ed_moore's reviews
275 reviews

Sacred Hospitality by Olivie Blake

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fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.75

“The two turned with satisfaction to watch the rosy beams of sunrise brighten the still smouldering drapes” 

‘Sacred Hospitality’ is a short satirical story tacked onto the end of my edition of ‘The Atlas Six’ which follows the cast of the six Medeans each at some form of dinner that plays on ancient greek traditions of hospitality. Blake provides an insight into each of their lives before the events of the main book but honestly the story really offered nothing, it was not witty nor revealed anything noteworthy or really any major comments on hospitality from the author herself. It just felt like something that didn’t need to particularly be written which comes across much harsher than I mean it to but it really just feels a lot like the filler centre that makes up ‘The Atlas Six’.
The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake

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

3.0

“The problem with knowledge is its inexhaustible craving. The more of it you have, the less you feel you know” 

Olivia Blake’s ‘The Atlas Six’ is a dark academia following the first year of six Medeans (magicians) in seeking their induction to the Alexandrian Society, a modern library of Alexandrea that keeps the worlds greatest knowledge from public consumption. Each of the cohort were chosen for their extraordinary skill in a particular field of magic. 

The world building was really strong, though in some cases the explanation for why a certain person can specialise in a particular sort of magic (such as bending the physics of the universe or telepathy) was unclear, the rest of the it, if accepting this magic system just as it is and to be, was strong. It establishes a dynamic of elitism versus knowledge for the public good, however those in the society consider knowledge to be dangerous and therefore must be kept behind lock and key. 

‘The Atlas Six’ follows the six young inductees as they navigate the first year and aim to be one of the inducted five, the one deemed unworthy being eliminated. It establishes no definitive protagonist, however certain members of the six such as Libby and Parissa got far more character development than the likes of Reina and Callum, even though time in each of the six’s perspectives I don’t feel was that unbalanced. Also the large majority of the middle section of the book was extremely plotless. Somehow so many words were used by Blake and yet nothing happened but purposeless passages of studying (which I wasn’t as engaged in as past dark academia’s I have read as it was a study of the fictional rather than a knowledge I also pursue) and sexual desires, these romance subplots being tossed around with no plot purpose and only to incorporate a bit of ‘spice’ which I feel took away from the book. The opening and the conclusion were strong but just far too limited for the length of the book and how much of the middle was filler.
The Prevention of Literature: 3 (Orwell's Essays) by George Orwell

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dark informative reflective slow-paced

3.0

“Freedom of the press, if it means anything at all, means the freedom to criticise and oppose” 

Orwell’s ‘The Prevention of Literature’ is a work of non-fiction that is so typically Orwellian. In this instance he argues that freedom of press does not exist as the individual writer applies self-censorship to their writing in ages of political uncertainty. The poet is more free than the prose writer as poetry has more window for re-interpretation and multiple contributors, but prose is a literary form doomed to lose all individuality. This extended to an argument that with the rise of radio and television all forms of literature will become obsolete, and in totalitarian states classical literature rewritten to lose any individual value or style. In this instance Orwell was incorrect as thankfully the form of the novel has continued to existed alongside growth of other media, if not lost its significance just a little. This fear becomes relevant again today, but hopefully Orwell’s incorrect bleak visions of the future for literature were proven incorrect once and hence are able to be incorrect again. He will be twisting in his grave if he were to ever hear of the development of AI. 
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

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

4.25

“We leave something of ourselves behind. Nothing material, but a hair-pin on a dressing-table, not an empty bottle of aspirin tablets, not a handkerchief beneath a pillow, but something indefinable, a moment of our lives, a thought, a mood”

Du Maurier’s ‘Rebecca’ follows the unnamed narrator in her marriage to the Lord of Manderly, Maxim De Winter. When she moves in with him however she feels constantly inferior to the deceased first wife of Maxim, Rebecca, for everyone in the house and village idolised her and all she does is compared to how Rebecca once did such. The lack of name adds so much here and  despite her being the narrator, the reader sees her as an empty spirit that is haunting the place, just as much as the deceased spirit of the eponymous character. It is a slow build up and for the first couple of chapters I did believe the narrator was Rebecca, however it is so well written and the atmosphere of always failing to live up to the unachievable is so powerful. The end absolutely picked up in pace though and the final third was so gripping! 

The morality of people is also so key in the book, Du Maurier plays with the readers sympathies and establishes villains who I don’t see as entirely antagonistic as the narrator makes out, and she and Maxim though the much loved protagonists of the story with motives of love so layered and so flawed too. The layers of relationships that Du Maurier builds go beyond love triangles, they are messy and complicated but alike to how well written her prose was, Du Maurier handles them very well. 

The Gothic atmosphere and some plot elements reminded me in many ways of ‘Wuthering Heights’, and though the very final twist I did see coming a little in advance there were a fair few earlier ones each very powerful. I am left reconsidering so much in the novels conclusion.
Inside the Whale by George Orwell

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informative reflective medium-paced

3.25

“There you are, in the dark, cushioned space that exactly fits you, with yards of blubber between yourself and reality, able to keep up an attitude of the completest indifference, no matter what happens. A storm that would sink all the battleships in the world would hardly reach you as an echo.” 

Orwell’s ‘Inside The Whale’ is a long-form essay that opens as a book review of Henry Miller’s ‘Tropic of Cancer’, praising it for its exploration of the everyman on the streets of a 1920s Paris full of failed artists, whereas evolves into a look at the geopolitical tensions in the opening of the Second World War, its influence on literature and the hold of communism on the young writer. As usual in Orwell’s non-fiction, though this essay was long and sprawling in its topic, looking at Orwell’s early love of A.E Housman to criticising the writer who is too scared to write beyond the politically accepted, Orwell is extremely articulate and his arguments are fascinating. The title of the essay comes from his belief that like Jonah, Miller publishing in a time of political breakdown with the prominence of extremist powers, he situates himself ‘inside the whale’, where he is ultimately failing his duty as a writer in accepting the world as it is and choosing to ignore the prevalent concerns of the nation that should be addressed in literature. 
The Complete Poetry by George Orwell, Dione Venables, Peter Hobley Davison

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dark reflective tense slow-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

2.5

“The lord of all, the money-god,
 Who rules us blood and hand and brain,
 Who gives the roof that stops the wind,
 And, giving, takes away again;” 

Orwell’s poetry explores many of the themes you would expect from him given the topics of his novels: poverty, industrialism, war and politics, however surprisingly the man had a soft spot and has a significant amount of works focused on nature and a couple on love, whereas is generally very cynical and makes claims that when the end of mankind comes he cares not. All in all I found and read seventeen of Orwell’s poems, five of these I had to transcribe from handwritten manuscripts with no typeface being available for such online. This indicates a the sheer lack of critical interest in Orwell’s poetry and I suppose such is for a reason. Orwell isn’t known for his poetry whatsoever and there is a reason for that. He simply wasn’t a very good poet. A lot of his structures and pacing is clumsy and one of the only ones that stood out as good poetry; ‘St Andrew’s Day 1935’, is the poem used in ‘Keep the Aspidistra Flying’ anyway and hence has an identity beyond the collection of Orwell’s poetic works. 
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

“And that is how someone who is unusually susceptible to nightmares, night terrors, the creeps, the willys and things that aren’t really there talks himself into making one last trip to the abandoned, almost certainly haunted house where a dozen or so children met their untimely end” 

‘Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children’ is the story of Jacob’s discovery, prompted by his grandfather’s dying wishes, of the group of orphans living in a 1940 time loop, each hiding due to their peculiar powers. Riggs’ story is absolutely YA in its written style which I never love but I can’t hold a criticism for reasons of genre, especially as it was a fast and fun spooky read, fitting well for the time of year. 

The standout of the book was the eclectic group of characters and the layers of personality that I am sure will only be developed (that being said the most disturbing of the children, the twins, hardly get a mention). Millard was really quirky and iconic and I am headcanoning Emma as autistic. I will however say the British accents in the audiobook were so jarring they were awful. 

It’s not often I have seen films before I have read the book but this is one of the rare incidents of it so will bring it to attention. The film mostly does the book justice, the endings were completely different however and I do think I preferred the book one, although it does lean a lot on cliffhanger and the ending is completely reliant on the sequel for there to be any form of closure.
A Shropshire Lad and Other Poems: The Collected Poems of A. E. Housman by A.E. Housman

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dark emotional reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

“Stars, I have seen them fall 
But not when they drop and die
no star is lost at all 
from all the star sown sky. 
The toil of all that be 
Helps not the primal fault
It rains into the sea
And still the sea is salt”

The poetry of A.E. Housman is nothing if not gorgeous. I picked this up as context for my dissertation as Orwell read and recited Housman’s poems growing up but I found a poet who is rivalling William Blake for the title of my personal favourite poet. 

‘A Shropshire Lad’ is his most famous for a reason, it is a pastoral that is quite homoerotic in its content, glamourising a love of home and the Shropshire countryside whilst at the same time reading much like Blake in its criticisms and stance against the Boer War, much focus being on the loss of youth who needlessly died and will never see the countryside of their homeland again. It was extremely powerful and the beauty of Housman’s lyric and words did bring me to tears but when we learn part of the poem is from the perspective of a man reminiscing on his life and the beauty around him as he goes to the gallows the moment extremely stung and changed my perspective on the whole poem. 

I have seen a lot of reviews claiming the rest of Housman’s poems a lot weaker but I disagree. They continue in the same sentiment, with the same emotional care to their themes, and the poem I have quoted to open the review is from ‘More Poems’, a lesser critically appreciated anthology, whereas I found it utterly stunning. There was a collection of lighter verse at the end too which was a bit of fun and batshit, most notably a poem about becoming a parallelagram.

Looking into Orwell’s homoerotic childhood songs has opened me up to discovering a new favourite poet. 
Divine Might: Goddesses in Greek Myth by Natalie Haynes

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informative medium-paced

3.75

“The unit of currency in tragedy is a human being”

Hayne’s ‘Divine Might’ is the same concept as her earlier book ‘Pandora’s Jar’, looking at the women of Greek mythology and the modern reconceptions of them and then offering them in a new fairer light. This time the focus was on the goddesses and other divine beings: The Muses and the Furies.

Being prepared on what to expect with Haynes’ non-fiction really helped with this one, I wasn’t expecting a narrative nor was jarred by pop culture references such as Lizzo songs or Percy Jackson (which really the inclusion of makes an awful lot of sense). I felt Athena maybe took a little too long in the limelight especially given most of her section was recounts of known stories where Haynes’ perspective doesn’t differ hugely from general consensus, or Artemis who has never really been misread. I did whoever love the effort put into giving Hestia the credit she deserves after she has been obscured by honetly and never written off. All being said I feel ‘Divine Might’ is a worthy deccessor to ‘Pandora’s Jar’.
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe

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adventurous reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.75

“Why were they not saved and you lost, why were you singled out, is it better to be here or there” 

Defoe’s 'Robinson Crusoe' is the tale of a castaway who spends 27 years surviving on a deserted island and the challenges he faces with his loneliness and survival. It was a work slightly better than ‘Roxana’ but still by no means any good in my opinion. Crusoe as a protagonist can only be described as cardboard. His narrative voice is so dull, he has no interesting traits, a lot of plot armour and conveniences falling his way to allow his survival and the whole story is almost just a list and recount of the years on the island with no real conflict that the reader can become invested in and no particulate excitement in the plot. 

Not to mention Defoe and Crusoe are extremely racist. The slave trade is celebrated in the early chapters and ‘savages’ which are described completely inhumanely serve as the main antagonists, completely prejudiced and seen as animalistic due to practices and race. This does not make Crusoe an any more likeable character and he already had no positive traits so to use my earlier phrasing he is just extremely racist cardboard. Not to mention the focus on enforced religious conversion which also occurs within the book. 

The ending is also so unsatisfying, some characters are complexity forgotten and see no conclusions where everything just works out way too easily for Crusoe.