2014 Booker Prize longlist: The Wake

This thread is for discussion of The Wake by Paul Kingsnorth.

Okay, I started this last night. And restarted this morning because I hadn't understood a word of it. At first I was enraged and wanted to abandon the book immediately, thinking "why did he forget about the foreign readers??". But okay, considering non-native speakers certainly isn't he first priority in such a challenging project.
I then noticed that reading aloud helps a lot - as does, surprisingly, speaking German. Once you say "fugol" aloud, it sounds like "Vogel" = bird. Yay! If one of the readers here speaks Dutch, s/he will probably understand even better.

So I'll read on, but very slowly, a maximum of 5% per day.
The story should better be good, because that language experiment isn't exactly new and if I invest all that work I hope for a reward in form of a great plot.

I thought about starting a dictionary here if more people are reading it. Don't know if that makes sense. I'd set up a post and collect in alphabetical order whatever words everyone believes should be explained.

For example

F
fugol bird
G
geburs ???
gerefa ???? chef as in boss?

Edit: Just saw the Kindle edition has a glossary already. Stupid thing always opens at beginning of the story, so I often don't get to see the table of contents.
I had already set up an own glossary in the 2 following posts which I now deleted again.
SORRY for the confustion! :(

Thanks for mentioning the glossary in The Wake, Nathalie. I'm glad that you found it before you finished the book!

I am at 40% (this really IS work!), and I must say that the ceosan one is not the brightest one, it seems... "the throta of a swine is thiccer than the throta of a man". Well, yes - I could have told you that. And I am not buccmaster of holland.
I haven't found out yet what a buccmaster is. And what "of holland" means, because that guy is anglisc.
Edit: okay, that seems to be his name, not his title. (???)

But I enjoy it, and finally there has been a bit of action between 35 and 40%. I just wish I could read that language a bit faster...
I think Paul Kingsnorth is a good author because he didn't make either grimcell or tofe a beautiful young woman (later to be certainly cvelled by the frenc) to add some tragic doomed love to the mix. The whole thing is, after the Flanigan, refreshingly unemotional, almost too much so. at least a little crying over odelyn's burned body or the loss of his sons would have been natural.
I really enjoy the poetry-like bits, and this book is written to be read aloud - although I am sure I pronouce half of the words incorrectly.

I unexpectedly finished this book this morning on my way to work - the Kindle version ends at 80%, then come glossary and notes on history and language.
This is now among my top three which are all great in such different ways that I am unable to name a favorite.

This book has lengths and repetitions but unlike most historical fiction I read it sounds "true". It feels like reading something that's real old, but at the same time there is a modern layer - buccmaster of holland is an unreliable narrator and the growing dislike of him I felt in the second half of the book was intended. The historical notes were extremely informative, but I only read them after finishing the book, fearing spoilers. They also show how timeless this story is. This book will make you think about today's intruders into our seemingly safe world and about the question if (and in which form) resistance might change something. A great candidate and imo a safe bet for the SL.

So you got used to reading the language? I'm hesitating on reading this despite being very intrigued because of that difficulty. Did you think it added to the book or was more a distraction?

I think it definitely added - at least for me it did. He explains it in the language notes, saying for him most historical fiction feels fake because the characters use modern language and also think modern. This is something that usually keeps me from reading historical fiction, so once I was over the first shock (yes, I was unprepared!) this book felt almost authentic and also poetic, like reading an old epos.

He also takes it slow in the beginning, often repeating words several times, explaining them with the context. For me it was easier than Shakespeare where I have to look up expressions all the time. But it's no quick read!

>9 Deern: Thanks! I think I'll give it a try.