The end of the Cold War did not see the end of invasive government. Britain became more regulated, taxed and monitored than ever before - They tell you to sacrifice your money, freedom, energy and happiness for your neighbours. The fox hunt became a symbol of man's own natural and philosophical stature and led to break with the Wesminster Govenment and civil war.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An important and timely book! A call to arms!,
By A. Jonathan Cance (Utah) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Wither This Land (Paperback)
An intricately woven philosophical treatise on freedom and government, as well as a novel of startling relevance, "Wither This Land" is an engaging work that embraces the principles of freedom, self-sufficiency, and individuality that both our America and Venator's United Kingdom were built upon. It is an eye-opening reminder that the freedoms we enjoy do not come without a cost, that it is the duty of every member of a society to remain vigilant. Venator's characters are carefully crafted and his protagonist sympathetic.We must shed the hairshirt of lethargy and free ourselves, through experience and education, from a lazy obedience to a government that may or may not have our best interests, as a people, at heart. His is not necessarily a call to revolution, but a call to awareness. We must not allow ourselves to be told the "truth," but must discover it through our own efforts and research. At the heart of Venator's novel is the controversy over the traditional English fox hunt, an event that is a frequently forgotten, yet integral part of the British identity. Through our efforts to elevate ourselves above the natural world, the author contends, we have naively forgotten our place in it. The lavish descriptions of the Enlish countryside found in "Wither This Land" reflect the author's genuine love for his native land and for the people who still fight to freely occupy it. Venator is an articulate and intelligent author. His novel is thoughtful, of uncommon substance, and I eagerly await a new work by this underappreciated and relatively unknown new writer.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
William Venator Read My Mind!,
By Suzanne Fairchild (Lincoln, Nebraska) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Wither This Land (Paperback)
William Venator's book brought me back to England, where I had studied in college, and confirmed every thought and feeling that had riveted through my body from my first glimpse of the countryside to my last breath of fresh English air. In the days of "chick lit" and "the sound bite", Venator takes real issues and brings to them the entertainment quality, intellectual insight, and passion that is sorely needed in order to penetrate today's culture. I couldn't put the book down! I spent many nights last week curled up with a cup of tea, a hot water bottle, and listening to some of the music selections featured in the book. Truly an enjoyable time! It is my hope that all individuals who value their way of life will read this work, and heed Venator's call to action, becoming involved in preserving a way of life that has become threatened. Someone finally put into words what I was thinking during my entire stay in the countryside. Thank you William Venator! I look foward to your next work.
1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
When is a novel not a novel?,
By lowell duluth "lowell duluth" (Manchester, UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Wither This Land (Paperback)
As a novel (which this purports to be) this lengthy book is an overblown polemic; as polemic, it is laughably one-sided. The whole thing reads like a sub-Buchan - who really knew how to write, despite his jingoistic lapses - harangue on the healthy,
sane pursuits of fox-hunting and the like over the supposedly unhealthy, life-denying pursuits of - well, of anybody who does not agree with Venator`s point of view. All the `baddies` here are loutish, unclean, cynical types; whereas all the `goodies` (the hunting fraternity, basically) are healthy, sensible and optimistic. Venator never develops character, save for his vacillating, fairly likable hero, who goes from a reluctant espousal of the anti-hunting lobby`s ideas to (surprise!) seeing the error of his ways in the welcoming arms of an upper-class `gal`, who makes love to him in the woods (how Lawrentian - if only!), all the while engaging him in endless pseudo-philosophical talk about how healthy and life-affirming her lifestyle is. The trouble - one of many - of this `novel` is that Venator manipulates his puppet-characters so that his views are put (endlessly) into the mouths of his `goodies`, while the opposing ideas are given short shrift in the mouths of his `baddies`. This approach does not a novel make. And his dialogue! One example: when was the last time you used, or heard anyone use, the expression `when I awoke`? `Awoke`? `Woke up`, for heaven`s sake! The text is littered with such pompous anachronisms. There are a few interesting ideas here, and some food for thought. But it`s all so one-sided that one is left open-mouthed at the author`s audacity in calling this a novel. That my fellow-reviewers (so far) can have awarded this absurd effort five stars is, to put it charitably, a touch misguided. Have they never read a real novel? This sure ain`t one.
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