ed_moore's reviews
275 reviews

The Story of the Glittering Plain by William Morris

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adventurous 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? No

2.5

“They underneath the black shadow of the black cliff, and amidst the twilight the surf was tossed about like white fire. In the lower heavens the stars were beginning to twinkle and the moon was bright and yellow” 

William Morris’ ‘The Story of the Glittering Plain’ is a very early work of fantasy said to have been inspiration for Tolkien, where a wanderer Hallbaithe ventures to the Glittering Plain in search of his taken damsel known only to the reader as The Hostage. Aside from the diminishing of the primary female figure, her ceasing to even be given a name by Morris, Hallbaithe’s motives also weren’t the best established as there is no relationship built between he and The Hostage prior to her going missing, hence the reader not being sure really of what they are rooting for. Another lack of motive is the case in the antagonist Fox, who has no real basis for his actions and even his role as the defined antagonist is slightly unclear. 

The similarities to Tolkien are however evident. Nature is at the heart of the quest and much of he description alike to ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘Lord of the Rings’, though Morris also places a huge emphasis on colour. There is also some underlying religious allegory and representation of the afterlife, echoing many fairy tales that were written by Morris’ contemporaries. 

I also must draw attention to the illustrations and typeface of the edition I read of this book, a reprint of the first edition, whilst enhancing the experience to be more fantastical and the illustrations being pretty, the font was in a fantasy style and honestly very hard to read. The depictions of nature were pretty but a lacking plot and non-existent motives left a lot to be desired.
The Road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell

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dark informative slow-paced

3.5

“There was no need to go as far as Burma to find tyranny and exploitation. Here in England, down under one’s feet, were the submerged working class, suffering miseries which in different ways were as bad as any oriental ever knows” 

‘The Road to Wigan Pier’ is Orwell’s plea for socialism as he highlights the poverty and destitution of the English working class in the north, placing a focus on the coal miner of Wigan. 

Part One opens with Orwell’s recount of staying among the miners and lodgers in Wigan and I felt it would read in a similar way to ‘Down and Out in Paris and London’, starting well but quickly dropping off as it became a slightly more interesting version of Blythe’s ‘Akenfield’, listing of wages, poor housing conditions and statistics of the norths working class. This was illuminating in its exposing of skewed surveys on unemployment and living standards, but generally wasn’t the most exciting read. 

Part Two however was Orwell at his best, as he turns to a more essayist voice and makes a case for socialism as the only solution for the poverty he has spent the first half of ‘The Road to Wigan Pier’ laying out. Orwell’s educated background shines through here alongside his socialist ideals which create a really interesting paradox and critical voice, and his exploration of socialism versus the rise of fascism and his fears towards such are exactly what I love about him. The latter half of the book really saved this from being another of Orwell’s works where I was left expecting much better from him.
The Nature Of Gothic by John Ruskin

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informative slow-paced

1.5

“The idea of reading a building as we would read Milton or Dante, and getting the same kind of delight out of stones as out of stanzas, never enters our mind for a moment."

Ruskin’s essay ‘The Nature of Gothic’ praises the value of gothic architecture as an enlightened form of art, looking at it from six moral perspectives beyond just it as a form of architecture and contrasting it with other ages of art. Ruskin’s argument wasn’t entirely clear most of the time though, he was very rambling in his prose and strayed from his point often, what such was I am not entirely sure anyhow. 

Why this was set for my fantasy module I have no idea other than Ruskin being a key critic in medievalism, but having been to his house over summer did not have me read this in a more sympathetic light. 
Julius Caesar: The Oxford Shakespeare Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

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

4.0

“Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once”

‘Julius Caesar’ tells of the events leading up to Caesar’s assassination and the aftermath following it, focusing primarily on the conspirators Brutus and Cassius. It is a very violent play, full of battle, murder and suicide but consequently very fast paced and engaging, three years of Roman history condensed by Shakespeare into five days.

Brutus was a fascinating character. He was almost an anti-hero in a way, a lot more sympathetic than Cassius due to his conflicting mindset between a loyalty to Caesar and a loyalty to Rome. Hence Cassius in his influence over Brutus is a clearer antagonist despite his motives too lying in acting for the good of the country. In some ways Brutus reminded me of ‘Othello’s’ Iago, a villain that the reader desires to align themselves with, however the conflicting opinions of the reader are much more successful in ‘Othello’ as Iago is much more endearing. 

Many deaths in Julius Caesar occur quite unprovoked and almost unnecessarily, the motives behind much killing and death being shaky and absent at times, however to fit so much bloodshed into one play I suppose such has to be the case. I do however believe Cassius and Brutus were missing some closure. 
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

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emotional lighthearted mysterious reflective slow-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

4.25

“You can’t fix someone who’s determined to stay broken”

Shelby Van Pelt’s debut ‘Remarkably Bright Creatures’ is a simple story of widowed woman Tova and her unlikely friendship with the octopus Marcellus who lives in the aquarium that she cleans. It is somewhat of a mystery as a down and out young man searches for his lost father and Tova continues to question what led to the death of her son Erik many years ago, however neither of these elements of mystery dominate the novel and it really benefits from that. It’s a small-feeling book that focuses on unlikely friendships, across Cameron, Tova and Marcellus and the desire to find love and belonging. 

I especially enjoyed the chapters narrated by the octopus. They were charming and I wish more of the novel was made up of his perspective however I also recognise not much story can really be told from the perspective of an octopus stuck in a tank. His style of narration and the way he documents his days as diary entries for his ‘captivity’ are incredible though. I do however feel as if Van Pelt could’ve done a little more to criticise aquarium practices with the opportunity of this perspective though. 

Some decisions that make up the ending also felt a little sporadic and unexplained, in some cases a necessity to get the characters in the right places to achieve a resolution, however much of the build up was a lovely slow pace with a small town bustle feel. It was a pretty heartwarming book and I do love that octopus.
The Reluctant Dragon by Kenneth Grahame

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

4.0

“Footprints in the snow have been unfailing provokers of sentiment ever since snow was first a white wonder in this drab-coloured world of ours” 

Kenneth Grahame’s fairytale ‘The Reluctant Dragon’ is a story within a story of a young boy who befriends a dragon. It plays on the stereotype of a fairytale as the dragon rejects the usual antics of dragons to fight and capture princesses, but rather favours to lie in the sun and recite poetry. Learning the dragon to be harmless, the boy must prevent St George from slaying it. 

Unlike many simple fairytales Grahame’s prose is beautifully written, the events are explained and the characters are loveable. It brought in literary illusion and was full of beautiful imagery, and honestly this little story just made me extremely happy. I question why ‘Wind in the Willows’ gets all the acclaim. 
The Golden Key by George MacDonald

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lighthearted mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

“They knew that they were going up to the country whence the shadows fall”

‘The Golden Key’ is an allegorical fairy tale about the journey of two children, Tangle and Mossy, through a fantasy land of floating fish in effort to reach a place in which it isn’t entirely clear. It is full of religious Christian allegory and moral, and abides to some Fairy Tale tropes but at the same time feels separated from the stereotypical Fairy Tale. It does however lack in a lot of plot explanation and character development - alike to Grimm’s things do just happen with no buildup or reasoning. 
Though despite all the confusion the ending lines gave me goosebumps. They were so unclear and possibly meaningless but reading through a lens of religious allegory were harrowing. 
Burmese Days by George Orwell

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dark reflective sad medium-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

2.75

“They build a prison and call it progress”

Orwell’s ‘Burmese Days’ follows British timber merchant Flory who is stationed in British-colonsied Burma. He regularly frequents the European Club and spends much of the novel campaigning for the admittance of his native friend Dr Veraswami, met with much objection. Orwell shines a light on the injustices of British colonialism in Burma, heavily inspired by his own time stationed there as an officer and consequently this is a novel full of exploitation and racism. 

Though Orwell’s motives are to critique colonialism and the racist system of power in place, I don’t think it was done in the greatest of ways. Women are extremely sexualised and Orwell uses the N-word what must be upwards of 50 times and yet there are occasions where ‘fuck’ is censored to ‘f——‘. The line therefore becomes a little blurred between what is a point of criticism that Orwell is highlighting his opposition to and what is problematic writing, especially knowing his track record in the writing of female characters. 

Beyond the problematic elements, the plot was just fine. Flory’s relationship with Elizabeth had no real grounding and the love between them is practically non-existent. It is a very fractured and distracted relationship in terms of the plot but also it was just generally unconvincing. A greater issue is that absolutely none of the characters were likeable. Every last one was a douchebag to some extent and I wasn’t rooting for any of them, protagonists or antagonist, which left me as a reader with no idea where I stood in relation to the novel. 

‘Burmese Days’ was far from my favourite of Orwell’s works and having now read all of his six novels, to only say I enjoyed three of them (though two are some of my favourite books ever) is not overly convincing for the man I consider to be my favourite author.
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A Brief History Of Time: From The Big Bang To Black Holes by Stephen Hawking

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informative medium-paced

2.0

“The world is really just a flat plate on the back of a tortoise… But it’s turtles all the way down” 

Stephen Hawking’s ‘The Brief History of Time’ is an accessible access point to physics, explaining black holes, stars and the birth of the universe. I say accessible, it is supposed to be and can tell for most it absolutely would be but my brain is really not geared to science and for the most part it went straight over my head. The few areas I did understand were quite interesting though. There were also moments of humour that I appreciated, especially a book on particles being written by Alpha and Beta and co-authored by a guy who had a name similar to Gamma just for the jokes. Hawking also did a great job of discussing religion in an ambivalent way, his scientific theories neither confirming or denying it. 

My rating is by no means reflective of the books authorial style or value, it just was far too clever for me and I didn’t understand much of it. Its theme really just wasn’t particularly within my interests either.
Poetics by Aristotle

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informative slow-paced

2.25

“The function of the poet is not to say what has happened, but to say the kind of thing that would happen”

This is now the third time I have read Aristotle’s ‘Poetics’ for my degree (though my first time logging and reviewing it because this time I took a physical copy of it out of the library and hence was a book in my hands), and despite having hope for the idea of ‘third times the charm’ my experience was unfortunately no different. In ‘Poetics’ Aristotle compiles the key elements of what he deems makes up a Tragedy, and this has since been seen as a manual on how to write tragedy despite it being written afterward much Greek Tragedy, therefore the early plays were never complying to Aristotle’s ideas. He praises Homer endlessly as almost an infallible poet and other playwrights and poets are relegated to trying to match his work and always failing, and whilst Homer was brilliant this does seem quite harsh. It did however make me a little saddened reading Aristotle’s many examples of plays, plots and characters to back up his points and myself frequently not recognising them, only to quickly google and realise how much has been lost to the sands of time, living only in these references to the works.