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A review by thebobsphere
The Sunken Land Begins to Rise Again by M. John Harrison
3.0
Now and then I come across a novel which leaves me confused, by this I do not mean whether I understood it or not but rather there will be conflicted feelings. The Sunken Land begins to Rise Again is such a book.
As for some background knowledge, I tried reading this book exactly a year ago but I abandoned it. I picked it up again for two reasons. M. John Harrison was a judge on this year's excellent Booker prize and this is the only Goldsmiths prize winner I have not read (well that's solved now)
The book focuses on two characters. one is Shaw who has trouble with relationships, and has a mother who does not recognise him. The other person is Victoria, who is sort of dating Shaw and decides to renovate and sell her recently deceased mother's house in Shropshire.
Both characters then go on an inner journeys of discoveries. Shaw decides to take on a new job on a barge as a sort distributor. Mainly his boss' book, which people do not want. One day he is assigned to meet a medium and film her for his boss' blog, which leads to certain personal revelations. For Victoria, the eccentric characters in her mother's village help her open her eyes.
All events have roots in Charles Kingsley's political tale, The Water Babies.
Did I like the book? there were moments where I just had a lot of fun reading but with every joyous moment, a dull passage or two would crop up and I kept yo-yoing like this throughout the novel. I am also not sure about the main message. Is this a commentary on the state of England. Is the book insinuating that post Brexit Britain will be recover? or is it stating that the past is a different place? I'm not sure.
Generally I love all the Goldsmith prize winners but this one did leave me muddled in places. What did you think?
As for some background knowledge, I tried reading this book exactly a year ago but I abandoned it. I picked it up again for two reasons. M. John Harrison was a judge on this year's excellent Booker prize and this is the only Goldsmiths prize winner I have not read (well that's solved now)
The book focuses on two characters. one is Shaw who has trouble with relationships, and has a mother who does not recognise him. The other person is Victoria, who is sort of dating Shaw and decides to renovate and sell her recently deceased mother's house in Shropshire.
Both characters then go on an inner journeys of discoveries. Shaw decides to take on a new job on a barge as a sort distributor. Mainly his boss' book, which people do not want. One day he is assigned to meet a medium and film her for his boss' blog, which leads to certain personal revelations. For Victoria, the eccentric characters in her mother's village help her open her eyes.
All events have roots in Charles Kingsley's political tale, The Water Babies.
Did I like the book? there were moments where I just had a lot of fun reading but with every joyous moment, a dull passage or two would crop up and I kept yo-yoing like this throughout the novel. I am also not sure about the main message. Is this a commentary on the state of England. Is the book insinuating that post Brexit Britain will be recover? or is it stating that the past is a different place? I'm not sure.
Generally I love all the Goldsmith prize winners but this one did leave me muddled in places. What did you think?