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[Aug. 22nd, 2008|04:26 pm] |
“Duncton Wood” is a very …unique novel, with a lot to recommend it. One of the most interesting points is not the copious originality in the story, but the way in which it illustrates very clearly that William Horwood, the author, is screamingly insane. Really loopy. No-one even approaching normal could come up with this stuff, seriously.
Anyway, the characters are all moles who live in the Wood of the title. It’s very much like Watership Down getting into a drunken fight with Wind in the Willows. They’re a terribly English molehill system, suddenly threatened by their leaders who are turning to aggressive authoritarianism. From the beginning however, the real reason for drama in the story is not the struggle to mate, survive and hold onto a dying culture, but is instead a search for religious meaning. The moles worship The Stone, a standing stone at the top of the hill which is linked in later chapters to more famous stone circles around Britain. To the few characters who are still receptive to its voice, the Stone brings inner peace and a sense of something supreme and sublime.
This is so clearly the entire point of the (really quite long) tale, and it’s a peculiarly old-fashioned and Christian idea of religious communion. There are occasional flashes where Horwood writes it in a way that is deliberately vague enough to be applicable to any mystic experience, but also quite a few where it is undoubtedly coming from a strong Christian background. Regardless of its origin, the passages which describe the moles being affected by the grace and power of the Stone are very beautiful indeed.
I haven’t quite finished it yet, but there are many highlights: the detail of his constructed world of mole social rules, the network of tunnels, the fighting (including a wise old wizened sensei mole at one point), all of which go to creating an invented world just as coherent and persistent as Tolkien’s. He manages to hold to the line where moles react in some human ways, but always retain their mole shape in the imagination.
Of course, his biggest achievement is to write an entire book about moles and only ever be talking about humans displaying humanity – personalities, frailties, and strength brought forth from love.
I like the book, for all its out-of-touch sentimentality. It pines for old English ways, but promotes common ground and integration between communities. I just can’t get away from the fact that it’s really, really strange all the way through, and that he must be deeply crazy.
There were something like five sequels (going far more blatantly into the Christian imagery and Messiah struggles) so I’m sure it was popular enough for someone on here to have read it – any fans on this flist? |
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Well sort of - I read them when I was at secondary school and was engrossed. But that's too long ago for anything other than a fleeting impression.
I can't say I picked up on the Christian themes though. Then again I never noticed anything of that in the Narnia books.
It’s not that blatant, although there is one bit where there’s a system of monk moles behaving suddenly very like monks, and not much like moles. No, it’s more something about the way he writes about the stone: stillness, awe and silence but also a duty to believe in it above all else, and that all grace comes from it, only its love can save them, etc.
On the other hand, he focuses heavily on the value of real-world behaviour, love above violence, and always makes the timid or quiet characters the sympathetic ones, so I can’t find much to fault in his ethics (although they’re often very simplistic).
Well, I'll be home soon and maybe I can dig them out (it'll give me a break from ordering off Amazon *g*)
I read it when I was about 12. I just remember the Welsh moles being really scary.
My sister was a fan. Me, I read two and two-half books* and it terrifed the life out of me, with some of the dwelling-on-horrors-of-war that turned me off a lot of swords-and-sorcery novels as well.
It was certainly no Watership Down.
*Dunction Wood is actually two trilogies. I read one and a half books into each of them, for some reason.
There's an awful lot of violence and death in it, and meditations on acceptance, etc. In fact, most of it seems to be about people moles bearing through loss with nobility and humanity.
I can't remember reading Watership Down, although I think I did. I saw the cartoon enough times to leave lasting mental scars, though. And I didn't get very far through Shardik.
Dave loves it, from childhood. I read the first one and really enjoyed it actually, but as you say it is really very long. So I never did get to the end, I just thought - it should be finished now, and if I continue reading for much longer perhaps I won't like it so much!
![[User Picture]](http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/54635376/3477047) | From: ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) athena25
2008-08-22 11:08 pm (UTC)
Bad Mole Porn! | (Link)
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You have reminded me that I read these books. I must now find my mental floss.
Think I got as far as seeing the books, or some of them, in a library or bookshop somewhere, which isn't the same at all.
Maybe now I'll look out for them. | |
