The Forest
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
When readers get into the game of comparing novelists (X writes very like Y, and so on), one writer who absolutely defies comparison with his peers is Edward Rutherford. With books such as Sarum and Russka, he created a genre that was virtually his own: the immensely researched, fascinatingly detailed epic narrative in which a sense of place was more profoundly established than in practically any other writer. This has been a hard act to follow and Rutherford has not been a prolific writer. Hopes were high for The Forest and this atmospheric tale of the New Forest is just as accomplished as Rutherford's earlier books.
Other writers have tackled the area before but this is surely the definitive chronicle, with all the stories and legends of the place woven into a narrative that has all the power and drama of Thomas Hardy filtered through a very modern sensibility. The elements that Rutherford comprehensively includes in his tale range from the savage forest laws of the Normans and their hunting pursuits to the founding of Beaulieu Abbey by the mercurial King John.
Rutherford inextricably involves us with his massive cast of adroitly realised characters, and we are taken along with them as they fear the threat of the Spanish Armada into the heart of this ancient domain, with its flocks of wild deer and horses. As before, Rutherford has the grandest ambitions for his arm-straining volume (coming in at 600 pages): from the novel's opening with a plane flying high above a cathedral in April 2000 to the 15th year of the reign of Queen Victoria, the reader is swept through a whole clutch of narratives involving the life and death struggles of the denizens of the New Forest. Certain characters stand out as particularly well drawn: the canny Brother Adam is a rare example of a virtuous man in literature who doesn't end up being simply bland and anodyne. But Rutherford is equally skilful at dealing with the violence of the Monmouth rebellion and his grasp of the shifting patterns of history has, if possible, deepened from his previous books. For those seeking the breadth and solidity of the great 19th-century novels, here is a latter-day work that will more than fit the bill. And who would have thought that the description of a fight between buck deer could be quite so vivid?
Her buck had hit firmer ground and his feet suddenly got a purchase on the grass. His hindquarters shivering, he dug in. She saw the shoulders rise and his neck bear down. And now the interloper was slipping on the wet leaves. Slowly, cautiously, their antlers locked, the two straining bucks began to turn. Now they were both on grass. Suddenly the interloper disengaged. He gave his head a twist. The jagged spike was aiming at the buck's eye. He lunged...--Barry Forshaw --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Mail on Sunday
‘Hugely impressive’
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
As someone who has grown up on the edge of the New Forest, this book really brings to life the history of the town I live in and the surrounding areas. As with Sarum before it, it is amazing to know the places being written about and get a feel for the way life would have been for my ancestors. Edward Rutherford has inspired me to take a deeper interest in history, as he brings to life the thoughts and feelings of the people of past times, not just their 'material' accomplishments. Another brilliant novel from the author, which I am sure is just as engrossing for someone who has never visited the area as it was for me.
29 of 30 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Edward Rutherfurd is an author with a specialised genre all of his very own. He writes historical fiction which follows a place though the people who live there. 'The Forest' is a novel about the New Forest, as told though the stories of the families of Cola the Huntsman, The Prides, Furzeys, Grockletons, Puckles and so on from the founding of the Forest in William the Conquerors's time, right down to the present day. From the killing of King Rufus (who died in the New Forest) though to the trial of Alice Lisle, down to the family politics of Jane Austin's Bath, this is an epic tale which manages to wind together the past, present and future, pulling the reader slowly though the family trees and then swiftly though the fights, arguments and feuds of the families and the forest they have made their home.
If it has a fault, it is that the structure of the book (each chapter is a new generation, though not necessarily the generation after the one you last saw, and gaps of hundreds of years are not uncommon) lends itself to a slightly fractured plot-line, though Rutherfurd's sense of narrative continuity means that the gaps between the stories are never too shear, or that a somewhat distanced narrative can occasionally make character motivations a mystery (Though this works both ways, it's never obvious when a character's mind is being opaqued deliberately), or a tendency towards slow movement as the setup for the new generation is explained.
The Forest is an excellent book by a master of narrative, but the structure might be a little strange and distracting to some readers. Nevertheless, it's definitely worth reading especially if you have read, and enjoyed, previous works by the Author
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Having read the unputdownable SARUM and LONDON I was eager to get cracking on this equally weighty tome. All the same ingredients are there - the characters, the setting, the vast historical research, the imagination, the vivid writing - but something I can't quite identify is missing this time. Perhaps at 1000 years the timespan of the novel is too short (!!!) in comparison with the other two. There are also fewer characters with which to identify, and the ones there are seem less well-developed. Neither is there the awe-inspiring mystery of Stonehenge nor the bustle of London. Whilst I enjoyed this novel, it did not move me as SARUM and LONDON did, & if I had read this one first I might not have wanted to read any more of Rutherfurd's works. As a biographical portrait of the area it is outstanding, but it lacks the heart and soul of his other books.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Too smug!
Didn't manage to finish this.
I love the New Forest and looked forward to reading it keenly.
(Yes, like most, I loved Sarum to)
In the first chapters I felt there... Read more
I love the New Forest and looked forward to reading it keenly.
(Yes, like most, I loved Sarum to)
In the first chapters I felt there... Read more
Published 3 days ago by CharlieBoy
What fun I had in the Forest
This was the third book by the author I have read, I have enjoyed all three and no doubt others will follow. Read more
Published 19 days ago by Grandad bob
Uneven
The book covers about a 1,000 year span in the history of the New Forest, told through the lives of some (fictitious) families connected with it. Read more
Published 1 month ago by BigJohn
Cracking read
Another excellent book from Edward Rutherford. The Forest is about families who live in and around the New Forest in southern England, with significant historical events... Read more
Published 2 months ago by miss nik
The Forest
3 stars only due to "used" condition.
Excellent read great story teller.
and since i live near the Forest i've been visiting places in the book so even after a good read... Read more
Excellent read great story teller.
and since i live near the Forest i've been visiting places in the book so even after a good read... Read more
Published 10 months ago by GARY O
Not the best I have ever read
Not as good as Sarum but somewhat better than Dublin. I intend to read New York and London next and trust that they will be of more interest.
Published 10 months ago by Dennis Alexander Bruce
waste of money and time
I read Ruska which was just fantastic and the first book of the Irish story which was just terrible and I immediately decided not to buy any other Rutherfurd book. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Eva Szoke
New to Edward Rutherfurd, not disappointed
Lent to me in paperback by a fellow bookworm, I loved this book from the first minute. I can't believe one person has so much creativity. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Bookworm
Great book...
Like all Edward Rutherfurd books 'The Forest' is a history book in narrative form. Though I enjoyed this book tremendously, in fact I loved it, I didn't think it was as good as... Read more
Published 16 months ago by franny
Just loved it
Completely captivating and after Sarum by far his best work (in my opinion). I am originally from London and did enjoy that book but these two far exceed it. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Yearly traveller
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