Book Review: The Wake by Paul Kingsnorth

Overview

Paul Kingsnorth’s first novel, The Wake, is a masterpiece of language in epic proportions. Writing about a time long ago - 1000 A.D. - he captures the essence of life as a free English man before the catastrophic events of the Norman invasion that would ultimately change England forever. 

He basically updates Old English for the modern reader.

The most unique part of this almost 400-page novel is the use of what Kingsnorth calls, “a pseudo-language intended to convey the feeling of the old language by combining some of its vocabulary and syntax with the English we speak today,” (353). Basically, he updates Old English for the modern reader.

Content & Message

From the very beginning, the beauty of this carefully crafted language entranced me. Using lines such as, “aefry ember of hope gan lic the embers of a fyr brocen in the daegs beginning brocen by men other than us. hope falls harder when the end is cwic hope falls harder when in the daegs before the storm the stillness of the age was writen in the songs of men,” (2) Kingsnorth creates intrigue about the main character, the Buccmaster of Holland. 

Throughout the novel, the Buccmaster spins the tale of how his world unraveled and ultimately ended. We travel with him through the loss of his grandfather, two sons, wife, and his family’s land to the French invaders, who he hates with a passion. 

We see the darkness in this part of history in a personable way that resonates with us, and ultimately shapes the feeling of the book. 

In response to losing everything he’s ever known, he lives in the woods with a band of men who have faced similar losses and also dislike the foreign invaders who have claimed all of England’s land for themselves. During his time in the woods with his “werod,” which Kingsnorth tells us in the partial glossary is a “war band,” (350) they plot to take their country back. 

The main problem the group faces is that the Buccmaster, who insists that he’s “chosen” by the gods, refuses to take the big actions he insists will drive out the French. The others trust him as their leader for most of the story, but towards the end, as his speech and motives seem more and more far-fetched to the group, it all starts to go awry. 

After finishing the novel, the readers are left to wonder whether the werod men were truly disloyal to the Buccmaster, as he thinks, or if the Buccmaster was indeed mad, as they believe. 

Biggest Takeaway

Reading this book is truly an experience. We get to see the heightened emotions of a man who has lost everything and struggles not only to cope with that loss, but also try to take back somewhat of a life for himself. 

We see the darkness in this part of history in a personable way that resonates with us, and ultimately shapes the feeling of the book. 

Reading this book is truly an experience.

While the language is at first tricky, it becomes easier as the reader goes along, and becomes a key part of what makes this novel great. 

I may not have always liked the Buccmaster, and at some points his discussions with himself/Weland Smith get a little tedious, but overall this book masters the use of innovative language to tell this historical tale in its own time, which is a feat in and of itself. 

Overall Impressions

Having read the short back cover blurb, which described the book as: “a postapocalyptic novel set one thousand years in the past,” I imagined the themes were going to be dark, probably including death and survival. 

While this is partially true, the overarching themes of this work were war, religion, and surprisingly love. Kingsnorth captures the dirty truth of war and its effects on the people of England in his descriptions of the fighting (and intentions to fight), but that doesn’t overwhelm the novel. 

I was impressed by the language of course, but also by the ambiguity in the novel. 

Kingsnorth captures the dirty truth of war and its effects on the people of England in his descriptions of the fighting (and intentions to fight), but that doesn’t overwhelm the novel. 

Initially, the Buccmaster seemed like a man to be admired, at least by the standards of that time; however, he quickly shows himself to be quite a dislikable character. While it’s true he did have a harsh childhood, we later learn that he committed some very violent acts, which voices in his head convinced him were justified. 

We are left to wonder whether the Buccmaster of Holland really has the ability to speak to the Old Religion gods or whether he simply has the ego of a king in the circumstances of a landowner. 

Since the novel is told through his perspective and he’s so complex, I was often questioning whether the situations happening were really of the magnitude the Buccmaster claimed. While initially off-putting, I realized after finishing the book that I quite enjoyed having mixed emotions for the Buccmaster because it enhanced the mysterious tone of the novel.