A review by marieketron
The Hopkins Manuscript by R.C. Sherriff

funny lighthearted reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This is a great read for Covid times and I was continuously impressed by how apt a lot of the ‘predictions’ are, which just means that the author’s analysis and understanding of human behaviour is extremely clear sighted. Of course he was drawing from WWI and the Spanish flu, but the prediction of a European Confederacy of States and their relation to Britain was extremely visionary. The book is critical of humanity and society and government without ever becoming overly preachy while still laying out very astute ideas without lecturing. The pace and writing style read as very modern, and the way there is no romance and the main female character is never sexualised by the protagonist were honestly refreshing - which is a bit of an indictment on modern literature I guess. Highly recommend this one! The only reason I wouldn’t give this a higher rating is because sometimes the main character got on my nerves a bit too much, but most of the time he was a tone-perfect caricature of the country gentleman (some overtones of the Shire and other LOTR similarities here, understandable as they’re drawing from the same historical events) and brought the exact right amount and level of humour to the whole narrative.