Waterland
Registered by everdene of Norwich, Norfolk United Kingdom on 11/24/2003
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
4 journalers for this copy...
I know it's been around a while - but i've only just discovered Graham Swift. Well worth reading!
Release planned for Tuesday, November 25, 2003 at cathedral close wellingtons monument in Norwich, England United Kingdom.
Releasing on my way to work - for all you early risers!
Releasing on my way to work - for all you early risers!
I feel like I cheated a bit, as I deliberately went searching for this book...still, it was probably pleased to be rescued as the back cover was getting a bit soggy in the flower bed! I'll read it (after I've finished the current batch of library books) and release it again...
Released on Wednesday, January 28, 2004 at OBCZ - Julian Graves, The Royal Arcade in Norwich, England United Kingdom.
We went to Norwich on a visit and checked out likely Bookcrossing spots beforehand. We called into Julian Graves and were rewarded not only with a book each but with some sweets, some dandelion tea, some flavoursome coffee and a chat with the very nice lady behind the counter. Who, it turns out, we share a mutual friend with.
Is this not exactly the sort of experience Bookcrossing is supposed to promote?
We'll release our books in London and, when we return to Norwich, we'll take some books to leave at this very civilized OBCZ. I'll journal again when I've read it, but it certainly looks interesting - thanks.
Astrofiammante
Is this not exactly the sort of experience Bookcrossing is supposed to promote?
We'll release our books in London and, when we return to Norwich, we'll take some books to leave at this very civilized OBCZ. I'll journal again when I've read it, but it certainly looks interesting - thanks.
Astrofiammante
This was a truly inspirational find. I'd not really come across Graham Swift before, but will certainly seek out more of his work. It's an odd mixture of fictional autobiography, murder mystery, local history and natural history in a part of the world that we are tangentially familiar with.
It raises questions about the nature of history and of the authorial voice - the whole story is an attempt by one man to explain and perhaps justify pivotal events from his own past. We have only his account, which he presents as meticulously-researched history. But, like Nelly Dean in Wuthering Heights, to what extent can we believe his account both of events and of his own motivations?
It is a gripping story enclosed within an impressive examination of what it means to tell a story and the various elements of various stories, including that of the narrator, the European eel, a fenland family and the twentieth century itself, are taken apart and rewoven as more of the sum of their parts.
There are elements that are not for the squeamish, but they are not so pronounced that they spoil the book. The crucial fact about it is that, for all its delving into byways, and pedagogical examinations of various subjects, and narrative experimentation, it has a cracking good story at its heart and the action continues unresolved until the last sentence of the last page.
I'm now passing it on to my Bookcrossing friend Random.
It raises questions about the nature of history and of the authorial voice - the whole story is an attempt by one man to explain and perhaps justify pivotal events from his own past. We have only his account, which he presents as meticulously-researched history. But, like Nelly Dean in Wuthering Heights, to what extent can we believe his account both of events and of his own motivations?
It is a gripping story enclosed within an impressive examination of what it means to tell a story and the various elements of various stories, including that of the narrator, the European eel, a fenland family and the twentieth century itself, are taken apart and rewoven as more of the sum of their parts.
There are elements that are not for the squeamish, but they are not so pronounced that they spoil the book. The crucial fact about it is that, for all its delving into byways, and pedagogical examinations of various subjects, and narrative experimentation, it has a cracking good story at its heart and the action continues unresolved until the last sentence of the last page.
I'm now passing it on to my Bookcrossing friend Random.
This has been passed to me by a fellow Bookcrosser. Will read, post and release in due course...
I found this a curious mix of a novel, different from much of what I would normally read. It's heavy going in places and from what I've seen of reviews on places like Amazon that's made some people (especially Americans) give up on it - "life's too short" was one comment.
I can't agree with that assessment.
Certainly there were times when I wanted to howl with frustration at the diversions and meanderings the narrative took, but the different streams do eventually combine into one coherent, inevitable flow (to use a metaphor that might have come from its pages).
At its heart there's a very simple tale to this book, one that could be expressed in little more than a sentence. But as well as the history teacher's childhood and marriage there are other stories that link into it and a whole raft of discourses on the nature and essence of history, both natural and human. Some of these stories appealed to me more than others, but the strength of the novel is the way that they weave together to present a consistent world-view.
It's not a very upbeat world-view of course, but it's a better novel for that.
I have to say, though - we're used to making a joke out of closing our car windows and locking the doors when we drive through the Fens, and this did nothing to change that practice!
Because this book has gone through so many people now, I'd like to keep the chain going so I won't randomly release it - I'll try to find a Bookcrossing Zone for it, or if anyone wants to claim it off me I'll be happy to send it on.
I can't agree with that assessment.
Certainly there were times when I wanted to howl with frustration at the diversions and meanderings the narrative took, but the different streams do eventually combine into one coherent, inevitable flow (to use a metaphor that might have come from its pages).
At its heart there's a very simple tale to this book, one that could be expressed in little more than a sentence. But as well as the history teacher's childhood and marriage there are other stories that link into it and a whole raft of discourses on the nature and essence of history, both natural and human. Some of these stories appealed to me more than others, but the strength of the novel is the way that they weave together to present a consistent world-view.
It's not a very upbeat world-view of course, but it's a better novel for that.
I have to say, though - we're used to making a joke out of closing our car windows and locking the doors when we drive through the Fens, and this did nothing to change that practice!
Because this book has gone through so many people now, I'd like to keep the chain going so I won't randomly release it - I'll try to find a Bookcrossing Zone for it, or if anyone wants to claim it off me I'll be happy to send it on.
Released on Tuesday, May 11, 2004 at British Heart Foundation Shop, book and music dept in Basingstoke, England United Kingdom.
Releasing this at the Basingstoke OBCZ, British Heart Foundation shop, 9 Wote Street, Basingstoke, Hants.
Releasing this at the Basingstoke OBCZ, British Heart Foundation shop, 9 Wote Street, Basingstoke, Hants.
