Day 02 – A book or series you wish more people were reading and talking about

I’m continuing the book meme! I feel terrible for not having done much about it lately, but I’m posting the ones I missed and I SHALL FINISH IT. Seriously.

Alan Moore’s Voice of the Fire is extraordinary. It’s amazing. It’s also really underrated, probably because it’s not the easiest of books. It’s interesting, scary, funny all in one package. Sometimes even the same passage manages to be all three. It’s no wonder it’s so underrated as it’s not a Mary-Sue-fanfiction-made-book like Twilight, but more people should read the book.
It’s a novel. At least, that’s what the cover claims: Voice of the Fire: A Novel. It’s as much a novel as Virginia Woolf’s Orlando or Flush are biographies; it takes the novel format and turns it into something wholly new, refreshing and truly extraordinary. Each chapter is a story, all of them connected by a common thread.
With Moore’s native Northampton as the background, the book spans a very wide time period, from 4000 BC to the present day. Each character is compelling, each story is as full of surprises and possible interpretations that I’m considering covering my copy in yellow post-its. As you read (especially on the first read), you feel as though something’s escaping you, as though things keep lurking behind the lines you read — things that are hard to pinpoint, even as you squint at them, and they’re laughing at you. The variety of characters is remarkable, and I found myself sympathizing with even the most unlikely culprits, though it’s hard to be sure who you’re rooting for exactly (if anyone at all).
The writing style is extremely appropriate, with each chapter being different from the next. I love novels that use small markings in an otherwise contemporary language to give a different texture to time during which it’s set, and this what this novel does. The opening chapter, Hob’s Hog, is one of the hardest to get through, as the narrator is a prehistoric boy and language is used to convey his thought process in naming things (for instance, pigs aren’t called “pigs”). Another chapter that comes to mind is one set in the 19th century, that does indeed takes a form similar to journals and letters of the time. All of this in great articulation with the personality, mindset and thoughts of each character.
Personally, my favourite chapter is Partners in Knitting, telling the story of two women being burned at the stake for witchcraft, and who are lovers. It made me cry, I’ll confess.
All this said, even the best reviews fall short of this book’s true amazingness. The best way you can understand (maybe) what I’m talking about is by picking up a copy. I’ll lend you mine, and here‘s a preview.
The book is hard to read sometimes, but if you’re stumped, the book’s become a sort of underground phenomenon there’s a number of blogs and online discussions debating certain concepts and useful approaches. It’s basically like a 21st century Finnegan’s Wake, but different. My version also includes a set of notes that is really helpful, but otherwise I’d recommend trying to go for a first reading without any aids. Oh, and a tip? Read it in November.

Some links:
Deciphering Hob’s Hog — a “translation” of the first chapter, some other related and unrelated posts, and a tag that I just noticed saying “crazy etymological theories”.
Wiki page
There’s also a LJ community that had plenty of discussion, but I can’t unearth it now. Googling and poking about will find you different discussions and blogs.

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