Scan barcode
A review by jeremiglio
The Wake by Paul Kingsnorth
5.0
This has been sat on our bookshelves for about 4 years, and in that time I've read the first page probably a dozen times before being put off by the difficulty of the language. I'm so glad I persevered and finally read the whole thing.
This is undeniably a difficult read, at least to start with - the language becomes second nature once you get used to it, but it's still not something you can read while half-asleep. But the language is integral to this book and the experience of reading it, and of inevitably becoming engrossed in the world. I couldn't stop thinking about it from the moment I started reading it, and I probably won't for a while. It's just brilliant.
Buccmaster is a brilliantly constructed character, an unreliable narrator and one whose deteriorating mental state is the perfect lens through which to view the fall of Old England following the conquest. I knew some about this period of history before, but this has definitely inspired me to learn more.
This is undeniably a difficult read, at least to start with - the language becomes second nature once you get used to it, but it's still not something you can read while half-asleep. But the language is integral to this book and the experience of reading it, and of inevitably becoming engrossed in the world. I couldn't stop thinking about it from the moment I started reading it, and I probably won't for a while. It's just brilliant.
Buccmaster is a brilliantly constructed character, an unreliable narrator and one whose deteriorating mental state is the perfect lens through which to view the fall of Old England following the conquest. I knew some about this period of history before, but this has definitely inspired me to learn more.