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Title: The Rage of the Vulture (Norton Paperback Fiction) by Barry Unsworth ISBN: 0-393-31308-5 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: June, 1995 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.11 (9 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Actually not that gripping
Comment: Unsworth is a fabulous, I would nominate After Hannibal as my favourite, and I was hoping this would be a serious contender to that title. it really wasn't.
the main problem I felt it lacked was that none of the characters were particularly likeable - it's very difficult to sustain interest in a book when you don't actually care what happens to anyone contained in it.
however as noted by the other reviewers, it gives you a remarkable sense of place, which is an amazing talent of Unsworth. His books are set in italy, in greece, on tiny islands in the Med, in turkey and each time you can imagine he must have a particular affinity with the place to portray it so well.
usually he just tends to like his characters a little more. which at least helps when the plot unravels hopelessly at the end you find you no longer really cared.
Rating: 5
Summary: Ottoman Sunset
Comment: I thought that this was a very entertaining novel. It's set in Constantinople in 1908, when the old Ottoman Empire was in terminal decline, and the "Young Turk" revolution was approaching. The British officer Robert Markham watches the impending collapse of the old regime, and at the same time is tortured by the memories of the Turks' brutality to the Armenians.
On one level, "The Rage of the Vulture" is a fine historical novel, giving (for all I can tell) an authentic feel of both the place and the time. Unsworth's prose is so fine, you can almost feel the tension, even smell the odours of the city, and soak up its atmosphere. No doubt Unsworth used modern Istanbul as his reference point, nonetheless I felt he's crafted a fine piece of of historical fiction.
On another level, this is a mystery/spy novel - there's plenty of intrigue and shady characters to drive the plot along. It's also a psychological study - Markham is consumed by guilt, a guilt that erodes his sense of morality, and responsibility to his family. Markham's search for atonement brings the destructive nature of his guilt to the fore.
Until I read this novel, I thought that "Stone Virgin" was the best of Unsworth's novels I've read. "The Rage of the Vulture", though, now takes first place - though only just.
Rating: 5
Summary: Better than "Sacred Hunger"
Comment: An odd, suspenseful and gripping story. It reminds of Conrad or Trollope. There is a plot, but the characters are to the fore, deeply drawn, and never faked. The suspense comes from watching the characters make choices, not just the plot. (It is NOT a post-modern novel about a novelist writing a novel about a novelist writing a novel about ... as so many modern novels are.) Better in all respects than his bestter known "Sacred Hunger."
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Title: Sacred Hunger (Norton Paperback Fiction) by Barry Unsworth ISBN: 0393311147 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: November, 1993 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Morality Play by Barry Unsworth ISBN: 0393315606 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: September, 1996 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: Stone Virgin by Barry Unsworth ISBN: 0393313093 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: June, 1995 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Pascali's Island by Barry Unsworth ISBN: 0393317218 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: November, 1997 List Price(USD): $11.00 |
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Title: The Songs of the Kings by Barry Unsworth ISBN: 0385501145 Publisher: Nan A. Talese Pub. Date: 18 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
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