Witchmark

by Nigel Williams

1st Faber & Faber 1987 TV tie-in edition vg+ paperback In stock shipped from our UK warehouse

Genres: Fiction, Horror

Paperback

Published January 1, 1987

Reviews

[Linda Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Got this book because it was a wikipedia example of an "unreliable narrator." It came in black library binding, sent from a university library, the pages yellowed at the edges, the binding creaky enough that I could not open the book all the way for fear of cracking the spine. It had the good old musty smell of books with real paper. The narrator is a marginal historian, dabbling in soap operas. We join him doing snappish retort battle with the ancient manuscripts graduate student at the stodgy and imperious British Library. In a fit of showing-off, the narrator grabs a catalogue and stumbles upon a 1658 manuscript by Ezekiel Oliphant. The black bound book, musty smell, yellowed pages in my hands turned dangerous and malodorous. Halfway through this book I started turning around to look at shadows over my shoulder. I wondered if a book can be evil. This is not a whodunit, but a whoareyou? It's creepy, dark, dense and thoroughly chilling. Superb. It will take me another night to stop thinking someone can really write a character into corporeal life.

[Robin Koppensteiner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not think I'd finish it. This book has kind of ruined reading for me or some time. For reasons I'll mention below. Do I recommend it to others? Meh. It's a good book, I guess. But it is tedious to read.

I should mention that English is not my tong. Therefore the old-English passages (which make up about half of the book) where truly exhausting. Not only because of the language itself, which - believe it or not - you do get used to over time, but also because they don't really seem to lead anywhere. In most of the parts of the 1600s, one of the two main characters, Ezekel, is talking a lot about his faith. So much, that by the end of his - sometimes quite long - parts, nothing has actually changed. He just keeps lamenting on and on.

While I think, that you can read the book, skipping those parts, I do think they really pay off, when Jamie, the main character, is starting to get possessed by Ezekiel. Mid-sentence you feel the transformation, all just because of the brilliant use of words and language. I enjoyed those very short moments so much, indeed, I started laughing triumphantly every time, and reread them at least once. It makes you feel like you are in for a secret, that nobody else knows about. You marvel at the cleverness of the author in those moments.

Those long passages made it, however, really boring to read the book at some point. Only a couple of days ago, in a time where I read 50-100 pages a day, I decided to pick the book back up and finish it.

Something it really excels in, is making you feel uneasy. You feel for the character. He's a simple guy in the beginning. You get excited for him once sex and the forbidden enter his life. And you can't help but be very confused about how you feel once he starts to hurt people, who seem rather lovable in their own quirky ways.
Also, you never really know if Jamie is actually possessed or simply a mental case.
He jumps back and forth between realities, changes characters in unpredictable, but oddly understandable ways and messes with time.

Jamie's possession is scary, because it feels very real and like it could happen to any of us. This is where the book is really good and tells a good story.

I guess, maybe it's not so unrecommendable at all. At least I did write down a lot of opinions about it right there. It made me think and it did entertain me. What else would you ask of a book?

If you want to read it, but can't bear Ezekiel: You can read it without his parts. But it will take a little of it's magic away from the story.

[Alex Clare · Rating 2 out of 5]

I struggled with this book, often finding myself not understanding what was going on, or why. There were flashes of the humour that made The Wimbledon Poisoner so great but lost in changes of viewpoint and leaps of narrative.

[Janet Bird · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like YA books, what can I say. A lot of the time they cut out the unnecessary waffle and get right into the story.

[dead letter office · Rating 3 out of 5]

bizarre, but not half bad.