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Carys Davies

Autor von West

7+ Werke 559 Mitglieder 43 Rezensionen Lieblingsautor von 1 Lesern

Werke von Carys Davies

West (2018) 330 Exemplare
The Mission House (2020) 101 Exemplare
The Redemption of Galen Pike (2014) 73 Exemplare
Clear: A Novel (2024) 30 Exemplare
Some New Ambush (2007) 18 Exemplare

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Red Room: New Short Stories Inspired by the Brontes (2013) — Mitwirkender — 5 Exemplare

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Clear is about a minister having accepted a job evicting the singular occupant on an island near Scotland.

The book is beautifully written but I really just wanted this book to be longer. My version was 190 pages and to me that just wasn’t enough to the story. So many parts of the book had opportunities to dig in deeper.

It’s written like a classic; descriptions of the towns, land and sea were poetic.
 
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Beckles | 2 weitere Rezensionen | Feb 17, 2024 |
Clear begins with Scottish pastor John Ferguson arriving on an isolated island, tasked with telling the lone inhabitant he must leave.

Ferguson needs money. As a pastor in a dissident church that has split off from the Presbyterians, he has no church building, no congregation, no parsonage, no income. He accepted the job for 16 pounds, a good amount in 1840. Soon after landing, he falls on the wet rocks, injured and unconscious.

Ivar has lived on the island his entire life. The others died or left, so it is just him and his horse and his blind cow and the sheep. Ivar finds Ferguson and takes him home and cares for him. Over the next weeks, Ferguson learns Ivar’s language and the two form a bond. Ferguson is under pressure to tell Ivar of his purpose, for soon the ship will come to remove them.

This lyrical and moving story is about love. Ferguson’s love for his wife, Mary, and hers for him. Ivar’s love for Ferguson, and how it is reciprocated. The descriptions of the land and sea, the flora and animals is vivid and lovely.

It is set when landowners removed–cleared out–the subsistence farmers so they could use the land more profitably. Thousands lost their way of life.

It is a miracle of storytelling, both concise and exansive, intimate and catholic, which I read in two sittings.

Thanks to the publisher for a free book.
… (mehr)
 
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nancyadair | 2 weitere Rezensionen | Jan 23, 2024 |
Warmly devastating, West by Carys Davies is an engrossing historical tradicomedy, one told like a potent dream or myth. A decade or so after the Lewis and Clark expedition, John Cyrus Bellman, a widower and mule breeder, reads in the newspaper of the discovery of “monstrous bones…sunk in the salty Kentucky mud” and is convinced that “the same gigantic monsters still [walk] the earth in the unexplored territories of the west.” Promising to write frequently, Bellman leaves his preteen daughter, Bess, on his Pennsylvania farm and heads west, embarking on a so-called fool's errand. So he sets out alone bearing gifts and trinkets for any Native Americans he might meet along the way. He connects with a young Swanee boy, an unforgettable character and together they trek across thousands of miles, through brutal winters and harsh conditions. Both Bellman and the boy depend on each other for survival, although they do not speak each other languages.

And what follows is the story of Bess’ years of waiting and Bellman’s wandering. West is about extinction and collective loss, extinction of the past (the extinction of mammoths) and the genocide of Native Americans. But it also shows how ambition causes the white man to become just as lost as those he may have displaced. Both Bellman and the swanne boy are lost characters. West is also about destroying the myth of fated journeys. It is a book that kills the romance of exploring the West. And it is a coming of age story. West is many things.

To say much about how this novel ends would be to spoil its depth, its pain, its beauty.

This short novel is structured with great artistry. Read it. Now.

… (mehr)
 
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ryantlaferney87 | 27 weitere Rezensionen | Dec 8, 2023 |
I received an advance copy of this book. Thank you.

This is the first book I've read by Carys Davies, and I enjoyed it. It is very different from other books, in that it grows on you and immerses you in the setting. There is action, but it's quiet, descriptive and slowly builds. While day to day things happen, you can feel emotions building. There are tender moving moments, unsettling moments, the whole book is like a low simmer.
John is a poor Scottish minister who takes job of evicting a lone inhabitant from a remote Scottish Island. The journey there is hard, and shortly after arriving, he falls from a cliff, seriously injuring himself. When he comes to, several days later, he is in the home of the man he came to evict, Ivar. Neither man can speak each other's language, yet it isn't long until they form a connection and slowly learn each other's language, and more importantly, tune into each other's feelings. This bond continues to grow, making John realize his mission/job isn't the right one.
This is a short book, heavy on atmosphere. Very sensitive. There were times when I felt things could have had more development or description, but still very good. It lingers with me after I finished it.
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cjyap1 | 2 weitere Rezensionen | Nov 22, 2023 |

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Werke
7
Auch von
2
Mitglieder
559
Beliebtheit
#44,693
Bewertung
3.8
Rezensionen
43
ISBNs
44
Sprachen
6
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1

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