Scan barcode
A review by sarahcoller
Gentian Hill by Elizabeth Goudge
1.0
I started off semi-excited about reading this. I enjoyed The Little White Horse and was looking for something light and "storyish". It took awhile to get into, then I started liking it a bit in the middle, then the last third or so was just not good at all and I found myself liking it less the more I read on.
The plot twist was predictable but sweet in places, and I did appreciate the themes of forgiveness and the mercy of God. Unfortunately, the author has no problem mixing in all kinds of pagan traditions about Christmas, Christianity, walking out the Bible, etc. and treats it all rather flippantly and on the same level. Poetic portions that are meant to be supernatural end up sounding pagan and humanistic.
This extremely imaginative author often makes one wonder to what audience she is writing. The child/teen characters are, in the author's own words, extraordinarily mature. Ugh, yes, and not at all believable. The John and Rosalind storyline was distracting and the "big revelation" was extremely anticlimactic. This was not one of my favorites, for sure.
I did learn quite a bit, though. Mummers = play actors who put on a Christmas pageant show. Bullroarer = an obnoxious but common primitive noise maker. Shipmen are usually portrayed with a scarf tied around their heads because they used it to help stifle the sound of the guns. I'm also quite curious about the planting chant and plan to research that a bit.
Favorite quote: "It's not the mark of a good patriot to hate the enemy...it's the mark of a patriot to love his country."
The plot twist was predictable but sweet in places, and I did appreciate the themes of forgiveness and the mercy of God. Unfortunately, the author has no problem mixing in all kinds of pagan traditions about Christmas, Christianity, walking out the Bible, etc. and treats it all rather flippantly and on the same level. Poetic portions that are meant to be supernatural end up sounding pagan and humanistic.
This extremely imaginative author often makes one wonder to what audience she is writing. The child/teen characters are, in the author's own words, extraordinarily mature. Ugh, yes, and not at all believable. The John and Rosalind storyline was distracting and the "big revelation" was extremely anticlimactic. This was not one of my favorites, for sure.
I did learn quite a bit, though. Mummers = play actors who put on a Christmas pageant show. Bullroarer = an obnoxious but common primitive noise maker. Shipmen are usually portrayed with a scarf tied around their heads because they used it to help stifle the sound of the guns. I'm also quite curious about the planting chant and plan to research that a bit.
Favorite quote: "It's not the mark of a good patriot to hate the enemy...it's the mark of a patriot to love his country."