Ali Shaw
Author of The Girl with Glass Feet
About the Author
Works by Ali Shaw
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1982
- Gender
- male
- Education
- Lancaster University, English literature
- Occupations
- bookseller
- Organizations
- Bodleian Library, Oxford
- Nationality
- UK
- Associated Place (for map)
- UK
Members
Reviews
This has been described as a modern fable or fairytale for adults, but it is much more than that. There are certainly elements of fantasy in this novel, and perhaps what is called magical realism, but it is more than anything a sort of love story, well several love stories - most failures, and a bunch of damaged individuals who get pushed a little. Throughout the book there is vivid imagery of this imagined place and at times I found myself pausing and going 'wow". There are richly drawn show more characters here and it is one of the best novels I have read in recent times. A very satisfying end to the story as well. show less
[b:Walden|16902|Walden|Henry David Thoreau|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1465675526s/16902.jpg|2361393] meets the apocalypse.
Don't read this book. You will complain that there is no plot, and it's true, there isn't much, not really. It's entirely allegorical, and you hate allegorical books. You will be irritated by the characters: one full of daffy, unrealistic optimism, one self-pitying and full of so much inertia he can barely move. You will hate that it isn't grounded in real show more possibility, because what is possibly real about millions of trees sprouting full grown from the soil overnight? The dialogue will likely annoy you, consisting as it does of travelers making traveling decisions, holding each other accountable, offering solace. You will find the forays into magical realism, into myth and fairy tale distracting, and wish that they would just hurry up and reach their destination already.
For me, however, it was the perfect book at the perfect time, a dovetailing of my own green tendencies and a love for the end of the world as we know it. An apocalyptic fairy tale that has quiet and solid emotional truth about choices, self-determination and risk. Early on were parts where two of the main characters, Hannah and Adrien, significantly annoyed, but it is quickly apparent that such behaviors were both part of their role in the story and an evolving point. There are two teenagers, Seb and Hiroko that help provide balance to the heaviness of the adults. And that was one of the most interesting things about this book, that I believed these characters. I believed their take on the issues they confronted. Rather than being bored, I was fascinated by both the smallness of some issues--a mother's reaction to a child's lifestyle choice--and the largeness of other ones. I believed them all.
"Both the town and the woods were quiet that morning. Where, in the days before, they had been filled with cries and sobbing and the sounds of things crashing into the dirt, now there was just the simmer of the leaves, and grey faces watching the three new travelers without expression as they passed. Adrien's final sight of the place where he had lived for so many years was an electricity hub fished off the ground, dangling its cables like a jellyfish caught in a net. Then the town was gone, and he was walking after Hannah down a ruined route of tarmac, and trees were leaning over him from every direction."
I think people with a high tolerance for fairy tale-like worlds and plotting will enjoy this. Interestingly, I found its journey of the self reminding me of [b:Mythago Wood|126192|Mythago Wood (Mythago Wood, #1)|Robert Holdstock|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1308639607s/126192.jpg|121534], a book I didn't care for at all. It also reminds me more than a bit of [b:The Night Circus|9361589|The Night Circus|Erin Morgenstern|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1387124618s/9361589.jpg|14245059], less in the way of beautiful imagery but with many similarities in a meandering sort of plot. Don't read this book if you don't have a high tolerance for The Long Walk(s).
Four and a half stars, rounding up because it's been rare these days that a story has so absorbed me. show less
Don't read this book. You will complain that there is no plot, and it's true, there isn't much, not really. It's entirely allegorical, and you hate allegorical books. You will be irritated by the characters: one full of daffy, unrealistic optimism, one self-pitying and full of so much inertia he can barely move. You will hate that it isn't grounded in real show more possibility, because what is possibly real about millions of trees sprouting full grown from the soil overnight? The dialogue will likely annoy you, consisting as it does of travelers making traveling decisions, holding each other accountable, offering solace. You will find the forays into magical realism, into myth and fairy tale distracting, and wish that they would just hurry up and reach their destination already.
For me, however, it was the perfect book at the perfect time, a dovetailing of my own green tendencies and a love for the end of the world as we know it. An apocalyptic fairy tale that has quiet and solid emotional truth about choices, self-determination and risk. Early on were parts where two of the main characters, Hannah and Adrien, significantly annoyed, but it is quickly apparent that such behaviors were both part of their role in the story and an evolving point. There are two teenagers, Seb and Hiroko that help provide balance to the heaviness of the adults. And that was one of the most interesting things about this book, that I believed these characters. I believed their take on the issues they confronted. Rather than being bored, I was fascinated by both the smallness of some issues--a mother's reaction to a child's lifestyle choice--and the largeness of other ones. I believed them all.
"Both the town and the woods were quiet that morning. Where, in the days before, they had been filled with cries and sobbing and the sounds of things crashing into the dirt, now there was just the simmer of the leaves, and grey faces watching the three new travelers without expression as they passed. Adrien's final sight of the place where he had lived for so many years was an electricity hub fished off the ground, dangling its cables like a jellyfish caught in a net. Then the town was gone, and he was walking after Hannah down a ruined route of tarmac, and trees were leaning over him from every direction."
I think people with a high tolerance for fairy tale-like worlds and plotting will enjoy this. Interestingly, I found its journey of the self reminding me of [b:Mythago Wood|126192|Mythago Wood (Mythago Wood, #1)|Robert Holdstock|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1308639607s/126192.jpg|121534], a book I didn't care for at all. It also reminds me more than a bit of [b:The Night Circus|9361589|The Night Circus|Erin Morgenstern|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1387124618s/9361589.jpg|14245059], less in the way of beautiful imagery but with many similarities in a meandering sort of plot. Don't read this book if you don't have a high tolerance for The Long Walk(s).
Four and a half stars, rounding up because it's been rare these days that a story has so absorbed me. show less
The Trees is one of those novels that is difficult to define. The trees themselves bring the apocalyptic element. The journey Adrien, Hannah, and Seb take brings the adventure. Hannah’s penchant for nature stimulates plenty of philosophical discussions. There is a whole element of suspense as you wonder if Adrien will ever see his wife again. Then, there is the fantasy with magic and mythical beasts and an ancient creature that causes people to go insane upon seeing it. In other words, it show more is a weird genre mash-up of epic proportions.
Yet, it all works. This is in large part because of the characters, who are so rich and alive that they could be your friends or family. Plus, in a novel that takes place entirely within an old-growth forest that burst from the ground in one night, the setting is breath-taking. The descriptions are detailed and alive. You can feel the shadows play upon your skin and hear the leaves rustling. In addition, Mr. Shaw does not shy away from the more gruesome aspects of nature, which adds an air of realism to the otherworldly scenes. The vibrant descriptions and well-developed characters help ease any genre mashing.
The characters are fantastic. None of them are as one-sided as they initially appear to be. There are layers to each of them that Mr. Shaw peels back throughout the journey. By the end of the novel, one intimately knows all of the characters. You know their strengths and weaknesses, their desires and their shame. You love them and hate them each in turn and sometimes at the same time. It is easy to fall under each of their spells as their journey strips them bare of their past.
The fantasy elements are at first a bit odd. This is in part because they are so subtle. You almost have to go back over what you read to pick up on them at first. As they appear more often, you begin to wonder where Mr. Shaw is going with it all. (Indeed, I can see some readers still wondering that.) He brings all the pieces together quite well, and the conclusion of the story is satisfying. However, it is magical realism after all; does that stuff ever make total sense?
The Trees is a novel I enjoyed for the characters, their growth, and their adventures. I adored Mr. Shaw’s descriptions of the forest that now makes up the earth. I could even appreciate the fantasy thrown into the plot. I cannot say I entire understand it all, but I enjoyed it as just one piece of a much greater story. The Trees has a lot to say about the interdependence of humans and nature – an important discussion point as we see more and more signs of global warming – but never gets moralistic in its messaging. Given its size, I do not see this being a novel that makes it to the best sellers list; however, for the right reader, it will be one of those stories in which it is easy to lose yourself in the lush setting and engrossing story. show less
Yet, it all works. This is in large part because of the characters, who are so rich and alive that they could be your friends or family. Plus, in a novel that takes place entirely within an old-growth forest that burst from the ground in one night, the setting is breath-taking. The descriptions are detailed and alive. You can feel the shadows play upon your skin and hear the leaves rustling. In addition, Mr. Shaw does not shy away from the more gruesome aspects of nature, which adds an air of realism to the otherworldly scenes. The vibrant descriptions and well-developed characters help ease any genre mashing.
The characters are fantastic. None of them are as one-sided as they initially appear to be. There are layers to each of them that Mr. Shaw peels back throughout the journey. By the end of the novel, one intimately knows all of the characters. You know their strengths and weaknesses, their desires and their shame. You love them and hate them each in turn and sometimes at the same time. It is easy to fall under each of their spells as their journey strips them bare of their past.
The fantasy elements are at first a bit odd. This is in part because they are so subtle. You almost have to go back over what you read to pick up on them at first. As they appear more often, you begin to wonder where Mr. Shaw is going with it all. (Indeed, I can see some readers still wondering that.) He brings all the pieces together quite well, and the conclusion of the story is satisfying. However, it is magical realism after all; does that stuff ever make total sense?
The Trees is a novel I enjoyed for the characters, their growth, and their adventures. I adored Mr. Shaw’s descriptions of the forest that now makes up the earth. I could even appreciate the fantasy thrown into the plot. I cannot say I entire understand it all, but I enjoyed it as just one piece of a much greater story. The Trees has a lot to say about the interdependence of humans and nature – an important discussion point as we see more and more signs of global warming – but never gets moralistic in its messaging. Given its size, I do not see this being a novel that makes it to the best sellers list; however, for the right reader, it will be one of those stories in which it is easy to lose yourself in the lush setting and engrossing story. show less
This novel had some lovely lyrical writing, but I agree with other reviewers that it's much better suited to a short story than a full length novel. As a novel, I expect several things from the work: a coherent plot that progresses, dimensional characters, and an overarching theme/philosophy/statement I can glean from the pages. This novel had none of those.
Point the first: There were so many random plot bits that didn't go anywhere. Anywhere at all! No matter how long you read, no matter show more how hard you looked for connections, these little bits were set up as major plot points and then just disappeared into the ether.
Point the second: The male characters felt dimensional, but -- and this is a very large but -- the female character existed solely to be loved by men, and to be loved poorly. They had desires but no agency, no plan, no action. They were purely set dressing to lend color while the men gazed at their navels and waxed philosophical in their thoughts.
Point the third: The only overarching theme I can see is that men are so interesting that we should be entranced by their every thought, but we should never expect them to grow up or become functional adults.
This was a pick for my offline book club, and several of us found it difficult to get through, mostly pointless, and rather uninteresting. If it hadn't been a book club pick, I'd have chucked it when I reached the necrophilia bit. (Oh, did I fail to mention that? We get to look on as a male character fantasizes about how he'd like to "defile" a woman's corpse; out of love, of course, because he misses her so much.) And really, that does an effective job of summing up the book as a whole. show less
Point the first: There were so many random plot bits that didn't go anywhere. Anywhere at all! No matter how long you read, no matter show more how hard you looked for connections, these little bits were set up as major plot points and then just disappeared into the ether.
Point the second: The male characters felt dimensional, but -- and this is a very large but -- the female character existed solely to be loved by men, and to be loved poorly. They had desires but no agency, no plan, no action. They were purely set dressing to lend color while the men gazed at their navels and waxed philosophical in their thoughts.
Point the third: The only overarching theme I can see is that men are so interesting that we should be entranced by their every thought, but we should never expect them to grow up or become functional adults.
This was a pick for my offline book club, and several of us found it difficult to get through, mostly pointless, and rather uninteresting. If it hadn't been a book club pick, I'd have chucked it when I reached the necrophilia bit. (Oh, did I fail to mention that? We get to look on as a male character fantasizes about how he'd like to "defile" a woman's corpse; out of love, of course, because he misses her so much.) And really, that does an effective job of summing up the book as a whole. show less
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Statistics
- Works
- 5
- Members
- 1,279
- Popularity
- #20,043
- Rating
- 3.6
- Reviews
- 81
- ISBNs
- 47
- Languages
- 10
