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Chalk
Andrew Waggoner has always hung around with the losers in his school, desperately hoping each day that the school bullies — led by Drake — will pass by him in search of other prey. But one day they force him into the woods, and the bullying escalates into something more; something unforgivable; something unthinkable.
Broken, both physically and emotionally, something dies in Waggoner, and something else is born in its place.
In the hills of the West Country a chalk horse stands vigil over a site of ancient power, and there Waggoner finds in himself a reflection of rage and vengeance, a power and persona to topple those who would bring him low.
Paul Cornell plumbs the depths of magic and despair in this brutal exploration of bullying in Margaret Thatcher's England.
Broken, both physically and emotionally, something dies in Waggoner, and something else is born in its place.
In the hills of the West Country a chalk horse stands vigil over a site of ancient power, and there Waggoner finds in himself a reflection of rage and vengeance, a power and persona to topple those who would bring him low.
Paul Cornell plumbs the depths of magic and despair in this brutal exploration of bullying in Margaret Thatcher's England.
272 pages, Paperback
First published April 18, 2017
67 people are currently reading
1615 people want to read
About the author
Paul Cornell
616 books1,501 followersPaul Cornell is a British writer of science fiction and fantasy prose, comics and television. He's been Hugo Award-nominated for all three media, and has won the BSFA Award for his short fiction, and the Eagle Award for his comics. He's the writer of Saucer Country for Vertigo, Demon Knights for DC, and has written for the Doctor Who TV series. His new urban fantasy novel is London Falling, out from Tor on December 6th.
via Wikipedia @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Cor...
via Wikipedia @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Cor...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 125 reviews
August 8, 2017
So um. This was messed up Like, The Wasp Factory level disturbing. These two books share a lot of similarities- mainly all the emotionally detached murder, isolation and themes of genital mutilation. o.0 Yeah.
Please excuse me while I go read a My Little Pony book or something. My brain feels traumatised.
Please excuse me while I go read a My Little Pony book or something. My brain feels traumatised.
March 28, 2017
Chalk by Paul Cornell is one of those books that causes a struggle within the reader as to if the entertainment value overcomes the brutal and horrific events that are depicted in the story. Chalk is a story of extreme bullying, where the main character is physically altered by the bullies with a knife. The rest of the story becomes a revenge story that is very reminiscent of Carrie by Stephen King but only with a young male in Britain. I want to mention that this takes place in the countryside of Britain during the 1980s because it is a very British story that uses a lot of British slang and terminology. I was definitely out of my depth at times during this story with the language used. I don't feel that this took away from the story but needs to get used to.
Paul Cornell writes a very brutal and honest story that connects with the reader because it is something so personal happening to the character. I know there are many readers that have been bullied as a child find reading about bullying to be cathartic, like myself, while others really hate reading these type of stories. The revenge aspect has a mystical entity that looks like the main character, Drew Waggoner, and as the story progresses, and Drew gets his revenge, which is actual murder(a definite possible trigger for some people), we find that the entity might have his own desires in mind.
This story is very 80s. Cornell is pulling a lot from his own childhood and pop music is actually a big part of the story. There is a young girl that believes that the pop music is giving her messages and telling her the future. At times I found this aspect of the story to be charming while other times I thought it was focused on too much. Drew is a writer in this story and we get many examples of him using his writing to make sense of his own world. At times, because Drew is a writer, he is definitely an unreliable narrator.
This story was definitely unforgettable. If you like horror and are alright with this murderous revenge type of story, it is for you. If you have strong political views on school shootings and things like that where bullying might have been the cause, this can be disturbing. I was at times very disturbed while other times extremely engrossed in the story. I think that as a horror story, it succeeded in making me uncomfortable. I am still not sold on Paul Cornell's writing style. Cornell writes very sparse sentences that just sometimes don't work for me. Chalk gets a little too busy and muddy towards the end of the story. We don't get a whole lot of explanations about what is going on and the reader must infer a lot. Regardless, this was a decent horror story about bullying that created a response from me.
Paul Cornell writes a very brutal and honest story that connects with the reader because it is something so personal happening to the character. I know there are many readers that have been bullied as a child find reading about bullying to be cathartic, like myself, while others really hate reading these type of stories. The revenge aspect has a mystical entity that looks like the main character, Drew Waggoner, and as the story progresses, and Drew gets his revenge, which is actual murder(a definite possible trigger for some people), we find that the entity might have his own desires in mind.
This story is very 80s. Cornell is pulling a lot from his own childhood and pop music is actually a big part of the story. There is a young girl that believes that the pop music is giving her messages and telling her the future. At times I found this aspect of the story to be charming while other times I thought it was focused on too much. Drew is a writer in this story and we get many examples of him using his writing to make sense of his own world. At times, because Drew is a writer, he is definitely an unreliable narrator.
This story was definitely unforgettable. If you like horror and are alright with this murderous revenge type of story, it is for you. If you have strong political views on school shootings and things like that where bullying might have been the cause, this can be disturbing. I was at times very disturbed while other times extremely engrossed in the story. I think that as a horror story, it succeeded in making me uncomfortable. I am still not sold on Paul Cornell's writing style. Cornell writes very sparse sentences that just sometimes don't work for me. Chalk gets a little too busy and muddy towards the end of the story. We don't get a whole lot of explanations about what is going on and the reader must infer a lot. Regardless, this was a decent horror story about bullying that created a response from me.
July 2, 2018
Didn't work for me.
I see the bones of a powerful story. Bullying. The magic of the chalk.
Then I see the compulsion to jam in far too many references to pop music.
Then the idea of the semi-invisible friend, and Weird Louise, and Compulsion Angie, ...
It felt to me as if this is where Cornell said, "This isn't working," and got out his book on surrealism and a bag of magic mushrooms and went to town.
I guess it comes down to how you read a certain scene.
I know, I know, unreliable narrator, maybe all this is inside A1's head, etc. etc. Pfui.
For me, the above scene is where you barely restrain the urge to fling the book across the room. Your mileage may vary.
I am not sure why I finished this. Let's just say that the ending didn't regain it any marks.
I don't like anyone's magic realism / surrealism and I read a lot more SF/F than mainstream, so I am perhaps not the right reader for this book. I had no trouble with The Ocean At The End Of The Lane, a lot of trouble with this. Hm.
I see the bones of a powerful story. Bullying. The magic of the chalk.
Then I see the compulsion to jam in far too many references to pop music.
Then the idea of the semi-invisible friend, and Weird Louise, and Compulsion Angie, ...
It felt to me as if this is where Cornell said, "This isn't working," and got out his book on surrealism and a bag of magic mushrooms and went to town.
I guess it comes down to how you read a certain scene.
I know, I know, unreliable narrator, maybe all this is inside A1's head, etc. etc. Pfui.
For me, the above scene is where you barely restrain the urge to fling the book across the room. Your mileage may vary.
I am not sure why I finished this. Let's just say that the ending didn't regain it any marks.
I don't like anyone's magic realism / surrealism and I read a lot more SF/F than mainstream, so I am perhaps not the right reader for this book. I had no trouble with The Ocean At The End Of The Lane, a lot of trouble with this. Hm.
April 17, 2017
Received to review via Netgalley; publication date 21st March 2017
I don’t quite know how to rate this, because it’s not much my thing. It’s a bit too close to horror, it’s so grim, and the teenage boy fixation with sex was, well, rather beyond my experience or anything I’m interested in. Bullying I know well, and Cornell captures it wonderfully — but I can’t say beautifully, because who could call that beautiful? The magic is weird and wondrous and I do enjoy the way it’s tied in with history and the landscape.
I was less interested or convinced by Angie’s pop music magic; it felt very thin indeed, almost just a way to give her more of a role in the story without it feeling organic. But the main character’s ambivalence to her, the people around him, the great big revenge that’s happened because he wanted it — that feels real.
I can’t say I enjoyed this, and I can’t say I’d read it again, but nor would I urge someone not to read it. It’s definitely powerful, and I had to read to the end, even though I found aspects of it distasteful (I suspect I was intended to).
Originally reviewed for my blog.
I don’t quite know how to rate this, because it’s not much my thing. It’s a bit too close to horror, it’s so grim, and the teenage boy fixation with sex was, well, rather beyond my experience or anything I’m interested in. Bullying I know well, and Cornell captures it wonderfully — but I can’t say beautifully, because who could call that beautiful? The magic is weird and wondrous and I do enjoy the way it’s tied in with history and the landscape.
I was less interested or convinced by Angie’s pop music magic; it felt very thin indeed, almost just a way to give her more of a role in the story without it feeling organic. But the main character’s ambivalence to her, the people around him, the great big revenge that’s happened because he wanted it — that feels real.
I can’t say I enjoyed this, and I can’t say I’d read it again, but nor would I urge someone not to read it. It’s definitely powerful, and I had to read to the end, even though I found aspects of it distasteful (I suspect I was intended to).
Originally reviewed for my blog.
July 20, 2017
It's a great read. I'm not usually one for paranormal stories, but this one blends it in so fluidly, almost under the radar, to the point that it actually felt natural. Andrews's story of revenge is cold and calculating at times, brutal at others. If you enjoy the more graphic depictions you should enjoy this. It's not extreme, but enough. I thoroughly enjoyed Paul Cornell's Chalk.
Read
March 23, 2017Paul Cornell's latest novel opens with a horrific scene of bullying gone too far (as if it's not always too far, but you know what I mean - the point when the everyday shittiness descends to a whole other level), which by taking place in a particular spot of Wiltshire countryside enables a subterranean vein of folk horror to erupt into the Byzantine hierarchies and ritual (mis)behaviours of a 1980s English schoolyard. And having negotiated that terrain not so many years later, while dreading double games every bit as much as protagonist Andrew Waggoner, I can confirm that Cornell has the flavour of it down perfectly. The boundedness of allowed behaviour, the impossibility of knowing the right answer to a cooler kid's question, the cagey conversations where you carefully don't reveal your hand while working out which bands it was OK to like - all painfully familiar. Even the supernatural elements are left carefully subtle, such that it's never 100% clear whether there's anything genuinely occult happening outside the shared follies of certain damaged kids, or whether the sense of the school getting weirder, darker, more savage is just the combination of pupil deaths, mock exams and pubescent group psychology. In particular, there's a scene involving lightning which took me right back to one lunchtime with a dry thunderstorm, when we all spontaneously took up the same wordless chant, and the dinner ladies were getting increasingly unnerved by it but so were we...
This book is self-contained, but coming right after the Shadow Police and Lychford books I was going to say Cornell is a very dark novelist these days. However, looking back, my first encounter with his work had the Fifth Doctor crucified on the brainstem of the Time Lord's internal world for no greater crime than a perceived lack of commitment to the fight; I suspect Happy Endings and Cornell's affable manner in person have skewed my memory of what, overall, has always been quite a tortured oeuvre. And he's said Chalk is "the heart of all my work". I wouldn't like to speculate as to exactly how autobiographical it is, but certainly the scenes of bullies in the woods recall at least in outline a formative incident in his own life which he recounted in Behind the Sofa. The point is, this is clearly a very personal story, and perhaps because Cornell's a christian, also ultimately a story of forgiveness. Now, of course I'm not entirely against forgiveness; on the macro level, Northern Ireland is a better result than Bosnia, and on the personal level, holding transgressions against basically decent people is a colossal waste of time, potential, and emotional energy. But when it comes to shits like the bullies here, I really don't see any virtue in forgiving them, and I remain slightly unconvinced by the extent to which Cornell has to stack the deck against Waggoner getting his own back by making his vengeful self both supernaturally dangerous and socially unpleasant. It's not untrue, it's not even quite clumsily didactic, but I did still feel slightly preached at, and unconvinced that the ending had the requisite emotional heft (though obviously part of that may constitute deliberate abnegation). Though in fairness, he's certainly not banging on about Jesus here either; the bulwark against the dark forces is a far more reliable faith, namely pop music. Though I pity anyone attempting this particular sort of phonomancy now the charts have been Sheeraned, I can confirm that hearing too many Number Ones in uninterrupted succession is a profoundly numinous experience.
This book is self-contained, but coming right after the Shadow Police and Lychford books I was going to say Cornell is a very dark novelist these days. However, looking back, my first encounter with his work had the Fifth Doctor crucified on the brainstem of the Time Lord's internal world for no greater crime than a perceived lack of commitment to the fight; I suspect Happy Endings and Cornell's affable manner in person have skewed my memory of what, overall, has always been quite a tortured oeuvre. And he's said Chalk is "the heart of all my work". I wouldn't like to speculate as to exactly how autobiographical it is, but certainly the scenes of bullies in the woods recall at least in outline a formative incident in his own life which he recounted in Behind the Sofa. The point is, this is clearly a very personal story, and perhaps because Cornell's a christian, also ultimately a story of forgiveness. Now, of course I'm not entirely against forgiveness; on the macro level, Northern Ireland is a better result than Bosnia, and on the personal level, holding transgressions against basically decent people is a colossal waste of time, potential, and emotional energy. But when it comes to shits like the bullies here, I really don't see any virtue in forgiving them, and I remain slightly unconvinced by the extent to which Cornell has to stack the deck against Waggoner getting his own back by making his vengeful self both supernaturally dangerous and socially unpleasant. It's not untrue, it's not even quite clumsily didactic, but I did still feel slightly preached at, and unconvinced that the ending had the requisite emotional heft (though obviously part of that may constitute deliberate abnegation). Though in fairness, he's certainly not banging on about Jesus here either; the bulwark against the dark forces is a far more reliable faith, namely pop music. Though I pity anyone attempting this particular sort of phonomancy now the charts have been Sheeraned, I can confirm that hearing too many Number Ones in uninterrupted succession is a profoundly numinous experience.
April 7, 2017
Full review: A Bohemian Mind at Work
Paul Cornell's latest dark fantasy novel focuses its spotlight on a little town where chalk soil is a natural occurrence. Here, the lives of a handful of teenagers raised in Margaret Thatcher's England change forever due to a cruel turn of fate.
As Paul Cornell has described his work during the cover reveal on TOR.com, he doesn't expect us to enjoy Chalk. I assure you, sir, I haven't enjoyed this book. I have cringed, wanted to throw up, tried reading romantic comedy to forget what I have read. Nothing helped. Nothing.
After a week, I am glad I didn't forget. Chalk got to me with its graphic details, lack of emotion from the victim who later becomes the monster he wanted to run from, and an unexpectedly feel-good ending. Especially the ending was something that threw me off the track. Who could imagine a book that begins like that would end like this. Oh, right, you wouldn't know about the this or that.
I don't know how to express my opinion on this one. The writing is brutally honest. I liked the way he built up the intrigue by describing the then class system from the below line:
It's like the British class system is a magnetic field, and moving a conductor through it produces current.
The background of each key character, their families, and their financial and social status is clear and timely provided. The relationship dynamics between parents and children, students and teachers, and classmates, is a major part of the novel.
The atmosphere, the location, and the characters were vivid and appropriate for the storyline. I appreciate (now, after a week) the clarity of narration. I did wish in almost every page after the trigger event that he had toned down a bit, or I had thrown the book away, but I was reading from a Kindle app on my phone. I couldn't stop. After the last page, I realized it was over. The book, and my feeling of nausea. Yes, the author has some dark magic of his own.
Magic reminds me, the Waggoner and the Waggoner strongly felt like a case of split personality, especially when the narrator describes the birth of Waggoner version 2.
He was born outside my window, looking at me. That night on the downs, he was baptized into his own self.
This book felt more like a literary fiction than fantasy. I couldn't think about magic for most of the book before Angie, and her music came along. I am not that accustomed to western music, so I found it difficult to understand the significance of each song. I had to use Google, and I am glad I did. Angie's use of music to bring a positive influence in other's lives like 'healing' Drake (the original bully) or rescue Elaine from Waggoner's bullying reminded me of the famous Dumbledore quote, one of my favorites:
"Ah, music"..."A magic beyond all we do here."
As promised in the blurb, the author did not try to justify Waggoner's blood lust in the name of revenge.
I have tried my best to keep this review spoiler free. Hope I didn't give away too much.
Thank you Macmillan-Tor/Forge and NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
My recommendation
Honestly, I couldn't make up my mind. My prejudices almost forced me to bury my phone deep down under the storage boxes. I took a week to decide on the rating. Don't judge me if you think otherwise, but I offer this book Four Bohostars.
Paul Cornell's latest dark fantasy novel focuses its spotlight on a little town where chalk soil is a natural occurrence. Here, the lives of a handful of teenagers raised in Margaret Thatcher's England change forever due to a cruel turn of fate.
As Paul Cornell has described his work during the cover reveal on TOR.com, he doesn't expect us to enjoy Chalk. I assure you, sir, I haven't enjoyed this book. I have cringed, wanted to throw up, tried reading romantic comedy to forget what I have read. Nothing helped. Nothing.
After a week, I am glad I didn't forget. Chalk got to me with its graphic details, lack of emotion from the victim who later becomes the monster he wanted to run from, and an unexpectedly feel-good ending. Especially the ending was something that threw me off the track. Who could imagine a book that begins like that would end like this. Oh, right, you wouldn't know about the this or that.
I don't know how to express my opinion on this one. The writing is brutally honest. I liked the way he built up the intrigue by describing the then class system from the below line:
It's like the British class system is a magnetic field, and moving a conductor through it produces current.
The background of each key character, their families, and their financial and social status is clear and timely provided. The relationship dynamics between parents and children, students and teachers, and classmates, is a major part of the novel.
The atmosphere, the location, and the characters were vivid and appropriate for the storyline. I appreciate (now, after a week) the clarity of narration. I did wish in almost every page after the trigger event that he had toned down a bit, or I had thrown the book away, but I was reading from a Kindle app on my phone. I couldn't stop. After the last page, I realized it was over. The book, and my feeling of nausea. Yes, the author has some dark magic of his own.
Magic reminds me, the Waggoner and the Waggoner strongly felt like a case of split personality, especially when the narrator describes the birth of Waggoner version 2.
He was born outside my window, looking at me. That night on the downs, he was baptized into his own self.
This book felt more like a literary fiction than fantasy. I couldn't think about magic for most of the book before Angie, and her music came along. I am not that accustomed to western music, so I found it difficult to understand the significance of each song. I had to use Google, and I am glad I did. Angie's use of music to bring a positive influence in other's lives like 'healing' Drake (the original bully) or rescue Elaine from Waggoner's bullying reminded me of the famous Dumbledore quote, one of my favorites:
"Ah, music"..."A magic beyond all we do here."
As promised in the blurb, the author did not try to justify Waggoner's blood lust in the name of revenge.
I have tried my best to keep this review spoiler free. Hope I didn't give away too much.
Thank you Macmillan-Tor/Forge and NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
My recommendation
Honestly, I couldn't make up my mind. My prejudices almost forced me to bury my phone deep down under the storage boxes. I took a week to decide on the rating. Don't judge me if you think otherwise, but I offer this book Four Bohostars.
November 29, 2017
Gah. What did I read??!
I was really anticipated to read this as the blurb sounded promising. Revenge? Fantasy against Bullying? Join Me. That's why I took this book and read. But it's not good. I did NOT like it.
The writing was very weird and blunt but sometimes it was good. Only sometimes. Andrew Waggoner after getting bullied by Drake and his lot so brutally both physically and mentally, turned up to an ancient site of power where another being is born who is unnatural and paranormal. What happens next forms the plot. The book was set in late 80s and was full of references of the pop artists of that time. It was hard to get into it.
On the whole, I wasted my time reading it.
I was really anticipated to read this as the blurb sounded promising. Revenge? Fantasy against Bullying? Join Me. That's why I took this book and read. But it's not good. I did NOT like it.
The writing was very weird and blunt but sometimes it was good. Only sometimes. Andrew Waggoner after getting bullied by Drake and his lot so brutally both physically and mentally, turned up to an ancient site of power where another being is born who is unnatural and paranormal. What happens next forms the plot. The book was set in late 80s and was full of references of the pop artists of that time. It was hard to get into it.
On the whole, I wasted my time reading it.
April 23, 2017
This one was a pleasant surprise. Just when I thought I know where it was going, BAM! It wasn't what I thought at all. It's fantastic when you finds a book that turns your expectations on their ear. It hit a lot of my sweet spots:
1. It's British. Very British.
2. The horror is unabashedly so.
3. It's set in a school in the 80s and the music plays an important role.
4. The history and lore of the setting is used to great effect.
Highly recommended.
1. It's British. Very British.
2. The horror is unabashedly so.
3. It's set in a school in the 80s and the music plays an important role.
4. The history and lore of the setting is used to great effect.
Highly recommended.
March 20, 2017
I'm grateful to the publisher for an advance e-copy of this book via NetGalley.
This was one of those rare books that stopped me in my tracks. At times not an easy read, I felt it spoke to me, making the story involving, in places painful, but above all, personal.
I should explain that at school in the late 70s/ early 80s I was bullied quite a bit (not as badly as Andrew in this book though!) I was a bit swotty and not a mixer, so within a few pages, I identified strongly with Andrew Waggoner.
He's an ordinary boy for the time: into Doctor Who, not sporty, a bit shy, trying to avoid the school bullies, with mixed success.
Then one evening - something happens. I was frankly gobsmacked by the place that Cornell goes to at this point. I won't give away what happens but it's no exaggeration to say everything changes for Andrew. The book really begins to fly at this point and describes what happens to him over the next year.
It's a taut, claustrophobic story that drops hints of a haunted landscape, of reservoirs of power and above all, explores a deep, pent-up urge for revenge, denied over centuries until fertilised by blood, rage and fear. Andrew seem to have become the vessel for that revenge - which also promises to pay his enemies back for what they did. The chosen tool is a second Andrew - always referred to simply as "Waggoner" - a creature who, or which, has an epiphany at the old hillfort and sets in motion a plan...
We're never quite sure - nor, I think, meant to be - whether Waggoner is "real" (and some kind of supernatural presence) or a projection of Andrew's rage. Waggoner firmly denies that he comes from Andrew's mind, yet others perceive them as one. Waggoner seems though to have motivations and a confidence that are very distinct form Andrew's. Indeed, they struggle and disagree, and this tension animates much of the story as, in that year, friendships are made and broken, pretended to and refused: as Andrew, very tentatively, becomes close to a girl (Waggoner warns him off): but above all, as the chalk patterns of vengeance spiral round and begin to grip the school.
I loved - if you can use the word for such a dark book - the way Cornell blends the different realities in this story. There is the world of the almost-adults in the school. Awful acts of bullying take place only a hairsbreadth away from adults who surely must know about them, surely ought to intervene, but don't - the curious world of the adults, with their own problems, of money, ageing and memories - seems quite separate place, even if it occupies the same space. The two run in parallel, rarely intersecting - so for example Andrew can't report what happened to him, the "obvious" way out of his nightmare. I wonder whether the need, the desire, to read (and to write) fantasy taps into this double universe? We all know in our bones that there isn't one world but many, and exploring that through fantasy is less painful than facing it directly? It's as if everyone has fallen into another kingdom with different rules. In a sense that seems no more unlikely than an ancient tribe living behind a thin veil in a real hillfort... or a twin created for a dark and secret purpose. I could relate to this.
But it's not just Cornell's themes that resonated with me in this book. More than in anything else by him that I've read, he describes the world as I saw it at that same time.
The white line (you'll know it when you get to it!).
The whole, arcane, teenage world of things that you aren't allowed to like and things that you must -
Andrew anxiously runs through the current pop hits, desperate not to betray himself by liking, even by knowing about, the wrong things. Or, forced to pass an initiation test, he fails on banal questions about football managers.
In other places he rages about not following sport or music because it's what the other kids are into. In a third rate private school out on the chalk of Wiltshire, deviance is severely punished by the other kids - but a certain sort of boy or girl wants to be deviant.
But what if you could punish them? I recognised this thirst for revenge too - and part of me cheered Waggoner on as he delivers it (in gruesome detail. Really. Gruesome.) Yet my unease also grew. It seems more and more likely there will be collateral damage, that innocents will be drawn in... It's an electrifying read, involving, harrowing and utterly compulsive.
I'd warn the reader that you may find - well I found - bits of this book difficult. There were times I had to put it down and breathe calmly - but I could never put it down for long. It is, simply, the best - and most powerful - thing of Cornell's I've ever read. Buy it, read it.
This was one of those rare books that stopped me in my tracks. At times not an easy read, I felt it spoke to me, making the story involving, in places painful, but above all, personal.
I should explain that at school in the late 70s/ early 80s I was bullied quite a bit (not as badly as Andrew in this book though!) I was a bit swotty and not a mixer, so within a few pages, I identified strongly with Andrew Waggoner.
He's an ordinary boy for the time: into Doctor Who, not sporty, a bit shy, trying to avoid the school bullies, with mixed success.
Then one evening - something happens. I was frankly gobsmacked by the place that Cornell goes to at this point. I won't give away what happens but it's no exaggeration to say everything changes for Andrew. The book really begins to fly at this point and describes what happens to him over the next year.
It's a taut, claustrophobic story that drops hints of a haunted landscape, of reservoirs of power and above all, explores a deep, pent-up urge for revenge, denied over centuries until fertilised by blood, rage and fear. Andrew seem to have become the vessel for that revenge - which also promises to pay his enemies back for what they did. The chosen tool is a second Andrew - always referred to simply as "Waggoner" - a creature who, or which, has an epiphany at the old hillfort and sets in motion a plan...
We're never quite sure - nor, I think, meant to be - whether Waggoner is "real" (and some kind of supernatural presence) or a projection of Andrew's rage. Waggoner firmly denies that he comes from Andrew's mind, yet others perceive them as one. Waggoner seems though to have motivations and a confidence that are very distinct form Andrew's. Indeed, they struggle and disagree, and this tension animates much of the story as, in that year, friendships are made and broken, pretended to and refused: as Andrew, very tentatively, becomes close to a girl (Waggoner warns him off): but above all, as the chalk patterns of vengeance spiral round and begin to grip the school.
I loved - if you can use the word for such a dark book - the way Cornell blends the different realities in this story. There is the world of the almost-adults in the school. Awful acts of bullying take place only a hairsbreadth away from adults who surely must know about them, surely ought to intervene, but don't - the curious world of the adults, with their own problems, of money, ageing and memories - seems quite separate place, even if it occupies the same space. The two run in parallel, rarely intersecting - so for example Andrew can't report what happened to him, the "obvious" way out of his nightmare. I wonder whether the need, the desire, to read (and to write) fantasy taps into this double universe? We all know in our bones that there isn't one world but many, and exploring that through fantasy is less painful than facing it directly? It's as if everyone has fallen into another kingdom with different rules. In a sense that seems no more unlikely than an ancient tribe living behind a thin veil in a real hillfort... or a twin created for a dark and secret purpose. I could relate to this.
But it's not just Cornell's themes that resonated with me in this book. More than in anything else by him that I've read, he describes the world as I saw it at that same time.
The white line (you'll know it when you get to it!).
The whole, arcane, teenage world of things that you aren't allowed to like and things that you must -
Andrew anxiously runs through the current pop hits, desperate not to betray himself by liking, even by knowing about, the wrong things. Or, forced to pass an initiation test, he fails on banal questions about football managers.
In other places he rages about not following sport or music because it's what the other kids are into. In a third rate private school out on the chalk of Wiltshire, deviance is severely punished by the other kids - but a certain sort of boy or girl wants to be deviant.
But what if you could punish them? I recognised this thirst for revenge too - and part of me cheered Waggoner on as he delivers it (in gruesome detail. Really. Gruesome.) Yet my unease also grew. It seems more and more likely there will be collateral damage, that innocents will be drawn in... It's an electrifying read, involving, harrowing and utterly compulsive.
I'd warn the reader that you may find - well I found - bits of this book difficult. There were times I had to put it down and breathe calmly - but I could never put it down for long. It is, simply, the best - and most powerful - thing of Cornell's I've ever read. Buy it, read it.
February 28, 2017
A pretty dark, sad story about bullying that reaches a level of violence that breaks Andrew Waggoner, physically and mentally. There are ancient powers and pop music that take us through the journey with Andrew as he slogs through the misery of the aftermath.
Andrew has spent most of his school years with a small group of "loser" friends, and staying under the radar of the popular jocks so as to avoid their constant taunting and humiliation towards other classmates. When Drake and his crew force Andrew into the woods, it ends up going way beyond jeers and "roughhousing".
The book explores so many angles; bullying, reactions of everyone - from teachers, parents, other students, the victim; retribution; survival; cycle of abuse/violence; and mental illness. Andrew seeks vengeance and survival through his darker self. The sad truth of what lies beneath the actions and thoughts of the characters in this book is a mirror of what most of society is like.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my opinion.
Andrew has spent most of his school years with a small group of "loser" friends, and staying under the radar of the popular jocks so as to avoid their constant taunting and humiliation towards other classmates. When Drake and his crew force Andrew into the woods, it ends up going way beyond jeers and "roughhousing".
The book explores so many angles; bullying, reactions of everyone - from teachers, parents, other students, the victim; retribution; survival; cycle of abuse/violence; and mental illness. Andrew seeks vengeance and survival through his darker self. The sad truth of what lies beneath the actions and thoughts of the characters in this book is a mirror of what most of society is like.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my opinion.
February 7, 2017
Andrew Waggoner is an unremarkable schoolboy, just trying to get by without drawing attention of the school bullies. He is however, tragically and horrifyingly, unsuccessful. Something terrible happens to Waggoner and it awakens a power which promises to seek revenge on his behalf and heal him of his wounds. Another Waggoner, visible only to Andrew, starts to wreak havoc at the school.
This will not be an easy read, but it is an incredibly powerful story about coming of age in the 80s, when assault was written off as boisterous horseplay and what was at Number One meant something. Through our unreliable narrator we explore how far we will go for revenge, and what that will mean. The ancient power of the land collides with the modern magic of pop to produce a dark story of childhood nightmares which captures the chalky hormone saturated atmosphere of school so perfectly you'll end up dreaming you're late for an exam.
This will not be an easy read, but it is an incredibly powerful story about coming of age in the 80s, when assault was written off as boisterous horseplay and what was at Number One meant something. Through our unreliable narrator we explore how far we will go for revenge, and what that will mean. The ancient power of the land collides with the modern magic of pop to produce a dark story of childhood nightmares which captures the chalky hormone saturated atmosphere of school so perfectly you'll end up dreaming you're late for an exam.
April 10, 2017
Andrew Waggoner is a normal schoolboy who tries to keep out of the way of the Drake and his fellow school bullies. Then one Halloween they take him to the woods and take the bullying a horrific step forward. Andrew will never be the same again. He seeks revenge, aided by the ancient power of his West Country surroundings.
This book is not for the faint-hearted. Any book which focuses on bullying is unlikely to be a pleasant read but very quickly this gets really horrific. Throughout the book there's very strong language, detailed sexual description and gore.
I got a lot from this book. I totally understood what this book was about and the only thing I've read that was anything like this was parts of my own novel. Cornell though adds a brutality and a darkness that I somehow makes the story gripping and uncomfortable.
I loved the amount of real-world stuff that was put in here. The West Country setting worked really well- I knew virtually every place in the book too and the description fitted them so well. There's a love for 80s Doctor Who with regular mentions of the Peter Davison era and a visit to the Longleat exhibition. Then there's a lot of discussion about pop music, when who was number one in the charts mattered. I enjoyed the references to all sorts of great music (and some less great) and liked the way it was weaved into the plot.
The thing which just knocked this rating down to four stars, and it was very close, is the weird stuff. This is a genre novel, a dark fantasy/horror. That's fine, it's the sort of thing I read all the time. But I just felt here it went too far, on occasion drifting so far into the weird stuff I got lost from the main story. Whilst I got the general idea, there were parts of the weird stuff I didn't quite understand fully which was a shame.
A different kind of book from Paul Cornell but a stunning one.
This book is not for the faint-hearted. Any book which focuses on bullying is unlikely to be a pleasant read but very quickly this gets really horrific. Throughout the book there's very strong language, detailed sexual description and gore.
I got a lot from this book. I totally understood what this book was about and the only thing I've read that was anything like this was parts of my own novel. Cornell though adds a brutality and a darkness that I somehow makes the story gripping and uncomfortable.
I loved the amount of real-world stuff that was put in here. The West Country setting worked really well- I knew virtually every place in the book too and the description fitted them so well. There's a love for 80s Doctor Who with regular mentions of the Peter Davison era and a visit to the Longleat exhibition. Then there's a lot of discussion about pop music, when who was number one in the charts mattered. I enjoyed the references to all sorts of great music (and some less great) and liked the way it was weaved into the plot.
The thing which just knocked this rating down to four stars, and it was very close, is the weird stuff. This is a genre novel, a dark fantasy/horror. That's fine, it's the sort of thing I read all the time. But I just felt here it went too far, on occasion drifting so far into the weird stuff I got lost from the main story. Whilst I got the general idea, there were parts of the weird stuff I didn't quite understand fully which was a shame.
A different kind of book from Paul Cornell but a stunning one.
February 23, 2019
I found this book in the discount bin. On the back cover it states "Paul Cornell plumbs the depths of magic and despair in Chalk, a brutal exploration of bullying in Margaret Thatcher's England". As I mentioned in my progress notes, I was basically bullied my whole life until University. It was due to having an unusual first name - other than that I fit in perfectly to my middle class white surroundings. When your bullied it builds up a storm of hate within you. Even now I still can make people feel awkward who are not comfortable saying my name. There are those at the gym who have known me and never said it for years. So having read the above quote on the back cover intrigued me.
The book gets to the point of impact quite quickly and what a point it is. What happens to Andrew Waggoner is quite unbelievable to be honest but he is instantly transported to a world of hate and vengeance as well as possibly a little psychosis which honestly would be normal having gone what he had gone through.
So Andrew and his newly created twin - a dark persona of himself who he only references as Waggoner set about to make things right. The horror of this book coincidentally happens on Halloween and dark Wagonner tells Andrew that all will be right by next Halloween - so a year to complete the vengeance at hand and deal with the bullies.
You know with all that happened to Waggoner he never told anyone what happened. No authority figure, not his parents, no one. It's funny but I identified with this. Bullying and prejudice put such a fear into people and fear can be like a prison, it can isolate you bringing you into a world of despair. It's like the fear freezes you out - you are alone, isolated.
There are some bright spots over the year. Andrew befriends a girl named Angie who dark Waggonner does not really care for. Dark Waggoner even has thoughts of making her pay for what happened but Andrew doesn't want her involved.
I will say that with regard to Andrew the author focus' on the top #1 song of the time. Song's like Lets Dance by Bowie. I think Cornell goes a little overboard on this aspect and it kind of tired me. I'll admit that music is a key factor in growing up. My first musical love was Kiss and when Alive came out I played that thing every night for like a year. It's funny how things change as we get older though. I soon grew into a love/hate relationship with regard to Kiss. They quickly became a joke but even today they are basically a self tribute band replaying the Kiss Alive tour over and over. I have seen them about a dozen times on that tour. About five years ago they played our Casino and I had centre stage seats 8 rows back. I still new all the words to every song but I laughed a bit at them looking at their flabby/old skin sagging on their arms as they played. I sad to my buddy - why couldn't this be 1975 when they were in their prime.
In fact as I get older and I question dream jobs such as rock stars, and professional athletes and Hollywood actors I think the actors have it made as they get to do new roles. Rock stars play the same thing over and over - hell on earth if you want my thought on it (ie Kiss). And athletes, practicing and playing a game over and over and over. C'mon man!! Truly if there is a dream career it would be that of an author who creates new worlds and stories for his audience. A writer does not live in the same world over and over like a professional athlete or a rock band confined to playing the same hits everyone wants to hear over and over. Hell on earth and maybe that's why so many of them take their lives. Sorry for this paragraph but this is what came to mind when Cornell kept focusing on Angie and her number one chart issues - Cornell over did it with this aspect.
Also as a negative aspect I have no idea what this tale has to do with Margaret Thatcher's England. It may coincide with that time period but she is never mentioned in the book and has nothing to do with nothing and furthermore what takes place in this book can happen anywhere, anytime to anyone.
Having dished off some sour points overall the book is a good quick easy read. I'm sure at one point or another we all have experiences with bullying of some sort and if you have been unfortunate and suffered any prolong bullying it's easy to identify with.
Bullying in general is becoming an epidemic problem and those in charge - law enforcement and school administrations are determined to control it. One only need to think of Columbine and all the mass school shootings to realize that the anger caused by it to individuals makes them want to escape their prison of isolation where these individuals fester hate against everyone and finally unleash it with no regard for anyone. Makes you think eh? I speak from experience as having spent a career in law enforcement I saw disturbing (restricted) video of Columbine personally and listened to experts in the field talking about Columbine being the tip of the iceberg and that such violence would become more prevalent in schools and the workplace. Well I think the proof is in the pudding with regard to that train of thought - and very sadly so.
I hope this review gets more people to read this book then stay clear of it. Again the rant on the music aspect may be excessive but I felt it was overdone in the book. I rate this book four stars and a high 7/10. Enjoy it!!
The book gets to the point of impact quite quickly and what a point it is. What happens to Andrew Waggoner is quite unbelievable to be honest but he is instantly transported to a world of hate and vengeance as well as possibly a little psychosis which honestly would be normal having gone what he had gone through.
So Andrew and his newly created twin - a dark persona of himself who he only references as Waggoner set about to make things right. The horror of this book coincidentally happens on Halloween and dark Wagonner tells Andrew that all will be right by next Halloween - so a year to complete the vengeance at hand and deal with the bullies.
You know with all that happened to Waggoner he never told anyone what happened. No authority figure, not his parents, no one. It's funny but I identified with this. Bullying and prejudice put such a fear into people and fear can be like a prison, it can isolate you bringing you into a world of despair. It's like the fear freezes you out - you are alone, isolated.
There are some bright spots over the year. Andrew befriends a girl named Angie who dark Waggonner does not really care for. Dark Waggoner even has thoughts of making her pay for what happened but Andrew doesn't want her involved.
I will say that with regard to Andrew the author focus' on the top #1 song of the time. Song's like Lets Dance by Bowie. I think Cornell goes a little overboard on this aspect and it kind of tired me. I'll admit that music is a key factor in growing up. My first musical love was Kiss and when Alive came out I played that thing every night for like a year. It's funny how things change as we get older though. I soon grew into a love/hate relationship with regard to Kiss. They quickly became a joke but even today they are basically a self tribute band replaying the Kiss Alive tour over and over. I have seen them about a dozen times on that tour. About five years ago they played our Casino and I had centre stage seats 8 rows back. I still new all the words to every song but I laughed a bit at them looking at their flabby/old skin sagging on their arms as they played. I sad to my buddy - why couldn't this be 1975 when they were in their prime.
In fact as I get older and I question dream jobs such as rock stars, and professional athletes and Hollywood actors I think the actors have it made as they get to do new roles. Rock stars play the same thing over and over - hell on earth if you want my thought on it (ie Kiss). And athletes, practicing and playing a game over and over and over. C'mon man!! Truly if there is a dream career it would be that of an author who creates new worlds and stories for his audience. A writer does not live in the same world over and over like a professional athlete or a rock band confined to playing the same hits everyone wants to hear over and over. Hell on earth and maybe that's why so many of them take their lives. Sorry for this paragraph but this is what came to mind when Cornell kept focusing on Angie and her number one chart issues - Cornell over did it with this aspect.
Also as a negative aspect I have no idea what this tale has to do with Margaret Thatcher's England. It may coincide with that time period but she is never mentioned in the book and has nothing to do with nothing and furthermore what takes place in this book can happen anywhere, anytime to anyone.
Having dished off some sour points overall the book is a good quick easy read. I'm sure at one point or another we all have experiences with bullying of some sort and if you have been unfortunate and suffered any prolong bullying it's easy to identify with.
Bullying in general is becoming an epidemic problem and those in charge - law enforcement and school administrations are determined to control it. One only need to think of Columbine and all the mass school shootings to realize that the anger caused by it to individuals makes them want to escape their prison of isolation where these individuals fester hate against everyone and finally unleash it with no regard for anyone. Makes you think eh? I speak from experience as having spent a career in law enforcement I saw disturbing (restricted) video of Columbine personally and listened to experts in the field talking about Columbine being the tip of the iceberg and that such violence would become more prevalent in schools and the workplace. Well I think the proof is in the pudding with regard to that train of thought - and very sadly so.
I hope this review gets more people to read this book then stay clear of it. Again the rant on the music aspect may be excessive but I felt it was overdone in the book. I rate this book four stars and a high 7/10. Enjoy it!!
June 7, 2017
Incredibly moving. Visceral shocking.
Relatable.
Relatable.
January 19, 2018
A dark supernatural horror tale which explores British culture and toxic masculinity with a supernatural gothic twist.
October 12, 2018
Chalk is a disturbing and engaging story from the point of view of Andrew Waggoner, a bullied boy in a private school in England's west country.
After the boy's own personal hobgoblin and his lot of cronies go much to far in their bullying, Andrew gains the attention of the supernatural forces lingering in the chalk drawings, barrows and henges of the area.
Before long, another Andrew Waggoner is following him around, and sometimes taking his place. This new Waggoner is there to enact Andrew's revenge - but has his own priorities, too.
After the boy's own personal hobgoblin and his lot of cronies go much to far in their bullying, Andrew gains the attention of the supernatural forces lingering in the chalk drawings, barrows and henges of the area.
Before long, another Andrew Waggoner is following him around, and sometimes taking his place. This new Waggoner is there to enact Andrew's revenge - but has his own priorities, too.
July 23, 2017
If the ending had gone differently, this would have been the greatest PSA against bullying since Stephen King's Carrie.
Ending aside, I enjoyed this, with its dissociative protagonist (sort of) and its blend of old gods, the ones who inspired monuments like the carvings of horses into chalk hills in England, and new gods, who communicate through the songs that top the pop charts each week. And given the story is set in the '70s, the songs those gods are choosing are from my youth (Culture Club et al, so points for nostalgia).* Ancients set on revenge are a pretty single-minded lot; once called, they don't just shuffle off back into the past if your resolve wavers. And reading the pop charts to interpret events is about as reliable as reading chicken entrails.
The bullying is brutal. So are the plans for revenge. Solidly good, but not for the squeamish.
*Oops. Apparently my musical memory isn't perfect. It's not set in the post-disco late '70s; it's set in the early '80s. Still, nostalgia for the music of my early adulthood rather than my late teens.
Ending aside, I enjoyed this, with its dissociative protagonist (sort of) and its blend of old gods, the ones who inspired monuments like the carvings of horses into chalk hills in England, and new gods, who communicate through the songs that top the pop charts each week. And given the story is set in the '70s, the songs those gods are choosing are from my youth (Culture Club et al, so points for nostalgia).* Ancients set on revenge are a pretty single-minded lot; once called, they don't just shuffle off back into the past if your resolve wavers. And reading the pop charts to interpret events is about as reliable as reading chicken entrails.
The bullying is brutal. So are the plans for revenge. Solidly good, but not for the squeamish.
*Oops. Apparently my musical memory isn't perfect. It's not set in the post-disco late '70s; it's set in the early '80s. Still, nostalgia for the music of my early adulthood rather than my late teens.
April 19, 2017
Good for the most part, though it goes from slightly surreal to incredibly surreal (literally incredibly; during the climax my suspension of disbelief failed entirely) and the ending felt weak and rushed. I think the author was going for "enigmatic" with some of it but it just felt lazy to me.
May 31, 2022
Well written but it is dark and disturbing.
March 23, 2018
maybe a 3.5, not quite there yet... maybe after this review is written...
what a weird tale... i got the impression the author was attempting something Cthonic with this one, and it just sorta never happened... i liked the writing style, kinda choppy, but much like how a youngish boy would spin a yarn... well done on the school atmosphere and the interrelationships with the boys/boys, boys/girls/, girls girls... weird insertion of the music angle, though it fit a bit better as the story progressed, but always felt off... not anywhere near enough of "The Man with the Two Sticks", nope, not at all... potential there to go all "Wicker Man" or "Picnic at Hanging Rock" with the mysterious rituals or bizarre occurrences angle...not shy with the violence and bloodletting (and one bit in the beginning that's well nigh nauseating), which always helps propel a plot that's drifting awry... i had hoped for more, and got hardly satisfied, and by the shite ending i was nonplussed... so, yeah, still 3 stars...
what a weird tale... i got the impression the author was attempting something Cthonic with this one, and it just sorta never happened... i liked the writing style, kinda choppy, but much like how a youngish boy would spin a yarn... well done on the school atmosphere and the interrelationships with the boys/boys, boys/girls/, girls girls... weird insertion of the music angle, though it fit a bit better as the story progressed, but always felt off... not anywhere near enough of "The Man with the Two Sticks", nope, not at all... potential there to go all "Wicker Man" or "Picnic at Hanging Rock" with the mysterious rituals or bizarre occurrences angle...not shy with the violence and bloodletting (and one bit in the beginning that's well nigh nauseating), which always helps propel a plot that's drifting awry... i had hoped for more, and got hardly satisfied, and by the shite ending i was nonplussed... so, yeah, still 3 stars...
March 5, 2018
3.5* rounded down. Chalk was an awkward book. It reads like a young adult novel that should not be read by young adults. That is until the very end were everything gets bizarrely surreal and confusing. It starts out shocking but then quickly tapers down until it comes to that strange crescendo at the end. It wasn't all together bad. It had a fun premise and setting that I really enjoyed. (The book is very British. So much so that I had to Google certain phrases and terminology) The chalk drawings on the downs are a very original and creepy setting and one that I think I would like to visit after reading this. And the schizophrenic feeling antagonist was pretty enjoyable as well and would make for some very disturbing imagery if done right in a film kind of a cross between Gollum from Lord of the Rings and Frank the Rabbit from Donnie Darko.
June 11, 2017
Chalk feels like Stephen King writes school boys in Britain. It's an eerie, haunting book about violence among children, revenge, and making deals with entities that you really should leave alone. It ramps up the supernatural aspects slowly, making it easy to just assume that the narrator is making things up, but it quickly becomes apparent that something far more than school yard bullying is at play here.
I am not a huge fan of this particular style of horror, so the fact that I enjoyed the book is a testament to how well it was constructed. It's creepy, unrelenting, and very dark. I would have preferred perhaps a touch more world building, but I think that was a limitation of the main character rather than author error.
I am not a huge fan of this particular style of horror, so the fact that I enjoyed the book is a testament to how well it was constructed. It's creepy, unrelenting, and very dark. I would have preferred perhaps a touch more world building, but I think that was a limitation of the main character rather than author error.
February 7, 2018
Where do I even begin? I’m not entirely sure if I’m struggling to write this because it’s been so long since I’ve written anything a review, or because I’m not quite sure how to articulate how I feel about Chalk. I will say, there’s no way I can review this without posting a few spoilers so I’m just going to hide my whole review incase something slips through.
Before starting most books I tend to look at reviews on Goodreads, just to get an idea of what I think the book will be about/whether I’m even going to enjoy it. I’ll admit before starting Chalk I was very intrigued, but also quite dubious due to the content. After reading through a few reviews, I got the idea this was going to be a revenge story more than anything, and that is essentially why I wanted to read it. Call me twisted, but I love a good revenge plot. Chalk was somewhat more complicated than your average revenge horror, considering the supernatural elements and the beings/forces at play throughout. And while it is revenge driven in many aspects, in others it feels a lot more about forgiveness and letting go. The old way (an eye for an eye, revenge) vs. The new way (moving on, forgiveness). For most people that probably isn’t a bad thing, but for me, it is where I started struggling with Chalk. Throughout the story we’re leading up to this big event, and when it arrived, it felt like there was little to no final payoff. But I feel like I’m hastily jumping ahead, so I’ll go back to the beginning.
The story is narrated in past tense by our Hero Andrew Waggoner, starting with a brief seemingly random history of a place in England called Cherhill Downs, and the statue on the Hill, the Cherhill White Horse. Then, all of a sudden, his story begins. Most of the book is set up with this style of narrative, brief snippets of information blended with the main plot line set between Halloween 1982 and Halloween 1983. When it works, it’s riveting, but there are moments it starts to feel like Andrew is rambling and I hate to admit, my mind started to wander and I’d feel myself getting a bit bored. At the same time, I really have to say that the majority of Chalk was extremely gripping and had my heart thumping overtime, which could have been what made the slower moments seem bland (if that’s the right word?) in comparison. Anyway, back to the beginning.
It doesn’t take long for us to reach the incident that acts as the catalyst to all the events that take place. It happens literally 8% into the book. I have to say, I did not at all guess what the heinous act done to Andrew was going to be, I was barking completely up the wrong tree and so, was taken completely by horrified surprise. (Interestingly, my boyfriend guessed immediately with next to no prompting. All I said was, it’s the worst thing that can happen to a guy and boom, got it in one.) There is a big, big part of me that thinks it’s better to go into this story not knowing what they do to him because it makes it even worse but at the same time to get the reasons for my frustration across I kind of have to say what they did... hmm... I’m just gonna have to deal and get around it, because I think it will be so much better not knowing. All I’ll say is that what they do is so ‘effed up, Waggoner goes damn lightly on them. And Drake? Don’t even get me started right this second on how unjustifiably easy Drake got it.
The trauma they inflict on Andrew is big, and it creates a change in him, or should I say it brought something to life outside of him? Split his personality in two? In the spirit of total honesty, I’m still not entirely sure what the heck Waggoner was or what he symbolised. Some moments I felt like he was an extension of Andrew, other moments I felt like he was becoming Andrew and Andrew was becoming Waggoner, other moments it felt like Waggoner was his own being entirely. By the end of the book, I was pretty sure the third option is the right one, but I’ll always have my doubts. Whatever he was, he was present and beside or at least somewhere near Andrew for pretty much the remainder of the book, a few scenes not included. As much as I don’t understand all of Waggoner’s actions, towards the end of Chalk, I actually found myself preferring him to Andrew. Andrew began to get on my nerves, and at first it was only little things, and then gradually Andrew in his entirety just became extremely aggravating and his motives became somewhat skewed. He let Angie so easily derail him, and considering what happened to him (and who her duckspunk guy was) I just don’t believe he’d be that flipping one track minded. Another thing, this may seem random but bear with me, my boyfriend pointed this out, and it was such a big possible flaw in the story for him that he wouldn’t even entertain the plot after, but how in the heck did Andrew get away with not going to the hospital after the initial attack to take care of his injury? Could something that drastic done to a man, really heal all by itself? Wouldn’t he die? Like bleed out or something?? No?? Okay, I guess.
Anyway, forgive my rambling, I find it somewhat difficult to pin down my thoughts and it’s been quite a few days since I finished Chalk. I should’ve tried to write this sooner, and I should probably explain who Angie is before going off on a rant about her. The uncomplicated story is that she’s Drake’s secret ‘eff buddy. I won���t call her his girlfriend, because I’m sorry but that, was not a relationship. Not in the slightest.
The complicated story is that Angie is something else, something not old, as well as something naive, and something infuriating as all Hell. Now, I might be alone in my opinion of Angie, other people might love her but I just couldn’t stand her. I found her so juvenile in relation to Drake, and I didn’t have any patience for it. The whole Number One song thing didn’t bother me, it was interesting if somewhat random, but I couldn’t really appreciate it either way because I couldn’t get past how stupid she was about Drake. Her whole, (not in so many words) “I can change him, I can make him a better person! I can, I can, I can! I’m so special, I understand things better than everybody else, I don’t have a clue what I’m doing or what this all really means, but I’ve got to save the boy, blah, blah, blaaaaaah!” thing just really aggravated me. I had no time for it whatsoever, and I honestly don’t understand how Andrew could stand to be around her. Still, how much I hate her isn’t a bad thing, and doesn’t make me dislike the story. I always maintain that if a writer can make me feel anything about a character, whether it be love, like, or hate, it’s a good thing. It’s if a writer makes me feel absolutely nothing about a character that I think the story was bad. The connection I made with Angie may have been negative, but I still made a connection with her, and I think Paul Cornell deserves credit for that.
He makes you feel something for every character you come into contact with, and that is a true talent. Angie, and my feelings towards her were easy to deal with, the revenge plot line on the other hand... I don’t know exactly how to describe how it made me feel.
Disappointed? Frustrated? Angry?
And then I had to ask myself, what does that say about me? I learnt something about myself reading Chalk. I, Sea Grace, am incredibly unforgiving, and boy can I hold a grudge. Even when it isn’t my grudge to keep strangled in a chokehold. And yes, I know that is a very bad thing, but I also can’t help how I am as a person and if someone did something like that to me or someone I love... Yeah, I don’t think summoning a dark entity that may or may not be a part of me to get what in some instances feels like meagre revenge would be enough. Now, I think I should explain myself before anyone who may be reading this reaches the justifiable conclusion that I’m not quite right in the head. What happens to Drake the Shepard’s spineless herd isn’t nice, and to some people may even have been quite harsh, but for me? It just wasn’t enough and then, and this is a big spoiler here and again I wonder if I should even say it... Screw it, if you’ve read all this, you’ve probably already guessed.
Drake does not get his comeuppance.
Not in the slightest.
Andrew appears to have a change of heart, I can’t fathom why *cough* Angie *cough* thinking with the thing between his legs *cough* but he does, and somehow it’s taken him standing back and watching Waggoner slowly take out the others involved only to decide the instigator, who was also the main perpetrator, should get away with it. He didn’t even report him to the police, I mean what the heck? How is that justice? You kill three other guys, and then you let the one who did it go? That, is not even remotely fair and maybe that was the point but for me, it completely ruined the story and just had me, the heartless judgemental cow that I am, oddly incredibly angry at Andrew. But like I said, I’d like to stress that I think that says way more about me as a person than it does about the direction of this book, and whether it was a good story or not. Which leads me back to what I think the book was ultimately about (when putting the supernatural aspect that I’m still trying to figure out aside) which is revenge vs. forgiveness. If I had known that going in, I don’t think it would have bothered me as much, because I think a part of me (no matter how small) would see that forgiveness is the best option for Andrew, if not for anyone else. Unfortunately, I have a very, very, very hard time forgiving people, and I went into this story thinking it was gonna be some straight up supernatural revenge madness. After reading what they did to Waggoner, revenge was all I wanted to see him get. It was just so incredibly messed up. And yeah, the Sheep are dead, but the evil Shepard just got to go on with his life. Okay, he supposedly learnt his lesson, and realised what a terrible person he was, but he still went unpunished. Having to live with what a waste of oxygen you are when you do something that horrific isn’t enough for me. After having to imagine that deplorable behaviour, I needed to see Drake punished big time, and his so called punishment didn’t cut it.
Maybe, if Andrew had figured his need to forgive out before he let Waggoner kill the others, I would have understood his mindset and his motives, but in my uneducated opinion out of the lot of them, the Sheep were way more redeemable than Drake, yet they were the ones who lost their lives. It just didn’t add up, and left me frustrated and disappointed. Saying that, I do think this is just how I am about revenge stories (or, what I go into thinking are going to be revenge stories) and I do think that Paul Cornell is a terrific writer. He sets a scene brilliantly, and creates characters that cause a reaction. He had me feeling a huge range of emotions, as opposed to feeling indifferent and unmoved by anything. That to me says, although I wasn’t happy with the direction this book went it, it was still a really good book that kept me captivated almost the whole time and even when it dragged a little it never made me want to stop reading. No matter what I felt, I had to know where it all went, and how everything came to a climax.
If you like your revenge stories with a bit more complexity (as well as a supernatural edge) then I would say this story is most definitely for you. But if you like straight up determined, no wavering revenge, this might be one to give a miss. Then again, it’s only £2.50 on Amazon (or it was when I brought it) so you might also wanna give it a try. It could surprise you, but I feel I should warn you, you might also be left feeling a little deflated and disappointed like this here psychopath was.
Before starting most books I tend to look at reviews on Goodreads, just to get an idea of what I think the book will be about/whether I’m even going to enjoy it. I’ll admit before starting Chalk I was very intrigued, but also quite dubious due to the content. After reading through a few reviews, I got the idea this was going to be a revenge story more than anything, and that is essentially why I wanted to read it. Call me twisted, but I love a good revenge plot. Chalk was somewhat more complicated than your average revenge horror, considering the supernatural elements and the beings/forces at play throughout. And while it is revenge driven in many aspects, in others it feels a lot more about forgiveness and letting go. The old way (an eye for an eye, revenge) vs. The new way (moving on, forgiveness). For most people that probably isn’t a bad thing, but for me, it is where I started struggling with Chalk. Throughout the story we’re leading up to this big event, and when it arrived, it felt like there was little to no final payoff. But I feel like I’m hastily jumping ahead, so I’ll go back to the beginning.
The story is narrated in past tense by our Hero Andrew Waggoner, starting with a brief seemingly random history of a place in England called Cherhill Downs, and the statue on the Hill, the Cherhill White Horse. Then, all of a sudden, his story begins. Most of the book is set up with this style of narrative, brief snippets of information blended with the main plot line set between Halloween 1982 and Halloween 1983. When it works, it’s riveting, but there are moments it starts to feel like Andrew is rambling and I hate to admit, my mind started to wander and I’d feel myself getting a bit bored. At the same time, I really have to say that the majority of Chalk was extremely gripping and had my heart thumping overtime, which could have been what made the slower moments seem bland (if that’s the right word?) in comparison. Anyway, back to the beginning.
It doesn’t take long for us to reach the incident that acts as the catalyst to all the events that take place. It happens literally 8% into the book. I have to say, I did not at all guess what the heinous act done to Andrew was going to be, I was barking completely up the wrong tree and so, was taken completely by horrified surprise. (Interestingly, my boyfriend guessed immediately with next to no prompting. All I said was, it’s the worst thing that can happen to a guy and boom, got it in one.) There is a big, big part of me that thinks it’s better to go into this story not knowing what they do to him because it makes it even worse but at the same time to get the reasons for my frustration across I kind of have to say what they did... hmm... I’m just gonna have to deal and get around it, because I think it will be so much better not knowing. All I’ll say is that what they do is so ‘effed up, Waggoner goes damn lightly on them. And Drake? Don’t even get me started right this second on how unjustifiably easy Drake got it.
The trauma they inflict on Andrew is big, and it creates a change in him, or should I say it brought something to life outside of him? Split his personality in two? In the spirit of total honesty, I’m still not entirely sure what the heck Waggoner was or what he symbolised. Some moments I felt like he was an extension of Andrew, other moments I felt like he was becoming Andrew and Andrew was becoming Waggoner, other moments it felt like Waggoner was his own being entirely. By the end of the book, I was pretty sure the third option is the right one, but I’ll always have my doubts. Whatever he was, he was present and beside or at least somewhere near Andrew for pretty much the remainder of the book, a few scenes not included. As much as I don’t understand all of Waggoner’s actions, towards the end of Chalk, I actually found myself preferring him to Andrew. Andrew began to get on my nerves, and at first it was only little things, and then gradually Andrew in his entirety just became extremely aggravating and his motives became somewhat skewed. He let Angie so easily derail him, and considering what happened to him (and who her duckspunk guy was) I just don’t believe he’d be that flipping one track minded. Another thing, this may seem random but bear with me, my boyfriend pointed this out, and it was such a big possible flaw in the story for him that he wouldn’t even entertain the plot after, but how in the heck did Andrew get away with not going to the hospital after the initial attack to take care of his injury? Could something that drastic done to a man, really heal all by itself? Wouldn’t he die? Like bleed out or something?? No?? Okay, I guess.
Anyway, forgive my rambling, I find it somewhat difficult to pin down my thoughts and it’s been quite a few days since I finished Chalk. I should’ve tried to write this sooner, and I should probably explain who Angie is before going off on a rant about her. The uncomplicated story is that she’s Drake’s secret ‘eff buddy. I won���t call her his girlfriend, because I’m sorry but that, was not a relationship. Not in the slightest.
The complicated story is that Angie is something else, something not old, as well as something naive, and something infuriating as all Hell. Now, I might be alone in my opinion of Angie, other people might love her but I just couldn’t stand her. I found her so juvenile in relation to Drake, and I didn’t have any patience for it. The whole Number One song thing didn’t bother me, it was interesting if somewhat random, but I couldn’t really appreciate it either way because I couldn’t get past how stupid she was about Drake. Her whole, (not in so many words) “I can change him, I can make him a better person! I can, I can, I can! I’m so special, I understand things better than everybody else, I don’t have a clue what I’m doing or what this all really means, but I’ve got to save the boy, blah, blah, blaaaaaah!” thing just really aggravated me. I had no time for it whatsoever, and I honestly don’t understand how Andrew could stand to be around her. Still, how much I hate her isn’t a bad thing, and doesn’t make me dislike the story. I always maintain that if a writer can make me feel anything about a character, whether it be love, like, or hate, it’s a good thing. It’s if a writer makes me feel absolutely nothing about a character that I think the story was bad. The connection I made with Angie may have been negative, but I still made a connection with her, and I think Paul Cornell deserves credit for that.
He makes you feel something for every character you come into contact with, and that is a true talent. Angie, and my feelings towards her were easy to deal with, the revenge plot line on the other hand... I don’t know exactly how to describe how it made me feel.
Disappointed? Frustrated? Angry?
And then I had to ask myself, what does that say about me? I learnt something about myself reading Chalk. I, Sea Grace, am incredibly unforgiving, and boy can I hold a grudge. Even when it isn’t my grudge to keep strangled in a chokehold. And yes, I know that is a very bad thing, but I also can’t help how I am as a person and if someone did something like that to me or someone I love... Yeah, I don’t think summoning a dark entity that may or may not be a part of me to get what in some instances feels like meagre revenge would be enough. Now, I think I should explain myself before anyone who may be reading this reaches the justifiable conclusion that I’m not quite right in the head. What happens to Drake the Shepard’s spineless herd isn’t nice, and to some people may even have been quite harsh, but for me? It just wasn’t enough and then, and this is a big spoiler here and again I wonder if I should even say it... Screw it, if you’ve read all this, you’ve probably already guessed.
Drake does not get his comeuppance.
Not in the slightest.
Andrew appears to have a change of heart, I can’t fathom why *cough* Angie *cough* thinking with the thing between his legs *cough* but he does, and somehow it’s taken him standing back and watching Waggoner slowly take out the others involved only to decide the instigator, who was also the main perpetrator, should get away with it. He didn’t even report him to the police, I mean what the heck? How is that justice? You kill three other guys, and then you let the one who did it go? That, is not even remotely fair and maybe that was the point but for me, it completely ruined the story and just had me, the heartless judgemental cow that I am, oddly incredibly angry at Andrew. But like I said, I’d like to stress that I think that says way more about me as a person than it does about the direction of this book, and whether it was a good story or not. Which leads me back to what I think the book was ultimately about (when putting the supernatural aspect that I’m still trying to figure out aside) which is revenge vs. forgiveness. If I had known that going in, I don’t think it would have bothered me as much, because I think a part of me (no matter how small) would see that forgiveness is the best option for Andrew, if not for anyone else. Unfortunately, I have a very, very, very hard time forgiving people, and I went into this story thinking it was gonna be some straight up supernatural revenge madness. After reading what they did to Waggoner, revenge was all I wanted to see him get. It was just so incredibly messed up. And yeah, the Sheep are dead, but the evil Shepard just got to go on with his life. Okay, he supposedly learnt his lesson, and realised what a terrible person he was, but he still went unpunished. Having to live with what a waste of oxygen you are when you do something that horrific isn’t enough for me. After having to imagine that deplorable behaviour, I needed to see Drake punished big time, and his so called punishment didn’t cut it.
Maybe, if Andrew had figured his need to forgive out before he let Waggoner kill the others, I would have understood his mindset and his motives, but in my uneducated opinion out of the lot of them, the Sheep were way more redeemable than Drake, yet they were the ones who lost their lives. It just didn’t add up, and left me frustrated and disappointed. Saying that, I do think this is just how I am about revenge stories (or, what I go into thinking are going to be revenge stories) and I do think that Paul Cornell is a terrific writer. He sets a scene brilliantly, and creates characters that cause a reaction. He had me feeling a huge range of emotions, as opposed to feeling indifferent and unmoved by anything. That to me says, although I wasn’t happy with the direction this book went it, it was still a really good book that kept me captivated almost the whole time and even when it dragged a little it never made me want to stop reading. No matter what I felt, I had to know where it all went, and how everything came to a climax.
If you like your revenge stories with a bit more complexity (as well as a supernatural edge) then I would say this story is most definitely for you. But if you like straight up determined, no wavering revenge, this might be one to give a miss. Then again, it’s only £2.50 on Amazon (or it was when I brought it) so you might also wanna give it a try. It could surprise you, but I feel I should warn you, you might also be left feeling a little deflated and disappointed like this here psychopath was.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 18, 2018
First of all, this book has been written before. It’s called Carrie: the main difference is the gender of the protagonist.
Second of all, the real horror of this book isn’t supernatural: it’s toxic masculinity. For people who’ve been harmed by toxic masculinity, this book is just one long trigger that tries to glorify the cycle of toxic masculinity.
The protagonist in this book, for example, comes into his feeling of power by continually sexually harassing and slut shaming a girl on his bus. Then later, he fancies himself a hero because he “saves” a girl from consensual sex and takes her to the woods to keep her nonsexual and pure. Later, her life is tragic because she ends up pregnant and abandoned.
Bro-literature. (Barf).
I’ve tried two books from this author. He’s dead to me now.
Second of all, the real horror of this book isn’t supernatural: it’s toxic masculinity. For people who’ve been harmed by toxic masculinity, this book is just one long trigger that tries to glorify the cycle of toxic masculinity.
The protagonist in this book, for example, comes into his feeling of power by continually sexually harassing and slut shaming a girl on his bus. Then later, he fancies himself a hero because he “saves” a girl from consensual sex and takes her to the woods to keep her nonsexual and pure. Later, her life is tragic because she ends up pregnant and abandoned.
Bro-literature. (Barf).
I’ve tried two books from this author. He’s dead to me now.
April 29, 2017
Set in rural Britain in the 1980s, Chalk is a dark, disturbing and at times disgustingly grim story; but an emotive and unusual read.
It’s hard to say much without spoilers but this book is about a young boy's extremely brutal bullying at school and the ways he exacts revenge. Everything, of course, gets way out of hand.
This book made me feel very uncomfortable, I suppose I clearly didn’t hate it as I managed to finish it, but there were things I definitely hated about it; some parts were truly horrific. Nevertheless, it was an emotional ride and I was engrossed throughout.
It’s hard to say much without spoilers but this book is about a young boy's extremely brutal bullying at school and the ways he exacts revenge. Everything, of course, gets way out of hand.
This book made me feel very uncomfortable, I suppose I clearly didn’t hate it as I managed to finish it, but there were things I definitely hated about it; some parts were truly horrific. Nevertheless, it was an emotional ride and I was engrossed throughout.
March 12, 2017
3.5 Stars
Full review to come!
Full review to come!
March 21, 2017
Review: CHALK by Paul Cornell
Paul Cornell became one of my favorite authors with his SHADOW POLICE series. His newest novel, CHALK, however, is completely different, set on the chalk downs of Wiltshire rather than in esoteric London. I found it an intriguing but disturbing read, a novel which is up front about bullying violence and its repercussions. It is also a story illuminating the dangers of awakening history. On one level, it could be viewed as a chronicle of mental disorder stimulated by traumatic violence [and certainly there are contemporary examples of that]. Beyond that view is a very intense paranormal framework, one which invokes entities, prehistory, and events of Roman Britain. Those who watched for Roman invasion still watch on. Whichever viewpoint one chooses to elicit the novel's themes, this story will shake up one's own received world view and refuse to be forgotten.
Paul Cornell became one of my favorite authors with his SHADOW POLICE series. His newest novel, CHALK, however, is completely different, set on the chalk downs of Wiltshire rather than in esoteric London. I found it an intriguing but disturbing read, a novel which is up front about bullying violence and its repercussions. It is also a story illuminating the dangers of awakening history. On one level, it could be viewed as a chronicle of mental disorder stimulated by traumatic violence [and certainly there are contemporary examples of that]. Beyond that view is a very intense paranormal framework, one which invokes entities, prehistory, and events of Roman Britain. Those who watched for Roman invasion still watch on. Whichever viewpoint one chooses to elicit the novel's themes, this story will shake up one's own received world view and refuse to be forgotten.
January 13, 2018
This book is about a kid who is being bullied and somehow he is granted another "self" that is a tough guy who enacts revenge for him. I have an hour left of the on audio tape and I just can't listen to anymore. It's not the narrator; he's awesome. However, the bullying throughout the book is vile. A gang of boys "jump" the main character and nearly cut off his penis. It's very graphic and well, yea. Horrible. The night this happens the main character, despite the incredible pain he is in wanders out into the countryside in the middle of the night where he finds this mystical chalk horse thing which I don't really get. The "chalk" horse is supposed to have some mystical power that can give the main character the ability to be two people, one who can enact revenge on this completely vile bully. Believe it or not, the revenge is worse, way worse, than the original bullying.
Of course, the adults in this book have no idea all this bullying is going on or they don't care enough to do anything. The teachers are portrayed as uncaring idiots; the parents are clueless idiots; most of the kids are idiots. None of the characters are likable. The main character is weak and foolish. His love interest is a nutcase because she thinks she can save the Bully. Furthermore, I couldn't really understand what the "chalk" horse was and how all of that worked and how the main character's other self became the avenger. And, what the heck was going on with the pop music? The girlfriend of the bully says she can predict the future with number one pop song birth charts. What?
Anyway, I'm so tired of bullying books that depict adults as dimwits that don't have any idea what is happening to kids or don't care. I'm tired of books that depict teachers as complete idiots and parents as people who have no idea what is going on with their kids. Most parents do know when their children are hurting or afraid even if the kids try to hide it. Most teachers do care and they do try to do something especially if a student writes about it (fiction or not). Bullying is terrible but portraying the world this way is just so annoying and ugly to me.
Of course, the adults in this book have no idea all this bullying is going on or they don't care enough to do anything. The teachers are portrayed as uncaring idiots; the parents are clueless idiots; most of the kids are idiots. None of the characters are likable. The main character is weak and foolish. His love interest is a nutcase because she thinks she can save the Bully. Furthermore, I couldn't really understand what the "chalk" horse was and how all of that worked and how the main character's other self became the avenger. And, what the heck was going on with the pop music? The girlfriend of the bully says she can predict the future with number one pop song birth charts. What?
Anyway, I'm so tired of bullying books that depict adults as dimwits that don't have any idea what is happening to kids or don't care. I'm tired of books that depict teachers as complete idiots and parents as people who have no idea what is going on with their kids. Most parents do know when their children are hurting or afraid even if the kids try to hide it. Most teachers do care and they do try to do something especially if a student writes about it (fiction or not). Bullying is terrible but portraying the world this way is just so annoying and ugly to me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 8, 2018
Really, I thought this was a terrible book. It was on some lists of the best SF (as in speculative fiction) for 2017, and the premise sounded interesting - the idea of magic arising from one of the massive chalk horses on the English Downs with references to the years of the Thatcher government in the 1980's in the UK. Almost none of that applied. The prime minister of the time was never mentioned, for a start (there was one sentence that said something about a landslide election, but that was all). Then the magical chalk horse? Well, it perhaps briefly appeared, but had no relevance to the story that I could see.
Instead we got a story about an unfortunate boy (Andrew) who was brutally bullied at his private school, and who gradually takes his revenge on the bullies over the next year, via the medium of his alter-ego, who possesses all the strength of character that Andrew does not. The bullying scenes are graphic, both the original and the revenge. No-one in the book comes out of it well - not the pupils, or the teachers or the parents. everyone is stupid or evil or both.
But the whole book turned me off. I managed to finish it because it's only 265 pages. Any more and it would have been a throwaway. Its sole redeeming feature was an obsession with the songs that made it to #1 in the UK charts in the year from Halloween 1982 through Halloween 1983. At least most of them were good records, more than can be said for this work.
Instead we got a story about an unfortunate boy (Andrew) who was brutally bullied at his private school, and who gradually takes his revenge on the bullies over the next year, via the medium of his alter-ego, who possesses all the strength of character that Andrew does not. The bullying scenes are graphic, both the original and the revenge. No-one in the book comes out of it well - not the pupils, or the teachers or the parents. everyone is stupid or evil or both.
But the whole book turned me off. I managed to finish it because it's only 265 pages. Any more and it would have been a throwaway. Its sole redeeming feature was an obsession with the songs that made it to #1 in the UK charts in the year from Halloween 1982 through Halloween 1983. At least most of them were good records, more than can be said for this work.
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