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Elmet is a beautifully poetic book that revels in its slow place and building up of scene, setting, time and place. The imagery throughout is almost tangible, the places springing to life around you, but once you start actually thinking about what has been put in front of you aspects just don't seem to add up. I admit for a start to being somewhat confused as to when this book is set; it reads as though it is set in some far distant past but there are references to modern inventions like the motor car, a truck and the Job Centre that would seem to set it in the present day. The depictions of landowners and landless labourers would fit perfectly into a depiction of a feudalistic setting, but that doesn't seem to be the case here. The depictions of the landowners throwing tenants off properties and refusing to care for properties didn't seem to fit with the modern times, nor indeed did the labourers working cash in hand for a pittance.
There is an undeniable sense of dark foreboding that builds steadily throughout the novel, and when you don't look too closely it all seems to build to an almost inevitable conclusion. The narrator as an uneducated fourteen year old boy, taken out of school and living on the land also doesn't quite stand up to close scrutiny. The language used is so poetic and advanced, the imagery so precise and flowery that the tone doesn't meet the reality that is trying to be portrayed. It makes for great reading at times, don't get me wrong, but it's out of place when compared to the level of education the narrator is supposed to have had. Take an example:
These boys were just so handsome. They were so much more handsome than me and Daddy, we could not even be compared. We were almost distinct breeds, adapted to different environments, clinging to opposite sides of the cliff. It was as if Dad and I had sprouted from a clot of mud and splintered roots and they had oozed from pure minerals in crystalline sequence.
This is the same boy who calls his father 'daddy' at fourteen.
At the heart of the story, this is a battle between the rich and the poor and the power of family love. It drew me in and I certainly felt immersed in the tale, despite some of the jarring inconsistencies. The character set up is interesting with 'daddy' being a giant of a man, unbeaten in the boxing ring who made money through legal and illegal fights but now lives a quiet life in a home he built by hand. His love for his children is evident in near everything he does. Daniel is a rather effeminate young man with long hair and a love for making home and caring for the family, whilst his sister follows in their father's footsteps with ready fists and a talent for hunting. The boundaries of normal gender stereotypes are challenged, although never actively due to the isolation that they live in. The 'bad guys' are rather more stereotyped, with little motivation beyond greed and power and there was perhaps a trick missed in not making them complex and multi-dimensional characters.
So whilst this is undoubtedly beautifully written there are some significant issues with the book as a whole. It is a measure of the writing that other than my confusion as to the period it was set in, most of these didn't occur to me until after the last page. As seems to be the fashion of the times, the ending disappointed me rather. The book is left on a loose strand, but more importantly the violence and brutality of the final chapters didn't quite seem to fit with the gentle yet foreboding tone of the book as a whole. I'd probably still recommend it, but with some concerns. But the writing style alone is reason enough to pick it up and give it a try.
There is an undeniable sense of dark foreboding that builds steadily throughout the novel, and when you don't look too closely it all seems to build to an almost inevitable conclusion. The narrator as an uneducated fourteen year old boy, taken out of school and living on the land also doesn't quite stand up to close scrutiny. The language used is so poetic and advanced, the imagery so precise and flowery that the tone doesn't meet the reality that is trying to be portrayed. It makes for great reading at times, don't get me wrong, but it's out of place when compared to the level of education the narrator is supposed to have had. Take an example:
These boys were just so handsome. They were so much more handsome than me and Daddy, we could not even be compared. We were almost distinct breeds, adapted to different environments, clinging to opposite sides of the cliff. It was as if Dad and I had sprouted from a clot of mud and splintered roots and they had oozed from pure minerals in crystalline sequence.
This is the same boy who calls his father 'daddy' at fourteen.
At the heart of the story, this is a battle between the rich and the poor and the power of family love. It drew me in and I certainly felt immersed in the tale, despite some of the jarring inconsistencies. The character set up is interesting with 'daddy' being a giant of a man, unbeaten in the boxing ring who made money through legal and illegal fights but now lives a quiet life in a home he built by hand. His love for his children is evident in near everything he does. Daniel is a rather effeminate young man with long hair and a love for making home and caring for the family, whilst his sister follows in their father's footsteps with ready fists and a talent for hunting. The boundaries of normal gender stereotypes are challenged, although never actively due to the isolation that they live in. The 'bad guys' are rather more stereotyped, with little motivation beyond greed and power and there was perhaps a trick missed in not making them complex and multi-dimensional characters.
So whilst this is undoubtedly beautifully written there are some significant issues with the book as a whole. It is a measure of the writing that other than my confusion as to the period it was set in, most of these didn't occur to me until after the last page. As seems to be the fashion of the times, the ending disappointed me rather. The book is left on a loose strand, but more importantly the violence and brutality of the final chapters didn't quite seem to fit with the gentle yet foreboding tone of the book as a whole. I'd probably still recommend it, but with some concerns. But the writing style alone is reason enough to pick it up and give it a try.