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tessreadslibri 's review for:
The Blackhouse
by Peter May
This was recommended to me following a conversation about how crime novels mobilise liminal/marginal island spaces as settings 'beyond the bounds' and what that allows them to do metaphorically as well as narratively.
I found this novel rather challenging however, so much so that rather than devour it in a matter of days, as is my usual pattern, I had to take a break part way through and it took me a while to return to it.
For some time I couldn't quite put my finger on why I found it such a difficult read, the evocation of place was strong, the use of descriptive language was pretty strong, dialogue less so, but then I read a single sentence and it all dropped into place. That sentence was along the lines of an old boat being freshly painted and looking like an old whore trying to make herself look younger. This, as a descriptive motif that really jarred, and is repeated again later in the novel. It's not an utterance of a character, not part of the first person narrative, but part of the third person reflective narrative and it stopped me in my tracks and I realised what I found difficult about this book.
This book is so testosterone fuelled. Not just in the actions and attitudes of the male characters but much more pervasively. The female characters in the book are simply there to advance the narratives of the male characters. There's not a single female character that has any agency. A young woman makes an allegation of rape that turns out to be false and it's all about what that says/reveals about her father, about her boyfriend and about her boyfriend's father - it's all about advancing their stories because it's their stories that drive the narrative. Moreover, these island women are also seemingly incapable for protecting their children, be it the aunt of the central character, his best friend's mother, and then his wife, the ministers wife, not one of them stands up to these men but are simply cowed by them.
There's an awful lot going on in this book, but a lot of it felt pretty standard fare, almost, 'if you put enough sub plots in there the reader won't notice they're all rather tried, tested and tired', and in the end/ing a little too convenient.
I already have the second book in this trilogy but it may be a while before it makes it to the top of the pile to be read.
I found this novel rather challenging however, so much so that rather than devour it in a matter of days, as is my usual pattern, I had to take a break part way through and it took me a while to return to it.
For some time I couldn't quite put my finger on why I found it such a difficult read, the evocation of place was strong, the use of descriptive language was pretty strong, dialogue less so, but then I read a single sentence and it all dropped into place. That sentence was along the lines of an old boat being freshly painted and looking like an old whore trying to make herself look younger. This, as a descriptive motif that really jarred, and is repeated again later in the novel. It's not an utterance of a character, not part of the first person narrative, but part of the third person reflective narrative and it stopped me in my tracks and I realised what I found difficult about this book.
This book is so testosterone fuelled. Not just in the actions and attitudes of the male characters but much more pervasively. The female characters in the book are simply there to advance the narratives of the male characters. There's not a single female character that has any agency. A young woman makes an allegation of rape that turns out to be false and it's all about what that says/reveals about her father, about her boyfriend and about her boyfriend's father - it's all about advancing their stories because it's their stories that drive the narrative. Moreover, these island women are also seemingly incapable for protecting their children, be it the aunt of the central character, his best friend's mother, and then his wife, the ministers wife, not one of them stands up to these men but are simply cowed by them.
There's an awful lot going on in this book, but a lot of it felt pretty standard fare, almost, 'if you put enough sub plots in there the reader won't notice they're all rather tried, tested and tired', and in the end/ing a little too convenient.
I already have the second book in this trilogy but it may be a while before it makes it to the top of the pile to be read.