Scan barcode
sfinn95's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
flowerowl's review against another edition
adventurous
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? Yes
3.0
There where moments of suspens that grasp you, yet it always felt like it led no where. Even though the book makes it clear that every thing he did was met by problems, they feel barely like inconvenience because before the weight of them can be felt there already over. And he just feels lucky. It takes you on a long journey, which I love, but never takes you truly anywhere. Only the description of nature are truly strong, especially the begging part (or part 1). May because it started out like that, with such strong world building/setting, I expected to be even more drawn in to that world, it's people, and there new ways once the actual story started. But where I found part one only a little unrealistic, part two felt just like a slightly fantasy version of the mid-evil-times, where it all resolved around him and his 'big' problem. Which again I'm not against (if done wel) but was not expecting from the first half (not onlyr part 1but also the begging chapter ofor part 2). But they way it was done here felt like it could have taken anywhere and so the world never fully took place for me. All by all not a bad book, but not a great one either and I wish there was just something... something more.
bluestarfish's review against another edition
3.0
A curious book in two halves. The first charts the re-wilding of Britain after an unspecified disaster wipes out London and most of civilisation. The second half is more like a medieval adventure story where Felix is off to find his fortune so he can marry his love in this new feudal society. This is an early example of post apocalyptic fiction (which had some nicer outcomes in it given that this is pre-nuclear).
Richard Jeffries is better known for his nature writing (well, at least I know him for that) so it's not great surprise that the nature writing in this imagined future is detailed and believable. I found that to be the best part of the book anyway. The adventure story is fairly standard but more stories should have a go at describing the ecological succession of the landscape after a disastrous change in it!
Richard Jeffries is better known for his nature writing (well, at least I know him for that) so it's not great surprise that the nature writing in this imagined future is detailed and believable. I found that to be the best part of the book anyway. The adventure story is fairly standard but more stories should have a go at describing the ecological succession of the landscape after a disastrous change in it!
bupdaddy's review against another edition
3.0
A seminal post-apocalyptic novel. The premise is interesting, the hero is interesting and sympathetic, and the story structure is terrible. Ah, well. A pleasure while reading, but not satisfying at the end.
enolas's review against another edition
3.0
I'm so torn about this book. Part one was absolutely fascinating faux-history, and part two an enjoyable story which put me in mind of A Strange Manuscript Found In a Copper Cylinder.
The descriptive language is very evocative and paints a wonderful mental picture of this imagined land - clearly the author was a naturalist.
However, it ends so abruptly! I felt invested in the characters and would have liked to have known their fate.
The descriptive language is very evocative and paints a wonderful mental picture of this imagined land - clearly the author was a naturalist.
However, it ends so abruptly! I felt invested in the characters and would have liked to have known their fate.
evie_dohm's review against another edition
3.0
Do not ask me about this book. All I have to say is mice infestation and the Irish and the English suffer and the human-nonhuman boundary is a warning about classism.
avapava's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.25
I read this for university and would not have come across it otherwise. I'm glad I have read it. The book has an interesting premise i.e England/ the Earth being reclaimed by nature. From what I can gather from reading, Jeffries gives no reason for this happening. Although, I won't lie, I skimmed probably too much of the book after realising that Jeffries has an uncanny ability to labour the point. I'm talking pages of description that I did not feel added to the movement of the plot. But here's the thing, the book is meant to be a factual recounting of Felix's journey so I can't even knock it. All I can say is that reading it was a slog. Particularly, the reams of scene-setting for I would say literally, the first half of the book(!!!) gave the impression that the story which reveals Felix's motivations for his journey i.e his love for Aurora, his desire to set up a new kingdom for him and her, was the book's afterthought; or that Jeffries only really thought about this story during the writing process. I mean nothing wrong with that either really but it makes for an unbelievable read and one where I am sort of sitting there reading it like hmmm ok. What I'm saying is, Felix didn't feel like a completely fully formed character with desires and motivations despite the laborious scene-setting and character explanation in the beginning. There were some brilliant parts of the book that were brilliant because of the central, most interesting premise to the book i.e that the ancient world has fallen and made way for a new world that is ironically reflexive of even more ancient people.
laurenjpegler's review
1.0
Not a fan of this one, unfortunately! I found the narrative very disengaging, and the plot a little boring. I liked the idea that nature reclaimed England - that domesticated animals ran free and London was overgrown with weeds - but I found the actual story very dull. The characters had no development, and I was a little bored following only Felix around.
I found the country's relapse into barbarism a little strange - Jefferies put emphasis on class, such as the lower-class being more susceptible to barbarism because they don't have the privilege to be otherwise. Also, I found it quite disheartening that education was virtually none existent. Only the upper classes had education, but they chose to neglect it because it wasn't that important.
An interesting dystopian, especially as I haven't read any from the Victorian period, but not a very interesting story...
I found the country's relapse into barbarism a little strange - Jefferies put emphasis on class, such as the lower-class being more susceptible to barbarism because they don't have the privilege to be otherwise. Also, I found it quite disheartening that education was virtually none existent. Only the upper classes had education, but they chose to neglect it because it wasn't that important.
An interesting dystopian, especially as I haven't read any from the Victorian period, but not a very interesting story...
felinity's review against another edition
4.0
This was very different from the normal post-apocalyptic fare, and quite refreshing once I'd adapted to the slower pace. It was originally published in 1885, which surprised me, because I probably would have dated it at least 40 years later.
Don't expect a thrilling fast-moving adventure tale with a defined ending. Expect a detailed, immersive encyclopedic picture of the wilderness that took over from a civilisation over 30 years ago, of the animals' adaptations, of the human cultural changes and the understanding that what caused this destruction has probably been lost in the transition to oral history. The first fifth gives the reader a view through the distant lens of time, as if a time lapse camera were panning across the scene.
Disclaimer: I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Don't expect a thrilling fast-moving adventure tale with a defined ending. Expect a detailed, immersive encyclopedic picture of the wilderness that took over from a civilisation over 30 years ago, of the animals' adaptations, of the human cultural changes and the understanding that what caused this destruction has probably been lost in the transition to oral history. The first fifth gives the reader a view through the distant lens of time, as if a time lapse camera were panning across the scene.
Spoiler
What emerges is a quasi-feudal society, where a younger, landless son must set off on a quest to find something of value to win the hand of the woman he loves, finding his understanding of real life somewhat flawed in the process.Disclaimer: I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
snowmaiden's review
3.0
The first section of the novel is a “factual and scientific” account of what happened to the infrastructure of the city of London after British civilization fell due to an unknown catastrophe. It reminded me very much of [b:The World Without Us|248787|The World Without Us|Alan Weisman|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1317065220s/248787.jpg|241063], and it was fascinating to see that many of [a:Alan Weisman|79216|Alan Weisman|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1288152289p2/79216.jpg]’s conclusions had been anticipated by Jefferies almost 150 years earlier.
The second section follows a more traditional narrative structure and tells the story of Felix Aquila, a young nobleman in the medieval society that has arisen in Britain hundreds of years after the fall of civilization. Due to the many dangers that lurk in the wilderness, people have taken to living in walled encampments and rarely venturing beyond their borders, but Felix, much like Katniss Everdeen in [b:The Hunger Games|2767052|The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)|Suzanne Collins|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1337857402s/2767052.jpg|2792775], is a hunter and regularly escapes over the walls surrounding his family’s fort. One day he decides to build a boat and explore as much of the great inland sea as he can, and the rest of the story details his adventures on this journey.
This book is not without its flaws, most notably that it ends abruptly without much of a resolution, but it is definitely worth reading, both as a source of many of the ideas for later post-apocalyptic fiction and as a gripping adventure story in its own right.
The second section follows a more traditional narrative structure and tells the story of Felix Aquila, a young nobleman in the medieval society that has arisen in Britain hundreds of years after the fall of civilization. Due to the many dangers that lurk in the wilderness, people have taken to living in walled encampments and rarely venturing beyond their borders, but Felix, much like Katniss Everdeen in [b:The Hunger Games|2767052|The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)|Suzanne Collins|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1337857402s/2767052.jpg|2792775], is a hunter and regularly escapes over the walls surrounding his family’s fort. One day he decides to build a boat and explore as much of the great inland sea as he can, and the rest of the story details his adventures on this journey.
This book is not without its flaws, most notably that it ends abruptly without much of a resolution, but it is definitely worth reading, both as a source of many of the ideas for later post-apocalyptic fiction and as a gripping adventure story in its own right.