Treacle Walker

English language

Published Oct. 28, 2021 by HarperCollins Publishers Limited.

ISBN:
978-0-00-847779-0
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4 stars (8 reviews)

A fusion of myth and folklore, and an exploration of the fluidity of time, vivid storytelling that illuminates an introspective young mind trying to make sense of everything around him.

3 editions

Goodreads Review of Treacle Walker by Alan Garner

3 stars

" Joe lay across the stool, held between the trunks. 'May a body not rest in his bog?' said the man. 'Can't...' 'Can't never did.' '...get.' 'Is that it? Is that the hue and the cry you woke me for?' 'No way. All over. Same.' 'Move the dish cloud and shut you glims.' 'Damn' 'Do it.' 'Bloody' 'Do it.' Joe lifted his patch to his forehead and shut his eyes. 'Are you seeing me?' 'Bloody damn' 'Open a glim.' 'Piss off...' He opened his good eye. 'Are you seeing me?' 'Piss off!' 'Off or on are one to me...' "

I mean I don't think there's any meaningful way to review this book. The entire thing reads like the passage above. I wouldn't say the prose in inaccessible, but rather overly whimsical. Not in a way that can't be understood, but in a way that gives the reader pause. That's …

Short and deep

5 stars

It's been a long time since I read anything by Alan Garner, but this book has all the qualities I remember of his writing: a strong sense of rootedness in landscape and mythology; a style as evocative as it is spare; and a lightness of touch that entices into the story's depths.

All of this amounts to a book that feels instantly timeless - at least for those who, like me, grew up reading stories featuring rag and bone men, marbles and catapults.

I suspect this will open out further for me on a re-reading.

avatar for gadabyte

rated it

4 stars
avatar for Luke@bookrastinating.com

rated it

3 stars

Subjects

  • English literature