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floppyscoops's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
redlerred's review
3.0
It took me three attempts to get in to this book. Give it a hundred pages and the story picks up. A bit thick sometimes- but an interesting story.
thehutonfowlslegs's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
oldenglishrose's review against another edition
2.0
I have numerous issues with this book. The storyline is unbelieveable, repetetive and static. The characters are unsympathetic, including the heroine who seems callous and selfish. The concept that this story is told by a book, while amusing, adds nothing to the narrative.
While Jennet is the one central character, she didn’t really have a distinct voice. The same was true for most of the characters; while there were obvious differences between those who championed science and rationality and those who clung to the old ways, no one character had an individual way of speaking or thinking. The groups of characters presented two sides of an argument, and that was all the distinction between them. Equally annoying was the consciously archaic speech. I had barely read a chapter before the constant stream of “i’faith”, “e’en”, “‘sblood” and “’twas” littering the direct speech was wearing thin. ‘Sblood, ’tis a passing wonder I managed to read the whole thing, i’faith.
In spite of the bizarre and implausible storyline, James Morrow has evidently done his historical research (apparently this took him seven years to write). Usually I appreciate a well-researched novel, but this book does not present it in a way which makes the information interesting or relevant. Instead of being woven into the story, it is delivered in large, self-conscious chunks of knowledge by the Principia, as if designed to show off how much research has been done in order to write this book. The other problem with this is that the story was so ridiculous that I don’t really trust any of these facts without double-checking them myself (particularly when the writer states in the author’s note that he has deliberately changed some details) and they are far too many, varied and, quite frankly, dull for me to want to do that.
While Jennet is the one central character, she didn’t really have a distinct voice. The same was true for most of the characters; while there were obvious differences between those who championed science and rationality and those who clung to the old ways, no one character had an individual way of speaking or thinking. The groups of characters presented two sides of an argument, and that was all the distinction between them. Equally annoying was the consciously archaic speech. I had barely read a chapter before the constant stream of “i’faith”, “e’en”, “‘sblood” and “’twas” littering the direct speech was wearing thin. ‘Sblood, ’tis a passing wonder I managed to read the whole thing, i’faith.
In spite of the bizarre and implausible storyline, James Morrow has evidently done his historical research (apparently this took him seven years to write). Usually I appreciate a well-researched novel, but this book does not present it in a way which makes the information interesting or relevant. Instead of being woven into the story, it is delivered in large, self-conscious chunks of knowledge by the Principia, as if designed to show off how much research has been done in order to write this book. The other problem with this is that the story was so ridiculous that I don’t really trust any of these facts without double-checking them myself (particularly when the writer states in the author’s note that he has deliberately changed some details) and they are far too many, varied and, quite frankly, dull for me to want to do that.
kacy_too's review
3.0
The Last Witchfinder is probably one of the longest books I have ever read. Or at least it felt like it anyway.
At the start I couldn't get interested and the writing wasn't something I was used too. The book at times felt more like a historical non-fiction than a fiction novel and I felt a bit overwhelmed. I'm not the smartest person, and with all these references to philosophers, their books, and their theories I felt a bit stupid for not knowing the majority of them (or at times what they were even going on about).
I only started to get interested in the book about 150 pages in and that is at the beginning of Part 2 (the book being split into 3 parts). That is also around the time that good old Aunt Isobelle is set alight on a pyre. I have an issue with this because Isobelle's death in mentioned in the blurb and is the catalyst for the events to follow in this book. If Isobelle's death hadn't been mentioned in the blurb I would've been more interested in the outcome of the events instead of just waiting around for it to happen.
The writing itself offers a very impersonal view of the characters, never going into to much detail about their feelings or what they're thinking. Years are often glossed over by a few sentences. This I don't think is a bad thing, in fact I quite liked it. It was a nice change of pace. The narrator character was also very interesting and whenever their segments came up I never felt like it interrupted the story. It added humour to a story that was very much humourless.
All in all I did enjoy reading this book (eventually). It is definitely a book to take your time with. I felt really satisfied with the ending especially, 3 stars.
At the start I couldn't get interested and the writing wasn't something I was used too. The book at times felt more like a historical non-fiction than a fiction novel and I felt a bit overwhelmed. I'm not the smartest person, and with all these references to philosophers, their books, and their theories I felt a bit stupid for not knowing the majority of them (or at times what they were even going on about).
I only started to get interested in the book about 150 pages in and that is at the beginning of Part 2 (the book being split into 3 parts). That is also around the time that good old Aunt Isobelle is set alight on a pyre. I have an issue with this because Isobelle's death in mentioned in the blurb and is the catalyst for the events to follow in this book. If Isobelle's death hadn't been mentioned in the blurb I would've been more interested in the outcome of the events instead of just waiting around for it to happen.
The writing itself offers a very impersonal view of the characters, never going into to much detail about their feelings or what they're thinking. Years are often glossed over by a few sentences. This I don't think is a bad thing, in fact I quite liked it. It was a nice change of pace. The narrator character was also very interesting and whenever their segments came up I never felt like it interrupted the story. It added humour to a story that was very much humourless.
All in all I did enjoy reading this book (eventually). It is definitely a book to take your time with. I felt really satisfied with the ending especially, 3 stars.
gjmaupin's review
5.0
Really enjoyed this book, not least of all because despite its 500 pages, I had the leisure read it in a relatively short time. Historical novel with a great narrator - up there with Bartimaeus and Humbert, and I kept hearing Stephen Fry in the book-on-tape in my mind - and even when you feel the author might have stacked the deck a little, he's still talking about witch-hunters, universally recognized as difficult to defend. I mean, anybody out there feel like they'd love to have hung out with Abigail Williams?
lorayne's review
5.0
I love that the narrator of this book is a...(drumroll, please)...book! Also, like many of my other favorite books, the main character of this book is a bright, independent woman. Aside from that, it reminds me of Forrest Gump who coincidentally was a part of so many historic moments. The main character meets many famous historical figures who help her--or don't--in her cause.
megea's review
1.0
I did not enjoy this book. The plot, especially the bits irrelevant to the main goal of disproving witchcraft and overthrowing the persecution of supposed witches, required not so much a suspension of disbelief as a complete trouncing of it. Yet as bad as the content was, the writing was even worse. The similes, metaphors, and descriptors used were absolutely ridiculous! I've never read anything else by James Morrow (and after this, I never will), so I don't know if he always writes in this self-satisfied, stuffed-shirt style or if he specifically chose it to represent the "scientific" content and that the narrator of this book was itself a book. This novel required quite a bit of will power for me to finish.
real_life_reading's review
3.0
This book went on for far too long, and so the story felt like it drug out forever. It was an okay though. The story is told from the perspective of Isaac Newton's book Principa Mathematica; the book's interjection into the story about how books look upon humans and how they deal with their lives is quite humorous. That was the part I enjoyed most about it. Overall, though, it wasn't super great, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone unless they had nothing else to read.