Helena H.

Guys, it’s an Existential Novel…

Revisado: 06-25-24

Just to let all the “seeking historical fiction” fans know, this is not a LINEAR sequel to The Wake, it is an existential one. Literally. The main character—who may or may not be our Edward Buccmaster—is a direct echo of John Gardener’s magnificent Grendel, as both wander solipsistic swamps and explorer of the meaning of existence. So. It is THAT kind of novel, and it is AMAZING and quite powerfully moving and does have an engrossing narrative—just not a “story” per se. Especially since the narrator himself may or may not exist, lol. It’s a fascinating intellectual and emotional ride, I heartily encourage everyone to put on their big-kid pants and buckle up!!!

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Gothic Done Right, in Form and Content!!!

Revisado: 06-27-22

V.E. Schwab is one of my favorite authors, and one whom I actually discovered on Audible as an offering in the “fantasy” genre. It was her utterly original series set in parallel-universe Londons that hooked me, and I’ve long since devoured all her others. Despite the fantastical premises of her work, it is the utterly visceral REALNESS of her characterization that reels you in—to such an extent that you may not even notice what a superlatively masterful technical writer she is. No matter what unique “fantasy” world Schwab sketches for us, her fantastic writing is the real star of the show. In Gallant, her usual sleight-of-hand is front-and-center with a sly play on the conventions of the epistolary novel (one told through letters). While these “letters” do the opposite of clarifying/explaining, it creates a contrast to the richness of all that can be conveyed and understood without language, as the protagonist Olivia literally has no voice. Schwab lets this dichotomy shine throughout this suitably spare work by limiting dialogue/exposition in favor of minimalist, yet lush depictions of sound, light, and shadow. More than the omnipresent “ghouls,” it is this sublime weaving of light, shadow, silence and noise, recognition and loss, that turn the traditional “terrifying double” conventions of the Gothic novel inside out to expose the uncanny heart of all true terror: love, and its identical, inverted double, loss. The narrator was perfect, he nailed the Vincent-Price voice the type of tale requires, while imparting the author’s meaningful silences and sparing, quiet thoughtfulness in just the right places.

In summary: I’ve read/listened to truly countless novels and, once upon a time, as a Professor of Literature, used to teach them, too. It’s rare nowadays that a book can take my breath away, make me cry, and also make me wish I could add this to a syllabus! Do yourself a favor and enjoy this novel without worrying about the five-paper I want to assign you. ;-)

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*Claire voice* Whole-Heartedly Enjoyable! (But…)

Revisado: 12-16-21

The first half of this review is about how delighted I was by this latest installment in the Outlander saga!! First, there is the satisfying length of the novel, more than 2x as long as my average Audible selection but absolutely no longer than it had to be to spin out all the story lines. Then, there is Davina Porter’s superb acting/narration, with perfect accents and distinctive characterization for all personages, female and male, major and minor. And of course, Gabaldon deftly incorporates such painstakingly authentic historical details that she hypnotizes you away from entertaining those pesky time-travel conundrums—both the technical and the theoretical ones (insert your own here). Although, I was a little annoyed that Bree’s nascent theory of time-travel physics seemed to be leading somewhere, then was dropped abruptly. The last item in the rapturous 5-star part of my review is the balance of realistic horror/brutality vs. happy endings. Yes, I realize many story lines and definitely the novel’s ending were utterly cornball-positive…but with lingering 2016-2020 PTSD and the state of the world today, I was so grateful that I happily shoved my willingly suspended disbelief onto the highest back shelf of my brain.

And now for the caveat, and this part will contain spoilers! I realize this is a saga about English/Scottish people and am perfectly happy to enjoy it as such without needing the gratuitous inclusion of characters of color. However, when Gabaldon DOES make an effort to include these, both here and in the previous novels, the results are generally cringey. Regrettable, but since these ambulatory stereotypes are largely peripheral I can just cringe and move on. Yet in this book, I began to wonder if something more sinister was afoot. We’ve already met the doomed Otter Tooth and his villainous buddy, modern Native Americans whose efforts to journey back in time to prevent the bloody, far more villainous genocide of their people is portrayed as misguided at best, pitiably stupid at worst. Here, we get the big reveal the villain Ezekiel Richardson is also a time-traveler of mixed English and African heritage. Turns out all of his “evil” machinations throughout the last 3-4 novels have been part of his plot to prevent more than a century of further enslavement—as well as the “lingering destruction” (his words, or to that effect) that horror will wreak on the descendants of the enslaved for centuries after emancipation. RIGHT ON, BROTHER! I thought, briefly, before realizing that this possibly-foolhardy-yet-obviously HEROIC effort being explained to a sympathetic primary character DOESN’T EVEN MANAGE TO RETAIN THE MAN’S INTEREST! Similarly, the reader understands that it is equally meaningless to the author and has zero effect on his evil-villain characterization. SAY WHAT?? That chilling little throwaway, coupled with its tragic/foolish-Indian predecessor, is the reason I have to give the “story” element 4 stars. And think a little harder about how I feel about this series and its author.

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Great narrative arc & character development!

Revisado: 11-17-20

I am absolutely hooked on this Department Q series!!! I started the first one maybe 2 weeks ago and just finished this last installment yesterday—8 audio novels in less than 2 weeks! I’m not usually a crime/mystery fan at all, but what drew me in to this series is the fantastic character development. Even while maintaining the idealized, dry witty dialogue of the detective novel, Adler-Olsen manages to build characters so complex that getting to know them is like peeling away the layers of an onion, with each novel revealing a little more. Victim 2117 seems to bring is all the way down to the core, though I may eat my onions and my words when the next one (hopefully!) comes out.

Also, in keeping with the matter-of-fact, unsentimental Scandinavian mindset, the author doesn’t hesitate to kill off or hurt characters we’ve grown attached to. While I respect this gritty realism, by this last one part of me was longing for just a wee touch of American “happilyeverafter” to mitigate some of the brutality.

Another thing I love about the series is that Denmark itself is a prominent character. You really get a feel for the physical and political landscape, with regional particularities and internal biases—especially indicating how diverse dialects reveal social status (I definitively get the impression that Jutland is comparable to our stereotype of “flyover country” with an accent comparable to an Arkansas twang).

Finally, Graeme Malcolm does a great job narrating all of these except the first—I’ve already left a scathing review of that other narrator’s ridiculous caricature of Scandinavian-accented English. While Malcolm circumvents that problem by “translating” the narrative into colloquial British English—“Bloody Hell!” features prominently—I almost feel he goes a little too far, doing it so well that he smothers some of the Danish-ness of the novels, if you know what I mean.

Anyway, I wholeheartedly recommend this novel and the whole series!!! Just make sure you read the first one rather than listening to it.

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Accent atrocity!

Revisado: 10-31-20

As a half-Swede, the narrator’s bizarre, belabored, mangled interpretation of a Scandinavian accent was almost a deal-breaker for me. He sounded like a satirist doing early Arnold Schwarzenegger, i.e., “Vi gonna pahmp you up!” What the HECK people, Scandinavian languages — especially Danish! — are the closest languages to English in the world!! Hence, a Scandinavian accent is one of the easiest to lose, often it’s so light it takes a while to notice. It seems like a REALLY TERRIBLE oversight to not bother doing the research on that, and to hire a narrator who does such an AWFUL job!!! The only reason I kept slogging through is because I was unable to leave a review earlier. That having been said, the story itself was great and totally on-par with the new Scandi-Noir genre that’s so popular now on TV and in books. I’d happily read another by this author—“READ” being the operative word here. Hey Audible, if you’re THAT desperate for narrators, I’ve got the Swedish accent down pat; hit me up for your next Scandi-Noir novel!

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