A review by paracyclops
Boneland by Alan Garner

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

3.0

Boneland is the sequel to two children's fantasies, 'The Weirdstone of Brisingamen', and 'The Moon of Gomrath', that were formative in my introduction to literature in general, and to the genre of fantasy in general. I was keen to see what Alan Garner would do with his setting in a book for adults, and I certainly enjoyed the echoes of that world that can be heard in this book—the sleeping warriors beneath the stone, the ineluctable contusion of past and present… One of the protagonists of those earlier books is the grown-up protagonist of this one, an autistic astronomer in his sixties, struggling to recover or avoid the memories of his youthful adventures. His journey is paralleled by that of an unnamed Mesolithic shaman, trying to mystically transmit his cultural inheritance to future generations. These two characters are linked by an ancient stone axe, buried and recovered at the axis of the radio telescope where the later one conducts his research. The denouement of these two stories is beautifully ambiguous, richly symbolic—a compelling poem of place and experience. However, almost every element of the contemporary narrative fails to convince. The main character's autism is represented in a heavy-handed and simplistic manner. His professional life is depicted in apparent ignorance of the procedures and conventions of scientific research—surprisingly, as Garner has said he prefers the company of scientists to that of writers. The dialogue is wooden, and curiously archaic, cleaving to idioms and social niceties that were sixty years out of date at the time the book is set (around 2010). The characters give little indication that they have any life or complexity beyond the surface that they show to the narrative. I've heard this book described as 'experimental', and it certainly doesn't hold the reader's hand, but all of those structural and creative elements are well-crafted—and much of the language is extremely beautiful. Where it falls down is in the basic technique of novel-writing. I'm afraid that Garner isn't that interested in the ways that other people think and talk, and as one of those other people, I felt as though he'd forgotten how to tell me a story.