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Terry

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Terry is Currently Reading

Terry is currently reading

The Wake

by Paul Kingsnorth

bookshelves: that-northern-thing, historical-fiction, post-apocalypse, currently-reading

Reading for the 2nd time

read in November 2015

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Terry said: " 3.5 – 4 stars

When we think of post-apocalyptic fiction we tend to think specifically of science fiction (or at least I know I do). Our vision is usually either of a near-future survival thriller about the fall of current human civilization into ruin 3.5 – 4 stars

When we think of post-apocalyptic fiction we tend to think specifically of science fiction (or at least I know I do). Our vision is usually either of a near-future survival thriller about the fall of current human civilization into ruin (most often as the result of a nuclear holocaust, an ecological disaster, or more recently due to those pesky zombies), or of the far-future as we witness the after-effects on a society that has fallen into utter barbarity and ruin. We tend to see the apocalypse, understandably, as truly world-ending on a global scale wherein the entirety of human civilization has been laid waste, but what about an apocalypse that is more restricted in its geographical extent? What about one that impacts ‘only’ a single nation or a culture? What about an apocalypse that happens not in the future or near-present, but one that lies in the distant past? We think, or hope, of apocalypses (apocalypsi?) as rare events, something so inconceivable that it could only happen when the blue moon shines, but when we broaden our definitions just a little and look beyond only those events that shatter the globe and also turn our vision from the future to the past we may start to see a world that was riddled with apocalypses; a world where cultures thrived and died on a regular basis. It would seem that in many ways the apocalypse has been a fact of life for humanity since our infancy. Countries, cultures, whole civilizations were destroyed as a matter of course throughout most of human history and Paul Kingsnorth’s _The Wake_ is a tale of one such apocalypse.

1066 is a famous year. Even those ignorant of many ‘major’ historical events likely know that this was the year that William (alternately ‘the Bastard’ and ‘the Conqueror’) of Normandy invaded England and defeated then-king Harold Godwinson and subjugated a people. This subjugation was particularly harsh, even in an age known for the harshness of war, and ultimately involved the destruction (or was it a transmutation?) of a people through the decimation of their language, their rights, and, ultimately for many, of their lives. The Anglo-Saxon culture that then held sway (admittedly itself a race of conquerors on the island) was overcome by the culture of France and a way of life was seemingly decimated almost overnight. Landowners lost their rights and privileges to a crown with new and far-reaching powers; speakers of the Anglo-Saxon tongue found themselves ruled by a people that neither knew, nor cared to know, their language or ways; nearly the entire ruling class was decimated and those beneath them learned that even the yoke they once bore was perhaps not so bad a thing when compared to the new one. What is less well known is that there was, for several years, a guerilla war waged on the Norman invaders by some of the remaining Saxon population. This war, while ultimately fruitless, was the last hope of many for retaining their way of life and it is the story of one such rebel that we are told in Kingsnorth’s novel.

One thing to note before this review goes any further is that Kingsnorth has basically created his own language in this novel and it could be a stumbling block for some. He calls this language a “shadow tongue” since it is a fabricated version of English that incorporates many Old English words and grammatical structures in an attempt to incorporate a sense of verisimilitude with the era in which the story takes place without actually writing it in Old English. It could thus be compared to what Russell Hoban did in Riddley Walker, though I would argue that this is a bit easier to slide into (esp. if you have any background in basic OE syntax and vocabulary). There is also a helpful glossary at the back of the book for some of the more opaque words and terms used in the text. I think, as with Hoban’s use of an invented language, Kingsnorth’s experiment is not merely a gimmick and ultimately succeeds. I find far too often that historical fiction fails due to being little more than modern characters dressed up in historical drag. I wouldn’t say that attempting to recreate a dead language in a way that can (mostly) be read by modern audiences is the sole solution to this problem, but in this case it definitely went a long way towards immersing the reader into what is effectively a different world, and certainly a different mindset. When we have to meet the narrator on his own terms due to the language used we are forced to leave many of our preconceptions at the door. Of course the fact that I have at least a smattering of Old English definitely helped me in acclimating myself fairly quickly, but I would strongly encourage any readers, even without this background, to still put in the effort. Once you’ve picked up the gauntlet dropped by Kingsnorth I think you’ll find that after a few chapters the words that were previously giving you headaches start to roll naturally off the tongue.

We open on the eve of the Norman invasion and are introduced to Buccmaster of Holland (a region of eastern England, not the Netherlands) our stalwart narrator and a “socman a man of the wapentac [who] has three oxgangs” which ultimately translates to “an important man of influence and means beholden to none” (a fact of which he is eager to remind us every chance he gets). Buccmaster tells us his tale of tragedy and woe as he recalls the day that everything started to go wrong and all of the events that followed in its wake. It was, as is usually the case, a day much like any other aside from the fact that he witnessed an omen, a strange bird in the sky, that led him to believe that changes were in the air. His feeble attempts at warning others fall on deaf ears and we soon learn that Buccmaster is an atavism amongst his own people, a man of the old ways as taught to him by his grandfather who has rejected the “hwit crist” and the wave of change that has already come and significantly changed the traditions and beliefs of his people. As a result he is not only something of an outcast and recluse in his own small community, but also already in a position of bemoaning the lost past of his people even before the great apocalypse that will truly decimate his culture has arrived.

It is interesting to note that despite the tragedies that we come to see befall Buccmaster: the loss of his position, the burning of his home, the disappearance and probable death of his sons, the rape and murder of his wife, Buccmaster never becomes a sympathetic character. He is a man, we quickly come to realize, who is neither likeable nor trustworthy. His words always serve a specific purpose - his own perceived best interest – and while it seems fairly clear (to me at least) that he is not deceiving us on purpose it is equally clear that his entire perception of reality and the events that go on around him are skewed. Ironically it is his own words that betray him. As we hear the constant justifications, the repeated assurances of his own worth, power, and rightness, the continual complaints about the wrongs to which he has been subjected (by both his enemies and his friends) we begin to question Buccmaster’s grasp on reality. As Buccmaster falls further and further from his position of relative comfort and influence, or as obstacles to his unquestioned authority arise, we start to hear the voices in his head. These voices whisper to him that the old gods have returned and hand-picked Buccmaster himself to bring back their ancient ways to his people and overcome the invaders. Unable to accept that he is no more than an outcast and outlaw living like a beast in the forest, Buccmaster must instead see himself as the ordained saviour of his people and their ancient way of life.

You might wonder how book with a main character whose catalogue of faults and crimes matches that of Buccmaster could be readable, let alone enjoyable, but I found _The Wake_ to be both. Buccmaster is no saint, he’s not even a likeable sinner, but his story of loss, decline, and madness is a compelling one. As we are given more and more glimpses of both past and present events and the story of his life begins to unpeel like the skin of a rotting onion we start to see the full tragedy of Buccmaster’s life and understand that the last greatest calamity of the overthrow and destruction of his people was simply the final nail in the coffin - the last straw in a long line of sins, disappointments and defeats. It sounds an utterly gloomy tale, and while it certainly isn’t full of a lot of chuckles, I still found it to be compelling and not so much depressing as harrowing. The apocalypse of the Norman invasion may have left the globe at large much as it had been before it occurred – changes in regime happen every day after all – but it was no less world-ending for that to the people that lived through it and came out the other side into a world, a reality, which they could no longer understand.

_The Wake_ is a fine piece of historical fiction that not only incorporates a truly intriguing narrative technique and linguistic structure, but also proves to be a powerful meditation on loss, culture, and the ways we define ourselves as both individuals and members of a wider community. Definitely recommended, though not for the faint of heart. ...more "

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— Nov 08, 2026 06:30PM

Nov 19, 2015 07:11AM · see review

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The Long Ships

by Frans G. Bengtsson

bookshelves: currently-reading, historical-fiction, that-northern-thing

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— Aug 16, 2016 08:40AM

Oct 24, 2026 03:39PM

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Major Works

by John Clare

bookshelves: currently-reading, poetry

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— Nov 07, 2026 02:44PM

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Terry ’s Quotes

“Looking at them words going down on this paper right this minim I know there aint no such thing there aint no only my self you all ways have every 1 and every thing on your back.”
― Russell Hoban, Riddley Walker

tags: interdependence

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“In the light of this reflection, the library seemed all the more disturbing to me. It was then the place of a long, centuries-old murmuring, an imperceptible dialogue between one parchment and another, a living thing, a receptacle of powers not to be ruled by a human mind, a treasure of secrets emanated by many minds, surviving the death of those who had produced them or had been their conveyors.”
― Umberto Eco, The Name of the Rose

tags: books, communication, libraries, mind

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“Let teachers and priests and philosophers brood over questions of reality and illusion. I know this: if life is illusion, then I am no less an illusion, and being thus, the illusion is real to me. I live, I burn with life, I love, I slay, and am content.”
― Robert E. Howard, Queen of the Black Coast: Robert E. Howard's Saga of Conan the Barbarian

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“I agree that it's a shame some books have to suffer ratings that clearly are invalid. However I can't think of a way to prevent it, and I didn't see any ideas in the thread either (I did skim though).

I hope you'll appreciate that if we just start deleting ratings whenever we feel like it, that we've gone down a censorship road that doesn't take us to a good place.”
― Otis Y. Chandler

tags: censorship, goodreads

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“And he at once determined on going to find Gilbert, who was residing at Versailles, but who, without having revisited the queen after the journey of the king to Paris, had become the right hand of Necker, who had been reappointed minister, and was endeavoring to organize prosperity by generalizing poverty.”
― Alexandre Dumas, Ange Pitou, Volume 2

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