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Ocellus
A Geordie sketchbook featuring time travel, reincarnation and the entire history of Newcastle-upon-Tyne from Roman to present day. There is a mythology inherent in regions with a strong cultural identity, none more so than North East England, where the fabulous exists alongside the mundane and both are treated with a dispassion born of having seen it all before. The world was invented here, and it started with the first bridge, Pons Aelius, over the Tyne. Merging historical fact with picturesque invention and involving notable names, perilous deeds and fantastical undertakings, Ocellus is a unique mix of all things weird and wordy that boasts both supernatural elements and everyday machinations, served up on a plate of local manners with a good dollop of humour, metaphysics and poetry.
334 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 14, 2014
Won this on a Goodreads giveaway.
I'm rather torn by this book. There were times when I got really engrossed in a chapter as the writing was descriptive and elegant and the story compelling and engrossing. However this never seemed to last for more than a chapter or two then the book would be thrown back to alternating between numerous different years a paragraph or two at a time, which I just couldn't follow no matter how good the writing. I get that the basic story is that we follow a small number of time-travellers as they jump from one era to the next but the short sharp leaps were too much for me and I just got completely lost every time this happened. I also struggled to see the connecting threads between the different time-travellers other than the fact that they're all from the same area. Now don't get me wrong the writing was superb and the detail the author gets into his chapters/paragraphs of the years visited is incredible and really brings the time to life. And had I been able to follow develops better, I'm sure the characters would be just as well written but the style and layout just wasn't for me. I'm sure that some readers would love this but for me the lack of a coherent story and all the jumping around was too much, too confusing and left me utterly disconnected from the story and its characters.
I'm rather torn by this book. There were times when I got really engrossed in a chapter as the writing was descriptive and elegant and the story compelling and engrossing. However this never seemed to last for more than a chapter or two then the book would be thrown back to alternating between numerous different years a paragraph or two at a time, which I just couldn't follow no matter how good the writing. I get that the basic story is that we follow a small number of time-travellers as they jump from one era to the next but the short sharp leaps were too much for me and I just got completely lost every time this happened. I also struggled to see the connecting threads between the different time-travellers other than the fact that they're all from the same area. Now don't get me wrong the writing was superb and the detail the author gets into his chapters/paragraphs of the years visited is incredible and really brings the time to life. And had I been able to follow develops better, I'm sure the characters would be just as well written but the style and layout just wasn't for me. I'm sure that some readers would love this but for me the lack of a coherent story and all the jumping around was too much, too confusing and left me utterly disconnected from the story and its characters.
December 21, 2014
"Time travel, reincarnation and the entire history of Newcastle-upon-Tyne from Roman to present day."
This line, and a vague family connection to Tyneside, were enough to tempt me to apply for a copy of this book as a Firstreads Giveaway.
On reading the first few pages two things were immediately apparent. Firstly the writing is exceptionally well crafted, in places it almost reads as poetry. Secondly this is a book which very much pushes the boundaries of the form of writing known as a novel.
Although this is not necessarily a bad thing I have to say that I found it a struggle to make sense of what was going on as the action moved from one century to another every page or two; and sometimes even more frequently than that. Whilst each episode was well written in itself there was little sense of them contributing to a coherent whole.
Having now read two-thirds of the book it feels as if I am developing some sense of wholeness in this literary work. I suspect that I might have got on better with it had I been able to settle down and really get stuck into it. Unfortunately the constraints of work and family life mean that I have only been able to read few pages at a time.
Overall I have to say that I have found this book hard work but I say this conscious that the fault lies in myself as a reader as much as in the work. I am sure that there will be other readers who will revel in the literary inventiveness which I recognise but ultimately have struggled with.
Very unusually I am writing this review now despite not having yet finished the book. I do this simply because I fear that, although I have every intention of reading the rest of the book, it may have toput on the back burner for a while. I may come back and add to this review once I have finished reading the whole book.
This line, and a vague family connection to Tyneside, were enough to tempt me to apply for a copy of this book as a Firstreads Giveaway.
On reading the first few pages two things were immediately apparent. Firstly the writing is exceptionally well crafted, in places it almost reads as poetry. Secondly this is a book which very much pushes the boundaries of the form of writing known as a novel.
Although this is not necessarily a bad thing I have to say that I found it a struggle to make sense of what was going on as the action moved from one century to another every page or two; and sometimes even more frequently than that. Whilst each episode was well written in itself there was little sense of them contributing to a coherent whole.
Having now read two-thirds of the book it feels as if I am developing some sense of wholeness in this literary work. I suspect that I might have got on better with it had I been able to settle down and really get stuck into it. Unfortunately the constraints of work and family life mean that I have only been able to read few pages at a time.
Overall I have to say that I have found this book hard work but I say this conscious that the fault lies in myself as a reader as much as in the work. I am sure that there will be other readers who will revel in the literary inventiveness which I recognise but ultimately have struggled with.
Very unusually I am writing this review now despite not having yet finished the book. I do this simply because I fear that, although I have every intention of reading the rest of the book, it may have toput on the back burner for a while. I may come back and add to this review once I have finished reading the whole book.
April 1, 2013
A quirky book received as a Good Reads giveaway and not my normal type of read. I was intrigued by the idea of a book about time travel centred around Newcastle upon Tyne, so thought I would give it a go. As a former literature student who had to read a lot of history for context, I used the concept of time travel to imagine myself immersed in the environment I which the literature was created (in my case medieval Wales) and this book has that same feel to it I that it is immersive and observational. However it lacks a compelling narrative thread which means that although many of the little vignettes work well individually, it doesn't work as a whole. It is a book to be dipped into, not read in one sitting, and the writing is fluent and confident. I would have liked to have seen some more character development - difficult I know in a book where time is non-linear. After finishing the book, I saw on the inner title page that its subtitle was "Geordie sketchbook" which made a lot more sense as it feels like an artist's sketchbook of ideas more than a novel in the traditional sense.
January 18, 2013
They say don't judge a book by its cover but unfortunately first impressions do count and this books was a long way from satisfactory. The front cover, which is stretched and blurred is a big turn off.
I was looking forward to reading this book after winning it on one of the Goodreads competitions as the blurb seemed like my sort of thing. It wasn't.
It may just be me, but i felt that the author was trying to hard to dazzle the reader with his poetic sentences and overly complicated language.
I wanted to like it, I just didn't.
I was looking forward to reading this book after winning it on one of the Goodreads competitions as the blurb seemed like my sort of thing. It wasn't.
It may just be me, but i felt that the author was trying to hard to dazzle the reader with his poetic sentences and overly complicated language.
I wanted to like it, I just didn't.
March 11, 2013
Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book for reviewing purposes.
This was an interesting read. It may not be in many peoples tastes but I must admit I was able to finish it quite easily and found it enjoyable. The book could use a bit more editing in some areas but all in all I liked it.
This was an interesting read. It may not be in many peoples tastes but I must admit I was able to finish it quite easily and found it enjoyable. The book could use a bit more editing in some areas but all in all I liked it.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews