Quote:
Originally Posted by DiapDealer
A talented author--no doubt. But wow! That's some of the darkest, foulest, bleakest, misanthropic stuff I've ever read. Not a single redeemable character; not a single ray of sunshine to be found. This was not a thriller set aboard a whaling vessel. It was not "Jack London on Crack." It was Black. Pitch. Freaking. Black.
Don't get me wrong: "Black" may have been exactly what the author was going for. Kudos if so--he nailed it. And he didn't do anything "wrong" (in fact I think his command of the language is vast). He just wrote a story that I couldn't take anything positive away from for myself. That doesn't happen very often.
Perhaps the Man Booker judges will love it. Good on Mr. McGuire, if so.
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According to the review in the NYT BR -- that was exactly what he was aiming for -- and why it made the Booker list -- I am a huge fan of historical novels with Arctic/Antarctic/polar/whaling settings -- but I could go no further than the 'shipwreck' scene.