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A review by horanjack77
The Wake by Paul Kingsnorth
3.0
I had a hard time giving this book 3 stars because there are things I genuinely loved about it, but having now read it twice, I find that I enjoyed it less the second time reading it.
For context this book is set during the period of the Norman Conquest, and is written in a style meant to evoke the spirit of Old English if not it's exact study. This was incredibly done, and I found it to be far and away the part of the book I enjoyed the most.
However, Kingsnorth makes heavy effort to make this book realistically historical, which I can applaud. But the reality is that this is still a book meant for modern audiences, with modern values. So the actions of the main character Buckmaster can be troubling. Now I understand that to certain extent this is the point, but all the same, I found parts of the book genuinely difficult to read because of much of the main character's actions.
I fully recognize that this may be more of a personal preference, considering that I prefer more sympathetic protagonists, and I believe Kingsnorth to be an extremely talented author. However, despite the beautiful language I thought some of the events of the book at times made it less enjoyable.
For context this book is set during the period of the Norman Conquest, and is written in a style meant to evoke the spirit of Old English if not it's exact study. This was incredibly done, and I found it to be far and away the part of the book I enjoyed the most.
However, Kingsnorth makes heavy effort to make this book realistically historical, which I can applaud. But the reality is that this is still a book meant for modern audiences, with modern values. So the actions of the main character Buckmaster can be troubling. Now I understand that to certain extent this is the point, but all the same, I found parts of the book genuinely difficult to read because of much of the main character's actions.
I fully recognize that this may be more of a personal preference, considering that I prefer more sympathetic protagonists, and I believe Kingsnorth to be an extremely talented author. However, despite the beautiful language I thought some of the events of the book at times made it less enjoyable.