Rating: 3/5
Review:
Rather a struggle
I struggled with The Countenance Divine. It's an imaginative and ambitious idea but I
didn’t find it sufficiently well done to hold my attention.
The book takes place in four time periods: 1999, 1888, 1777
and 1666, whose numerical characteristics mean that they are apocalyptic
moments whose connection gradually becomes apparent. The chief characters concerned are a computer
programmer dealing with the "Millennium Bug," Jack The Ripper,
William Blake and John Milton and each section has a feel an language
appropriate to its age. The story and
idea emerges pretty slowly and even when the connections and theme began to
become apparent, I found it a bit of a slog.
I find it hard to put my finger on exactly why, but the idea never really
took hold with me and the different periods and characters never quite came to life. I found the plodding, featureless prose of
the 1999 sections especially hard to take; this is plainly a deliberate
stylistic choice, but it seemed to me to be almost amateurish in its effect
which made it extra tough going.
I'm sorry not to be more enthusiastic about The Countenance
Divine because I applaud its ambition, it is well researched and I have an interest
in both Blake and Milton. I have rounded 2.5 up to three stars for these
reasons, but I'm afraid it just didn’t do it for me. Others have fared rather better, but I can't
really recommend it, I'm afraid.
(I received an ARC via Netgalley.)
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