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katewhite77's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
A Quiet Novel About The Psychological Effects Of Isolation
Set over a few hours during the second covid lockdown, we hear the story from four perspectives, Kate who goes on an ill advised hike up the local fell, Mat her teenage son, Alice their neighbour who is also shielding and Rob a member of mountain rescue.
This is an abject lesson in There But For The Grace of God Go I, and a reminder of how scared people were of braking the law for doing the most mundane of things and also how judgemental people were of others. It is also a reminder that lockdown was especially hard on those with a mental illness.
To tell the story mostly through a stream of consciousness style was a clever idea as it gave the novel an extra clostraphobic feel. The best thing about the book for me personally, though, was the references to British foĺk music throughout.
If you're looking for a short, quiet, and thoughtful novel about that strange time, then this one might be for you.
Set over a few hours during the second covid lockdown, we hear the story from four perspectives, Kate who goes on an ill advised hike up the local fell, Mat her teenage son, Alice their neighbour who is also shielding and Rob a member of mountain rescue.
This is an abject lesson in There But For The Grace of God Go I, and a reminder of how scared people were of braking the law for doing the most mundane of things and also how judgemental people were of others. It is also a reminder that lockdown was especially hard on those with a mental illness.
To tell the story mostly through a stream of consciousness style was a clever idea as it gave the novel an extra clostraphobic feel. The best thing about the book for me personally, though, was the references to British foĺk music throughout.
If you're looking for a short, quiet, and thoughtful novel about that strange time, then this one might be for you.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, and Cancer
ruby_mae_read's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Cancer, Mental illness, and Confinement
rosyapple's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
worth the read. would definitely recommend to someone who didn't go through lockdown to explain what it was like. page turner; finished in one sitting.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cancer and Fatphobia
Minor: Domestic abuse
michelle_bracher's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Cancer and Domestic abuse
jesshindes's review
emotional
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I think The Fell is maybe the first COVID book I've read - or at least the first one that's not just influenced by, but specifically about and set during the pandemic. Kate and her son Matt are isolating after a close contact. Neighbour Alice is clinically extremely vulnerable after cancer treatment. And Rob is a mountain rescue volunteer- which gives you a clue about what happens when Kate, going stir crazy, sneaks out for an illegal walk.
Like Summerwater, which I reviewed last year, this Sarah Moss novella shifts between several narrative voices over the short chronological period it covers (less than 24 hours). There are other similarities between the two books - they're both closely rooted in specific places (in this case, the Peak District) and both include characters who rely on exercise to maintain their mental health. A lot of what I liked about Summerwater holds true here, too: Moss is great with characterisation, painting detailed and convincing interior portraits of her narrators and their relationships. The world she depicts feels real and it's very easy to care about the people she shows us for that reason. It's also I think deliberately working on a particular scale - Moss writes short books and they tend to be specific and limited in their scope. I think of her as a sort of painter in miniature. She's not delivering sweeping observations about the nature of man, she's showing us this one time and these specific people and like any detailed study of specific people, that tells us something about people as a whole.
What The Fell in particular has to offer, though, is its specific historical setting, and I thought Moss realised that fantastically. She catches the weird, alienating uncertainty of the early pandemic (this is set in November 2020), the fact that nobody knew how or when or if normal life would be possible again - and although I think it's worth acknowledging that for a lot of people in Alice's position, particularly, things are still a long way from normal, I do think I'd almost forgotten exactly how much we didn't know, how truly unpredictable it all felt and was. Alice's loneliness, Matt's cynicism about the future, Kate's deep frustration and claustrophobia, are all very familiar and I think it's valuable to have this moment captured by someone with Moss's subtlety and skill. I always like her books and I'd recommend her in general to almost anybody but I think this one would chime with a lot of people.
Like Summerwater, which I reviewed last year, this Sarah Moss novella shifts between several narrative voices over the short chronological period it covers (less than 24 hours). There are other similarities between the two books - they're both closely rooted in specific places (in this case, the Peak District) and both include characters who rely on exercise to maintain their mental health. A lot of what I liked about Summerwater holds true here, too: Moss is great with characterisation, painting detailed and convincing interior portraits of her narrators and their relationships. The world she depicts feels real and it's very easy to care about the people she shows us for that reason. It's also I think deliberately working on a particular scale - Moss writes short books and they tend to be specific and limited in their scope. I think of her as a sort of painter in miniature. She's not delivering sweeping observations about the nature of man, she's showing us this one time and these specific people and like any detailed study of specific people, that tells us something about people as a whole.
What The Fell in particular has to offer, though, is its specific historical setting, and I thought Moss realised that fantastically. She catches the weird, alienating uncertainty of the early pandemic (this is set in November 2020), the fact that nobody knew how or when or if normal life would be possible again - and although I think it's worth acknowledging that for a lot of people in Alice's position, particularly, things are still a long way from normal, I do think I'd almost forgotten exactly how much we didn't know, how truly unpredictable it all felt and was. Alice's loneliness, Matt's cynicism about the future, Kate's deep frustration and claustrophobia, are all very familiar and I think it's valuable to have this moment captured by someone with Moss's subtlety and skill. I always like her books and I'd recommend her in general to almost anybody but I think this one would chime with a lot of people.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer and Suicidal thoughts
missredreads20's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer
carlytenille's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Cancer, and Suicidal thoughts
zoloft_lesbian's review
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Cancer, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Fatphobia
mangofandango's review against another edition
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
t took a minute to get into this one - I found it slightly irritating at the start, a series of people in the beginning of the Covid pandemic griping about things like masks and inconvenience, even just a little within their inner narrative, felt hard to engage with. But I'm glad I rode that out, because this becomes such an emotional exploration of humanity in our vulnerability, our selfishness, our connection to the world and to each other, responsibility, blame, understanding - so many things that are lenses through which to look at the pandemic but also on so many other aspects of being Living In A Society. It sounds heavy, and it kind of is, but it's also very short and once it gets rolling, quite compelling - because while being all of the above, it is also just a brief, tense story about a woman who makes a series of mistakes and ends up in need of saving.
I wish the end had given me a bit more, but I appreciate the mix of grim, beautiful, hopeful, sad feelings this reading experience left me with.
I wish the end had given me a bit more, but I appreciate the mix of grim, beautiful, hopeful, sad feelings this reading experience left me with.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cancer and Abandonment
junovverse's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Abandonment, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Cancer, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Physical abuse