Jerusalem

by Alan Moore

Unbound

About the author

Alan Moore is an English writer most famous for his influential work in comics, including the acclaimed graphic novels Watchmen, V for Vendetta and From Hell. He has also written a novel, Voice of the Fire, and performs "workings" (one-off performance art/spoken word pieces) with The Moon and Serpent Grand Egyptian Theatre of Marvels, some of which have been released on CD.

As a comics writer, Moore is notable for being one of the first writers to apply literary and formalist sensibilities to the mainstream of the medium. As well as including challenging subject matter and adult themes, he brings a wide range of influences to his work, from the literary–authors such as William S. Burroughs, Thomas Pynchon, Robert Anton Wilson and Iain Sinclair; New Wave science fiction writers such as Michael Moorcock; horror writers such as Clive Barker; to the cinematic–filmmakers such as Nicolas Roeg. Influences within comics include Will Eisner, Harvey Kurtzman, Jack Kirby and Bryan Talbot.

Reviews

[Chris Chanona · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Brilliant book. I read/heard an unabridged Audible version which was 60 hours long and brilliantly read by Simon Vance.

I found I sometimes drifted away from listening then found I was intensely listening to other parts. The chapters where Alma Warren appeared were my favourites but I also enjoyed the history of the Boroughs, in Northampton. The chapter featuring a slightly ‘mad’ and dead John Clare talking to dead Bunyan and a dead Samuel Beckett was entertaining.

The scope of this book is wondrous and hard to describe but very enjoyable.

[Benoit Lelièvre · Rating 4 out of 5]

The closest thing I can compare it to is Ulysses, by James Joyce.

I'm aware this is a melodramatic claim, but I mean it in a sense that they're both wonderfully well-written and more concerned about breaking self-limiting perceptions about art and other things than it is about telling a straightforward story. I mean, it's cool. You need a novel like that every 50 years or so and Jerusalem is that for our time. So what it is about? Well, it's difficult to say. I would say it's about how immaterial reality affects material reality and how these two planes are just as real. It's told (mostly) as the history of Moore's hometown of Northampton and through two characters who are brother and sister: Mick and Alma Warren. You don't follow them for a lot of the novel, but you kind of have to read it to understand.

Jerusalem is also really three novels: The Boroughs (the history of the place or genetic mythology as Moore puts it), Mansoul (kind of like Peter Pan on LSD) and Vernall's Inquest (where Moore makes his more cerebral points about language and reality). I know it's one novel and those fold intricately into one another, but it's also three novels if you want it to be. Solve et Coagula. If you know, you know. Is it a mandatory read? Absolutely not, even if you're an Alan Moore completist. We're not in Infinite Jest territory here. Am I happy that I read it? Yes. Even thought it seems to have sold well, I doubt even half of the people who bought the book have actually read it. It's that demanding.

Also, I would highly suggest watching Wisecrack's YouTube video called "The Philosophy of Alan Moore" before reading Jerusalem. It gives you a proper canvas to understand what the hell is going on.

[Louise Fincham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jerusalem took Alan Moore ten years to write. It took me a month, since I have been virtually bed ridden after surgery. It is an extraordinary magnificent novel filled with Moore‘s great wealth of knowledge and learning. Read it on a kindle with instant access to AI because you are constantly looking up words, concepts, famous people, historical concepts. It is above all else a love story to the boroughs of Northampton, a slum which is Moore‘s Jerusalem. “everywhere’s Jerusalem, everywhere trampled or run down.” You cannot compare this novel to any others, stylistically or otherwise. I suspect that it will forge a new path for 21st century novelists. Read it, don’t be intimidated by it, finish it. It’s not an easy read, but it is filled with many glorious comic moments. I suspect that if I live long enough I will read it again. I hope that I do. “Sooner or later all the people and the places that we loved are finished, and the only way to keep them safe is art. That’s what art’s for. It rescues everything from time.”

[Kenneth MacMaster · Rating 2 out of 5]

Abandoned 200 pages in. He writes well and the scenes are all interesting. But I got annoyed not following up with any characters we’ve already met. The thing where you see one of them for half a scene at the end of the chapter just wasn’t doing it for me. Not interested enough in the city character to follow through.

[Franka · Rating 5 out of 5]

My desert island book, discovered finally at this late stage of my life. Thank you Tamara and others for recommending it. It is so odd to put a "Date Finished" on this review because the first thing I did when I finished this very, very long book was to start again. This is a lifetime read. Strong, strong recommend, but buckle in for a very strange ride.

[Amanda Frost · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing, thought provoking book that I know I'm going to want to re-read. Don't be put off by it's size, it's well worth the investment of your time and energy to dive in to this surreal and epic tale of Northampton's past and present.

[William Hayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bonkers in a Sagrada Familia sort of way.

Is it just bonkers or is it genius writing or a bit of both?

[Wade · Rating 5 out of 5]

This worked a hell of a lot better with "The Hashish and Superiority Book Club" than Fall did. I don't think I would have had nearly as much fun with it on my own.

[Asdf · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of the greatest written works of the 2010s at the least