Reviews

Ness by Robert Macfarlane, Stanley Donwood

fruitysaz's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

4.5

woah. this was genuinely stunning, so good that i tore through the whole thing in about half an hour. macfarlane's prose is wonderful, quite primal and unrelenting at times. that's not necessarily in any particularly negative way, it's just rather intense. donwood's illustration is clearly inspired by Orford Ness in Suffolk, and captures the same intensity and liminality that the prose does. very well done! 

derigibleplums's review against another edition

mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

2.0

Took this out of the library because I expected poetical made-up folklore but it just didn’t work for me. There was never anything that I could grip ahold of to ground me to the story and feel for it. A couple of beautiful moments of imagery but this was a miss.

darkskybooks's review against another edition

3.0

Strange and uncomfortable. A poetic juxtaposition between nature and mans folly, the power of time and the military industrial complex. I can appreciate what the book is trying to achieve and it certainly is unsettling. Not something I would read usually and I am glad for the change

rachel_foucar's review

challenging dark mysterious reflective

4.25

modern_life_is_mediocre's review against another edition

5.0

I’m sat on a train in London heading towards my job. It’s noisy, it smells, it’s miserable. I reach into my backpack and take out this little 80 page book with beautiful crosshatch illustrations. Suddenly all I hear are waves crashing against rocks, wind howling making the trees rustle and bend and birds singing. In an instant I’m somewhere else. Somewhere dark and magical. The book is poetic and lyrical with hints of legends and fables, and I’m reminded a little of ‘Sir Gawain & The Green Knight’ (as someone else on GoodReads also mentioned). Finally I look up from the last page and wonder where I am! It’s my stop! I’m there! I’ve been completely entranced in this wonderful tale, reading the whole thing in one commute.

zackario's review

3.0

Pretty mid. I know would've loved it when I was only listening to Radiohead.

nickc777's review against another edition

hopeful mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.75

miss_vonnegut's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

4.5

I love weird books and this was certainly weird. It was a fast read and such an interesting way to reflect on humanity and war and nuclear weapons, and also nature and the interconnectedness of everything.

theghostintheattic's review

mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

hannahh's review

challenging dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5