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Not going to rate this because I loved the writing (Jones is one of those authors whose writing I will never tire of) but found the story a bit challenging at times. This is partially explained in the afterword by Jones himself in that the original of the story is somewhat unfinished feeling and he tried to reflect that in his re-telling of this Arthurian tale.I'd probably recommend this for Jones completists only. (Language related side note - I've grown up using the word "twt" without actually...
Surely not my favourite book by Cynan Jones.
This series seems to be quite hit and miss, with me. I rather enjoy the whole idea of it -- and even the idea here makes sense and isn't bad in itself, I suppose -- but this seemed very light, despite the heavy subject matter, and I'm not sure what to make of what the author did with Peredur.
I thought it felt unfinished, I'll-conceived and generally jumpy. Then I read the afterword and realised that it was, and that that was OK.
Hard-going, raw, archetypical. An ages-old mural with a modern frame (or vice-versa). A quest. Not for the easily swayed.
Sometimes very confusing and shocking, but still worth reading.
When I read about this series I was quite excited. The idea of a retelling of the stories from the Mabinogion sounded like a good one to me. having just read The Dig by Cynan Jones I decided to start with his version of the Peredur story. In essence the original story is that of Percival; on the death of a Welsh king his wife takes her youngest son off into the wilds, away from the violence of the world of men. The boy grows up knowing nothing about war or knights, until one day he comes across
A contemporary re-telling of one of the stories from the Mabinogion. I purchased beacuse of the cover design, but thoroughly enjoyed the writing, too.
I'm a fan of Jones' work, and admire what he did with this difficult tale. Peredur is perhaps the least accessible of Mabinogion tales and doesn't, as Jones admits, stand up to the tale of Percival, its twin-tale, if you will. But, my, the threads Jones plies here. What a complex web of forms. I'm not generally a fan of work that is more meta, more about form than character and plot but I make an exception for this work. He's a lovely writer (although be warned, there is much violence and gore h...
MILD/MODERATE SPOILERS BY WAY OF VAGUE DESCRIPTIONS OF GENERAL OUTCOMESCyan Jones' Afterward observes the unfinished quality of Peredur's story in The Mabinogian and that it was an oral tales not yet ready to be written. He brings that sensibility to Bird, Blood, Snow, an incompleteness, through news clippings, police reports, mobile phone footage and medical records, as well as first hand accounts. This gives his fiction an authentic feel in the sense that true stories are usually incomplete. C...
This book is one of a series produced by Seren Books, retelling the stories of the Mabinogion in a more modern setting. I picked it up because I was in a lovely bookshop, and Cynan Jones is one of the authors speaking at Monty Lit Fest this year - normally I'd probably pass straight over a book like this.I found this book quite difficult & frustrating and it all comes down to the style in which it’s written. I’m very glad I’m the kind of person who reads ‘Afterword’s otherwise I would not have r...
Picked up at a bookshop in a Welsh village while I was at a festival for the weekend. One of a series of modern re-tellings of The Mabinogion. This is the story of Peredur, recast as a violent and disturbed misfit seeking a purpose and a community among street gangs and urban estates. We see how the savage violence of the warrior knight would appear today, with Peredur ap Efrog ("Ape Frog" to his peers) a brutal yet naive figure. He fights and kills without constraint, alienating those he'd befr...
Stabbing someone in the eye may be okay in medieval times, but it's not okay now. And so this modern retelling of Peredur's story from the Mabinogion shows the reader what happens when modern reality is applied to the events of the story - Peredur is not herioc, he is violent and mentally ill, and does no good either to himself or for others. Cynan Jones' book does incredibly well in portraying the disconnect between chivalric codes and modern life, and his words are carefully chosen for maximum...
A jagged, violent tale in style and content, this contemporary take on Peredur's story from The Mabinogion shocks, intrigues and saddens in equal measure.
