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Review
“A magnificently multilayered novel… and a superbly exciting piece of literature.”
The Times
“…A work of poetic imagination that will keep any adult mind at full stretch.”
Daily Mail
“A bitter, complex, brilliant book.”
Ursula Le Guin
Review
"A magnificently multilayered novel! and a superbly exciting piece of literature." The Times "!A work of poetic imagination that will keep any adult mind at full stretch." Daily Mail "A bitter, complex, brilliant book." Ursula Le Guin
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
27 of 28 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I read this book when I was 14 - it was one of several that my English teacher recommended, not as part of the school curriculum, but because he thought they were good books (these were halcyon pre-National Curriculum days where teachers could often follow their own enthusiams, and thus build the same in others).
I cannot recall what else he recommded now, but Red Shift simply blew me away then, and continues to have an effect today - 30 years later.
My friend and I read it at the same time and discussed it endlessly. We were gripped by everything - the style, the story, the lack of a traditional narrative thread, the switch between times - and viewpoints, the meaning (if there was one).
Its not a perfect book - the Roman episodes do not work entirely well at times, and returning to it now its a bit dated - but that does not matter when you can be so gripped by the pace and drive of the book (I will not say "story" because that would imply a structure that it does not have - and it is that too that fascinates).
It changed the way I looked on writing, and the way I wrote (indeed maybe still write sometimes). The power of the short sentance, and well chosen words. The way in which the reader fills in the gaps to the extent that every reader probably reads a "different" book.
Red Shift is at its heart a teenage novel (indeed it was probably one the first books aimed at the teenage market, an age group that - and it is hard to believe this now - was incredibly poorly provided for right up to the early 80s), and perhaps its only teenagers who appreciate the structural iconoclasm because many older readers hate it. I'd urge anyone to give it a go - relax and dive in. Let it flow over you. Emerge at the other end (its not a long book), think a bit, then dive in again... and find a whole different story each time.
I cannot recall what else he recommded now, but Red Shift simply blew me away then, and continues to have an effect today - 30 years later.
My friend and I read it at the same time and discussed it endlessly. We were gripped by everything - the style, the story, the lack of a traditional narrative thread, the switch between times - and viewpoints, the meaning (if there was one).
Its not a perfect book - the Roman episodes do not work entirely well at times, and returning to it now its a bit dated - but that does not matter when you can be so gripped by the pace and drive of the book (I will not say "story" because that would imply a structure that it does not have - and it is that too that fascinates).
It changed the way I looked on writing, and the way I wrote (indeed maybe still write sometimes). The power of the short sentance, and well chosen words. The way in which the reader fills in the gaps to the extent that every reader probably reads a "different" book.
Red Shift is at its heart a teenage novel (indeed it was probably one the first books aimed at the teenage market, an age group that - and it is hard to believe this now - was incredibly poorly provided for right up to the early 80s), and perhaps its only teenagers who appreciate the structural iconoclasm because many older readers hate it. I'd urge anyone to give it a go - relax and dive in. Let it flow over you. Emerge at the other end (its not a long book), think a bit, then dive in again... and find a whole different story each time.
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I too read this story in school, many more years ago now than I want to remember. I was reading simple adventure stories and came across 'Red Shift' somehow and was completely captured by the pure imagination of it. Maybe the only novelist who comes close for me now to that sense of wonder and other worldliness is Robert Holdstock in his Mythago novels. But if you can put 'Red Shift' into the hands of a teenager at just the right time...... ....you will create a reader of books for a lifetime.
45 of 49 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Red Shift would be the greatest children's book ever, if it wasn't really a dark and disturbing adult book subversively circulated to the young. Short of giving your kids "American Psycho" or "The 120 Days of Sodom", I can't think of a better way of messing with their heads. I read it (after the first 4 Garners) at 13, when I was smart enough to crack the code and too dumb to spot the sex, and it freaked me out, but not as much as when I re-read it five years later. There's three stories in one, plus bits of Vietnam, King Lear and the Ballad of Tamlyn, but its all really in Tom's over-intellectual, working-class, sexually-confused head as he tries to make sense of everything moving away from him. Along with "Unknown Pleasures" and "Closer", this is Cheshire's greatest contribution to world culture. Tom's a cold
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Disturbing (warning: contains plot spoilers)
I was haunted by Elidor as a boy and have enjoyed it along with other early Garners, as an adult. But Red Shift I'm not sure about. In part it's brilliant. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Dafydd
Too Much Shifting.
I've loved all the books of Alan Garner, except this one.
I just couldn't work out what was going on, or where, or when. Read more
I just couldn't work out what was going on, or where, or when. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Solina
Crack the code!
The book ends with a 2 page letter in code. You really do need to read it - it's the real ending of the book. I read this about 30 years ago. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Shivari
Dark, complex and powerful
This is a complex, ambiguous and intense read that remains enigmatic right to the very end. While ostensibly written as a children's book it is very different from Garner's Elidor,... Read more
Published on 21 Aug 2009 by Roman Clodia
What Do I Get?
"Red Shift" is a bleak, difficult work. It's also a stunning achievement, and remains one of the most haunting books that I've ever read. Read more
Published on 8 Oct 2007 by Blackdog
A many-layered book
I have read this book several times in my life. The first time I read it (as a teeenager) it freaked me out. Roman soldiers talking like modern squaddies! Read more
Published on 27 Oct 2003 by Richard Seddon
how good the book is.
As soon as I laid an eye on this book i knew it was the book for me to read.Read this book and see how right I really am.
Published on 30 May 2000
A vision of doom
I love Alan Garner's books, for many reasons. Perhaps the most prevalent here is his concept of the writing a novel - it's done once by the author, and then once again by every... Read more
Published on 16 Feb 2000
Great book from early teens onwards.
I first read this book at school and fell in love with it - but if anyone can crack the code and tell me what the last two pages of the book mean I'd love to know! Read more
Published on 22 July 1999
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