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A review by lewis999
The Dangerous Kingdom of Love by Neil Blackmore
adventurous
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
The tale of the inevitable and scandalous fall from power of Francis Bacon. Read this in a day. Would recommend if into queer history.
For somebody who is not familiar with the story of Francis Bacon, this was very shocking. Bacon is an unreliable narrator- something hinted at from the start with "Everyone says I am the cleverest man in England" which undoubtedly is not true.. (there is no way everybody says that.. like he may think it.. but not in actuality..).
However, despite this glaringly obvious clue, I took his story at word. I believed the narrative - that he was a good guy, he was moral and trying to help. After finishing the book, I look back on the repeated comments about being moral, clever and creating a revolution as something he did to make himself feel better.. To try to convince himself of his innocence and goals.
I am so used to the narrator being the hero, to the narrator being the one in the right that when I got to the end and saw how Bacon fucked over Villiers.. how he groomed a child into becoming part of his political scheme and then seduced him.. I sat back and realised I need to question the narrators more often. Looking back, there are so many holes in his story.. so many obvious biases... And yet I was blind to them because Bacon voiced them in such a convincing manner.
I didnt realise how old Villiers was. The power imbalance was dodgy enough, let alone the age difference. Villiers had no choice.
I liked the technique of an unreliable narrator. Would definitely read similar books. Has changed my way of reading.
"And when I asked you to kill the Carrs, remember, you said yes, and why? Because of my arse. You almost killed people because of my arse. Sift that through your morality."
For somebody who is not familiar with the story of Francis Bacon, this was very shocking. Bacon is an unreliable narrator- something hinted at from the start with "Everyone says I am the cleverest man in England" which undoubtedly is not true.. (there is no way everybody says that.. like he may think it.. but not in actuality..).
However, despite this glaringly obvious clue, I took his story at word. I believed the narrative - that he was a good guy, he was moral and trying to help. After finishing the book, I look back on the repeated comments about being moral, clever and creating a revolution as something he did to make himself feel better.. To try to convince himself of his innocence and goals.
I am so used to the narrator being the hero, to the narrator being the one in the right that when I got to the end and saw how Bacon fucked over Villiers.. how he groomed a child into becoming part of his political scheme and then seduced him.. I sat back and realised I need to question the narrators more often. Looking back, there are so many holes in his story.. so many obvious biases... And yet I was blind to them because Bacon voiced them in such a convincing manner.
I didnt realise how old Villiers was. The power imbalance was dodgy enough, let alone the age difference. Villiers had no choice.
I liked the technique of an unreliable narrator. Would definitely read similar books. Has changed my way of reading.
"And when I asked you to kill the Carrs, remember, you said yes, and why? Because of my arse. You almost killed people because of my arse. Sift that through your morality."