Be Specific About Regarding Books Sarum: The Novel of England (Sarum #2)
| Title | : | Sarum: The Novel of England (Sarum #2) |
| Author | : | Edward Rutherfurd |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | Special Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 912 pages |
| Published | : | March 2nd 2004 by Gramercy (first published May 7th 1987) |
| Categories | : | Historical. Historical Fiction. Fiction. European Literature. British Literature. Epic. Audiobook. Novels |
Edward Rutherfurd
Hardcover | Pages: 912 pages Rating: 4.08 | 39370 Users | 1500 Reviews
Narrative As Books Sarum: The Novel of England (Sarum #2)
Quantity not quality.I have to admit, I was more than a little surprised when I came to this book on Goodreads to leave a review and saw all the glowing reviews. I expected maybe a couple 4 stars and mostly 3 stars, but that is not what I found. I found all 4 stars and 5 stars. How can this be?
I enjoyed the first chapter of this book so much that I was excited that there would be 1400 pages more of it. By Chapter 2 however, my excitement was blown out of the water. Rutherfurd's writing style has neither finesse nor elegance, both of which I had expected from a book and author that sells so many copies.
This book was written in such a simplistic manner that I only got halfway through before I had to give the book away. The characters were one dimensional and without substance, and their stories were uninspiring.
For a book that started so awesome it sure did flatline.
I cannot remember the last time I didn't read a book all the way through. Even if I don't like a book I usually still force myself to read to the end. But I just couldn't have done that with Sarum. It was so poorly written and the short stories were becoming so boring that I found myself choosing to not pick the book up before going to sleep at night and that is just unheard of for me. I generally NEED to read for a while before I can get to sleep.
I will try and finish it, 'one day', but I cannot imagine how far away 'that day' will be. Far, far, FAR away I'd say.
Maybe Rutherfurd should have concentrated more on the quality of his writing and his stories instead of trying to simply write big books.
This was my first Rutherfurd, and definitely my last.
For those who are fussy, like me (I admit it) I don't think this book is for you.
Describe Books Conducive To Sarum: The Novel of England (Sarum #2)
| Original Title: | Sarum: The Novel of England |
| ISBN: | 0517223546 (ISBN13: 9780517223543) |
| Edition Language: | English URL http://www.edwardrutherfurd.com/sarum.html |
| Series: | Sarum #2 |
| Setting: | United Kingdom |
Rating Regarding Books Sarum: The Novel of England (Sarum #2)
Ratings: 4.08 From 39370 Users | 1500 ReviewsJudgment Regarding Books Sarum: The Novel of England (Sarum #2)
I listened to the audio version of this very long book, and was (mostly) spellbound. Nadia May is a marvelous reader-aloud; I'd like her tucked inside my head from here one out reading everything for me; I'm definitely finding out audio books narrated by her. The subtitle is "the story of England;" perhaps another subtitle could be added: "including murders, attempted rapes, pedophilia, adulterous affairs, theft, burning, hanging, and at least one case of witchcraft, with various other humanNow this is a good Stonehenge book. Along with anything else that ever happened in Great Britain. This is one of those books that you have to say is 'sweeping in it's scope.' This book starts with neolithic man arriving in the Sarum area and follows certain bloodlines all the way to present day. It's huge. I learned more about British history with this book than I have with any history text book. I think its because its always presented from an individual as opposed to a national standpoint. Its
Given that I, slow reader that I am and often in need of days long breaks from a narrative of any size was able to finish, without skimming, a 1,033 page novel, said novel must have had something going for it. Sarum certainly does on several levels. I will say, however, one should go into it completely aware of its nature, and should treat it as a marathon, not a sprint.Some books in the 800+ page range can be treated more like sprints. The latter Harry Potter books for example. While they by no
Rutherfurd writes amazing family sagas over long time frames, concentrating on one geographical area (e.g. Paris, New York, Russia). In this book he focuses on one area - Sarum - which is site of the earliest settlement of Salisbury in England. Starting in pre-historic times right through to modern day, this book reads as a series of novellas, but still focusing on the same 5 families through the generations.It took me two months to read this, not just because it is so HUGE but also because the
Sarum is definitely what I would describe as a marathon read - I attempted the marathon more than 10 yrs ago, and events lead me on to other things. The book clearly held a fascination for me and often called me when I walked past the book shelf! So, Northern Crete in August 2011 - I committed myself by including Sarum in my scanty allowance on a low cost airline, and the marathon began.The novel traces back the history of man living in what is now the British Isles from around 10,000 years ago.
Nobody does English history epics like Edward Rutherfurd!Sarum is his first novel taking several English families from hunter/gatherers to 1985. Through the BC era to the Middle Ages it is a bit slow and each chapter time period is a like a series of novellas but it does all come together with some interesting chapters in the Tudor/Stuart and Napoleonic Wars eras. Intersecting the families through the ages is what a Rutherfurd novel is known for and he definitely must have learnt some lessons in
On the cover of the copy of Sarum that I own, The Toronto Star states that "Rutherfurd reminds us that we are all part of a long line of human experience." I couldn't agree more.This is truly a jewel of a book, the first book by Rutherfurd in his line of epic history-oriented novels that span the centuries of a whole country or a single city. For me, it's the second I read by the author (the first one being The Princes of Ireland). It is truly amazing; though, just like the scope of the
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