From the Bookshelf of Constant Reader…

The Quickening Maze

Adam Foulds

Start date: November 15, 2011

Finish date: December 15, 2011

Discussion: Reading List

Discussion leader: Carol

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Reading List

* The Schedule for July through Dec. 2025
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What Members Thought

Sep 10, 2009 Ruth rated it it was ok

I went into this book expecting an exploration of the mind of John Clare, and I didn't get it. Instead I got bits and pieces of a lot of other people, too, none of them explored in depth, either. This might have been a much better book if it was a series of linked and overlapping short stories. ...more

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Nov 24, 2011 Mary Ellen rated it really liked it

I was undecided as to three or four stars on this one. It is very well written; in particular, the author is able to write in very varied, individual voices: persons suffering from various delusions; a rather manic inventor/scientist with ethical issues; a self-involved not-yet-great poet; a teenaged girl seeking escape from her difficult and dull situation through marriage; a child simultaneously ignored and spoiled by her parents; an enraged minor nobleman... The narrative shifts from one pers ...more

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Sep 23, 2009 Renata rated it really liked it

This book is "quiet". Nothing really happens, but somehow you're drawn into the strange world of the asylum and it keeps your attention. I can see how some people would be bored out of the minds reading this book, though. Not for the average american reader. ...more

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Sep 23, 2011 Alan rated it it was ok

Shelves: fiction

I didn't find it compelling, maybe because it's wrapped up in imitation 19th century and lit class sniff. ...more

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Jul 16, 2009 The Sassy Bookworm rated it really liked it

This was just such a gorgeously written novel! Set in a mental hospital near London in 1840, the novel follows the experiences of several people linked to the hospital. The main one being the poet John Clare and is based on real events that took place in Epping Forest during that time. It's not a very long book, but the author's writing just makes it come alive (I believe the author is also a poet??). This was just a really wonderful book and I can see why it was shortlisted for the Man Booker p ...more

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Nov 07, 2022 Sheila rated it did not like it

I totally gave up on this. I was listening on audio, fine I thought for a car journey, but I was absolutely confused and lost as to what was going on, never mind not the least bit interested in its characters.
I even sent my audio book back! Not for me.

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Jul 16, 2010 Melissa rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: directed-reading

Will read this this fall with my local book discussion group. The review by James Wood in a recent New Yorker was an insane over-the-top gush, so let's hope it lives up to his enthusiasm! ...more

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