BOOK REVIEW
MARY BARBER I found this to be a very original book. It has three central characters – Emmet, a farmer’s son; his sister Alta; and a young man who is staying at the old manor house, Lucien Darney. Alta goes to great lengths to snare Darney for marriage. The characters are rich and complex, the dialogue is fast and the villains are suitably evil. The story is easy to follow. I don’t want to give much away but suffice to say, this novel has mystery, love and danger in equal measure. A 5-star read.
BILL MCCARTHY I guess this novel might be classified as mystical genre. Unfortunately, I could not finish it. At the halfway point, I stopped reading as I found that I was completely bored and could not understand the story. Instead, I found some old tax returns that seemed much more interesting. Some may like it, but not for me.
BOOK review SUZI HIRST I absolutely loved reading this book. It had me spellbound from the beginning. The thought that a binder could take your thoughts and actions, however dark or sickening, and bind them into a book to have all memory of them erased forever, was intriguing. The story is in three parts and includes the illicit affair of two young men from different backgrounds who fall in love. They are an embarrassment to their families so have all memory of each other erased. The book is well-written and a great way to spend wet winters days on the couch. 8/10
THE BINDING BY BRIDGET COLLINS
JOHN KLEINSCHMIDT This dystopian novel is set in England at an undisclosed time, probably late 18th century. Binders capture and remove bad, evil or unwanted memories and embed them in an elaborate book that is then stored safely. Access to these books is tightly regulated and socially taboo. Emmett, the hero of the first half of the book, is forced into becoming an apprentice Binder and in that role meets his nemesis and lover Lucian. A suspicious death of a Binder, unscrupulous Binders and the underground trade in true Bindings, provide the plot in a book that is saved only by the author’s brilliant descriptive writing. Not my preferred reading material.
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expunge them. The book is then permanently locked away. I didn’t like the author’s writing style, being slow, overly descriptive, too flowery and too try-hard poetic. The narrative is mired in similes and metaphors that didn’t gel with my brain. For me, this book was easy to put down and hard to pick up again. Other than the binding concept, the gay love story was mildly interesting. I guess I’m not a fantasy fiction sort of guy. My wife who reads anything and everything said, “you won’t like this book!” She who must be obeyed was certainly right. I wish I could bind my memory of this book. 3/10
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This fantasy fiction novel has an interesting imaginary concept that binding maleficent memories into a book will
JO BOURKE My first attempt to read this novel ended in frustration! I found it is not a book one can rush through. Rather, it is a novel that needs to be absorbed, to have patience with and to become familiar with the characters and atmosphere. The Binding is essentially a love story, albeit convoluted and challenging. No chapter titles so it is easy to become confused chronologically. The imagery is astounding – when Emmett first sees the bindery, the setting sun is behind it so it looks “as though it is burning” and the binder Seredith, “old – painfully, skeletally old, white-haired, her face as creased as paper”. The description of winter is so utterly desolate and stark that I almost reached for a jacket! The Binding is a beautiful story, with the characters staying alive in my imagination long after I finished reading. That to me is the ultimate test of a book, so I have no hesitation in recommending it.
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TONY HARRINGTON
Books are dangerous in this escapist fantasy novel set in a world where people visit book binders to rid themselves of painful or treacherous memories. Once their stories have been told and are bound between the pages of a book, the slate is wiped clean and their memories lose the power to hurt or haunt. Teenager Emmett Farmer, weak after a long mystery illness and no longer able to keep up with his chores, is sent to the workshop of an elderly binder to live and work as her apprentice. Leaving home and family, Emmett slowly regains his health while learning the binding trade. He is forbidden to enter the locked room where books are stored, so he spends months marbling end pages, tooling leather book covers, and gilding edges to make beautiful books. But he soon realises the true work is magical in the way lives are turned into stories.
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25/06/2020 8:59:58 AM