ed_moore's reviews
289 reviews

I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

“Survival is no more than putting off the shadow of death”
 
‘I Who Have Never Known Men’ is a speculative dystopian with a harrowing concept; 40 women not remembering what happened for them to be taken or the early years of captivity, but living guarded in a cage situated in the bunker with no knowledge of who their captors are, what they desire, or what happened on the surface that led to their captivity. The nameless narrator knows even less, having been taken as a child therefore having no prior experience of the world before the cage and having never known a man, the few male guards never interacting with their prisoners. After years, a chance event leads to their freedom and the women must seek answers to what led to their circumstance and learn to survive in an apocalyptic world they have had no experience of. 

The amount of questions and the dystopian setting this book created were really engaging and it was therefore a powerful concept, however some of the tropes used and the lack of answers I found frustrating. The protagonist being a woman who has only lived in captivity meant her knowledge and thoughts were extremely limited and hence was a little flat a character with nothing backing her motivations. The book also used tropes of writing to a reader the narrator believes doesn’t exist, and many comments from the narrator to foreshadow coming events as she is writing her past experiences but these were either frustrating ‘you wouldn’t believe what happened next’ in style, or not at all subtle ‘little did she know this is how she’d die’ in their tone. While some things such as this were made so obvious, somehow the extent of ambiguity was a fall-short, as there was so little knowledge that the protagonist and therefore reader had that despite an interesting and ambiguous setting and ending leaving the reader wondering how these circumstances came together, we get so little clues throughout the book that it is impossible to even piece together ones own theory. The concept was great and there were some wonderful passages and commentaries on survival, purpose of life and the passing of time, just wish it was expanded a bit more, especially during the early phase of imprisonment. 
The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald

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adventurous lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.25

“The right old age means strength and beauty and mirth and courage and clear eyes and strong painless limbs” 

George MacDonald’s ‘The Princess and the Goblin’ is a fairy tale about the meeting of Princess Irene and the miner Curdie and how they save one another from tunnel dwelling goblins who threaten to establish themselves among human royalty. The characters weren’t quite as ‘stocky’ as usual in Fairy Tales, Curdie had a bit of personality to him but Irene was just an unflawed princess. She does cry at absolutely everything for no reason though of which got very tiring. 

I read this to look at Victorian common ideas on goblins in order to have a basis for my essay on Tolkien and did find that much of Tolkien’s goblins are reciprocal of the goblins of fairy tale. MacDonald’s story does however have a very basic plot and no real motivations behind the aims of both the goblins and ‘heroes’. I preferred it to ‘The Golden Key’ also by MacDonald as it was much more coherent, aside from the inclusion of the mysterious grandmother as her existence and position in reality remains unclear and unresolved. In the nature of fairy tale I must just sit back and expect this, being a children’s story at the end of the day, though with a surprisingly harrowing ending image. 
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

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

1.75

“The body he had deprived of life was their love” 

Leo Tolstoy’s ‘Anna Karenina’ is a brick on the Russian upper circles marriage affairs and love lives. The titular protagonist Anna is really not a person to root for in these matters however, she is an adulteress with no care for her husband who she frames as the wrong one regarding child custodies and divorce, when in reality she leaves him for Vronsky very early in the book and doesn’t seem to see anything through his eyes or have any remorse. The book also follows the relationships of two other couples quite closely and I have seen a few reviews claiming the book could’ve been titled ‘Konstantin Levin’ rather than ‘Anna Karenina’ as he plays a larger role and honestly I agree. 

This book really wasn’t my sort of thing, it was worse than ‘War and Peace’ (which I didn’t enjoy either) as it was very similar but just without some interesting war parts. It was quite Austenian in plot and style as there is a lot of upper class marriage gossip and very little happening. It also had dragged out scenes (the lawn mowing scene was highlighted to me) that equate to the infamous Paris sewers scene of 'Les Miserables' but such really don't bother me and I didn't mind in either book. The ending wasn’t bad, also serving as more backing to the ‘Levin’ title claim, and saved it a little, but ultimately the first 33 hours of the audiobook were largely uneventful. It does however get Wanda Mccaddon points because she is a brilliant narrator. 
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

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dark reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

“If only I were alone and no one loved me and I too had never loved anyone! Nothing of all this would have happened” 

‘Crime and Punishment’ follows the moral conflicts of the impoverished law student Raskolnikov after his double murder of an elderly pawnbroker and her sister. It is a bleak tale of suffering on the poverty line of Petersburg, as Raskolnikov faces hardships and the feeling that the world is against him. In writing, it reminded me a lot of a Dickensian level of detail, and many ideas are reminiscent. It was a dark and gritty story that matched the pessimism of Kafka’s writing. The map of Petersburg at the front did spoil a main plot point for me which was irritating as it’d have been extremely poignant if I didn’t expect it, and the use of metaphor in said moment was so strong. The moral ambiguity of Raskolnikov, believing himself justified to a degree but also plagued with guilt, and then at the same time being a murderer, really had you questioning who was the antagonist. In some cases I saw Porify as such but then he’s just doing his job, and then Svidirgalov is both an awful person but such a poignant character that can’t be seen as an entirely morally ill antagonist. It’s a brilliant exploration of the morally grey all in all.
Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti

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mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

“There is no friend like a sister 
 In calm or stormy weather; 
To cheer one on the tedious way 
To fetch one if one goes astray” 

Christina Rossetti’s poem ‘Goblin Market’ tells of the virginal sisters Laura and Lizzie’s interaction with haggard goblin fruit sellers. It parallels the temptation of Eve and the book of Genesis in much of its symbolism and images of succulent fruits, yet always feels slightly off. I have encountered many works with strong imagery around rotting fruit and this was similar in a way, but the rotting never outward, instead a danger of being tempted by what looks too perfect. 

I read this poem in looking at presentation of goblins in mainstream literary culture before Tolkien took up writing them, and alike to Fairy Tales these goblins are temptresses with dark intentions for the sole reason that they wish to be cruel as that’s what goblins do. It was interesting however that there was no specific defining trait that makes them goblins, only being haggard and slightly other than human. It perhaps opens a dialogue of those maimed or disabled falling into the haggard depiction and classification of a goblin as at no point did Rossetti truly depict the goblins as something inhuman. 
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

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challenging inspiring reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

“When Elizabeth Zott finished cooking, the whole nation sat down to eat” 

Bonnie Garmus’ ‘Lessons in Chemistry’ is a historical fiction about a genius chemist and her prodigy daughter struggling to have her work legitimised in a sexist 60s American society, who finds fame on a cooking show that teaches housewives the chemistry of cooking and inspires them to seek something more. It is a portrayal of gender roles, losing and finding family, religious turmoil and sexuality and race in lesser cases, taking criticisms at so many of the flaws in society. 

Elizabeth Zott is a fiery and powerful protagonist heading Garmus’ feminist critique, but her stubbornness in some cases does cause many of her problems. As powerful as she is, she relies on the prodigy archetype and a lot of unrealistic convenience and luck for her chances in life that aren’t the most realistic though they are commendable and you really do find yourself rooting for her. The use of two prodigy character types with her daughter Madeline, (or even three if you consider the dog Six-Thirty that really randomly has some chapters told from his perspective), does add to a few too many uses of the very convenient trope.

The book was enjoyable and very readable, I absolutely soared through it in long sittings listening, though I did feel it all tied up a little too nicely in manners that once again seemed convenient and unrealistic. There were also a lot of sub-plots that should’ve held so much more weight in the final third (even a bomb plot which plays so minor a role that it isn’t even a spoiler), however for the most part a lot of them were glossed over. 
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Confessions of an English Opium Eater by Barry Milligan, Thomas De Quincey

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slow-paced

2.75

“Not the opium eater, but the opium, is the true hero of the tale” 

Thomas De Quincey’s ‘Confessions of an English Opium Eater’ is the first of three memoir writings in the series of ‘Opium Confessions’ followed by ‘Suspira De Profundis’ and ‘The English Mail Coach’. I read all three of the confessions in this edition and honestly they caused me to fall into a bit of a physical reading slump; this book took me over a month to read and I intended to read it in the couple of days I spent in the Lake District in early November as such was the setting of many of De Quincey’s opium trips.

‘Confessions’ was a strong start, I enjoyed it and it was a well written memoir. I also discovered the word ‘tintinnabulous’ when reading such which is simply fantastic - it’s such a fun word. It was in the second and third confessions the book became confusing and dull. I struggled to grasp what was happening and De Quincey seemed to be talking of nothing much really, the third one basically just praising the invention of the mail coach. ‘Suspira De Profundis’ was more autobiographical but nonetheless very all over the place, and yet I didn’t in any of the sections really see much of the drug trip experiences and surreal hallucinations I expected from this book.
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

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dark fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

“Journeys end in lovers meeting”

Shirley Jackson’s ‘The Haunting of Hill House’ is the stereotypical haunted house story: cold spots, ghostly children’s picnics and mysterious knocks, though I don’t believe it was by any means a first in the genre so doesn’t score many points in originality (that being said I did penalise ‘Treasure Island’ for how stereotypical that was and it was a first for the pirate genre so it doesn’t seem that I would give it any grace even if it was.) I did prefer ‘The Haunting of Hill House’ to ‘We Have Always Lived in the Castle’, even if that book is growing on me as it marinades. Eleanor Vance was a much less insufferable protagonist than Merricat.

Placing focus on the book I am supposed to be reviewing now, ‘The Haunting of Hill House’ focuses on Eleanor and Theodora, two women who have had past supernatural interactions, who are invited to Hill House for the summer to assist in Dr Montague’s research of the venue. It had all the elements you’d expect of a haunted house and posed the classical psychological questions related with the phenomenon. It was by no means bad, just nothing unexpected or remarkable. 
The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim

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adventurous lighthearted relaxing slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

“It didn’t seem much to ask in a world so crowded with people just to have one of them, only one out of all the millions to oneself. Somebody who needed one, who thought of one, who was eager to come to one”

Elizabeth Von Armin’s ‘The Enchanted April’ follows four women who opt to leave their husbands and life in London for a month and rent a medieval castle in Italy. It is a book of female empowerment and agency as they split from patriarchal structures to pave their own way, and is set in such a vivid location full of beautiful descriptions of such. Each of the four women have so much life and character and are each distinct and recognisable, which I find is more often not the case in books of this period and genre, hence identifiable and lovable characters is certainly a pro. The characters do however falter a little when it comes to Lottie Wilkins, the one of the four who is the closest to the definitive protagonist, though all of she, Rose, Lady Caroline and Mrs Fisher have pretty equal weight, as despite her liberating actions that first defined her character she is quite whiny and ultimately
very quickly falls back into obliging to patriarchal systems, quickly dragging the other women to this conclusion and even determining it a correct conclusion and better the way it was
, which subverts the message of the opening of the novel which I believed would be the dominant one throughout. 

I do also give bonus points because this was narrated by Wanda Mccaddon (who I fell in love with the narration of when I read Emma), and her narration is simply brilliant! 
On Fairy-Stories by J.R.R. Tolkien

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informative inspiring slow-paced

3.0

“Fantasy is a natural human activity. It certainly does not destroy or even insult Reason; and it does not either blunt the appetite for, nor obscure the perception of, scientific verity. On the contrary. The keener and the clearer is the reason, the better fantasy will it make.” 

‘On Fairy Stories’ is a lecture by Tolkien transcribed into essay-prose that seeks to define and defend the fairytale and fantasy as a genre. It provides an insight into Tolkien’s view of the genre and hence how it is used within his own writing, and the importance he places behind its uplifting, arguing it to exist in a literary plain beyond children’s fiction and hold a great importance. Even in an essay format Tolkien is poetic with his words and it was on the more enjoyable end of critical reads.