A review by toniapeckover
The Wake by Paul Kingsnorth

4.0

I'm kind of blown away by what Kingsnorth has done here in creating a version of Old English that fits the time period of his novel and is also somehow, amazingly, readable to a modern audience. When I first began, I thought I would just have to slog through the whole book half understanding, but it really only took a few pages before I got the textual clues and could decipher it. The vocabulary is necessarily limited and that makes Kingsnorth's accomplishment even more incredible. Somehow, even through repetition and limited vocabulary, he brings you right into the world of Buccmaster (what a character!) and his personal and social challenges navigating the end of the world as he knows it.