....a ponderous and pedestrian read. - Rated 
A rather ponderous and pedestrian read that does not bear a scratch on its Victorian antecedents. It also compares unfavourably with the work of other contempory writers of Victorian pastiche such as Michael Cox and Charles Palliser.
In some places the sentence structure is so tortuously convoluted that one has to read it twice before any sense or meaning is apparent. The plot line is also all over the place and lacks a sense of coherence. Perhaps the author ought to have limited the narrative voices to one or two instead of having several perspectives. On the whole a disappointing read and an overrated book.
Like pulling teeth - Rated 
It is not often that I start reading a book and don't finish it but I came close with this one. Only a few chapters really held my interest but the next chapters did not follow on and some even seemed totally irrelevant to the story. The story didn't flow and was quite disjointed. I would recommend it as a bedtime read as it put me to sleep every time I picked it up. I will not be reading any more of D.J. Taylors work.
Impeccable - Rated 
It is difficult to know where to start in reviewing this book, so many and varied are its qualities. First of all, the book teems with richly-painted, unforgettable characters from the lowest reaches to the very highest of Victorian society: billbrokers, parlourmaids, curates, noblemen, attorneys and whatnot, all of them described with often the most telling details.
Then there's the plot: the very first page of the book by way of newspaper obituaries reveals that 2 people will die (Henry Ireland and James Dixey), but although the next chapter goes back to a time when both are still alive this does not in the least diminish the tension built page after page. On the contrary, chapter after chapter you eagerly read on to find out how they will meet their end.
Next, I should mention the fascinating mix of literary techniques and points of view D.J. Taylor uses: excerpts from diaries, third-and first-person narrative, at times an (almost) omniscient author, it's all there and used to very good effect.
Last but not least, it's been quite a while since I came across a novel so rich and colourful in its use of the English language. Consider this: "a tall man, elderly but apparently vigorous, in a suit of black with a white stock tied around his throat and bony hands that, resting curiously on the desk before him, looked as if they might have concerns of their own and be about to go scuttling off across the veneer in defiance of their owner's wishes.". There's close to 500 pages of the same stuff waiting for you behind the cover of 'Kept', what's keeping you?
This Kept me gripped - Rated
This really is a fantastic book and I urge you to read it! The plot has lots of different strands including a `madwoman' in an attic, a train robbery, 2 murders, bird egg stealing, a very moving tale of a man trekking through the snow after losing his friends, a vicars romance and a poor mouse called Sir Charles (I won't tell you about his fate!!) among others. If you think this may be too much to take in one book then think again. I hate saying this but I quite literally could `not put it down'. A brilliant read.
Dickens without the boring bits - Rated 
Excellent, atmospheric novel. As compelling as it is authentic. A must for fans of Dickens/Wilkie Collins who only wish that sometimes those (still great) authors could say something in a paragraph rather than in a chapter.
|
