Books on the Broad reading group online discussion of God's Own Country by Ross Raisin Online discussion started 20 April, 2009, with comments on the first chapter only in the first week to allow people time to come on board. Complimentary copies of this book were distributed during The Readers' Voice Convention. If you wish to join in the discussion then you should email to BooksontheBroadmail@gmail.com to start the registration process. Once you have registered you will be able to add comments and to make attachments to these pages. Add your comments for the overall review below. You can use the navigation bar on the left to move between sections and add further comments back and forth as you wish. |
Verdict from David Booth (b 1925) I've divided my final comments under the following headings: Style. The dialect vocabulary was nothing I really recognized as a Yorkshireman of my generation. Much of it seemed straight out of a dictionary and belonging to a mix of different times e.g. mostly from pre-First World War? The lack of direct speech and conversation between characters narrowed the focus too much to the thoughts of the central character. Characters. All the characters, apart from Sam, are just sketches - barely there. The women are caricatures of types: Sam's mother is weak- hardly a presence in the book. The girl seems included just for the purposes of the plot. As for Sam himself, how well motivated/believable is he? Date of Action. No real precise time, which might have helped 'root' the story e.g. when were open prisons introduced? and EU subsidies? is this before mobile phones? The girl might have summoned help more easily today or be tracked through her phone by the police. Plot. I felt there was no forward progression, that everything was all on one level, with no really gripping events. All in all, I was left not really wanting to know more.
From Marjorie Broadhurst of Combs Reading Group, Derbyshire
I felt that the protagonist Sam was amoral (having no morals or scruples), whilst the girl was immoral, knowing perfectly well what she was doing. Sam is a well-drawn psychopath, I think, but then I'm not a psychiatrist. I do know that it is impossible to understand the motives of a true psychopath, so the author is on easy ground here maybe, not having to substantiate his character's actions. It's possible to feel some sympathy for Sam, when he's in prison, though and for his mother, who is one of the rare more credible characters. I passed this book on to my gardener, Richard, who is a very well read man, but he was put off by the dialect. He only got halfway through -with the comment that it wasn't for him. Other(female)reading group members felt it was too cruel and violent, whilst others did want to know what happened. All in all, we wouldn't recommend this book. Not a page-turner.