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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
I’ve reflected a lot on this book since finishing it, and as to why I found it as underwhelming as I did. I thought it started strong, the premise of an alternative reality was really intriguing, and the opening scene Spufford creates in the first chapters is equally vivid and devastating.
What I found most puzzling was that, while the start of the story is firmly rooted in the aftermath of a (somewhat embellished) historical event, the rest of the novel makes absolutely no reference to it. In fact, I would go as far as to say that, to me, there is no convincing connection between the historical and present day narratives which follow from it - you could just as easily read the novel without its opening event.
The prose was a bit elaborate for me (the word ‘golden’ irritatingly appears in nearly every section for some reason?), but Spufford creates some complex characters and includes some important British social commentary on class, spectator sport, and mental health.
I really wanted to like this book so much more than I ended up doing; I feel it had such an original and clever premise, but for me this didn’t carry through to the rest of the story, which made it quite a let down.
What I found most puzzling was that, while the start of the story is firmly rooted in the aftermath of a (somewhat embellished) historical event, the rest of the novel makes absolutely no reference to it. In fact, I would go as far as to say that, to me, there is no convincing connection between the historical and present day narratives which follow from it - you could just as easily read the novel without its opening event.
The prose was a bit elaborate for me (the word ‘golden’ irritatingly appears in nearly every section for some reason?), but Spufford creates some complex characters and includes some important British social commentary on class, spectator sport, and mental health.
I really wanted to like this book so much more than I ended up doing; I feel it had such an original and clever premise, but for me this didn’t carry through to the rest of the story, which made it quite a let down.
I was sent this digitally by Netgalley for review.
I have never read this author before and the blurb for this novel intrigued me. In the author notes, he tells us that he walked by a plaque everyday commemorating a V-2 attack in 1944 when the Woolworths branch in New Cross was destroyed. Among the dead were fifteen under elevens. This novel is written in memory of these children and we meet five fictional children, Val, Jo, Alec, Ben and Vern. We witness their deaths and we witness their lives -if they had had a chance to survive.
We follow these children from 1949 to 2009, dropping in every few years and watching them for a few hours to see what they are making of their lives. We go from post war, to 1979 and strikes, to the deregulation of schools and Ofsteds. We encounter racism, mental illness, violence and love. We see life in all it size, shapes and colours.
Religion is a thread that runs through the novel - 'light perpetual shines upon them' is from, I think, a prayer for the dead. The positivity of religion, the healing power of religion shines through at the end - the 'praise him' section towards the end of the novel is incredibly lifting.
Music is also a thread that follows the characters - from opera to a secondary school music lesson - and this whole section about the way that the pupils are encouraged to build their sound is just exceptional writing.
The writing in this novel is beautiful, and varied, and no two chapters are written in the same way. The opening chapter when the bomb hits is excruciating in its detail, you are watching everything unfold in slow motion and the aftermath is heart-breaking. I don't want to give any spoilers but when we encounter violence, the language is brutal while the final chapter is lyrical and uplifting.
Many will disagree with me, but I believe that every reader will take something different from a novel. For me - and this is my opinion - I felt that this was almost a novel of second chances. As I read and watched these children grow older and make their choices, I would return to the beginning and look at the children they were. Were they making the most of their second chances? Did they deserve their second chances? But as I said - this was my feeling.
However, the concept of giving these children a parallel life, or the bomb falling up the road and missing them, was an interesting one. I loved watching them grow and my favourite child - it would have to be Ben, with Jo my second favourite. But as all parents know - you should never really have a favourite child, should you?
This was a super and up-lifting read and I thoroughly recommend it.
I have never read this author before and the blurb for this novel intrigued me. In the author notes, he tells us that he walked by a plaque everyday commemorating a V-2 attack in 1944 when the Woolworths branch in New Cross was destroyed. Among the dead were fifteen under elevens. This novel is written in memory of these children and we meet five fictional children, Val, Jo, Alec, Ben and Vern. We witness their deaths and we witness their lives -if they had had a chance to survive.
We follow these children from 1949 to 2009, dropping in every few years and watching them for a few hours to see what they are making of their lives. We go from post war, to 1979 and strikes, to the deregulation of schools and Ofsteds. We encounter racism, mental illness, violence and love. We see life in all it size, shapes and colours.
Religion is a thread that runs through the novel - 'light perpetual shines upon them' is from, I think, a prayer for the dead. The positivity of religion, the healing power of religion shines through at the end - the 'praise him' section towards the end of the novel is incredibly lifting.
Music is also a thread that follows the characters - from opera to a secondary school music lesson - and this whole section about the way that the pupils are encouraged to build their sound is just exceptional writing.
The writing in this novel is beautiful, and varied, and no two chapters are written in the same way. The opening chapter when the bomb hits is excruciating in its detail, you are watching everything unfold in slow motion and the aftermath is heart-breaking. I don't want to give any spoilers but when we encounter violence, the language is brutal while the final chapter is lyrical and uplifting.
Many will disagree with me, but I believe that every reader will take something different from a novel. For me - and this is my opinion - I felt that this was almost a novel of second chances. As I read and watched these children grow older and make their choices, I would return to the beginning and look at the children they were. Were they making the most of their second chances? Did they deserve their second chances? But as I said - this was my feeling.
However, the concept of giving these children a parallel life, or the bomb falling up the road and missing them, was an interesting one. I loved watching them grow and my favourite child - it would have to be Ben, with Jo my second favourite. But as all parents know - you should never really have a favourite child, should you?
This was a super and up-lifting read and I thoroughly recommend it.
this just wasn't for me. even if i forget about the most mundane alternative history premise ever, the mundane was also quite boring to me and the writing style made me consider dnf-ing this multiple times.
Longlisted for the 2021 Booker Prize, Light Perpetual takes the factual V-2 bombing of a London Woolworths in 1944 and imagines a revisionist history where it never happened. Francis Spufford follows four fictional children who survived this non-attack, through their lives from 1944 to 2009. What is interesting about Spufford's take on this is that none of the children go on to change the world, at least not in grand ways, in fact, they all live relatively normal lives. That's not to say that this book is without drama, because there is plenty of that, but their lives feel realistic. All of the character's stories are compelling in their own ways as they navigate the lives that they almost did not live. However, after the initial chapter in which we see the bombing itself before history is revised, it is very easy to forget about the point that Spufford is trying to make. If you were to remove that first chapter then it would simply be a good historical fiction book. I think there were a lot of opportunities for the author to say something more about life, fate, and the lives we could have, should have, or never got to live. In that sense, the book did lack a little, but overall it was a good book with decent writing.
there's no denying that this book is very well-written. there's essentially no plot, but the characters are so fully-realized that you kind of let that slide.
i do wish the characters lives intersected more or at least came together at the end in some way because while there are small interactions between characters, there isn't really enough to justify writing about all five of them. like, i get the premise of the book, but these could literally be any five people and it wouldn't really matter. i think adding a timeline in which the kids didn't survive the bombing would have made this book better.
trigger warnings:
i do wish the characters lives intersected more or at least came together at the end in some way because while there are small interactions between characters, there isn't really enough to justify writing about all five of them. like, i get the premise of the book, but these could literally be any five people and it wouldn't really matter. i think adding a timeline in which the kids didn't survive the bombing would have made this book better.
trigger warnings:
Spoiler
hate crime resulting in death, white supremacy, implied sexual abuse of a minor, drug use, eating disorder (bulimia), misogyny, institutionalization for a mental illness, thoughts of cannibalism
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
slow-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:
Yes
Slightly spurious conceit - given that, really, the bomb features briefly as a way of setting up the book and is then forgotten - but nevertheless it works. Shades of both Kate Atkinson (obvs) and Matt Haig. Absolutely riveting and hugly enjoyable.
I liked the concept of the book, but the execution was poor. The idea is that a 1944 air bombing that destroyed a Woolworths where several children were killed did not happen. It starts out with a great depiction of the actual bomb that was truly great. However, that is where the greatness ended for me. We follow Vernon, Ben, Alec, Jo, and Valery at various points up into their 70s. There were too many people involved to keep everyone straight. I even restarted the book when I was about 2/3 through it to see if I could follow it better. No one ever had the sense they were living on borrowed time because history had changed. I kept thinking why this event and not one of the many school shootings? I may have missed the point of having survivors of an event that never occurred to not have it connect them or tie them together.
How did I find this book? Kelly McGonigal selected this as her December 2021 pick for her book club, The Joy Collective, hosted through Literati book store.
How did I find this book? Kelly McGonigal selected this as her December 2021 pick for her book club, The Joy Collective, hosted through Literati book store.
‘Matter has its smallest, finite subdivisions. Time does not.’
On 25 November 1944, a V2 rocket attack hit a Woolworths store in New Cross, London, and killed 168 people. Fifteen of those people were children aged eleven years, or younger. This event has inspired Mr Spufford’s novel.
In the transition from fact to fiction, in another version of time, Mr Spufford has imagined the lives of five fictional children whose lives extended beyond 25 November 1944:
‘There’s Jo and Valerie with their mum, wearing tam-o’-shanters knitted from wool scraps; Alec with his spindly knees showing beneath his shorts; Ben gripped firmly by his, and looking slightly mazed, as usual; chunky Vernon with his grandma, product of a household where they never seem to run quite as short of the basics as other people do.’
The novel follows the lives of Jo, Val, Alec, Ben, and Vernon through the balance of their childhoods, through adulthood into the twenty-first century. The everyday lives of five people: successes and failures; choices and consequences. We look into each of their lives at intervals: from t+0:1944; in t+5: 1949; in t+20: 1964; in t+35: 1979; t+50: 1994 and in t+65:2009. Five lives which sometimes intersect with each other and with others as each of them negotiates life, relationships, dreams of the future. Some of the characters are more likeable than others, some choices more understandable.
The novel held my attention from beginning to end because of the detail. Yes, some aspects of their lives are ordinary, mundane and seem trivial. But that is the balance, isn’t it? Between dreams and reality, lives are lived in the present while we look back at the past (or it haunts in other ways) and try to keep an eye on the future. And, for Jo, Val, Ben, Alec, and Vernon (as for the rest of us) time moves inexorably. Some lives may seem more ordinary than others, to observers, but we are each shaped by the place and times in which we live and the choices we make.
I finished the novel wondering about the impact of chance and change on each of our lives. Life continues, until it ends.
‘Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.’
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
On 25 November 1944, a V2 rocket attack hit a Woolworths store in New Cross, London, and killed 168 people. Fifteen of those people were children aged eleven years, or younger. This event has inspired Mr Spufford’s novel.
In the transition from fact to fiction, in another version of time, Mr Spufford has imagined the lives of five fictional children whose lives extended beyond 25 November 1944:
‘There’s Jo and Valerie with their mum, wearing tam-o’-shanters knitted from wool scraps; Alec with his spindly knees showing beneath his shorts; Ben gripped firmly by his, and looking slightly mazed, as usual; chunky Vernon with his grandma, product of a household where they never seem to run quite as short of the basics as other people do.’
The novel follows the lives of Jo, Val, Alec, Ben, and Vernon through the balance of their childhoods, through adulthood into the twenty-first century. The everyday lives of five people: successes and failures; choices and consequences. We look into each of their lives at intervals: from t+0:1944; in t+5: 1949; in t+20: 1964; in t+35: 1979; t+50: 1994 and in t+65:2009. Five lives which sometimes intersect with each other and with others as each of them negotiates life, relationships, dreams of the future. Some of the characters are more likeable than others, some choices more understandable.
The novel held my attention from beginning to end because of the detail. Yes, some aspects of their lives are ordinary, mundane and seem trivial. But that is the balance, isn’t it? Between dreams and reality, lives are lived in the present while we look back at the past (or it haunts in other ways) and try to keep an eye on the future. And, for Jo, Val, Ben, Alec, and Vernon (as for the rest of us) time moves inexorably. Some lives may seem more ordinary than others, to observers, but we are each shaped by the place and times in which we live and the choices we make.
I finished the novel wondering about the impact of chance and change on each of our lives. Life continues, until it ends.
‘Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.’
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No