Reviews

Ulverton by Adam Thorpe

indy_oc's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

krobart's review against another edition

4.0

See my review here:

http://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2017/02/03/day-1034-ulverton/

rhiabelleh's review against another edition

2.0

This just wasn’t for me. Had to read it for a class and some chapters were cool but others were literally illegible. I understand what he was going for, but I can think of better ways to go about it. Writing with the intention of befuddling the reader doesn’t necessarily make it “good”, you know?

rhiannonbh's review against another edition

2.0

This just wasn’t for me. Had to read it for a class and some chapters were cool but others were literally illegible. I understand what he was going for, but I can think of better ways to go about it. Writing with the intention of befuddling the reader doesn’t necessarily make it “good”, you know?

mightymeep's review against another edition

2.0

2.5 really. Although some of the individual passages were well written, I really didn't enjoy this at all. The sections with local dialect were just too challenging to read for very little return to the reader. I like the premise of the book, with the same place featuring through time from 17oo's until the present day, but found it focused more on the people rather than the place and it didn't engage me or give me a sense of the place through time. It's difficult when the sections are so disparate and rather obscure. My favourite section was near the end, set at the start of WW1. I thought this was very well written. The very last part is impossible to read on the Kindle version but I tried my best. All in all an unsatisfying read.

michael5000's review

4.0

Ten or so carefully interlocking stories over several centuries of an English village. Difficult going in places, possibly a tiny bit too clever for its own good in others, and one that I think needs at least two reads to fully grasp.

shelfofunread's review against another edition

Style wasn't for me. Whilst technically ambitious, I didn't feel that Smith wholly captured the style of the eras that he was conveying. I also found the book too slow in terms of pace and lacking in plot. 

elisatin's review

adventurous challenging slow-paced

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

4.5

You have to invest some time and effort into reading this, but I think it's worth it! There is lots of historical detail, and you get to see how local myths and legends are passed down through the generations. Each chapter is unique in style and content - so you don't follow the same characters throughout but rather the history of the village over several centuries! 

anonblueberry's review against another edition

This is the first book that I remember not finishing.
Honestly, I've not read such self aggrandising, pretentious twattery in my life (and I had to do a "literary fiction" module full of angsty white middle aged authors projecting onto their characters at uni)

dave_holwill's review against another edition

5.0

There are points in this book where you may not want to carry on, but it really does pay off in the end. Well worth fighting through some of the more rurally voiced chapters.
Excellent document of a disappearing world.