The Blasphemer
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Review
`This is a fine novel; strange and unforgettable.' --The Times
`The writing is beautiful... Farndale's elegant prose, his storytelling ability and the wise tolerance with which he views the vagaries of... characters lend his exhilarating novel a tenderly redemptive afterimage.' --The Sunday Telegraph
`He does suspense exceptionally well, and it's a book that won't leave your fingernails intact. This is a terrifically exciting and thought-provoking must-read.' --The Daily Mail
`A constantly engaging and witty novel from a tremendously clever writer.' --Daily Telegraph
Farndale's evocation of the minutiae of trench warfare surpasses Sebastian Faulks's Birdsong... Exquisite and luminous...a master class in the power of literature to illuminate the physical world and the human soul.' --The Australian
`The writing is beautiful... Farndale's elegant prose, his storytelling ability and the wise tolerance with which he views the vagaries of... characters lend his exhilarating novel a tenderly redemptive afterimage.' --The Sunday Telegraph
`He does suspense exceptionally well, and it's a book that won't leave your fingernails intact. This is a terrifically exciting and thought-provoking must-read.' --The Daily Mail
`A constantly engaging and witty novel from a tremendously clever writer.' --Daily Telegraph
Farndale's evocation of the minutiae of trench warfare surpasses Sebastian Faulks's Birdsong... Exquisite and luminous...a master class in the power of literature to illuminate the physical world and the human soul.' --The Australian
Book Description
Shortlisted for the 2010 Costa Novel Award, an astonishing, ambitious and masterful new novel, with echoes of Birdsong, that reads at the pace of a thriller.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
89 of 94 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
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Once I had waded through the first fifty pages or so, I thought this an excellent book. It is thoughtful, insightful, gripping and generally very well written. I found the lengthy scene-setting at the beginning so tedious and apparently self-indulgent that I very nearly gave up but I am extremely glad I didn't. The rest is so good that I still rate it as a five-star book - a rare thing for me.
The publisher's blurb tells (slightly inaccurately) probably more of the plot than I wanted to know before starting the book, so I won't summarize it further, but it switches between the main protagonist in the present day and his great grandfather at Passchendaele in 1917 and 1918. This works extremely well: both stories are very involving and are very skilfully counterposed, with neat, subtle parallels and contrasts between the two. I thought the brief periods of extreme action in both stories quite brilliant. There have been a lot of fine evocations of the First World War trenches but Farndale's description of a man in the build-up to action and then going over the top felt quite new and had me absolutely riveted with a racing heart and sweaty palms. The crash which drives the present-day plot is the point at which the book really takes off and again is simply brilliantly described.
Thoughtful moments are equally well done. For example, Farndale says of one character waiting at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday, "...he had not known his father, who in turn had not known his father. Neither man had grown old as he, the son and grandson, had grown old. They had instead been frozen in youth, their likenesses recorded in a few granular photographs, their names carved on stones in foreign fields. They were strangers to one another, grandfather, father and son, yet once a year, on the same November morning they met for two minutes in the silence." I found that very touching, and was equally moved to emotion or thought in several other places.
The book deals with a complex interplay of ideas: among others the nature of cowardice and courage, the nature of powerful religious faith and militant scientific atheism and whether either can offer a complete world view alone, and what might really constitute guilt, forgiveness and redemption. Farndale manages this without being at all turgid or preachy, and encompasses it all in a story which I found page-turningly engrossing and exciting. The characters are believeable and well-drawn. (He catches beautifully the blokey relationship between two men who really care for each other, for example.) There are even a couple of really good jokes. The dénouements of the various strands are perhaps not all entirely plausible, but I really didn't mind that - it certainly didn't interfere with my interest and enjoyment.
I'm sorry this is rather a long review. I don't think I could do the book justice in a brief one. Please don't be deterred if, like me, you find the book's opening a struggle. You will be rewarded with a really gripping read which pays you the compliment of discussing complex ideas and emotions without patronising or offering glib solutions. I thought this an excellent book and I recommend it very warmly to anyone who likes an involving, intelligent, thoughtful and thought-provoking read.
The publisher's blurb tells (slightly inaccurately) probably more of the plot than I wanted to know before starting the book, so I won't summarize it further, but it switches between the main protagonist in the present day and his great grandfather at Passchendaele in 1917 and 1918. This works extremely well: both stories are very involving and are very skilfully counterposed, with neat, subtle parallels and contrasts between the two. I thought the brief periods of extreme action in both stories quite brilliant. There have been a lot of fine evocations of the First World War trenches but Farndale's description of a man in the build-up to action and then going over the top felt quite new and had me absolutely riveted with a racing heart and sweaty palms. The crash which drives the present-day plot is the point at which the book really takes off and again is simply brilliantly described.
Thoughtful moments are equally well done. For example, Farndale says of one character waiting at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday, "...he had not known his father, who in turn had not known his father. Neither man had grown old as he, the son and grandson, had grown old. They had instead been frozen in youth, their likenesses recorded in a few granular photographs, their names carved on stones in foreign fields. They were strangers to one another, grandfather, father and son, yet once a year, on the same November morning they met for two minutes in the silence." I found that very touching, and was equally moved to emotion or thought in several other places.
The book deals with a complex interplay of ideas: among others the nature of cowardice and courage, the nature of powerful religious faith and militant scientific atheism and whether either can offer a complete world view alone, and what might really constitute guilt, forgiveness and redemption. Farndale manages this without being at all turgid or preachy, and encompasses it all in a story which I found page-turningly engrossing and exciting. The characters are believeable and well-drawn. (He catches beautifully the blokey relationship between two men who really care for each other, for example.) There are even a couple of really good jokes. The dénouements of the various strands are perhaps not all entirely plausible, but I really didn't mind that - it certainly didn't interfere with my interest and enjoyment.
I'm sorry this is rather a long review. I don't think I could do the book justice in a brief one. Please don't be deterred if, like me, you find the book's opening a struggle. You will be rewarded with a really gripping read which pays you the compliment of discussing complex ideas and emotions without patronising or offering glib solutions. I thought this an excellent book and I recommend it very warmly to anyone who likes an involving, intelligent, thoughtful and thought-provoking read.
32 of 34 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Even though I finished this novel a few days ago, I'm still thinking about it. The ending is satisfyingly ambiguous, depending on whether you are an atheist or a theist. Even the central characters don't seem to know what to make of it. The possibility that there might be a religious dimension is so enigmatically drawn that neither Daniel nor Andrew seems to know how to respond to it, which makes their stories all the more convincing. I also liked the way The Blasphemer was not only multi-layered -- time shifts between 1917 and the present -- but also multi-themed. There are two main themes: what happens to an atheist who thinks he might have had a religious experience, and what happens to a loving relationship when one half fails to act selflessly to save the life of the other. Above all, I appreciated the way the author left the interpretations up to the reader: the longing for innocence, the recognition of human shortcoming, the shifting moods, from melancholy to euphoria and back. You do get a sense in both the past and the present narratives of the partially sighted leading the partially blind through a moral and spiritual maze, like blinded soldiers leading each other out of the trenches. One idea occurred to me, which was prompted by the name of the fictional London University college, Trinity. The trinity in the novel seems to be Philip as the father, Daniel as the son and Hamdi as the holy ghost. That would make Wetherby the devil. Perhaps that is reading too much into it, but not only did I find this an exhilarating read, zigzagging back and forth, but also a chilling and moving one, reducing me to tears in some of the First World War scenes. The odd thing is, I don't know whether it made me happy or sad, all I do know is that I found the journey extemely satisfying and I would like to go on it again.
31 of 33 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is that rare thing, a psychologically complex, finely crafted
literary novel that is as page turning as a thriller. Other reviewers
have discussed the plot and the characters in depth so I won't do the
same, but I would add that what I liked about it was the way the
author managed to weave profound ideas into the plot without them
seeming intrusive. There are big themes here, such as religion versus
Darwinism, and the meaning of cowardice. But it is also warm and
moving, especially in the way it tackles the breakdown of a marriage.
I also liked the way the momentum built towards the end, with the two
narratives -- the present day and the First World War -- finally
merging. I really recommend it. =
literary novel that is as page turning as a thriller. Other reviewers
have discussed the plot and the characters in depth so I won't do the
same, but I would add that what I liked about it was the way the
author managed to weave profound ideas into the plot without them
seeming intrusive. There are big themes here, such as religion versus
Darwinism, and the meaning of cowardice. But it is also warm and
moving, especially in the way it tackles the breakdown of a marriage.
I also liked the way the momentum built towards the end, with the two
narratives -- the present day and the First World War -- finally
merging. I really recommend it. =
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Over-blown
Warning: this review may contain story-spoilers.
The basic premise was intriguing but by the end of it I was wondering why this book left me so dissatisfied. Read more
The basic premise was intriguing but by the end of it I was wondering why this book left me so dissatisfied. Read more
Published 24 days ago by Longshanks
An Inspirational Masterpiece
I have just finished reading The Blasphemer. Not for quite some time has a book touched me so much, its characters and their stories lodged in my mind. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Anna Costin
vivid and multi-layered
I like the way this book builds and builds in tension. What gives it authenticity is the character's moods and voices, in both the First World War and the present day scenes. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Pauline Mackie
3 or 4 stars? hmm
Three I think in the end. I enjoyed the book. It was very readable and mostly entertaining. I however agree with several of the nay-sayers in that it was sometimes a bit clumsy and... Read more
Published 2 months ago by A. Mackintosh
Pure brilliance
To start with this novel is tedious and drags on a bit to the point where I thought it was going to be a boring, dull read throughout but after 50 pages or so it certainly picks... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Justhavingfun
Blasphemer
Brilliant book, alot of depth with multiple stories unfolding which all intertwine. I am not a first world war person but the storyline which related to Ypres drew me in entirely... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Dash
the blasphemer
A great thought provoking book. Farndale's descriptions of the war around Ypres are memorable as is his exploration of the nature of courage and bravery. Read more
Published 3 months ago by howard
Powerful and moving
I thought this was an engrossing book. There were three things I really liked about it: the subtlety of the writing, the pacing and the intricacies of the plot. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Mary Richie
Doesn't know what it is or what it wants to be
The Blasphemer by Nigel Farndale was shortlisted for the 2010 Costa Book Award, and frankly, it rather beats me as to how that happened. Read more
Published 3 months ago by R. A. Davison
More engrossing than Birdsong
I loved this book although when I picked it up I was doubtful than any novel could surpass Birdsong. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Mr. S. J. Husband
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