teacher, says they saw a figure running from the flames, searches up the country for Cathy. Danny's fate is ambiguous but very bleak.
Writing style:
Elmet was very slow paced and a little bit overwritten, with every small action being described in every chapter. There were some lovely descriptions of landscapes and people's mannerisms, but it was quite flat because it wasn't contrasted with other styles of writing. I feel like the blurb overhyped the writing style, which I found very simple, but very readable and quite enjoyable.
Thoughts:
- I think the book would have been more interesting if it jumped between character's perspectives, rather than just staying with Danny. I would have loved some chapters from Cathy's perspective in particular.
- The ending was very bleak and probably says a lot about the ostracization of people who go against the norm, but it did it in quite a dead end way. The dramatic and gruesome ending felt a little at odds with the rest of the book.
- Despite only having a small handful of characters, most of them weren't very developed at all.
- 2 stars for an okay writing style and intriguing plot.
Plot:
Danny, Cathy, and their father left modern, conventional civilisation behind, and physically and mentally built themselves a new home. However, the land is owned by a typical rich, white man villain, Mr Price, who has a history with the father and their long lost mother. The local people rally together to stop paying rents, which leads to fairer deals for them all. The father wins a fight and gets the deeds to their land. Cathy murders one of Mr Price's sons, which leads to a manhunt for their father. Mr Price and a group of hired men torture the father in front of the children, which only comes to an end when Cathy sets the house on fire with all of them in it. Danny flees, but after Vivien, their teacher, says they saw a figure running from the flames, searches up the country for Cathy. Danny's fate is ambiguous but very bleak.
Writing style:
Elmet was very slow paced and a little bit overwritten, with every small action being described in every chapter. There were some lovely descriptions of landscapes and people's mannerisms, but it was quite flat because it wasn't contrasted with other styles of writing. I feel like the blurb overhyped the writing style, which I found very simple, but very readable and quite enjoyable.
Thoughts:
- I think the book would have been more interesting if it jumped between character's perspectives, rather than just staying with Danny. I would have loved some chapters from Cathy's perspective in particular.
- The ending was very bleak and probably says a lot about the ostracization of people who go against the norm, but it did it in quite a dead end way. The dramatic and gruesome ending felt a little at odds with the rest of the book.
- Despite only having a small handful of characters, most of them weren't very developed at all.
- 2 stars for an okay writing style and intriguing plot.
Lovely writing with a slow burn narrative that builds to an engaging climax and ambiguous ending. Really good!
This took its time building toward something big and it did not disappoint. Really loved these main characters.
Initially I struggled with this book. Whilst I enjoy descriptive books I very much felt like that was all this book would be, as I sat waiting for something, anything to happen. Then it does, all at once and quite spectacularly. Suddenly all the descriptiveness makes sense. You are pulled into the story and all that background adds to the unfolding events, you can’t help but need to know what happens next. I don’t know about others, but I forever hold out hope that although I see the book heading to a depressing ending, that it will twist and I will be ultimately surprised by a happy ending, or at least not completely depressing one. The ending to this book fits so perfectly with the rest of the style of the story, ambiguous and essentially leaving you to make the choice as to what you believe happened.
This book may have been a slow burner initially for me, it soon turned into a page turner that I could not put down. A great read!
This book may have been a slow burner initially for me, it soon turned into a page turner that I could not put down. A great read!
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
relaxing
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
What.is.going.on.here?
Put on your boots: the level of description and detail in this book are quite the bog to wade through.
It's a dark story with an almost fairy-tale like quality, set in rustic Yorkshire at some undetermined time-- post the invention of Land Rovers but before adolescents spent all day on screens--what's not to love?
Here's my list: the incessant insertion of adjectives, the representation of dialect (I am guessing that's what it is when characters dispose of articles or pronouns in their speech?), the rupture of the narrative flow with mysteries such as "Why is this unschooled adolescent who spends his days whittling in a woodlot using terms like 'vocal fry'? and incessantly laying down metaphor?", and the very circa- 2015 insertion of our "I never thought of myself as being a boy" narrator dressing like his mum, which his otherwise traditionalist brute of a father doesn't mind a bit.... and my Daddy, my Daddy, my Daddy. But we never learn (or perhaps I am too dense to grasp) why Daniel refers to his father this way and puts those words in as often as he can. Is he being paid per "My Daddy?" Is he telling this story to an eight year old? I dunno.
I never thought of myself as a fan of very direct or brief prose in storytelling--I loved the long, ornate and moody The Historian, the long and densely-packed As Meat Loves Salt, and good lord, all the Outlander books. But Elmet felt like work to get through, and the enticing elements of the story were drowned in the labor of it. My Daddy.
Put on your boots: the level of description and detail in this book are quite the bog to wade through.
It's a dark story with an almost fairy-tale like quality, set in rustic Yorkshire at some undetermined time-- post the invention of Land Rovers but before adolescents spent all day on screens--what's not to love?
Here's my list: the incessant insertion of adjectives, the representation of dialect (I am guessing that's what it is when characters dispose of articles or pronouns in their speech?), the rupture of the narrative flow with mysteries such as "Why is this unschooled adolescent who spends his days whittling in a woodlot using terms like 'vocal fry'? and incessantly laying down metaphor?", and the very circa- 2015 insertion of our "I never thought of myself as being a boy" narrator dressing like his mum, which his otherwise traditionalist brute of a father doesn't mind a bit.... and my Daddy, my Daddy, my Daddy. But we never learn (or perhaps I am too dense to grasp) why Daniel refers to his father this way and puts those words in as often as he can. Is he being paid per "My Daddy?" Is he telling this story to an eight year old? I dunno.
I never thought of myself as a fan of very direct or brief prose in storytelling--I loved the long, ornate and moody The Historian, the long and densely-packed As Meat Loves Salt, and good lord, all the Outlander books. But Elmet felt like work to get through, and the enticing elements of the story were drowned in the labor of it. My Daddy.
This book, set in modern-day Yorkshire, felt timeless. The themes, the setting, the language, they all made the book seem like it could have been set, or even written, any time within the last two hundred years. The story - a man trying to protect his children - was told with grace and power.
This was gorgeously written, and I particularly love writing that evokes a strong sense of place. Elmet is a sanctuary in Northern England, a setting so beautifully drawn it seems as important as any character. Daniel, the narrator, lives in the woods with his resourceful older sister Cathy and his father, John, a man who serves as protector and provider. Their lives would seem almost idyllic, except that a pervasive sense of dread threads itself throughout the entire story, resulting in its inevitable violent end. It raises questions of who can own land? Who can own a man? What does it mean to be free? The message isn't subtle, but the storytelling is beautiful.