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erweatherburn 's review for:
She
by H. Rider Haggard
It has taken me a long time to finish reading She, but that doesn't mean that I haven't enjoyed it. The narrative was perhaps a little longer than it needed to be, and it did seem a little slow at times, but that's simply the nature of classic novels and, despite these negatives, there is a lot to love about this story.
What I Loved:
One thing that really struck me about She is just how unusual it is. I loved the fantasy elements of it, and could see many comparisons to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, particularly considering the Dead Marshes and the Mirror of Galadriel. More than anything else though, I can't deny how gripping this story is. There is so much action, and almost all of it is exceptionally gripping.
"No nightmare dreamed by man, no wild invention of the romancer, can ever equal the living horror of that place, and the weird crying of those voices of the night, as we clung like shipwrecked mariners to a raft, and tossed on the black, unfathomed wilderness of air."
The story was also really thought-provoking. There were some really interesting comments made about death in this book, particularly considering the afterlife. After all, immortality may seem attractive, but do any of us really want to carry all of our bad memories around with us - forever?
What I Didn't Like:
I mentioned earlier that this book was a little slow in parts, and although this wasn't too much of an issue, it did mean that, at times, I wasn't able to get excited about the story. I also struggled a little with the characters - although they were well developed, there wasn't a lot of variation, which, unfortunately, is true of most classics.
One of the big reasons why this story may have seemed slow was probably due to the amount of time that it dedicated to philosophy. I have already said that I did enjoy these thought-provoking discussions, but they seemed a little over the top at times, and I did start to get a little annoyed with Haggard. It just felt as though he had already made his point, but then felt the need to repeat it over and over again.
Overall:
She came as a real surprise to me. I was definitely not expecting to like it as much as I did, but I'm certainly glad that I gave it a chance. The story was really unusual, and that unpredictability added a lot to its tension. Like almost every book I have reviewed, it has its negatives, but I cannot dislike this book, particularly considering its fantastic ending, which is perhaps one of the most dramatic conclusions to a book that I have ever read.
It's not my favourite book, but it's (as you would expect) very well written, and is definitely unusual, as not too many classics are based around fantasy.
What I Loved:
One thing that really struck me about She is just how unusual it is. I loved the fantasy elements of it, and could see many comparisons to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, particularly considering the Dead Marshes and the Mirror of Galadriel. More than anything else though, I can't deny how gripping this story is. There is so much action, and almost all of it is exceptionally gripping.
"No nightmare dreamed by man, no wild invention of the romancer, can ever equal the living horror of that place, and the weird crying of those voices of the night, as we clung like shipwrecked mariners to a raft, and tossed on the black, unfathomed wilderness of air."
The story was also really thought-provoking. There were some really interesting comments made about death in this book, particularly considering the afterlife. After all, immortality may seem attractive, but do any of us really want to carry all of our bad memories around with us - forever?
What I Didn't Like:
I mentioned earlier that this book was a little slow in parts, and although this wasn't too much of an issue, it did mean that, at times, I wasn't able to get excited about the story. I also struggled a little with the characters - although they were well developed, there wasn't a lot of variation, which, unfortunately, is true of most classics.
One of the big reasons why this story may have seemed slow was probably due to the amount of time that it dedicated to philosophy. I have already said that I did enjoy these thought-provoking discussions, but they seemed a little over the top at times, and I did start to get a little annoyed with Haggard. It just felt as though he had already made his point, but then felt the need to repeat it over and over again.
Overall:
She came as a real surprise to me. I was definitely not expecting to like it as much as I did, but I'm certainly glad that I gave it a chance. The story was really unusual, and that unpredictability added a lot to its tension. Like almost every book I have reviewed, it has its negatives, but I cannot dislike this book, particularly considering its fantastic ending, which is perhaps one of the most dramatic conclusions to a book that I have ever read.
It's not my favourite book, but it's (as you would expect) very well written, and is definitely unusual, as not too many classics are based around fantasy.