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13th out of 22 books
—
65 voters
In a Dark Wood: A Novel
by
Amanda Craig
Thirty-nine, recently divorced, jobless, Benedick Hunter is an actor heading in the exact opposite direction of happily ever after: everything from spending time with his own children to the prospect of dating brings him down. So when he comes across a children's book his mother Laura wrote, he decides that her life and work--haunting stories replete with sinister woods an...more
Paperback, 320 pages
Published
March 11th 2003
by Anchor
(first published January 1st 2000)
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Another surprisingly good book. I borrowed it from a friend because I liked the version of the cover on the edition he had. Anyway, the book was good. I enjoyed having fairy tales interspersed throughout the main story and I enjoyed the mild culture-clash of a British man and child hiding away in the US South. Of course, the love triangles and family secrets kept the story moving, but I found myself reading the fairy tale parts with more fervor than the rest of the story. One of the most strikin...more
This novel follows Benedick, a newly divorced man and out of work actor with two children, in a manic descent. The discovery of a book of fairy tales his mother illustrated shortly before committing suicide leads him to search for clues about who his mother was. The story is beautifully written and the narrative is interspersed with the fairy tales which seem to draw Benedick farther and farther away from real life and into the center of a mystery he can't control. As he meets and talks with fri...more
I loved the use of fairly tales in Amanda Craig's In a Dark Wood. I found the book well-written and absorbing. I was interested in the mother's mental illness and its effect on the family.
But somehow I wanted the book to be more than it ended up being. I wanted to feel as obsessed as the son-or the mother. I wanted to be more pulled into the book; instead, I felt detached, interested but at a distance. The book seemed to be presenting as vividly emotional but I felt more clinically interested....more
But somehow I wanted the book to be more than it ended up being. I wanted to feel as obsessed as the son-or the mother. I wanted to be more pulled into the book; instead, I felt detached, interested but at a distance. The book seemed to be presenting as vividly emotional but I felt more clinically interested....more
This year, that I have the purpose of reading so many books (as you can see here), I am hoping to finish a set of books that I bought years ago during some holidays. This is one of them.
Usually, I remember what caught my attention in a book and made me buy it, particularly when I don't know the author, or I haven't heard anything about him/her or the book for any other reason. But in this case, I have no idea what made me buy the book, because the bit behind isn't particularly appealing, nor is...more
Usually, I remember what caught my attention in a book and made me buy it, particularly when I don't know the author, or I haven't heard anything about him/her or the book for any other reason. But in this case, I have no idea what made me buy the book, because the bit behind isn't particularly appealing, nor is...more
I was somewhat disappointed in this book. I had high hopes for it because it is supposed to be a retelling of East of the Sun, West of the Moon - my favorite fairy tale. It was interesting to read in that it did a decent job of depicting what a manic state is like for the person experiencing it (however, I can't say for sure having not experienced a manic state myself). The flaws end up outweighing the benefits though. The novel is too convoluted and the ideas are not as clearly articulated as t...more
Aug 08, 2012
Kaethe
marked it as stricken
From an essay in the Telagraph
"Maeve Binchy’s warmth and interest in other people included their families, but I can’t help but feel that her detailed portraits of ordinary life might not have been so predicated on the relationships between men and women had she had a child. "
Oh, please. Nothing is perhaps more pointless than speculating on what a writer might have written if the writer had lived a completely different life. As a Binchy fan, I'm pissed that an author would publish such a shallo...more
"Maeve Binchy’s warmth and interest in other people included their families, but I can’t help but feel that her detailed portraits of ordinary life might not have been so predicated on the relationships between men and women had she had a child. "
Oh, please. Nothing is perhaps more pointless than speculating on what a writer might have written if the writer had lived a completely different life. As a Binchy fan, I'm pissed that an author would publish such a shallo...more
This book really surprised me. I disliked the narrator intensely. I couldn't understand what kind of person would react the way he did. The end of the book revealed the answer; I was taken aback. I consider myself well-informed on the subject of mental illness, but this book showed me where I can improve in empathy and understanding.
This is another book that I like better after the fact. The more I think about it, the more I want to read it again. This may be one to add to my bookshelves.
This is another book that I like better after the fact. The more I think about it, the more I want to read it again. This may be one to add to my bookshelves.
The whole way through the book I thought that something really big that wasn't so obvious would happen, sadly the whole book was predictable. The main character was mentally ill and I spent a lot of time wondering why anyone was putting up with him. His mother, who had committed suicide when he was young, had an interesting story but I knew how her tale was going to wrap up. Laura wrote children's books and also was the artist who illustrated them. I really enjoyed the first few fairy tales but...more
Mar 18, 2013
Melle
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
people who enjoy fairytales and or have or know someone with bipolar disorder
Shelves:
uk-england-london,
family-dynamics,
bipolar,
mental-illnesss,
fiction,
new-york,
ny-new-york
This book started out with a dissolving relationship and a childhood mystery interwoven with fairytales and family drama, and I thought it was going to keep the more whimsical, magical-realist tone. The book did a nice job of showing, rather than telling, what bipolar disorder looks like. The fairytales interspersed throughout the book were delightful; however, this book would have benefitted from the illustrations it described.
In a Dark wood was a book I found in the People magazine book reviews. I drove two hours to buy it and couldn't put it down once I did. I wanted more from Craig after reading it, and highly recommend it to anyone interested in mental illness/ fairy tales /and family secrets.
This is about a son's journey to discovering why his mother commited suicide. It is well written and different. It is not as dark as it seems. We all have to clean the cobwebs out of the corners of our minds , don't we? Try it you might like it!
Not perfect, but I liked the way she wrote from the perspective of someone who is manic-depressive, and how she did it subtly enough that I didn't even realize that's what she was doing until the second (manic) half of the book. Loved the retelling of some lesser-known fairy tales as well. Not so great: The central character is pretty despicable, so if you can't get past that, this book's not for you.
I was a little disappointed in this book, but once I got into it it was ok. Initially I expected it to be mysterious and dark, but it wasn't even fantasy! Basically it is about depression and how it can grip and take hold of you.
What a great description of "the nature of depression and of the healing power of storytelling in our lives." Quite absorbing, and such a vivid description of what so many people experience. A great find.
the blurb by andrew solomon made me buy this book which turned out to be an inventive and perceptive depiction of a breakdown. it made me search for other titles by amanda craig.
The unlikeable narrator and jumpy plot ended up outweighing the interesting premise.
This is an unusual book; partly about manic depression, and partly about the power of storytelling. I didn't find the manic depression aspect all that interesting - in fact I found the protagonist to be pretty annoying and unsympathetic a lot of the time. The embedded fairy tales on the other hand were fascinating. Unlike the course of the protagonist's illness, the fairy tales were unexpected and original and contributed hugely to the richness of the narrative. Hence the 4 stars.
An engaging and disturbing story of manic depression through the eyes of a man discovering his past, spurred by a book of fairy tales that his mother had written and illustrated before she committed suicide when he was a child. I wanted to empathize with him, but I never really liked him. I kept wanting him to get help before he crashed, with his young son in tow. I did like the intrigue of the layers of truth he had to dig through to find out his family story. (May 31, 2005)
I found this a very satisfying read with a sensitive portrayal of manic-depression, especially the seductiveness of the manic phase. There are also a series of quite beautiful fairy-tales incorporated as part of the text.
One that I borrowed from the library but have now bought my own copy as I feel it is one I'll want to revisit.
Very dark, very British. An immersion in fairy tale psychology and an inward quest with the (rather unlikeable) protagonist. I do wonder why the author chose to make Benedick so abrasive and sour, particularly to his poor children.
1st U.S. edition
May 30, 2013
Annmarie Wise
marked it as to-read
May 27, 2013
Allison Riendeau
marked it as to-read
May 19, 2013
Jacki Berry
marked it as to-read
May 08, 2013
Melody Sawyer
marked it as to-read
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| In a Dark Wood by Amanda Craig | 1 | 6 | Aug 16, 2010 03:25am |
Amanda Craig (born 1959) is a British novelist. Craig studied at Bedales School and Cambridge and works as a journalist. She is married with two children and lives in London.
Craig has so far published a cycle of six novels which deal with contemporary British society, often in a concise acerbic satirical manner. Her approach to writing fiction has been compared to that of Anthony Trollope and Char...more
More about Amanda Craig...
Craig has so far published a cycle of six novels which deal with contemporary British society, often in a concise acerbic satirical manner. Her approach to writing fiction has been compared to that of Anthony Trollope and Char...more
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