Beastings

In the dead of night a teenage girl lifts the baby she is caring for out of the cot and walks out of the house and up into the Cumbrian Hills. Her desire to be far far away from that place drives her and she has taken very little possessions and almost no protection against the elements.

When the householder discovers her absence he heads to speak to the local priest, as she came from the workhouse under his charge. The incensed priest calls on the services of the local poacher and his dog to help him track the girl down.

She walks up into the hills, sleeping rough, staying out of sight, getting help from those that can see a vulnerable girl in need. Living on almost nothing the child and her begin to suffer. She takes risks, some of show more which pay off. All to put distance between her and the baby and the man she knows will be following.

Poacher and priest march on relentlessly. Seeking, tracking, following trails and finding where they slept. They are wary of each other though, constantly battling through their dialogue. The priest claims the moral high ground, the poacher goading, before getting a glimpse of what obsesses the priest.

Two Benjamin Myers books in a week is a baptism by literary fire. Thought the Gallows Pole was brilliant, but this is another level of intensity again. The sparse prose emerges deep from within the landscape they are traversing and it seeks into your psyche capillary style. The characters are not two dimensional, rather they are stark and raw like a grainy black and white picture. I thought that the juxtaposition between who you would perceive as good and who actually was, was really cleverly done. It deals with some very dark disturbing themes, as one pair chase the other across the hills and the ending does not pull any punches at all.

Shocking. Brilliant. If you liked the Wasp Factory, this is another book like that. show less

Another strikingly memorable novel from the back catalogue of the prolific Myers. Unlike his two most recent books, this one is not set in Yorkshire but in the Lake District. Once again there is plenty of landscape writing but in this one both the precise geography and the time it is set in are only hinted at, though I think it is probably before the First World War, and the pass where its climactic events take place must be Kirkstone.

The three central characters are never named. One is a mute girl brought up in a strict religious institution St Marys, who has been working as a servant for a man, his largely incapacitated wife and their baby. She forms a bond with the baby and runs away with it when she is threatened with dismissal.

She show more is pursued across the hills by the Priest, who was also responsible for St Marys. He enlists the help of the Poacher and his tracking dog. The Poacher is a natural rebel and an instinctive unbeliever, and Myers extracts quite a lot of humour from their interactions.

As the girl's struggle for survival and freedom and the chase continue, the perspectives of the three characters shift it gradually becomes clear that the real villain is the Priest and the chase builds to an inevitably melodramatic conclusion. show less

Very gripping novel. Kept me on the edge of my seat. Would read more by this author.

Benjamin Myers schreibt nicht einfach nur eine Geschichte; er malt sie mit Worten, die so gewaltig wie die Berge Cumbrias selbst sind. Die Sprache ist das absolute Prunkstück dieses Romans – poetisch, archaisch und von einer Bildgewalt, die einen förmlich in den Schlamm und den Regen zieht. Er schafft einen scharfen Kontrast zwischen der unberührten, erhabenen Natur und der hässlichen, moralisch verrotteten Menschlichkeit seiner Charaktere.

Dieses Buch ist von der ersten bis zur letzten Seite niederschmetternd. Es gibt wenig Hoffnung und keine Atempause von der düsteren Atmosphäre. Die Handlung ist eine unerbittliche Jagd, die emotional auszehrt.
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"Beastings" ist definitiv kein Buch für Momente, in denen man Aufheiterung sucht. show more Wer sich aber gerne in atmosphärischer Düsternis verliert und eine Vorliebe für sprachliche Brillanz hat, wird hier fündig. Ich persönlich brauche diese Art von literarischer Melancholie manchmal – auch wenn sie wehtut.
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Sprachlich ein Meisterwerk, inhaltlich ein Schlag in die Magengrube. Harte Kost, die man wollen muss. show less