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dannyitisntreal's review
2.0
Hurley’s skill at a slow burn is put to shit use in this incredibly disappointing anthology.
waywardread's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
2.5
I have enjoyed Hurley’s previous novels (Starve Acre, Devil’s Day and The Loney) and was expecting more of his eerie, atmospheric wheelhouse. But ‘Barrowbeck’ was very disappointing. To beginning with, despite what the inside dust jacket indicates, it’s not really a novel. It’s more a collection of short stories, vignettes even, set across time from the distant past to the near future. The connection, and supposed main character, is Barrowbeck, a village in Yorkshire where strange things have always happened. Which is fine except the strangeness is only diluted over the thirteen stories (apparently they started as a series of short stories for radio and frankly this sounds like the better format for them) that have essentially no other connection apart from the location. And, like any other collection, there is inconsistent quality. The good ones are very good (I do like Hurley’s grasp of place and atmosphere); others are of little consequence and had me skimming over passages, which is something I never want to do. When I began ‘Barrowbeck’, I was getting flashes of other works such as Benjamin Myers’ brilliant ‘Cuddy’ (a novel set over time about the life and influence of St Cuthbert) and even Alan Garner’s wildly challenging, but wonderful ‘Red Shift’. But Hurley’s collection offers none of the richness, none the glue that makes the other two novels remarkable. ‘Barrowbeck’ is, unfortunately, mainly people doing weird stuff or some weird things happening to people (not even that weird if you’re used to reading weird stuff) in one place. I honestly wish it was better.
tonytomato's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
gibworth's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
david_harold_nicholson's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
sarahweekes's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
4.25
roisin_oakley's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
4.5
make_tea_and_read's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
I want to begin by saying that although there seems to be much talk about this being a collection of short stories I just want to put it out there that I don't see it that way at all. While the chapters do differ in writing style and characters (seemingly like their own short stories) this needs to be taken in as it is, a complete novel. Each chapter is as important as the last.
Set in the isolated and remote valley of Barrowbeck we see many characters come and go, all while darkness steeps beneath the surface. Something other worldly, something lurking that never lets the village rest.
The feelings of something other worldly pulling the strings gets explained away each time, like in the chapter "celestial event" the character describes feeling like living in Barrowbeck you are always warding something off, evading something. But then puts it down to being newly retired and how everyone feels that way.
There are many themes throughout the book including faith, spirituality, folk horror, family, loss, love, power, survival, identity. Much much more.
Some of the chapters (and the time and people within them) sometimes seem to end abruptly, without resolution, sometimes feeling like we didn't quite get enough, but I think that far from being a lack of something by the author, it adds to the feelings of the book while reading. That as we are getting into one story, it's abruptly cut short, onto the next, it adds to the push and pull, to the darkness of the book. We are but a blip in time before we have to move on. I could be way off with this feeling but that's how it came across for me, not a mistake but something that adds to it.
The final chapter is set in the future and we see what is seemingly the effects of global warming, the world, the future . It can be seen as looking into our own future in society and the mess humans are creating. But I also feel like due to the previous chapters, we could be seeing the work of the gods/the supernatural seeking their land back.
It reads like a cult classic, twisted fairytale vibes.
There's always a price to pay.
Set in the isolated and remote valley of Barrowbeck we see many characters come and go, all while darkness steeps beneath the surface. Something other worldly, something lurking that never lets the village rest.
The feelings of something other worldly pulling the strings gets explained away each time, like in the chapter "celestial event" the character describes feeling like living in Barrowbeck you are always warding something off, evading something. But then puts it down to being newly retired and how everyone feels that way.
There are many themes throughout the book including faith, spirituality, folk horror, family, loss, love, power, survival, identity. Much much more.
Some of the chapters (and the time and people within them) sometimes seem to end abruptly, without resolution, sometimes feeling like we didn't quite get enough, but I think that far from being a lack of something by the author, it adds to the feelings of the book while reading. That as we are getting into one story, it's abruptly cut short, onto the next, it adds to the push and pull, to the darkness of the book. We are but a blip in time before we have to move on. I could be way off with this feeling but that's how it came across for me, not a mistake but something that adds to it.
The final chapter is set in the future and we see what is seemingly the effects of global warming, the world, the future . It can be seen as looking into our own future in society and the mess humans are creating. But I also feel like due to the previous chapters, we could be seeing the work of the gods/the supernatural seeking their land back.
It reads like a cult classic, twisted fairytale vibes.
There's always a price to pay.
ghostboyreads's review against another edition
3.5
"Here, let us prepare you now. We must bind your hands and fill your pockets with stones. For the river is running fast and wild and the Master will not want you swept away when he leads you into the water. No, be at peace, sir. All this we do with love, with gratitude. It is you who will speed the Master here to the Haven. It is you who will finally reunite a father with his children."
Barrowbeck is a haunting collection of multiple short stories, many of which are folk horror adjacent, all of which are set in the fictional town of Barrowbeck. These stories span the centuries, and offer an extremely diverse blend of approaches to storytelling. Despite their rather eclectic nature, all of these tales are linked by a few common things - some extremely beautiful writing, and a few core central themes, the main theme being highlighting the utter refusal of mankind to every really change. Barrowbeck is said to be a horror novel, however, there isn't a single horror story in this entire book, temper your expectations, because while these certainly are unsettling, creepy, crushing and devastating stories, they lack the horror edge that myself, and many other readers were expecting.
What is perhaps the most interesting part of this entire novel, is that we're treated to a first-hand look at how Barrowbeck changes over the years. The novel starts out with a few cracking stories, they're utterly brilliant, reading much more like traditional old-timey folk horror tales, however, as the book continues, it does lose a little steam, becoming a regular novel full of rather typical, every-day stories. Despite the horror not having been as apparent as was expected, there is for sure, an intensity, a crushing bleakness, a strange and savage feeling that everything is so very wrong here. In every story collection, there's always going to be stronger and weaker moments, this book is no exception, thankfully, in every single story, you're treated to gorgeous writing and vivid imagery.
Barrowbeck is a haunting collection of multiple short stories, many of which are folk horror adjacent, all of which are set in the fictional town of Barrowbeck. These stories span the centuries, and offer an extremely diverse blend of approaches to storytelling. Despite their rather eclectic nature, all of these tales are linked by a few common things - some extremely beautiful writing, and a few core central themes, the main theme being highlighting the utter refusal of mankind to every really change. Barrowbeck is said to be a horror novel, however, there isn't a single horror story in this entire book, temper your expectations, because while these certainly are unsettling, creepy, crushing and devastating stories, they lack the horror edge that myself, and many other readers were expecting.
What is perhaps the most interesting part of this entire novel, is that we're treated to a first-hand look at how Barrowbeck changes over the years. The novel starts out with a few cracking stories, they're utterly brilliant, reading much more like traditional old-timey folk horror tales, however, as the book continues, it does lose a little steam, becoming a regular novel full of rather typical, every-day stories. Despite the horror not having been as apparent as was expected, there is for sure, an intensity, a crushing bleakness, a strange and savage feeling that everything is so very wrong here. In every story collection, there's always going to be stronger and weaker moments, this book is no exception, thankfully, in every single story, you're treated to gorgeous writing and vivid imagery.
"But she'd not been in any pain, even if the Mister thought otherwise. These children never suffered at the end of more than a leaf suffered when it yellowed. Nor did the decay come as a surprise to them, in the way that a tree was never shocked by autumn."
There's a heavy sense of sadness that lingers over each of these stories, and even if it isn't quite the horror book I was expecting, that doesn't mean that it isn't a thought-proving, memorable, troubling and wonderful little novel. Barrowbeck is a chilling thing, with most of these stories carrying a near prophetic warning. There are some really, really fantastic stories in this collection, ones that so perfectly capture the woes of an entire town, of an entire period of time. They're effective, and disturbing, captivating and almost dreamlike. When it comes to evocative, breathtaking writing, Barrowbeck certainly does deliver, sure, it falls a little short of being a real horror novel, but it makes up for that by being so damn enchanting.
"Here was Fadog, here was Cambugail, Bram and Corrath. Stuck like pigs where they had been cornered. Prif they found face down in the rushes, his back stabbed open to the white of his spine. Gogwyn decapitated. The utmost insult. Or was it a punishment?"