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Bettie's Books

A Stuga On the Cusp of the Orust Riviera, tucked away next to a hobbit hole in the woods.

Hawksmoor by Peter Ackroyd

Hawksmoor - Peter Ackroyd

 

** spoiler alert ** AND SO, let us beginne; and, as the Fabrick takes its Shape in front of you, alwaies keep the Structure intirely in Mind as you inscribe it.

Brilliant - a work of pure genius but confusing; as confusing as it is inspired.

Firstly we have Hawksmoor, who in real life was an architect in charge of raising six churches in London under Sir Chris and after the fire.
BUT
In this book Hawksmoor is a modern day detective investigating murders a-happening around those churches, real life churches and a fictional seventh.

Confused!?

The two time zones are further blurred by happenings that occur simultaneously in each time period, with a presumption that these occurrences have always unfolded thusly and so will be the case into eternity(and beyond haha - think Buzz Lightyear)

Obviously this is not a light read, or rather, it is not a read to take lightly. There are poems to be read, nursery rhymes to be sung, plays to read through paying particular attention to detail.

There have been two other books that I have viewed similarly - Eco's Foucault's Pendulum and The Magus by Fowles. So for the moment I will sit on the fence and give it a three; a few days to mull over and re-read certain tracts may up or down my final verdict.