The Carhullan Army
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Product Description
Observer
'In prose as stark and lyrical as the Cumbrian landscape, Hall picks apart notions of absolutism, individuality and moral responsibility.'
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Guardian
'When Hall writes scenes rather than synopsis, the personal drama ensures the political gravity becomes genuinely gripping.'
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
To be honest I wasn't expecting much here. I thought I knew Sarah Hall's work from the articles she writes for the glossy magazines that grace Cumbrian dentists' waiting-rooms. I recall in particular a tremulous piece about her plans to climb Striding Edge on Helvellyn - a deeply girly account I thought. I haven't read her other novels - Haweswater and Electric Michelangelo. So I must have been in a good mood when I was persuaded to buy Carhullan Army.
But what a splendid decision. How she's grown! Fellow book-fiends, I am prepared to eat my own walking boots in atonement.
OK, it's not perfect. The literary device - a supposed collection of prison interrogation records felt unrealistic and the tale got off to a clunky start with a number of improbable developments. It didn't help that I know the geographical area in which she sets her tale. Carhullan actually exists! I do my shopping in "Rith" so I know, for example, that you don't have to cross the Eden to get from the one to the other.
Enough of this carping. Once the story gets into its stride it's unstoppable and the writing is superb. I learnt quite a few new words and had my eyes opened in various ways. From the very beginning of course, you know that you're dealing with a tragedy - that there will not be a happy ending. But you are pulled on regardless. The psychological insight is spot-on and the characterisation is superb. Wherever did Jacky come from, I wonder? I see that other reviewers feel that Sarah just ran out of steam at the end. Nonsense, say I. The increasingly fragmentary interrogation record simply underlines the fragmentation of the lives of the protagonists. In the end we know that our Amazonian heroine will not survive but there is no sense of despair. Re-reading the opening lines of the book I realised that there is a coded message. This is a deeply noble tale of commitment and hope. We've rather lost the knack of this lately and Sarah's book is a timely reminder.
Somebody else suggested Carhullan would make a good film. I couldn't agree more.
But what a splendid decision. How she's grown! Fellow book-fiends, I am prepared to eat my own walking boots in atonement.
OK, it's not perfect. The literary device - a supposed collection of prison interrogation records felt unrealistic and the tale got off to a clunky start with a number of improbable developments. It didn't help that I know the geographical area in which she sets her tale. Carhullan actually exists! I do my shopping in "Rith" so I know, for example, that you don't have to cross the Eden to get from the one to the other.
Enough of this carping. Once the story gets into its stride it's unstoppable and the writing is superb. I learnt quite a few new words and had my eyes opened in various ways. From the very beginning of course, you know that you're dealing with a tragedy - that there will not be a happy ending. But you are pulled on regardless. The psychological insight is spot-on and the characterisation is superb. Wherever did Jacky come from, I wonder? I see that other reviewers feel that Sarah just ran out of steam at the end. Nonsense, say I. The increasingly fragmentary interrogation record simply underlines the fragmentation of the lives of the protagonists. In the end we know that our Amazonian heroine will not survive but there is no sense of despair. Re-reading the opening lines of the book I realised that there is a coded message. This is a deeply noble tale of commitment and hope. We've rather lost the knack of this lately and Sarah's book is a timely reminder.
Somebody else suggested Carhullan would make a good film. I couldn't agree more.
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Strangely, I find myself in agreement with parts of nearly all the previous reviews here.
First the good points. Sarah Hall's writing is excellent and this novel is highly readable. On the opening page she uses the delightful phrase 'It was a wet rotting October' and this type of evocative language is used right through to the novel's very last words. The narrator slowly drip feeds the reader with snippets of backstory that cover the collapse of the United Kingdom and the genesis of the 'Authority'. This is very well done and Hall makes a breakdown of this magnitude seem scarily plausible. For me, these sections form the strongest part of the novel and should be compulsory reading for anybody considering working for the Ministry of Justice.
I have to come clean and admit that I'm a man and concede that perhaps I'm not the target audience for this novel but for me, the sections dealing with the all-women commune, didn't really stack up. These parts felt derivative and rehashed from countless other (superior) dystopian visions. This novel inevitably invites comparison with Margaret Atwood's "Handmaid's Tail" but this is like comparing the Marx Brothers with the Chuckle Brothers; the Carhullan Army just doesn't come close.
The lesbain love scenes, although sensitively handled were all too predictable and added little to the story. The central question posed by the novelis, 'Will women become as violent as men if they have to?' but Hall's attempts to answer it feel clumsy and contrived. One thing that is exemplified well, is that no matter what ones intentions, absolute power does indeed corrupt absolutely.
The novel does rather collapse in on itself as it reaches the final pages and the ambiguity of the ending isn't very satisfactory but Hall's excellent prose pulls the reader along at a breakneck speed. In all I'm not sure that novel achieves what the author intended but it is an enjoyable read. I haven't stopped thinking about the Carhullan Army since finishing it, which is a strong positive for this flawed but powerful novel.
First the good points. Sarah Hall's writing is excellent and this novel is highly readable. On the opening page she uses the delightful phrase 'It was a wet rotting October' and this type of evocative language is used right through to the novel's very last words. The narrator slowly drip feeds the reader with snippets of backstory that cover the collapse of the United Kingdom and the genesis of the 'Authority'. This is very well done and Hall makes a breakdown of this magnitude seem scarily plausible. For me, these sections form the strongest part of the novel and should be compulsory reading for anybody considering working for the Ministry of Justice.
I have to come clean and admit that I'm a man and concede that perhaps I'm not the target audience for this novel but for me, the sections dealing with the all-women commune, didn't really stack up. These parts felt derivative and rehashed from countless other (superior) dystopian visions. This novel inevitably invites comparison with Margaret Atwood's "Handmaid's Tail" but this is like comparing the Marx Brothers with the Chuckle Brothers; the Carhullan Army just doesn't come close.
The lesbain love scenes, although sensitively handled were all too predictable and added little to the story. The central question posed by the novelis, 'Will women become as violent as men if they have to?' but Hall's attempts to answer it feel clumsy and contrived. One thing that is exemplified well, is that no matter what ones intentions, absolute power does indeed corrupt absolutely.
The novel does rather collapse in on itself as it reaches the final pages and the ambiguity of the ending isn't very satisfactory but Hall's excellent prose pulls the reader along at a breakneck speed. In all I'm not sure that novel achieves what the author intended but it is an enjoyable read. I haven't stopped thinking about the Carhullan Army since finishing it, which is a strong positive for this flawed but powerful novel.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I have to say, I'm not entirely sold on Hall's novel. This indepth narrative of one woman's determination to fight back against the injustices of an oppressive government is certainly thought provking. The imagery of nature fighting back again containment is convincing - government control of human reproduction represents an attempt to control nature; whereas the women living at Carhullan are living off the land and allowing nature its rightful place in the world. Imagery found in the episode in Sister's father's garden shows how nature (i.e. the over-grown garden) is a protector, is the right path, by hiding the gun and ammunition from the Authority; her salvation, so to speak, is guarded by unadultered nature.
However, my main problem with the novel lies in it's conclusion. After the last piece of missing data it just ends. I sort of feels that Hall ran out of steam and couldn't be bothered finishing it properly. While, as a rule, I have no problem with ambiguous endings, and actually quite like puzzling over the question 'so, what happened next?', the connections were anything but seamless.
If you like nice neat bows to tie up your endings, this is not the one for you. But, if you like a thought provoking exploration of the ethical questions involved with retaliation of oppression then give it a go.
However, my main problem with the novel lies in it's conclusion. After the last piece of missing data it just ends. I sort of feels that Hall ran out of steam and couldn't be bothered finishing it properly. While, as a rule, I have no problem with ambiguous endings, and actually quite like puzzling over the question 'so, what happened next?', the connections were anything but seamless.
If you like nice neat bows to tie up your endings, this is not the one for you. But, if you like a thought provoking exploration of the ethical questions involved with retaliation of oppression then give it a go.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Great book-'A handmaid's tale'-esk
Great book-dystopian and disturbing in the same vein as 'AHandmaid's Tale' and ' 1984'. Ending disappointed me a
Little but whole concept plausible and as a result terrifying.
Little but whole concept plausible and as a result terrifying.
Published 10 months ago by Ms. Es Green
Margaret Attwood's the Handmaid's Tale, meets Cormac McCarthy's The...
"Margaret Attwood's the Handmaid's Tale, meets Cormac McCarthy's The Road. In Cumbria." Well, that's what I reckoned The Carlhullan Army was trying to be like before I got stuck... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Michael Taylor
good book
This was a present for our daughter who thoroughly enjoyed it - I'm still waiting to read it myself! We both heard it discussed on Radio 4.
Published 16 months ago by Flora Jane
Same book different title
Loved the book as I knew I would after reading Haweswater by same author.
Trouble was I bought "The Carhullan Army" and "Daughters of the North" only to find they are the same... Read more
Trouble was I bought "The Carhullan Army" and "Daughters of the North" only to find they are the same... Read more
Published 17 months ago by LizB
If things get even a little bit worse
An unusual thriller that should appeal to women as much as men, The Carhullan Army is set in the future in a Britain that has lost its economic power completely and become a... Read more
Published on 3 Oct 2009 by Eileen Shaw
Stellar prose, but a less-than-stellar plot...
Startling and populated by fascinating characters. Jackie is engaging as a fanatical and inspiring leader. Hall's vivid prose tantalises you from page to page. Read more
Published on 4 Sep 2009 by Ms. N. J. Dixon
Mixed views
I read this as I know the setting well and already admired Sarah Hall's work. The idea of another near future dystopian novel attracted me and the lyrical descriptions of the... Read more
Published on 29 Aug 2009 by R. Creer
Intelligent and thoughtful
In an undefined time Britain as we know it has collapsed and the country in under the control of the Authority. Read more
Published on 21 Aug 2009 by Roman Clodia
In agreement with other reviews
I tend to agree with others' points on here. I felt that the Handmaid's Tale did this idea of an Authoritarian government and its impact on women in society much better on the... Read more
Published on 15 April 2008 by Ms. J. Francis
Stirring, inspiring, a must-read
The one star reviews on this site are truly unaccountable; this novel is so good that my copy has been making the rounds of several friends, all of whom are coming back saying... Read more
Published on 6 Nov 2007 by G. Siddhu
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