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4.19 AVERAGE
4.19 AVERAGE
Hamnet is nothing short of a work of art. A book about Shakespeare’s family, and yet not once is he named throughout. Instead the focus is on Agnes and her children, giving a voice to those in history who are so often forgotten and erased in light of the greatest playwright of all time; O’Farrell’s ability to reconstruct what is largely unknown as to the events of Agnes’ life and the circumstances of Hamnet’s death was breathtaking and extraordinary. The descriptions of Agnes’s interactions with nature, how deeply she cared for her children, even the portrayal of the softness of the beginnings of her relationship with her husband, turning into something complex later in their lives: the care that O’Farrell put into developing each aspect of the character’s lives was evident in every single sentence, entrenched so deep in richness and emotion, I found it impossible to walk away from this book not constantly thinking of this story.
Despite the tenderness of the beginnings of the story, the latter half of the book where we experience the grief of Agnes losing her child is at times too much to bear in its intensity and tragedy. The poetic language does so well at setting up the beauty of the relationships between the characters, but perhaps the writing was what made the events that transpired even more heartbreaking to experience. Not once do you stop to think about whether the anguish these characters feel is genuine; I’ve never read a book where the characters are so fleshed out as they are here.
This is the perfect book. I don’t think I’ll ever find anything as atmospheric and captivating as what is written into these pages. To read about O’Farrell’s journey in writing this book in the final few pages is perhaps what has cemented this as one of my all-time favourites (swipe to see a snippet of this); it’s difficult for me to put together the right words to describe how much I admire her ability to bring to life the people who have been forgotten for so long.
Despite the tenderness of the beginnings of the story, the latter half of the book where we experience the grief of Agnes losing her child is at times too much to bear in its intensity and tragedy. The poetic language does so well at setting up the beauty of the relationships between the characters, but perhaps the writing was what made the events that transpired even more heartbreaking to experience. Not once do you stop to think about whether the anguish these characters feel is genuine; I’ve never read a book where the characters are so fleshed out as they are here.
This is the perfect book. I don’t think I’ll ever find anything as atmospheric and captivating as what is written into these pages. To read about O’Farrell’s journey in writing this book in the final few pages is perhaps what has cemented this as one of my all-time favourites (swipe to see a snippet of this); it’s difficult for me to put together the right words to describe how much I admire her ability to bring to life the people who have been forgotten for so long.
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
I enjoyed this, but at times felt it a chore to finish. I wish there was more action/forward movement, to balance out how much takes place in Agnes’s mind. I also found the writing a bit too self-indulgent at times: so many similes and metaphors, as if the author was really trying to capital-W Write A Novel. The ending is absolutely beautiful, though. I wanted to read this before Chloe Zhao’s adaptation comes out, and despite being mixed on the book I’m very excited for the film and have a sneaky suspicion it might actually work better on screen.
emotional
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Beautiful, Magic and amazing book
challenging
dark
emotional
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
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
A frequently gutting, supremely affecting study on/of grief, all the more poignant for those of us who are parents, for those of us who have some inkling, some imagined understanding that, "There are moments that the words (can't) reach...(a) suffering to terrible to name...(as) we push away the unimaginable." - Lin-Manuel Miranda, HAMILTON.
O'Farrell is a demon of a writer, a master wordsmith who captures, in powerful prose and arresting images, the unimaginable; and who breathes life into 16th century England in a manner that combines research and realism, an homage to the actual history, with a sense of modernity and timelessness.
My only criticism is that, at times, the weight of the grief and the author's descriptive/accompanying words and images are almost too much, meaning almost as much a burden to read as the feelings are for the characters to bare. It was like trudging through muck or waist deep water at times...reading the sheer number of images used for one moment, one feeling, one setpiece. Then again, such is the case with grief I guess. Perhaps that's the point...or rather the author's purpose.
O'Farrell is a demon of a writer, a master wordsmith who captures, in powerful prose and arresting images, the unimaginable; and who breathes life into 16th century England in a manner that combines research and realism, an homage to the actual history, with a sense of modernity and timelessness.
My only criticism is that, at times, the weight of the grief and the author's descriptive/accompanying words and images are almost too much, meaning almost as much a burden to read as the feelings are for the characters to bare. It was like trudging through muck or waist deep water at times...reading the sheer number of images used for one moment, one feeling, one setpiece. Then again, such is the case with grief I guess. Perhaps that's the point...or rather the author's purpose.
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
emotional
slow-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes