Bernard du Boucheron's award-winning novel, The Voyage of the Short Serpent, gets a rave review in Booklist: "A medieval bishop travels to the most desolate, forgotten regions of Iceland to investigate reports of paganism among the wretched settlers, whose major choice in life is to die of starvation, freezing, or, once the bishop arrives, torture (for the salvation of their souls, naturally). The story comprises mostly a report from the bishop, whose matter-of-fact tone is so ridiculously incongruous to the atrocities that he encounters (“the crew had partaken of human flesh, even on fish days”) and that he perpetrates (burning a fallen priest at the stake slowly in seal-oil, wood being too scarce for the task) that it is laugh-out-loud funny and revolting at once. With touches of Heart of Darkness and Lord of the Flies, du Boucheron’s stark tale raises questions of how far we have really traveled from such barbarism, or how quick the fall back might be. Despite all the awful and gruesome happenings, though, the writing is splendid, and this is a strangely pleasurable and completely riveting read, if you’ve got the stomach for it. Fans of post-apocalyptic waste-land tales might be surprised to find them in the past as well." The Voyage of the Short Serpent will be available in bookstores next month!
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
THE VOYAGE OF THE SHORT SERPENT in Booklist
Bernard du Boucheron's award-winning novel, The Voyage of the Short Serpent, gets a rave review in Booklist: "A medieval bishop travels to the most desolate, forgotten regions of Iceland to investigate reports of paganism among the wretched settlers, whose major choice in life is to die of starvation, freezing, or, once the bishop arrives, torture (for the salvation of their souls, naturally). The story comprises mostly a report from the bishop, whose matter-of-fact tone is so ridiculously incongruous to the atrocities that he encounters (“the crew had partaken of human flesh, even on fish days”) and that he perpetrates (burning a fallen priest at the stake slowly in seal-oil, wood being too scarce for the task) that it is laugh-out-loud funny and revolting at once. With touches of Heart of Darkness and Lord of the Flies, du Boucheron’s stark tale raises questions of how far we have really traveled from such barbarism, or how quick the fall back might be. Despite all the awful and gruesome happenings, though, the writing is splendid, and this is a strangely pleasurable and completely riveting read, if you’ve got the stomach for it. Fans of post-apocalyptic waste-land tales might be surprised to find them in the past as well." The Voyage of the Short Serpent will be available in bookstores next month!
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