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A review by tricky
Gould's Book Of Fish A Novel In Twelve Fish by Richard Flanagan
3.0
Gould’s Book of Fish by Richard Flanagan is a disturbing read. It is brutal in description and honest in its portrayal of convict life.
The book has been earmarked by many critics and reviewers as a masterpiece and an extraordinary piece of imagination. It is all these things but I found the book not disappointing or lacking but there was something missing for me, some connection that I could not make with the book. I am going to put that disconnect down to the paperback version of the book I have. The reason being that the fish paintings are shoved up the back and from what I have seen of other versions of the books the paintings and colours are integral to the read.
The protagonist of the story is William Gould who has been imprisoned on Sarah Island for 49 years. On a simple level the novel tells the fiction story of Gould, as imagined by Flanagan, who tells about his quest to survive the harsh conditions of a prison island. On the more complex level the novel can be seen as the colonisation failure of Tasmania.
However you want to see the book the themes are big and complicated and can sometimes detract from the novel. The story of Twopenny Sal was something I also struggled with. From Gould’s point of view Sal is almost complicit in her position as woman used as she sleeps with whatever man can provide her with tobacco and alcohol.
I am not bothered about the criticisms about the lack of plot and dialogue but what I did find annoying was the characters. To be honest I found them on the main very one dimensional. Gould remains the same from page one to the end and the other manifestations that Gould relates to us are just as linear.
I found that towards the end of the novel the continual waxing on by Gould just boring. Sorry to all the lovers of the book but I did. It went on and on and I was screaming ‘shut up and just die will you’ Now I normally do not react that way to a character in a novel but I could not empathise with Gould at all.
I struggled with this book as to whether I loved it or loathed it.
The book has been earmarked by many critics and reviewers as a masterpiece and an extraordinary piece of imagination. It is all these things but I found the book not disappointing or lacking but there was something missing for me, some connection that I could not make with the book. I am going to put that disconnect down to the paperback version of the book I have. The reason being that the fish paintings are shoved up the back and from what I have seen of other versions of the books the paintings and colours are integral to the read.
The protagonist of the story is William Gould who has been imprisoned on Sarah Island for 49 years. On a simple level the novel tells the fiction story of Gould, as imagined by Flanagan, who tells about his quest to survive the harsh conditions of a prison island. On the more complex level the novel can be seen as the colonisation failure of Tasmania.
However you want to see the book the themes are big and complicated and can sometimes detract from the novel. The story of Twopenny Sal was something I also struggled with. From Gould’s point of view Sal is almost complicit in her position as woman used as she sleeps with whatever man can provide her with tobacco and alcohol.
I am not bothered about the criticisms about the lack of plot and dialogue but what I did find annoying was the characters. To be honest I found them on the main very one dimensional. Gould remains the same from page one to the end and the other manifestations that Gould relates to us are just as linear.
I found that towards the end of the novel the continual waxing on by Gould just boring. Sorry to all the lovers of the book but I did. It went on and on and I was screaming ‘shut up and just die will you’ Now I normally do not react that way to a character in a novel but I could not empathise with Gould at all.
I struggled with this book as to whether I loved it or loathed it.