ManBookering discussion

This is a discussion thread for Elmet by Fiona Mozley. Please be courteous of spoilers; if you are going to discuss them, give fair warning of page/chapter number or use the spoiler tag. Thanks! Happy discussing.

This was the biggest surprise so far. It was the only book on the longlist I had never heard of before but the blurb sounded intriguing so I bought the ebook. And I sure didnt regret this decision!

An amazing book, and even more so because it's a debut novel. Very powerful & sad, too. I gave it 4.5*.

The story is told by fourteen year old Daniel, living with his sister Cathy (15) and 'Daddy' in a self built house in the Yorkshire woods. The father used to box for money but is now working for himself, hunting & working in the woods. Tension run high when the local 'boss', Mr. Price, wants the father to work for him and claims that the part of the land were the family lives, is owned by him.

NB: I've seen a blurb somewhere that this is a book about an abusive father which is utterly untrue. Just to let you know.

It was also the book on the longlist of which I had never heard.

However, as is historically the case with many books that Britta and I read, I didn't like it as much as Britta did (sometimes she likes books more than I did, so it works both ways, but it doesn't seem that we agree that often - I believe we are both fine with this and, in fact, take some kind of weird pleasure from disagreeing with one another).

Some of the characters didn't work too well for me. Price is such an evil baddie he became almost farcical, I thought. Daniel as narrator confused me because he talked in a rough Yorkshire accent but wrote in often beautiful and fancy prose (I'm sure this is perfectly possible, but it felt odd to me).

I am just over halfway through and enjoying it a lot - as I have said in the other place I would love to see this shortlisted - it is not necessarily one of the best six but none of the others would benefit as much from the publicity.

The Guardian has just published an interview with Mozley here:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/201...

As mentioned in the general thread, here is a brief comment from the podcast interview with Lila Azam Zanganeh (LAZ) and Colin Thubron (CT) on the longlist selections.

Elmet
LAZ: I have to say I am very pleased that we included Fiona Mozley because she’s the youngest of the thirteen. She’s 29 years old. I have to say I’m always looking for beauty and originality, and I remember Calvino and the American lessons would say there must be integrity to a cause, there must also be a beauty. And again, here is a writer creating a very singular tale in a style that already, at 29, is completely distinctive. I was blown away by many of the pages, and it really creates sort of a countryside setting, a very harrowing story, that is already completely her own. You can hear her voice. She has a very textured and distinctive voice as well.

Ohh I liked this book! A strong debut! The only Gothic/political novel you'll read this year????

This had such a strange tone but I enjoyed it. It felt out of time but I think it did reference some dates at one point so that kind of confused me. But I was definitely impressed by Mozley's writing and look forward to seeing what she writes in the future.

I think the setting is present day, but the inspiration is historic and/or legendary - I felt there were elements of Robin Hood about it too, and people in that part of Yorkshire claim Robin Hood as vehemently as we do where I come from in Nottinghamshire.
There are some pretty obvious flaws, and the ending is too violent and melodramatic for my taste, but it is an enjoyable read and I would not be unhappy if it gets shortlisted, if only because Mozley is obviously talented and would benefit most from the exposure, and in a list with so many heavyweights this one is a breath of fresh air...

Hugh wrote: "I think the setting is present day, but the inspiration is historic and/or legendary - I felt there were elements of Robin Hood about it too, and people in that part of Yorkshire claim Robin Hood a..."

Ohh yeah now that you mention it I definitely see the Robin Hood, good guy vs. bad guy, inspiration. Also the ending was so dramatic I found it a bit off-putting, but still fun to read. I wouldn't mind seeing her shortlisted either though

I liked the ending.it was so cartoonish that i couldn't help admiring her

I really enjoy the book. A breath of fresh air as Hugh said. Having read 7 out of the 13 this is the only one I’m emotionally invested.
I feel the dramatic ending is almost necessary. Mozley’s writing has a quite elegance to it. Without the epic ending the story would feel too flat and could be putoff for today’s readers.
Cartoonish Robert? Hmm… I Can’t see that; I can only see the cliff hanger for the sequel. 

I finally read this one and really liked it - I agree with Wen above that the ending (albeit maybe too dramatic) seemed necessary. The conflict had to be realized somehow or the whole story would have collapsed on itself. I am quite impressed that this is a debut too.

Really enjoyed this one, decent storyline and good flow. Some really good threads that could have been fleshed out further, but weren't, leaving you to wonder how they would have played out. For me, it could have a shout at the prize, and I wouldn't be upset if it happened to win out

Just read a new review of Elmet at Kirkus which gave it a Starred review! Looks like it’s due to be published in the U.S. on December 5! Wonder if Mozley will be here to sign copies?

I read this book last week and loved it. I didn't know what to expect and was surprised at how good I found it,
It was an original, haunting and tense story, with beautiful prose and well written, though mysterious, characters.
I think it was more deserving of its place in the Shortlist than Home Fire, or Exit West.

I just finished it and my heart is still racing. I thought it a beautifully written book although the ending was a bit over the top for me. The story line was uniquely different than anything I've read in quite a while.