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A review by pippa_w
The Night Watch by Sarah Waters
4.0
Read as part of BooksandLala's Buzzwordathon.
'Happiness is such a fragile sort of thing these days. It's as though there's only so much to go around.'
Even if a bit long and unbalanced for what it is trying to (and largely does) accomplish, this is an astoundingly well-written book that takes a unique angle on the utterly non-unique topic of the English home front's perspective of World War II.
Was it crazy, she wondered, to be as grateful as she felt now, for moments like this, in a world that has atomic bombs in it—and concentration camps, and gas chambers?
Thanks to strong research and a willingness to establish intimacy between not only the characters but the readers and the characters, this book has a beautiful sense of place: historically, geographically, and psychologically. This is particularly important with the book's structure following the characters backwards through time. Effectively established here is a benefit of hindsight for the reader, which the characters obviously lack. This is frustrating in a way that only makes the read more compelling.
The entire cast of characters is intensely flawed and completely vibrant. Where the setting, which is often treated as a hastily laid backdrop, does not always jump off the page, the characters absolutely do. From people who we frequently return to, like Helen and Viv, to those we only meet for a few pages, like Alec, every character is entirely their own person and remarkably well-developed.
But the war made you careless. You started off, she thought sadly, imagining you’d be a kind of heroine. You ended up thinking only of yourself.
It has been pointed out that Waters does not seem to have much affection for her characters given the distance with which she writes about them, and that this is pretty troubling given the topics she covers in this book - most notably the queer representation. This is a very fair observation and concern, one which I'd be interested to hear Waters discuss.
Overall, a beautifully written book that handles subjects that authors often find difficult with sensitivity.
She'd never thought of that before, about all the secrets that the war must have swallowed up, left buried in dust and darkness and silence. She had only ever thought of the raids as tearing things open, making things hard. She kept glancing up at the sky as she and Betty walked to John Allen House, telling herself that she wanted to see the searchlights go up; that she wanted the planes to come, the guns to start, all hell to break loose…
'Happiness is such a fragile sort of thing these days. It's as though there's only so much to go around.'
Even if a bit long and unbalanced for what it is trying to (and largely does) accomplish, this is an astoundingly well-written book that takes a unique angle on the utterly non-unique topic of the English home front's perspective of World War II.
Was it crazy, she wondered, to be as grateful as she felt now, for moments like this, in a world that has atomic bombs in it—and concentration camps, and gas chambers?
Thanks to strong research and a willingness to establish intimacy between not only the characters but the readers and the characters, this book has a beautiful sense of place: historically, geographically, and psychologically. This is particularly important with the book's structure following the characters backwards through time. Effectively established here is a benefit of hindsight for the reader, which the characters obviously lack. This is frustrating in a way that only makes the read more compelling.
The entire cast of characters is intensely flawed and completely vibrant. Where the setting, which is often treated as a hastily laid backdrop, does not always jump off the page, the characters absolutely do. From people who we frequently return to, like Helen and Viv, to those we only meet for a few pages, like Alec, every character is entirely their own person and remarkably well-developed.
But the war made you careless. You started off, she thought sadly, imagining you’d be a kind of heroine. You ended up thinking only of yourself.
It has been pointed out that Waters does not seem to have much affection for her characters given the distance with which she writes about them, and that this is pretty troubling given the topics she covers in this book - most notably the queer representation. This is a very fair observation and concern, one which I'd be interested to hear Waters discuss.
Overall, a beautifully written book that handles subjects that authors often find difficult with sensitivity.
She'd never thought of that before, about all the secrets that the war must have swallowed up, left buried in dust and darkness and silence. She had only ever thought of the raids as tearing things open, making things hard. She kept glancing up at the sky as she and Betty walked to John Allen House, telling herself that she wanted to see the searchlights go up; that she wanted the planes to come, the guns to start, all hell to break loose…