- Unknown Binding
- Publisher: Colt Books; First Thus edition (1994)
- ASIN: B002PCYRUU
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
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Knowledge Of Angels
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
I have just returned to Knowledge of Angels after a 7 year break and found it just as compelling and beautifully written as I did the first time I read it some 10 years ago. The same dilemmas still haunt me. The book details the interwoven stories of a child reared by wolves in the mountains and a man found swimming far out at sea who claims to come from a country no one has heard of and where religious allegiance is a matter of personal conscience. They become the subject of an attempt to discover if knowledge of God is innate. Paton Walsh weaves the strands together using language that creates a mental medaevil book of hours full of fields of peasants bent double over their hoes and little wayside shrines. The book does not pretend to ape reality. Palinor, her swimming atheist, is clearly a cipher of our times and it is the clash of our morality with that of 1450 that provides the dramatic tension. It is not a perfect book but one that stimulates and stays with you. I have yet to give it to anyone who has not been as gripped as I have been (or at least owned up to it). It remains firmly in my top 10 books ever and I am still giving copies away.
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
My memory of the engaging narrative style remains with me long after I have read the book. No word is superfluous yet the book flows from beginning to end and carries the reader with it. Its often complex ideas are expessed eloquently, leaving the reader to appreciate the implications.
It may be criticised as a forceful view of religion where one case is stated and little room is left for the reader's religious beliefs. However, the repression and cruelties against which it fights are undertaken in the name of absolute conformity to the doctrines of the Church, so that it appears to me that the prevailing argument is not against religion but rather against the use of beliefs to justify inhumane acts.
Two of the most awesome accomplishments are the deployment of Josefa (wait for it...!) and the ending, which left me breathless and unwilling to destroy the atmosphere (even by speaking!) for some time. I am thrilled.
It may be criticised as a forceful view of religion where one case is stated and little room is left for the reader's religious beliefs. However, the repression and cruelties against which it fights are undertaken in the name of absolute conformity to the doctrines of the Church, so that it appears to me that the prevailing argument is not against religion but rather against the use of beliefs to justify inhumane acts.
Two of the most awesome accomplishments are the deployment of Josefa (wait for it...!) and the ending, which left me breathless and unwilling to destroy the atmosphere (even by speaking!) for some time. I am thrilled.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
I found this book slightly boring at first if I am honest. However, I had to study it and after a short while, I found myself engrossed. I have to say that it is compelling once the introduction and the primary events have passed.
This book really focuses on the narrow minds of those who claim to have the greatest minds, those who are at the top of the class hierachy. Can one possibly be an atheist in true faith? This is the question Severo must solve when a strange man enters his idyllic island. Palinor (a Prince in his own country) claims that he does not believe in God, causing despair in the religious boundries of the island. At the same time, a strange wolf girl is found who has no knowledge of the most basic human traits. Severo uses both characters in a dangerous experiment to find out whether the knowledge of God is with us from infancy or whether it is learnt during childhood.
You find yourself wondering at times whether or not your own faith and beliefs should be questioned whilst reading this enchanted little book. I think Walsh's style is excellent throughout this intruiging journey, though I must warn you of the rather graphic chapter 22, which seems out of place (it's amusing to students like moi, but older readers may be offended! ). Definitely worth reading!
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4.7 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Read this book
Well written and thought provoking. The story of how the book was published is nearly as good a tale as the book.
Published 5 days ago by Steve andrews
4.0 out of 5 stars
And the gates of hell ......
Well written, cleverly crafted, enthralling reading, sadly pessimistic. I take Knowledge of Angels to be a fable. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Graham Ryan
3.0 out of 5 stars
A simple story
Written rather like a mediaeval allegory - a fable which teaches morality.
Holds one's interest but is very simplistic in its approach.
An easy read for a teenager.
Holds one's interest but is very simplistic in its approach.
An easy read for a teenager.
Published 1 month ago by Rosemary Logan
5.0 out of 5 stars
The road to Hell ...
This is an excellent story and very well told. The dramatic tension of the two main strands (a ship wrecked philosopher and a lost wolf-girl) is created believably and well... Read more
Published 2 months ago by R. Wilson
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent
Really loved this book. Deals with some complex issues in an uncomplicated way, through highly engaging characters. Very original. Would definitely recommend.
Published 3 months ago by Aimee Parker
5.0 out of 5 stars
Well written
This is a great book and deep and full of hidden meanings. We read it for our book club and it arrived on time.
Published 4 months ago by Ab
5.0 out of 5 stars
A morality for our times
"he wondered ruefully why it is those who believe most passionately in a merciful deity who are themselves most murderous and cruel"
Perhaps more than a few prelates of... Read more
Perhaps more than a few prelates of... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Pensato
5.0 out of 5 stars
life defining
This is seared on my memory. Consumed in a single, fever-ridden day it has guided me decades since. Up there with Life of Brian and Life of Pi as art capable of deconstructing... Read more
Published 4 months ago by andrewjlockley
4.0 out of 5 stars
moral dilemmas
I read this back in the nineties and wondered if it would still be relevant. It is. The story is beautifully crafted and is not afraid to deal with weighty questions: are we born... Read more
Published 5 months ago by ClareS
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful
Literally. I was filled with wonder by this novel. A feral child is discovered and put to the test by the island's theocracy - can a human, brought up as an animal, have natural... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Misskin
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