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Jerusalem #1.2
Jerusalem, Book Two: Mansoul
803 pages, Paperback
11 people are currently reading
168 people want to read
About the author
Alan Moore
1,578 books21.7k followersAlan Moore is an English writer most famous for his influential work in comics, including the acclaimed graphic novels Watchmen, V for Vendetta and From Hell. He has also written a novel, Voice of the Fire, and performs "workings" (one-off performance art/spoken word pieces) with The Moon and Serpent Grand Egyptian Theatre of Marvels, some of which have been released on CD.
As a comics writer, Moore is notable for being one of the first writers to apply literary and formalist sensibilities to the mainstream of the medium. As well as including challenging subject matter and adult themes, he brings a wide range of influences to his work, from the literary–authors such as William S. Burroughs, Thomas Pynchon, Robert Anton Wilson and Iain Sinclair; New Wave science fiction writers such as Michael Moorcock; horror writers such as Clive Barker; to the cinematic–filmmakers such as Nicolas Roeg. Influences within comics include Will Eisner, Harvey Kurtzman, Jack Kirby and Bryan Talbot.
As a comics writer, Moore is notable for being one of the first writers to apply literary and formalist sensibilities to the mainstream of the medium. As well as including challenging subject matter and adult themes, he brings a wide range of influences to his work, from the literary–authors such as William S. Burroughs, Thomas Pynchon, Robert Anton Wilson and Iain Sinclair; New Wave science fiction writers such as Michael Moorcock; horror writers such as Clive Barker; to the cinematic–filmmakers such as Nicolas Roeg. Influences within comics include Will Eisner, Harvey Kurtzman, Jack Kirby and Bryan Talbot.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
March 7, 2018
Magnificent but flawed. I just feel that this and the first part could have been edited fairly heavily for a more enjoyable read. Great concepts and language but veeeeerrrrryyyy lengthy.
August 31, 2019
continuing my intensive reading through JERUSALEM (likely the best modern novel I have read), finished off a double read (visual, then audio) of "Mansoul", the second book.
As I noted in my review of Jerusalem, Book One: The Boroughs, the simple answer to "Should I read this/Will I like it?" is an affirmative, although it is here at the second book that certain types of readers may find themselves beset with a problem.
"The Boroughs" was a series of short stories of various individuals living in Northampton, in various times, held together by the framework of Mick Warren's industrial accident which suddenly dislodged his memory of what happened to him when he was dead for a few minutes as a child, after having choked on a cough drop. He told his artist sister Alma everything he had suddenly remembered, and she created a gallery display of a series of paintings inspired by these memories.
"Mansoul," then, is all that Mick remembered - of being a child, of choking, of dying, and then of escaping through a corner of the ceiling and being brought up to "Mansoul" where he participates in a marvelous adventure with a gang of rapscallion urchins - The Dead Dead Gang - that ranges through The Afterlife ("The Ghost Seam") and Heaven ("Mansoul") and back and forward through time (which Mick learns the true shape of), before everything is tied in a pretty knot. And for those that found the unflinching reality of the first book attractive - its depiction of personal, actual, geographical and religious history, its portrayal of human failing, misery and familial joy and despair (despite the occasional ghost and angel) - "Mansoul" may come as a bit of a shock. Because you could call it a "fantasy novel" - although here the "fantasy land" is our own, just seen through two different lenses. And along with ghosts and angels, you are going to get interactions with devils and elementals, time travel (if not in the way one usually thinks of it) and four-dimensional space, visits from historical figures (Oliver Cromwell and Philip Doddridge), a fistfight between archangels in the galleries of heaven, the building of the "Ultraduct", but also the horrors of "The Destructor" and the despair of the sudden realization that everything you hold dear is insubstantial and fleeting, seen from outside of time...
And, here's the thing. This is just as wonderful as the first book - rich with detail, imaginative thinking, fun, laughs, suspense, terror, wonderful charming characters and deep thought - but it's all presented in a linear fashion, while moving up, around, between, through, over and under Heaven, The Afterlife and History - and the thing of it is that, once you grasp the concept of how "Time" works, you begin to realize there is little urgency to the events, that Moore has to keep throwing roadblocks and errant whims into the path of our undead kid detectives in order to keep the plot moving "forward" - in a world where there is no "forward." Which is fine by me, but others (especially those who try to consume this all in one gulp) may find it taxing.
Two things I particularly liked - the occasional chapters in which the POV shifts from Mick to a single member of the Dead Dead Gang, where we learn their histories and see life through their eyes (all while managing to keep some central mysteries still somewhat mysterious - re: Phyllis & "our Bill" or "Bert") - with the sad but heartwarming narrative of Reggie (especially the ending), the melancholy truth of John and his "cowardice", and Phyllis and John's tryst being particular favorites (although I was not let down by the one I most looked forward to - pudgy, bookish Drowned Marjorie's narrative). Also, I like how the underlying narrative is about how England was both dedicated and rededicated, throughout history, as a testing ground for achieving the humane reality of the Christian faith to come to fruition - a test which, thanks to the machinations of the short-sighted, the wealthy and the powerful, is continually failed and a hope betrayed.
And then, of course, there is the corrosive, awe-inspiring spectacle of "The Destructor" in the future, which I was actually dreading getting to, as I listened to the audio book on my second pass through the text. The "hole in the soul," due to which heaven is on fire and in ruins in the future....in truth, only the promise of Mick's triumphant Parade in Heaven ("Thomas à Becket and Samuel Beckett cheer him on, side by side...") made it worth re-taking the grim journey of that cosmic grindstone whirlpool of a chapter...
And now, on to Book Three!
As I noted in my review of Jerusalem, Book One: The Boroughs, the simple answer to "Should I read this/Will I like it?" is an affirmative, although it is here at the second book that certain types of readers may find themselves beset with a problem.
"The Boroughs" was a series of short stories of various individuals living in Northampton, in various times, held together by the framework of Mick Warren's industrial accident which suddenly dislodged his memory of what happened to him when he was dead for a few minutes as a child, after having choked on a cough drop. He told his artist sister Alma everything he had suddenly remembered, and she created a gallery display of a series of paintings inspired by these memories.
"Mansoul," then, is all that Mick remembered - of being a child, of choking, of dying, and then of escaping through a corner of the ceiling and being brought up to "Mansoul" where he participates in a marvelous adventure with a gang of rapscallion urchins - The Dead Dead Gang - that ranges through The Afterlife ("The Ghost Seam") and Heaven ("Mansoul") and back and forward through time (which Mick learns the true shape of), before everything is tied in a pretty knot. And for those that found the unflinching reality of the first book attractive - its depiction of personal, actual, geographical and religious history, its portrayal of human failing, misery and familial joy and despair (despite the occasional ghost and angel) - "Mansoul" may come as a bit of a shock. Because you could call it a "fantasy novel" - although here the "fantasy land" is our own, just seen through two different lenses. And along with ghosts and angels, you are going to get interactions with devils and elementals, time travel (if not in the way one usually thinks of it) and four-dimensional space, visits from historical figures (Oliver Cromwell and Philip Doddridge), a fistfight between archangels in the galleries of heaven, the building of the "Ultraduct", but also the horrors of "The Destructor" and the despair of the sudden realization that everything you hold dear is insubstantial and fleeting, seen from outside of time...
And, here's the thing. This is just as wonderful as the first book - rich with detail, imaginative thinking, fun, laughs, suspense, terror, wonderful charming characters and deep thought - but it's all presented in a linear fashion, while moving up, around, between, through, over and under Heaven, The Afterlife and History - and the thing of it is that, once you grasp the concept of how "Time" works, you begin to realize there is little urgency to the events, that Moore has to keep throwing roadblocks and errant whims into the path of our undead kid detectives in order to keep the plot moving "forward" - in a world where there is no "forward." Which is fine by me, but others (especially those who try to consume this all in one gulp) may find it taxing.
Two things I particularly liked - the occasional chapters in which the POV shifts from Mick to a single member of the Dead Dead Gang, where we learn their histories and see life through their eyes (all while managing to keep some central mysteries still somewhat mysterious - re: Phyllis & "our Bill" or "Bert") - with the sad but heartwarming narrative of Reggie (especially the ending), the melancholy truth of John and his "cowardice", and Phyllis and John's tryst being particular favorites (although I was not let down by the one I most looked forward to - pudgy, bookish Drowned Marjorie's narrative). Also, I like how the underlying narrative is about how England was both dedicated and rededicated, throughout history, as a testing ground for achieving the humane reality of the Christian faith to come to fruition - a test which, thanks to the machinations of the short-sighted, the wealthy and the powerful, is continually failed and a hope betrayed.
And then, of course, there is the corrosive, awe-inspiring spectacle of "The Destructor" in the future, which I was actually dreading getting to, as I listened to the audio book on my second pass through the text. The "hole in the soul," due to which heaven is on fire and in ruins in the future....in truth, only the promise of Mick's triumphant Parade in Heaven ("Thomas à Becket and Samuel Beckett cheer him on, side by side...") made it worth re-taking the grim journey of that cosmic grindstone whirlpool of a chapter...
And now, on to Book Three!
September 24, 2024
This one was a DNF. While picking up the pace slightly compared to book one, that still leaves it glacieresque. Christopher Fowler's Bryant & May series covers very closely aligned territory in a far more accessible and enjoyable manner. I may return to this series when I have more reading time one day.
February 8, 2019
The second book in Moore's giant novel is in some ways vastly different from the first, and in some ways very much the same. The Mansoul still has the long (really long) descriptions of the environment characters are in and traveling through. In fact, Moore just likes long descriptions of just about everything.
On the other hand, The Mansoul is kinda like an episode of a Nickelodeon show where 5 kids run around and solve crimes. Only here, its 5 kid-ghosts trying to deal with little Michael, who is dead now, but supposed to be alive again soon. Moore even makes the comparison to Scooby Doo or The Goonies at one point, so he knew what he was going for. The story is surprising linear, given the time-traveling, dimension-jumping ways of our heroes, very weird and a lot of fun.
On the other hand, The Mansoul is kinda like an episode of a Nickelodeon show where 5 kids run around and solve crimes. Only here, its 5 kid-ghosts trying to deal with little Michael, who is dead now, but supposed to be alive again soon. Moore even makes the comparison to Scooby Doo or The Goonies at one point, so he knew what he was going for. The story is surprising linear, given the time-traveling, dimension-jumping ways of our heroes, very weird and a lot of fun.
August 6, 2024
Como era previsible, las diversas tramas que el maestro Moore urde en el primer libro de la trilogía comienzan a cobrar perfecto sentido en este segundo volumen. De nuevo, una clase maestra de cómo narrar, de cómo despertar nuestro sentido de la maravilla, de cómo dotar de plena personalidad a cada uno de los simpáticos personajes que forman parte de la Banda de los Muertos Muertos, fantasmillas que recorren el complejo mundo espiritual de los Boroughs de aventura en aventura, y que resultan cruciales para la resolución de este segundo capítulo de la épica saga concebida por el barbudo de Northampton.
Si el primer libro cocía a fuego lento cada ingrediente de su compleja receta, este nos introduce de golpe y porrazo en una dimensión alucinante; el que seamos capaces de al menos hacernos una idea de la complejidad de este mundo en cuatro dimensiones es testamento suficiente de la inconmensurable capacidad de Alan Moore para crear, de su talento innato de escritor. A lo largo de sus densísimas páginas, conoceremos en detalle la extraordinaria mitología concebida por el autor, nos horrorizaremos con las arteras celadas tendidas por el maligno Sam O'Day y, aunque sepamos de antemano el resultado, contendremos el aliento cuando el celestial Mike trate de lograr lo imposible en la mesa de trillar. Todo ello, ornado por un preciosismo en el lenguaje difícil de encontrar hoy en día, en el que prima la eficacia sobre el estilo, pese a que ambas virtudes narrativas no están reñidas en absoluto.
Resulta importante señalar que, a pesar de todos los fuegos de artificio que utiliza Moore, a pesar de toda su envoltura no ya posmoderna, sino revolucionaria, el escritor utiliza el molde narrativo más antiguo y a prueba de bombas existente: una presentación (The Boroughs), en la cual, como su propio nombre indica, se presenta a los personajes y la acción que va a tener lugar, así como el tiempo (en este caso, tiempos) y el espacio; un nudo (Mansoul), en el que tiene lugar la acción principal que desencadenará la conclusión, que, obviamente, corresponderá al último volumen, Vernall's Inquest. Como se puede ver, Moore no inventa la rueda, ni falta que le hace: con mimbres tan antiguos como la mismísima Epopeya de Gilgamesh, el autor es perfectamente capaz de crear una historia susceptible de causar asombro por su complejidad, profundidad y belleza. Que nadie diga que se trata de una obra hermética, pesada, difícil de leer. Esto es absolutamente falso. Nos hallamos ante un relato espléndido, una obra épica que forma parte de una tradición clásica que se remonta a Homero, al alcance de todo lector con una mínima cultura y bagaje a sus espaldas.
Hay que leerla.
Si el primer libro cocía a fuego lento cada ingrediente de su compleja receta, este nos introduce de golpe y porrazo en una dimensión alucinante; el que seamos capaces de al menos hacernos una idea de la complejidad de este mundo en cuatro dimensiones es testamento suficiente de la inconmensurable capacidad de Alan Moore para crear, de su talento innato de escritor. A lo largo de sus densísimas páginas, conoceremos en detalle la extraordinaria mitología concebida por el autor, nos horrorizaremos con las arteras celadas tendidas por el maligno Sam O'Day y, aunque sepamos de antemano el resultado, contendremos el aliento cuando el celestial Mike trate de lograr lo imposible en la mesa de trillar. Todo ello, ornado por un preciosismo en el lenguaje difícil de encontrar hoy en día, en el que prima la eficacia sobre el estilo, pese a que ambas virtudes narrativas no están reñidas en absoluto.
Resulta importante señalar que, a pesar de todos los fuegos de artificio que utiliza Moore, a pesar de toda su envoltura no ya posmoderna, sino revolucionaria, el escritor utiliza el molde narrativo más antiguo y a prueba de bombas existente: una presentación (The Boroughs), en la cual, como su propio nombre indica, se presenta a los personajes y la acción que va a tener lugar, así como el tiempo (en este caso, tiempos) y el espacio; un nudo (Mansoul), en el que tiene lugar la acción principal que desencadenará la conclusión, que, obviamente, corresponderá al último volumen, Vernall's Inquest. Como se puede ver, Moore no inventa la rueda, ni falta que le hace: con mimbres tan antiguos como la mismísima Epopeya de Gilgamesh, el autor es perfectamente capaz de crear una historia susceptible de causar asombro por su complejidad, profundidad y belleza. Que nadie diga que se trata de una obra hermética, pesada, difícil de leer. Esto es absolutamente falso. Nos hallamos ante un relato espléndido, una obra épica que forma parte de una tradición clásica que se remonta a Homero, al alcance de todo lector con una mínima cultura y bagaje a sus espaldas.
Hay que leerla.
September 10, 2020
En mi valoración sólo estoy teniendo en cuenta la calidad de la obra, dejando a un lado el fiasco de la edición hecha por Planeta-Minotauro, ni Alan Moore ni nadie se merecen esta falta de respeto.
Lo que hace la editorial en los tres últimos capítulos del segundo volumen no estoy seguro de que no sea denunciable en la OCU. No es que sea una traducción mala es que ni siquiera es castellano, es el resultado sin criba alguna de un mal traductor automático. En mi opinión la editorial debería descambiar estos libros defectuosos a los consumidores que los hayan adquirido. Sólo decir que, durante la tortura que ha supuesto la lectura de esos tres últimos capítulos, he tenido que recurrir en múltiples ocasiones a la versión original, para tratar de dilucidar de qué narices estaba hablando.
Por lo demás el mundo descrito por Alan Moore es fascinante, aunque este segundo volumen no haya sido tan de mi gusto como el primero. Una obra que merece ser conocida, eso sí, cuando sea tratada con mayor justicia por alguna otra editorial o esta misma se decida a retirar de la venta los volúmenes defectuosos reemplazándolos por otros correctamente editados.
Ojo, no estoy juzgando la traducción, que no debe ser nada sencilla, a juzgar por lo que he podido leer en su versión original. Para mí es un problema de edición porque no se ha leído el material publicado y se ha sacado a la venta un borrador previo de la traducción definitiva, por lo menos en lo referente a los tres últimos capítulos del segundo volumen.
He leído que este defecto parcial en el segundo volumen afecta a la totalidad del tercero, cruzo los dedos porque no sea así. En cualquier caso, en breve lo comprobaré porque, acto seguido, empiezo su lectura.
No suelo escribir opiniones sobre los libros, si lo hago ahora es como aviso para incautos como yo, en las condiciones actuales la editorial debe retirar y destruir esta edición, no está en condiciones de ser vendida ni siquiera rebajada de precio, es sencillamente un timo.
Lo que hace la editorial en los tres últimos capítulos del segundo volumen no estoy seguro de que no sea denunciable en la OCU. No es que sea una traducción mala es que ni siquiera es castellano, es el resultado sin criba alguna de un mal traductor automático. En mi opinión la editorial debería descambiar estos libros defectuosos a los consumidores que los hayan adquirido. Sólo decir que, durante la tortura que ha supuesto la lectura de esos tres últimos capítulos, he tenido que recurrir en múltiples ocasiones a la versión original, para tratar de dilucidar de qué narices estaba hablando.
Por lo demás el mundo descrito por Alan Moore es fascinante, aunque este segundo volumen no haya sido tan de mi gusto como el primero. Una obra que merece ser conocida, eso sí, cuando sea tratada con mayor justicia por alguna otra editorial o esta misma se decida a retirar de la venta los volúmenes defectuosos reemplazándolos por otros correctamente editados.
Ojo, no estoy juzgando la traducción, que no debe ser nada sencilla, a juzgar por lo que he podido leer en su versión original. Para mí es un problema de edición porque no se ha leído el material publicado y se ha sacado a la venta un borrador previo de la traducción definitiva, por lo menos en lo referente a los tres últimos capítulos del segundo volumen.
He leído que este defecto parcial en el segundo volumen afecta a la totalidad del tercero, cruzo los dedos porque no sea así. En cualquier caso, en breve lo comprobaré porque, acto seguido, empiezo su lectura.
No suelo escribir opiniones sobre los libros, si lo hago ahora es como aviso para incautos como yo, en las condiciones actuales la editorial debe retirar y destruir esta edición, no está en condiciones de ser vendida ni siquiera rebajada de precio, es sencillamente un timo.
January 15, 2021
Ugh. I wish I could give this a 6 or a 7 or a 10. When I finished the first book, I got so distressed and sad. I was never hit by fiction like that before. Completing this felt four times worse. Regarding any reviews that have negative things to say about the style or Moore's need for an editor, they just didn't get it. The book went over their head. The style was that of a surreal journey, or like a dream. Parts weren't supposed to read like typical fiction. It was supposed to ramble. This was a portrayal of another world with out getting too abstract The premise of how he describes the second Borough and the details after life seems fantastical and flamboyant as one should expect from a book like this. And yet, having had dreams, and creative visions of *other worlds*, I can't help be feel I was connected to a similar ideas Mr. Moore portrayed in this story. There were haunting feelings of familiarity and *ahh ha, yes!* in his details and events. It's like the story of a child who temporarily died and had a flashing memory of his adventures in the after life happened to Alan, and I would dare say my self in a way. I don't care how crazy this review sounds. If You get it, fantastic. And if you don't...well...then have fun reading your generic fantasy.
October 18, 2020
Si el primer tomo me encantó, con este me he sentido bastante decepcionado. Muchos usuarios comentan (y con toda la razón del mundo) que la cantidad de errores ortográficos desvirtúan la novela y cuesta seguirla de una forma fluida hacia el final del libro.
Añado a eso, y me duele decirlo -Alan Moore siempre ha sido una referencia para mí-, que este libro ha sido de lo más insípido, lento y barroco que he leído en mi vida. Descripciones largas e innecesarias; historias entremezcladas hasta perder el hilo; saltos entre el tiempo que en el primer tomo eran brillantes ahora son extraños y casi no aportan a la historia.
Teniendo en cuenta que este es el segundo tomo y que en realidad no es otro volumen sino parte de la novela Jerusalén (como lo que ocurre con El señor de los anillos y su división en tres volúmenes por problemas de tamaño), no sería justo juzgarlo como libro separado. Espero al tercero para ver cómo concluye y cierra la historia, porque la primera parte fue genial.
Añado a eso, y me duele decirlo -Alan Moore siempre ha sido una referencia para mí-, que este libro ha sido de lo más insípido, lento y barroco que he leído en mi vida. Descripciones largas e innecesarias; historias entremezcladas hasta perder el hilo; saltos entre el tiempo que en el primer tomo eran brillantes ahora son extraños y casi no aportan a la historia.
Teniendo en cuenta que este es el segundo tomo y que en realidad no es otro volumen sino parte de la novela Jerusalén (como lo que ocurre con El señor de los anillos y su división en tres volúmenes por problemas de tamaño), no sería justo juzgarlo como libro separado. Espero al tercero para ver cómo concluye y cierra la historia, porque la primera parte fue genial.
December 17, 2019
After struggling with the first book of Jerusalem, I've really enjoyed this book, but I'm only about 1/3 of the way through it and it's due back at the library. Due to the length of Jerusalem and the density of the reading, I've come to realize borrowing it from the library isn't really a feasible route. I guess I'm gonna break down and buy it on Kindle, so I can take my time and savor it.
September 5, 2019
A really enjoyable romp through the upper levels. Great characters, an intricately woven plot and imparted history, wisdom and feelgood in equal measure. But beware the Destructor....
July 5, 2020
“No, you’ll have to work it all out on your own. For all you know, the bother that you’re so keen to avoid might be your yarn’s most vital element.”
August 21, 2020
Horrible la traducción en la segunda mitad del libro. Casi imposible seguir la historia con los continuos errores. Una mínima revisión de la editorial habría estado bien
June 16, 2024
I ❤️ the Dead Dead Gang. Mansoul made my brain hurt, in that the time passed is not what it seems to Michael.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews