In the Shape of a Boar In the Shape of a Boar

by Lawrence Norfolk

Lawrence Norfolk's In the Shape of a Boar is a juggernaut of a novel, an epic tour de force of love and betrayal, ancient myths and modern horrors. The story begins in the ancient world of mythic Greece, where a dark tale of treachery and destructive love unfolds amid the hunt for the Boar of Kalydon -- a tale that will reverberate in those same hills across the millennia in the final chaotic months of World War II, as a band of Greek partisans pursues an S.S. officer on a mission of vengeance. After the war, a young Jewish Romanian refugee, Solomon Memel, who was among the hunters will create a poem based on the experience, which becomes an international literary sensation. But the truth of what happened in the hills of Kalydon in 1945 is more complicated than it seems, and as the older Sol reunites with his childhood love in 1970s Paris, the dark memories and horrors of those days will emerge anew. ".... classical Greek culture and twentieth-century barbarism, the nature of human evil and the ambiguity of storytelling itself ... Dazzling." -- David Kipen, San Francisco Chronicle "Wonderfully complex ... a fascinating story built from layered narrative lines." -- Reamy Jansen,The Washington Post Book World "In the Shape of a Boar is a Herculean task accomplished with bravado and style ... storytelling of the highest echelon." -- Andrew Ervin, The Hartford Courant

Genres: Fiction, Mythology, Literature, Novels, Unfinished, British Literature, Historical Fiction

336 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Lawrence Norfolk (born 1963) is a British novelist known for historical works with complex plots and intricate detail. His novels are also known for their unusually large vocabulary.

He was born in London but lived in Iraq until 1967 and then in the West Country of England. He read English at King's College London and graduated in 1986. He worked briefly as a teacher and later as a freelance writer for reference book publishers.

In 1992, he won the Somerset Maugham Award for his first novel, Lemprière's Dictionary, about events surrounding the publication, in 1788, of John Lemprière's Bibliotheca Classica on classical mythology and history.

His second novel, The Pope's Rhinoceros, is based on the history of an actual animal also known as Dürer's Rhinoceros. Themes in the work include the lost city of Vineta, the sack of Prato, and the Benin bronze-making culture on the river Niger.

Reviews

[Hugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was Lawrence Norfolk's third novel, and though it is no longer in print it is not too hard to find affordable second hand copies. It is a lot shorter than Lemprière’s Dictionary or The Pope's Rhinoceros, but no less ambitious, indeed had the Goldsmiths Prize been around at the time it would have been a contender.

The book has a complicated structure. The first third is a retelling/interpolation of various Greek myths involving the hunt for the boar of Kalydon, told in modern prose with plenty of academic footnotes which seem excessive (there are plenty of pages in which there are more footnote than text) but gain significance later. The hunt culminates in darkness, in a cave in a volcanic crater that is almost inaccessible.

The remainder alternates between Romania and Greece just before and during the Second World War, and Paris some years later. Its main protogonist is Sol(omon) Memel, a Jew from Romania who somehow escapes from the ghetto on foot and finds his way to the Greek mountains, where he falls into a state of exhausted delirium and finds a place that matches the description of the boar's cave, where he is rescued by Greek partisan fighters. The modern part of the story sees Sol as the writer of an epic poem inspired by his experiences in Greece, and concerns his involvement in its filming by Ruth, Sol's childhood friend from Romania. The later story parallels both the ancient one and the plot of Sol's epic poem, but towards the end of both parts a more sceptical questioning tone starts to dominate, and Sol is forced to admit that his real wartime experience was a little less heroic than the poem.

I found it an absorbing and enjoyable read, and it must have been a considerable technical feat to research and write it.

[Caterina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okuması zorlu diyebileceğimiz bir kitap varsa bu kesinlikle onlardan biri! Hikayenin hikayesi diyebileceğim bir yapısı var ve ilk bölümünün mitolojik muhteşemliğinin ardından ikinci bölümde kurgunun içine girmek zorlaşıyor. Inatla okuyup azimle bitirdiğim icin mutluyum.

Ve ahh Atalante...

[Perry Whitford · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love the legends of Ancient Greece, and the first part of this novel is a modern day retelling of one of the most ancient of them all, the Boar Hunt of Kalydon, which features all the heroes from the generation before Achilles and Odysseus, including their venerable fathers of each.

It's outstanding, and even the copious pseudo-footnotes - which are crucial to the wider plot - didn't stop me enjoying it because I ignored them after a while and read them afterwards.

I really loved how Norfolk pictured the chthonic nature of the heroes, how they arise from the very clay and slime of the landscape, and I was involved in the three-way story of the Amazon Atalanta and her two suitors, Meleager and Meilanion.

That was where my involvement ended however, because sadly the modern day menage a tois which dominates the next part (and the bulk) of the novel was nothing like as engaging.

I couldn't bring myself to care too much about the poet Sol and his fight with Jakob for the affections of Ruth in war-threatened Romania, nor the implications of the meeting between Sol and Ruth in Paris decades later.

In the end this novel, after the visceral qualities of the first past, read to me like an intellectual exercise, and I don't doubt that I missed some of the subtleties, but regardless of that it's difficult to read 200+ pages about characters that you don't care about one way or the other.

[Nathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

A Jewish-Romanian man on the run in World War 2 falls in with some Greek partisans. After the war, he writes a poem on his experiences, linking them back to the Ancient Greek story of the Boar of Calydon. A lot of this book asks whether the character really witnessed what he claimed to and whether the poem is therefore less valid. This sort of thinking about literature tends to leave me cold, and so did this book. I freely admit that it was a little too intellectually complex for me, and I didn't get that much out of it. Still, good to get some mental fibre in the reading diet from time to time. Rated PG for some violence. 2/5

[Carlton Schuyler]

This is *really* hard to read.

[Susan Bohland · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m not going to lie... this was a pretty difficult book to get into. For the first hundred or so pages I was very much worried that I was not “getting it.” A couple times throughout the story I had moments of plot details / themes “clicking” in my head. Now that I’ve finished it, I can say that I have thorough understanding of what Norfolk was going for and feel very rewarded for piecing together what this books is ~really~ about.

In general, this story is a mishmash of Greek mythology, Holocaust fiction, and somewhat angsty artistic drama. All of this is to say that while these elements seem very different, Norfolk does a surprisingly good job of mixing them together. Of course, this is *not* an adventure story, as much as the Hunt of Caledonian Boar may lead people to believe, this is a book about discovering truth (if it really exists) when surrounded by darkness and obscurity.

Norfolk writes a story that is closer to House of Leaves than, say, Percy Jackson. Having an interest in Greek mythology would be incredibly useful for this story, but there is a lot more Norfolk is trying to do than retell the Caledonian Boar story in a modern setting. Some might find all these thematic efforts as pretentious, but: if you’ve read and puzzled through something like House of Leaves, then you would find this a very enjoyable and rewarding story.

[Anaëlle]

Not gonna lie I am not sure I understood the end - was it too intellectually ambitious/pretentious or was that the point at the ene or the day? Pls send help

[Marta · Rating 3 out of 5]

First half of the book was difficult to read but actually interesting - I enjoyed the challenge. Second half was very different, a different kind of challenge (boring) I couldn't cope with, especially after the first part.

[Getvoldsen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I rarely give up on a book before finishing it...I wish In The Shape of a Boar had been one of those raritites. Seriously a book for academics and serious literature fans only. Not something to sit down with at the end of a day and relax. Why use 1 word when you can use 240,000,000 to say the same thing seems to be the modus operandi employed here.

[Anastasia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has been quite a journey: from the valleys of Kalydon and to the Pont Mirabeau in Paris. Like any it had its ups and downs, like any it could have been over much sooner. The first part revolves around a myth and three ancient heroes and reads as a good enough story on its own. Once it's over, the author takes it up a notch and brings it centuries ahead to deal with wartime (mis)adventures and post-war career of a poet roughly inspired by the life of Paul Celan.

The narrative is so heavy with self-references and allusions, one is bound to start looking for a key. Oddly enough, the pieces never fall into place: which can be interpreted as an open ending, except it's not. The parallel between the ancient boar and Nazi colonel Eberhard is forced almost to the point of being abandoned altogether, only to be suddenly picked up in the end.

That said, it is wonderfully written and the research underlying the story is massive. I visited Czernowitz/Chernivtsi a few years ago, and the city is immediately recognizable from just a few sentences. Old street and restaurant names are not only true to the historical period, but also bring a flurry of flashbacks to anyone who has been there (not to speak of the hours I spent tracing the Masarykgasse on the old city maps). It's an exceptional and multi-level puzzle, which, frustrating as it is, never comes together, a story of gods and monsters that almost reached the epic scale, a great walk that leaves you empty-handed.

[Mel]

Changes shape and tone to mimic styles of works as disparate as The Odyssey to "Jules et Jim" to the Old Testament. Many parts of the opening hunt recounting, and a particular section detailed how many Jews were ghettoised, are reminiscent of OT genealogies: this god begat that son who would die years later stranded on a foreign shore; a brief interlude of Odysseus's feat with the bow; this businessman was not well liked and his two sons took over the business before eventually the soldiers beat them to death with the butts of their rifles. They all meld together in a haze of war and wistfulness and memory, wilful deceptions and self-preservatory lies.

Some feels more an exercise in style and clever obfuscation for the sake of cleverness, but the prose is knackful, and there's something to be said for being able to change styles so quickly and effortlessly, even if some of the styles mimicked aren't as engrossing as others.

-

So rarely do I read a book and think, "I'd rather see the movie," but I'm curious what a film would be able to do with the conflation of time, confusion of characters, the shifting of reality. Bergman would have made a great piece of it. Let Denis Villeneuve or Karyn Kusama or David Lowery adapt this material, please.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book I felt got better as it went along, did get bogged down in the first part which is a retelling of an ancient Greek tale with all of the notes attached. The second part Paris and interwoven with Romania in the 1930's and later Greece brings out the best in this author as you relive the terror of war and racism and hints of the ancient surface whilst prisoner of the Germans as characters emerge from the past. Secondly the thread of betrayal and lost love and living in the past and chasing lost dreams that the feeling with Ruth and Sol.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Debated on whether this is a 3 or 4 star book. Talent alone drives me to give it the higher rating - Norfolk is so gifted. But the book is a little too smart for me. Chronological shifts come unexpectedly and require a very close read to follow properly. Ultimately, the point that Norfolk is making about memory - how reliable is it, and whether it is more important for the details to be correct or the essence - feels relevant in today’s hyper charged climate of dispute. But it was not an easy read for me, and that diluted the impact of the theme.

[Lisa Horne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was pretty stoked about this book. I couldn't make it page 50. However, I was having an awfully stressful month, so maybe just didn't have the patience to sit and enjoy a more complex book. It's in my "try again later pile!

[Nosemonkey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was expecting some kind of magic realist fable. Instead I got an engaging exploration of friendship, memory, art, and war. Very cleverly done - though it takes a good while to work out what's going on.

[Chani · Rating 2 out of 5]

You can REALLY tell it was written by a man.

[SnezhArt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Что есть истина среди несовершенных воспоминаний несовершенного человечества.

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This novel has three strands. The first is a retelling of the Greek myth of Atlanta and the boar of Kalydon, which threatens the northern kingdoms of Ancient Greece. A group of heroic warriors of legendary fame come together under the leadership of Meilanion, to hunt the boar. He is accompanied at the climax of the hunt only by Atlanta and Meleager.

Centuries later, Sol, Ruth and Jakob are students in a provincial Romanian town when war breaks out. Sol is helped to flee deportation as a Jew by Ruth. He makes it over the Greek border where he is taken in by partisans and discovers their secret way through the mountains. When the Germans arrive in Greece, they capture the partisans and torture Sol to find out details of the secret path.

Many years later, Ruth decides to make a movie of Sol's famous poem, which describes the ancient boar hunt. The three threads of the story come together on the final day of shooting the movie.

[Jim Talbott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was a little so-so on the book through the long annotated prose poem about Atalanta and the hunt for the Kalydonian boar, but it picks up a lot when it actually gets to the modern part of the story. This is coming from a person who also mostly skipped the Pale Fire poem in Pale Fire, so I'm guessing that it's my low brow tastes and not the actual content that was at fault. As I said though, the second half of the book kind of takes your breath away. Excellent.

[Gene Heinrich · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked this book though it got confusing at times... It is a very detailed book, as in plot. Loved the historical aspect, but the plot became too twisted to keep straight. I understand what he was trying to do in the writing, but details didn't add up in my mind. Perhaps it was because I was on vacation to really find those threads... If you read this, make sure it gets your FULL attention so you don't miss the small aspects

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

As always, excellent work from Norfolk. Of the four, this may be at number four for me, but it improved tremendously in the last third of the book. A turn that made me want to reread it and perhaps elevate it in my esteem.

[Laurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A difficult, yet intensely rewarding book. Greek myth coupled the lives and choices of a handful of Jews in WWII and after. Truth, lies and whether or not they matter.

[Flo · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the Shape of a Boar by Lawrence Norfolk is a challenge to read and I admit I did not understand two thirds of it. What kept me reading was the excellent writing. Norfolk starts off with descriptions of mythical lands, people and gods of Ancient Greece, half of the page bearing footnotes in abbreviated Greek. Slowly the description turns into the story of Atalanta and a hunt for the boar and the footnotes peter out. The second part of the book is the story of Solomon, Ruth, and Jacob , 3 friends who have grown up in a small town in Romania. It is the eve of Germany's attack on the USSR and most of the Jews have no idea what is in store for them. A year later they all try to escape. The scene shifts to Paris after the war. Sol is now a famous poet, his poem, The Boar Hunt, a bestseller in many countries. Ruth has become a film director and is making a movie version of his poem. Norfolk jumps around in time--to a few years after the war, to many years after the war, then back again to wartime Greece and Sol's plight. What Norfolk conveys was a mystery to me and there is a mystery in the story. Is Sol's poem the truth? What really happened in Greece? As I said, I could not put this book down because the writing is superb, but I failed to understand it. Hard to recommend this book although I am ready to read another one by Norfolk.