ed_moore's reviews
289 reviews

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

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adventurous dark mysterious 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? No

3.5

“And that is how someone who is unusually susceptible to nightmares, night terrors, the creeps, the willys and things that aren’t really there talks himself into making one last trip to the abandoned, almost certainly haunted house where a dozen or so children met their untimely end” 

‘Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children’ is the story of Jacob’s discovery, prompted by his grandfather’s dying wishes, of the group of orphans living in a 1940 time loop, each hiding due to their peculiar powers. Riggs’ story is absolutely YA in its written style which I never love but I can’t hold a criticism for reasons of genre, especially as it was a fast and fun spooky read, fitting well for the time of year. 

The standout of the book was the eclectic group of characters and the layers of personality that I am sure will only be developed (that being said the most disturbing of the children, the twins, hardly get a mention). Millard was really quirky and iconic and I am headcanoning Emma as autistic. I will however say the British accents in the audiobook were so jarring they were awful. 

It’s not often I have seen films before I have read the book but this is one of the rare incidents of it so will bring it to attention. The film mostly does the book justice, the endings were completely different however and I do think I preferred the book one, although it does lean a lot on cliffhanger and the ending is completely reliant on the sequel for there to be any form of closure.
A Shropshire Lad and Other Poems: The Collected Poems of A. E. Housman by A.E. Housman

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

5.0

“Stars, I have seen them fall 
But not when they drop and die
no star is lost at all 
from all the star sown sky. 
The toil of all that be 
Helps not the primal fault
It rains into the sea
And still the sea is salt”

The poetry of A.E. Housman is nothing if not gorgeous. I picked this up as context for my dissertation as Orwell read and recited Housman’s poems growing up but I found a poet who is rivalling William Blake for the title of my personal favourite poet. 

‘A Shropshire Lad’ is his most famous for a reason, it is a pastoral that is quite homoerotic in its content, glamourising a love of home and the Shropshire countryside whilst at the same time reading much like Blake in its criticisms and stance against the Boer War, much focus being on the loss of youth who needlessly died and will never see the countryside of their homeland again. It was extremely powerful and the beauty of Housman’s lyric and words did bring me to tears but when we learn part of the poem is from the perspective of a man reminiscing on his life and the beauty around him as he goes to the gallows the moment extremely stung and changed my perspective on the whole poem. 

I have seen a lot of reviews claiming the rest of Housman’s poems a lot weaker but I disagree. They continue in the same sentiment, with the same emotional care to their themes, and the poem I have quoted to open the review is from ‘More Poems’, a lesser critically appreciated anthology, whereas I found it utterly stunning. There was a collection of lighter verse at the end too which was a bit of fun and batshit, most notably a poem about becoming a parallelagram.

Looking into Orwell’s homoerotic childhood songs has opened me up to discovering a new favourite poet. 
Divine Might: Goddesses in Greek Myth by Natalie Haynes

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informative medium-paced

3.75

“The unit of currency in tragedy is a human being”

Hayne’s ‘Divine Might’ is the same concept as her earlier book ‘Pandora’s Jar’, looking at the women of Greek mythology and the modern reconceptions of them and then offering them in a new fairer light. This time the focus was on the goddesses and other divine beings: The Muses and the Furies.

Being prepared on what to expect with Haynes’ non-fiction really helped with this one, I wasn’t expecting a narrative nor was jarred by pop culture references such as Lizzo songs or Percy Jackson (which really the inclusion of makes an awful lot of sense). I felt Athena maybe took a little too long in the limelight especially given most of her section was recounts of known stories where Haynes’ perspective doesn’t differ hugely from general consensus, or Artemis who has never really been misread. I did whoever love the effort put into giving Hestia the credit she deserves after she has been obscured by honetly and never written off. All being said I feel ‘Divine Might’ is a worthy deccessor to ‘Pandora’s Jar’.
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe

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adventurous reflective 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? No

1.75

“Why were they not saved and you lost, why were you singled out, is it better to be here or there” 

Defoe’s 'Robinson Crusoe' is the tale of a castaway who spends 27 years surviving on a deserted island and the challenges he faces with his loneliness and survival. It was a work slightly better than ‘Roxana’ but still by no means any good in my opinion. Crusoe as a protagonist can only be described as cardboard. His narrative voice is so dull, he has no interesting traits, a lot of plot armour and conveniences falling his way to allow his survival and the whole story is almost just a list and recount of the years on the island with no real conflict that the reader can become invested in and no particulate excitement in the plot. 

Not to mention Defoe and Crusoe are extremely racist. The slave trade is celebrated in the early chapters and ‘savages’ which are described completely inhumanely serve as the main antagonists, completely prejudiced and seen as animalistic due to practices and race. This does not make Crusoe an any more likeable character and he already had no positive traits so to use my earlier phrasing he is just extremely racist cardboard. Not to mention the focus on enforced religious conversion which also occurs within the book. 

The ending is also so unsatisfying, some characters are complexity forgotten and see no conclusions where everything just works out way too easily for Crusoe. 
The Story of the Glittering Plain by William Morris

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adventurous 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

2.5

“They underneath the black shadow of the black cliff, and amidst the twilight the surf was tossed about like white fire. In the lower heavens the stars were beginning to twinkle and the moon was bright and yellow” 

William Morris’ ‘The Story of the Glittering Plain’ is a very early work of fantasy said to have been inspiration for Tolkien, where a wanderer Hallbaithe ventures to the Glittering Plain in search of his taken damsel known only to the reader as The Hostage. Aside from the diminishing of the primary female figure, her ceasing to even be given a name by Morris, Hallbaithe’s motives also weren’t the best established as there is no relationship built between he and The Hostage prior to her going missing, hence the reader not being sure really of what they are rooting for. Another lack of motive is the case in the antagonist Fox, who has no real basis for his actions and even his role as the defined antagonist is slightly unclear. 

The similarities to Tolkien are however evident. Nature is at the heart of the quest and much of he description alike to ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘Lord of the Rings’, though Morris also places a huge emphasis on colour. There is also some underlying religious allegory and representation of the afterlife, echoing many fairy tales that were written by Morris’ contemporaries. 

I also must draw attention to the illustrations and typeface of the edition I read of this book, a reprint of the first edition, whilst enhancing the experience to be more fantastical and the illustrations being pretty, the font was in a fantasy style and honestly very hard to read. The depictions of nature were pretty but a lacking plot and non-existent motives left a lot to be desired.
The Road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell

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dark informative slow-paced

3.5

“There was no need to go as far as Burma to find tyranny and exploitation. Here in England, down under one’s feet, were the submerged working class, suffering miseries which in different ways were as bad as any oriental ever knows” 

‘The Road to Wigan Pier’ is Orwell’s plea for socialism as he highlights the poverty and destitution of the English working class in the north, placing a focus on the coal miner of Wigan. 

Part One opens with Orwell’s recount of staying among the miners and lodgers in Wigan and I felt it would read in a similar way to ‘Down and Out in Paris and London’, starting well but quickly dropping off as it became a slightly more interesting version of Blythe’s ‘Akenfield’, listing of wages, poor housing conditions and statistics of the norths working class. This was illuminating in its exposing of skewed surveys on unemployment and living standards, but generally wasn’t the most exciting read. 

Part Two however was Orwell at his best, as he turns to a more essayist voice and makes a case for socialism as the only solution for the poverty he has spent the first half of ‘The Road to Wigan Pier’ laying out. Orwell’s educated background shines through here alongside his socialist ideals which create a really interesting paradox and critical voice, and his exploration of socialism versus the rise of fascism and his fears towards such are exactly what I love about him. The latter half of the book really saved this from being another of Orwell’s works where I was left expecting much better from him.
The Nature Of Gothic by John Ruskin

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informative slow-paced

1.5

“The idea of reading a building as we would read Milton or Dante, and getting the same kind of delight out of stones as out of stanzas, never enters our mind for a moment."

Ruskin’s essay ‘The Nature of Gothic’ praises the value of gothic architecture as an enlightened form of art, looking at it from six moral perspectives beyond just it as a form of architecture and contrasting it with other ages of art. Ruskin’s argument wasn’t entirely clear most of the time though, he was very rambling in his prose and strayed from his point often, what such was I am not entirely sure anyhow. 

Why this was set for my fantasy module I have no idea other than Ruskin being a key critic in medievalism, but having been to his house over summer did not have me read this in a more sympathetic light. 
Julius Caesar: The Oxford Shakespeare Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

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

4.0

“Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once”

‘Julius Caesar’ tells of the events leading up to Caesar’s assassination and the aftermath following it, focusing primarily on the conspirators Brutus and Cassius. It is a very violent play, full of battle, murder and suicide but consequently very fast paced and engaging, three years of Roman history condensed by Shakespeare into five days.

Brutus was a fascinating character. He was almost an anti-hero in a way, a lot more sympathetic than Cassius due to his conflicting mindset between a loyalty to Caesar and a loyalty to Rome. Hence Cassius in his influence over Brutus is a clearer antagonist despite his motives too lying in acting for the good of the country. In some ways Brutus reminded me of ‘Othello’s’ Iago, a villain that the reader desires to align themselves with, however the conflicting opinions of the reader are much more successful in ‘Othello’ as Iago is much more endearing. 

Many deaths in Julius Caesar occur quite unprovoked and almost unnecessarily, the motives behind much killing and death being shaky and absent at times, however to fit so much bloodshed into one play I suppose such has to be the case. I do however believe Cassius and Brutus were missing some closure. 
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

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emotional lighthearted mysterious reflective 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

4.25

“You can’t fix someone who’s determined to stay broken”

Shelby Van Pelt’s debut ‘Remarkably Bright Creatures’ is a simple story of widowed woman Tova and her unlikely friendship with the octopus Marcellus who lives in the aquarium that she cleans. It is somewhat of a mystery as a down and out young man searches for his lost father and Tova continues to question what led to the death of her son Erik many years ago, however neither of these elements of mystery dominate the novel and it really benefits from that. It’s a small-feeling book that focuses on unlikely friendships, across Cameron, Tova and Marcellus and the desire to find love and belonging. 

I especially enjoyed the chapters narrated by the octopus. They were charming and I wish more of the novel was made up of his perspective however I also recognise not much story can really be told from the perspective of an octopus stuck in a tank. His style of narration and the way he documents his days as diary entries for his ‘captivity’ are incredible though. I do however feel as if Van Pelt could’ve done a little more to criticise aquarium practices with the opportunity of this perspective though. 

Some decisions that make up the ending also felt a little sporadic and unexplained, in some cases a necessity to get the characters in the right places to achieve a resolution, however much of the build up was a lovely slow pace with a small town bustle feel. It was a pretty heartwarming book and I do love that octopus.
The Reluctant Dragon by Kenneth Grahame

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

4.0

“Footprints in the snow have been unfailing provokers of sentiment ever since snow was first a white wonder in this drab-coloured world of ours” 

Kenneth Grahame’s fairytale ‘The Reluctant Dragon’ is a story within a story of a young boy who befriends a dragon. It plays on the stereotype of a fairytale as the dragon rejects the usual antics of dragons to fight and capture princesses, but rather favours to lie in the sun and recite poetry. Learning the dragon to be harmless, the boy must prevent St George from slaying it. 

Unlike many simple fairytales Grahame’s prose is beautifully written, the events are explained and the characters are loveable. It brought in literary illusion and was full of beautiful imagery, and honestly this little story just made me extremely happy. I question why ‘Wind in the Willows’ gets all the acclaim.