Customer Reviews

London: The Novel

5 star:		(91)
4 star:		(62)
3 star:		(26)
2 star:		(25)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

This is a big, sprawling, initially intimidating (mainly because of its heft) but ultimately rewarding read -- a journey that follows several British families, from all walks of life, through 2,000 years of London's history. You'll start with the Druids and Caesar's crossing of the Thames, and finish with The Blitz and a bit of modern arachaeology. In between, you'll watch history come to life (each chapter revolves around a major event in British history), with the usual artistic embellishments expected of historical fiction. But it's all in the name of good fun, so don't be a stickler -- sure, modern-day English didn't come out of the mouths of the Tudors, but who cares? Rutherford is, for the most part, faithful to reporting events As They Really Happened and to Life As It Really Was.

While it's the Ducket/Doggett/DuQuette family that serves as the focus of the book (keep looking for those folks with the webbed fingers and the shock of white hair as you read), it's the City of London itself (and, arguably, its architecture) which is the book's real showpiece. Be prepared to stick an extra bookmark at the front of the book where the maps are, because you're going to need it. If there was a Roman road leading out a City gate, Rutherford has marked it in the text and you're going to walk down it eventually, so get your bearings early. The cast of characters also grows exponentially through the years, as family trees are wont to do, so keep the page of the family trees marked as well.

This isn't a novel (as the cover proclaims) so much as it is a series of vignettes linked by a constant (and consistent) narrative and cast of characters, and Rutherford makes the most of it. There's some laugh-out-loud bawdiness in here, a dash of The Classic Chase (a la Keystone Kops), a bit of high drama, a few nods to Shakespeare, and even a bit of the Prince and the Pauper. Rutherford makes good use of his time, but there ARE instances when things seem to get wrapped up rather too quickly and too neatly in order to clear the way for the next chapter.

The middle sections of the book seem to move the fastest, which makes sense, given the historical period this portion of the book covers -- the Glorious Revolution, the Civil War, the War of the Roses, and a peek at a Henry VIII who's the biggest skunk you'll ever see this side of Richard III.

There's also some real beauty in here, and Rutherford doesn't skimp on the details of British life and living that really make the book come alive.

It's going to take some time to get through, and you WILL find yourself thumbing back and forth between chapters, maps, and family trees to keep everything sorted out, but it's well worth it. Set aside a week or so, put aside nitpickiness, and just enjoy watching Rutherford go to work.

Rutherford takes on the formidable task of relating 2,000 years of London history and must be given some credit for the result. He has obviously done a great deal of research of his subject and doesn't overburden the reader with an overly detailed , dry, scholastic recounting here. Considering the amount of ground he covers, (taking us from the period of Roman occupation to the German Blitzkrieg), he does so rather economically. The problem lies in his failure to provide us with a coherent narrative. His framing device of a hidden hoard of gold Roman coins comes off as contrived. His method of detailing generational threads leaves a lot to be desired. Though he strives for at least a quasi-realistic approach, how often, in real life, do succeeding generations mirror their ancestors to a degree they do here? Rutherford's approach is in fact anti-Darwinian. There is very little in the way of variation as one generation succeeds another. The offspring are practically clones of their forbears, with the same attitudes, attributes and overall composition. The bad seeds spawn more bad seeds. The good, honest, simple folk likewise pass on their exact characteristics to their children. Normally, in family trees, there is at least nominal deviation. Not so in Rutherford's London. The device makes it easier for the reader to make connections as the eras pass forth, but true history, we remind ourselves, doesn't happen this way.

The book, therefore, succeeds as a primer in the history of a city. We are given the relevant details of the Roman conquest, medieval revolt, the defeat of the Spanish Armada, the Great Plague, followed shortly thereafter by the Great Fire, etc., etc. Keep in mind, however, that it is a primer only. In some respects the drawbacks are similar to those faced by Lady Antonia Fraser in her book, The Lives of the Kings and Queens of England. Just as the reader becomes engrossed, or at the least engaged, in the period depicted, the author skips on to a different era and a new story. Of course, in Fraser's defense, she does treat the Royals in much more depth in all of her other books.

If you enjoy Rutherford's accounts, please look to authors such as Daniel Defoe (on the Plague), Samuel Pepys (The Plague, the Fire and the Resoration in general). For amusement, as well as insight, you can't go wrong with Boswell's London Journal or his life of Samuel Johnson. For a compelling account of the Wat Tyler revolt in medieval London, turn to Tuchman or Froissart. A better contemporary novel depicting Restoration London is Rose Tremain's book, Restoration, which can be found here on Amazon. For the most vivid account of London in the 18th century, turn to Jonathan Swift's poem, "A Description of a City Shower." If you want the history, without the fiction, there have been at least four full-scale London histories written in the past decade, most notable among them is Stephen Inman's A History of London.

Excellent book. Yes, you can probably guess many of the elements (corrupt clergy, greedy merchants, whoremongering, capital punishment, plague, filth - what a great time to be alive!). But the chapters (each of which are separate stories, tracing family members through the centuries) are very skillfully crafted. I also enjoyed the way the author incorporated major historical events into the fiction. While some history buffs may scoff at mixing history with fictional characters, I thought the author did a great job of delineating between the two.

One caveat, however. The author weaves many landmarks and names from modern-day London into the plots, thereby explaining their historical origins. If you are not familiar with the city, these references could become annoying background noise. But if you have been to London, these tidbits add a great deal to the enjoyment of the work.

My adult niece gave me Rutherfurd's second book, RUSSKA, as a Christmas gift several years ago. I enjoyed it so much that I went looking for SARUM, and I've since purchased his two more recent books. As I write this review, I have put THE FOREST aside for awhile because Rutherfurd's works can be overwhelming to read one after another.

LONDON's twenty-one self-contained tales begin in 54 B.C., and follow several families through often intertwining generations until 1997. We're there when each acquires its surname. We watch as those surnames change; as fortunes are made and lost; as respectability and social status wax and wane, for those who come to call themselves "Bull" and "Ducket," "Doggett" and "Silversleeves," "Meredith" and "Barnikel." Each story carries the unique flavor of the era depicted, and each deals with that time period's defining events.

I've heard Rutherfurd compared to James A. Michener, and with that I certainly agree. Both writers concentrate on a particular geographic area, and tell the story of that area's people over a grand sweep of time. However, I do not see Rutherfurd's characters (or Michener's, for that matter) as figures sketched in for the storyteller's convenience. Each major character in the pages of LONDON is created in enough carefully chosen detail to take on individual life. I particularly enjoyed meeting such colorful figures as "Dame Barnikel," who founded a dynastic brewery in a time when most married women controlled no property; the Doggett sisters, twin prostitutes with far more respectable descendants; and Helen Meredith, aristocratic ambulance driver during the Blitz.

A great deal of background for each tale is presented to the reader in narrative, "telling instead of showing" format; but Rutherfurd's alternative would have been writing twenty-one novels, because each of his self-contained chapters contains enough material for a complete book. His work feels more condensed than Michener's, and that undoubtedly is why.

What these two epic writers have in common is their storytelling's richness. LONDON supplied me with a good, long, thoroughly engrossing read!

This is one of the best books that I have ever read! The tracing of imaginary trees is a well-conceived idea by Rutherfurd, and one that draws the readers further into the book. Interesting twists of fate makes it interesting to compare the newer generations to their ancestors. It was very easy for myself, and I imagine for other readers to easily identify themselves with one of the many lines in the novel. Whether you consider yourself one of the meek Duckets, a noble Bull, or a backstabbing Silversleeves, everyone can identify with the story.

This book would make a splendid reading companion to any English history textbook, and though Rutherfurd's intention was to write fiction, I couldn't help but consider it useful in historic knowledge. This could be the only flaw in his writing. For example, it is easy to associate Chaucer as one of the great English authors, but now when I think of his name, I will always remember his good friend, James Bull. It is very hard to remember that James Bull is fictional. Rutherfurd's characters are so memorable, that it is tough to keep in mind that this is all fantasy and it is hard to separate the actual history from the stories.

I found myself associating most freely with the Ducket/Doggett line. The trademark white patch of hair and webbings made them especially memorable, but more memorable was their ambition. I also admire the Barnikel's for their practicality, and the Bull's for their tradition. The only characters I seem to despise are the Silversleeves. They always seem to be lazy, or sly, never doing honest work and always reaping the benefits. However, Rutherfurd writes justly and always seems to foil their line by the end of a story.

Overall, the book was intense and very hard to put down. Though the stories are broken up chronologically, transitions flowed rather smoothly, and when engrossed in a chapter, the action and plot twists are so well arranged that it is hard to focus on doing anything else.

Edward Rutherfurd's London embodies the noble history and heritage of the city in the past two centuries. Whether it is Rutherfurd's tour de force of story telling or a thorough research in the historical archive, London opens to readers the windows to the past, through the capricious, ever-shifting fortunes, lives, destinies, and amazing interactions of several families. Their webbed hands characterized the Duckets who were down the family line of Leofric. The Silversleeves were of Norman descent and got brawny built. A hurried Norman clerk had made one of the few but egregious mistakes in which he forgot to record Duckets' ancestors as free. The Duckets, through some ever-shifting and checkered fate, existed also under the name Dogget.

London is nothing but a historical fiction that builds upon the history of the city over 2000 years, from Ice Age to Julius Caesar, to the Medieval, to Renaissance and present. So long as readers scrupulously follows the chronological account, the intricate family lines and the overlap and interactions between the very families, it is an absorbing read, though I do not find it intriguing. The book resembles a huge, endless compression of the lives of a sampling of Londoners during their respective times. Generations after generations, these very families coincidentally found themselves befriending, collaborating, fighting, persevering, revenging, marrying and colluding each other among the ever-shifting fortunes, destinies, political crisis, and wars. Family genealogy somehow holds the novel in one piece or else the book reads like a bunch of stories with innumerable characters.

Readers who are not familiar with London and its historical landmarks might find the book somewhat difficult to grasp. Rutherfurd gives succinct details on landmarks such as the Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's Cathedral, Buckingham Palace, Covents Garden, Royal Society of London, Twinings Tea Shop, Museum of London, West End, Soho, and the Big Ben. Rutherfurd uses these landmarks as backdrop to his characters. The author also deftly captures significant history of the city such as the Viking's invasion in 1088, the London Riot in 1189, the Black Death pandemic that hit all of Europe in 1348, the Peasant's Revolt in 1381, Civil War in 1649, the London's Fire in 1666, the establishment of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich in 1675, opening of Twinings Tea Shop in 1750, the Spanish flu pandemic in 1918, and Hitler's Blitzkrieg on London in 1940.

Incidences of literary interest were the authorship of the Canterberry Tales. Geoffrey Chaucer himself was among one of the characters. The English theater flourished under Queen Elizabeth's reign and Shakespeare wrote only half of all his plays when the period of theater ended. The Bible also infiltrated London in 1382 and raised such alarm among church authorities. Almost concurrently the King appointed himself the Supreme Head of Church which entitled him the power to not only take in all revenues and appoint bishops and abbots, but to decide on all church doctrines just so to thwart heresy.

London could be a rewarding read should readers wish to learn about the history of the city under a literary context. It is a thorough factual account in literary form. But it is far less captivating as the book claims and readers might have to trudge a bit through the not-so-interesting and absorbing prose. Readers might not be able to recall most of the characters and the happenings despite the significant historical occurrences. 3.5 stars.

London, like its predecessor Sarum, is an extremely ambitious novel. Spanning 2,000 years of the city's history, the novel follows the story of a number of families. There's no particular plot to this novel, only a series of short vignettes from each major era of London's history.

Although the characters can get confusing at times and the historical backdrop of this novel is truly what sets it apart. From the Roman legionaries to the creation of the London Underground system, those familiar and unfamiliar with the city will appreciate this book. London is also populated by certain well-known historical figures as well: Caesar, Chaucer, Henry VIII, and others. Readers may want to read Sarum before they read this novel; several characters overlap in each. Don't be put off by the length of this novel; it's excellently written and highly readable.

After reading this book you will have a great appreciation for the history of London and England in general. This book traces the history of London since its beginnings as Londinium, a Roman outpost, until modern times.

The author weaves an intricate tale of characters that make this novel engrossing. I was at no point bored with this book and finished it within a few days. It is a well researched piece of historical fiction that anyone interested in that genre will like.

If you are heading to London then read this book. It will give you a better appreciation of the city.

Of course all reviewers agree that this is a long book - but it's amazing that Rutherford squeezed two thousand years into one volume of work. I thought the book was very engaging, and it kept my attention most of the way through. Some parts it were a bit difficult to wade through the familial details (i.e., who had the gray patch in his hair, etc.) but I would highly recommend this book. It's also a good historical document and helps put British history into perspective. If you're an Anglophile and can't get enough of London, read this book. If you're looking for a trashy, read-on-the-beach vacation book - buy Danielle Steele.

At around 1000 pages, "London" looks intimidating. It doesn't get any less intimidating when you crack open the spine and realize that this is not just the story of London, but the story of several families and how they thrive, prosper, and fail over the course of 2000 years along the Thames. A family tree takes up a couple pages and to trace your finger along it makes the task of reading about all these characters seem daunting. However, once I began the first story, I was hooked.

It is here that we are introduced to our first family, the Celtic Duckets (a trait ascribed to their webbed hands, also a neat literary trick to track the Ducket heirs). Soon we meet the Anglo-Saxon Barnikels and the Norman Silversleeves as well as a few other families. Each generation bringing new changes to London as well as to their perspective families. Together these families over the course of time fight Caesar, build the Tower of London, create the British stock exchange, and save Shakespeare's career. They live on London Bridge and converse with Henry the VIII. Some even eventually seek their fortune in the Americas. Each chapter is a new time and a new tale. Rutherfurd also has a talent for spinning witty, quick, and easy to digests historic yarns.

After so many pages and so many separate stories, I couldn't tell if I was running out of steam or maybe it was Rutherfurd. Either way I was grateful to close the cover on the book. It was great fun, but even fun has to end sometime.
(4 and a half stars)