Red Shift (New York Review Books Classics)

Found this novel mentioned on the NYRB Classics list a while ago. I read all of the reviews pertaining to this novel because Science Fiction or YA novels aren't a genre that I feel a lot of affinity for.This is an unusual story and the concept greatly appealed. Three vastly different time periods and three very different love stories. Each one unique in its own way. The common denominator through the ages is an axe head and a place called Mow Cop.This is one of those novels that when completed I couldn't say with any certainty that I actually liked/enjoyed, however it was compelling and evocative. I wouldn't call this YA there are really dark, oppressive themes running through the novel.It's a story that is very ambiguous in places, the dialogue is sparse and not straight forward, often struggled with what period of time was referenced and which character was speaking at the time.Having said all of the above it was it was compelling but difficult in places. One thing I will say about the NYRB Classics novels they are thought provoking and this novel is no exception.

(3.5 stars) This book has an intertwining of three stories; one set in Britain contemporary times of the publication (1973), one set at the time of the Romans in Britain, and one set during the civil war in Britain. They are connected by a location, the Mow Crop, and by an axe head found in each of the time periods. Each deals with young men struggling with life purpose, love, and lust. The female character in each setting varies on the level of depth to the story. While the novel’s length is short, it is not an easy book to read as the stories blend from one to the other without transition and it is written primarily as dialogue with little descriptive detail and frequently without attribution of the dialogue. While the primary characters are teenagers, I would say most young adults would struggle with the format of the book. While I could appreciate the scope, intellectual styling, and the struggling emotions of the characters, I cannot say that I fully enjoyed the book which makes it difficult to rate.

"Red Shift", by Alan Garner, is a good try that fails. The novel weaves three separate stories separated by centuries, sharing only a mysterious location ("Mow Cop", in western England) and a stone age artifact. Also, each story line features its own seriously disturbed young man.The stories are certainly moody, and there are some terrifically rendered characters, but it's just too hard to follow the action, particularly at the start. We get the "who", the "when", the "where", a hint of the "why", but digging out the "what" is a challenge. Worse, the author gives us little or no reason to be interested in the main story's miserable protagonist -- a suffering narcissist given to petty meanness.I hung with the book to the end, but never really enjoyed it.

I first read this around the age of 15, and it left a deep impression. I came back to it recently when picking out books for the next generation, and read it again. Wow. Its combination of three braided stories in three different eras is vivid and emotionally rich. It reads almost like poetry, with every word counting. It may be intended for a "young adult" audience but it is literature.

This is one of those books that I found to be a great idea, but poorly executed. The dialogue is jerky and hard to follow as are the time shifts. After a few instances of guessing (guessing wrong) and guessing again, it finally became too much work for this reader with too little payoff in the end. That said, I can see why this is a unique read and I may re-visit it later on.

This is a beautiful and evocative story that really stays with you. Definitely one of my all-time favourite books. Garner is a real master!

Awful, confusing, boring; A classic Disappointment. Don't borther with this book mistaken for "Classic Literature" It's NOT!It Will be offered up for sale. I don't expect any buyers.

I discovered this book by chance when browsing a used book store. The title caught my eye, and the cover showed the silhouette of a castle and a quote from Ursula Le Guin: "A bitter, complex, brilliant book."Well, I thought, I'm bitter, complex, and brilliant, so this just might be for me. So I plunked down my eighty-five cents and took it home, never knowing it was a cult novel that would challenge me like few others.There's three interwoven stories, each in the same location. The first and central story is a romance between two teenagers in 1973 England, with one going off to college. The kids are wistful, honest, confused, very intelligent, and trying to hold onto the one thing they know is sure in the world.They stood in the shelter of the tower, holding each other, rocking with gentleness."I love you," said Jan."I'm coming to terms with it."" - love you.""But there's a gap.""Where?""I know things, and feeling things, but the wrong way round. That's me: all the right answers at none of the right times. I see and can't understand. I need to adjust my spectrum, pull myself away from the blue end. I could do with a red shift."The second story focuses on a small band of the lost Roman Ninth Legion trying to blend in with the first century tribes of Britain. Religion, subversion, and revelation rise among the brutality of war. One of them, Macey, is prone to berserker-like fits. Anyone who likes military fiction, or gritty fantasy, will appreciate the realistic depictions of their battles, all laced in Vietnam-like delirium."You and Magoo stand sentry," said Logan, "but listen. All of you get this, and get it good. The guards have been taken out, maybe not by Cats. The Mothers have come south. They'll raid the Cats wherever they find them, and both sides will whip our ass if we let them. Solutions.""The usual," said Face. "Divide and rule. Hit the infrastructure.""Correct. All right? We retreat until we're clear of the Mothers, then we go tribal."The third story takes us to St. Bertoline's church, in Barthomley, 1643, when the Irish are invading the countryside. It's much like "The Crucible" in terms of a love triangle mixed with religious fervor, and it ties in with the other stories with a stone artifact that appears throughout the novel.A single bell began to ring over the parish."Is it church time already?" said Margery."No. My father. He thinks we'll be up against reasonable men.""Have you seen them?""Nearly. I rode down through Crewe by Oak Farm. They'd not left any alive. I must go and stop that bell. They'll find us soon enough."There's profound connections between these characters I won't reveal here, but the novel weaves questions of identity, time, and the bond between the three couples to the point where the book doesn't always mark where one scene ends and another begins. Early editions were marketed young adult, and yet it's as adult and dense as a Salinger story or Shakespeare.The novel ends on a heartbreaking note, leaving you in wonder as to what exactly happened, and yet that's exactly the charm and strength of the work - like rich poetry, you need to read it more than once to get all the meaning, and even then there's much beyond your reach. It's a challenging work, and at a scant 120 pages, maintains the tension all the way through.For readers outside England, here's some pointers on British words: a caravan is a military trailer, nesh is being very sensitive to cold weather or simply lacking courage, a folly is a castle built for decoration, cans are headphones, M6 can be both a highway and a star cluster, M33 is a spiral galaxy, and "Tom's a-cold" is from "King Lear." Also, image searches of Crewe and Mow Cop would give an idea of the setting, but don't read the Introduction or look up the meaning of the coded message until you've finished the book.To sum up, captivating and cryptic, with realistic, unique characters and situations, all presented with a masterful use of mystery and suspense. Add to that spell-binding dialogue, rich with layer on layer, and it's a work that resonates with you long after.

This is the second Alan Garner book I’ve read recently and it’s the second time I’ve been disappointed.I suppose you could call “Red Shift” an experimental novel as it has three different stories taking place concurrently in different time periods, but linked by an object and a place. This sounds intriguing but it isn’t handled particularly well by Garner. None of the characters are particularly likeable, the dialogue is weirdly structured and the narrative is clunky. There is a section towards the end of the book which features some quite cruel violence but Garner overreaches himself here and it is so beyond his abilities that the whole episode is clumsy and confusing. Very much like the whole book in fact. I think that somewhere in this book there *is* an excellent story trying to get out, but it’s being held back.This will probably be unpopular but I keep being forced to wonder whether Alan Garner deserves his reputation.

Alan Garner has a solid reputation as an author, so much so that I thought I’d missed out by not having read any of his books. I decided to try Red Shift hoping it would be a good taster to his portfolio and the fantasy genre. Have to say the novel struck me more as an experimental work, which I admit doesn’t fit with the chronology his catalogue. A reader needs to consider the premise of the story - that the central characters of the three timelines are united by some timeless sacred astrological power which creates a disconnect with their immediate contemporary relationships, but I think this could have been portrayed with greater craft and aplomb. A significant part of the narrative is taken up by several pitter-patter beat-less conversations, more akin to a script than a novel, which add very little for the reader. The constant switches between timelines, presumably done to indicate that it’s all a continuing theme, is at first surprising but then becomes clumsily predictable. Few of the characters are at all rounded or indeed sympathetic, so that the reader doesn’t greatly care how they end up. Then there’s the premise of the novel itself - can love break the spell so that the character becomes at ease with reality, or does the pull from some astrological or spiritual power always win through? It’s an odd notion, perhaps eroded since the book was published since we know more about space and human psychology since then, but a reader may nevertheless be willing to accept, for example, that ley-lines indicate an unseen yet powerful connection with the earth if it can carry a good story. The trouble with Red Shift is that it’s construction, lack of pacing, poor character development, and schoolboy/girl level of writing all let it down.

i first read Red Shift as a teenager, having read The Weirdstone of Brisingamen and Elidor. This tale was both confusing and astonishing to my adolescent mind, with its honest use of sexual language and even some swearing.I have just re-read it (I am now 50), and found it intriguing and compelling in equal measure. The three time periods woven through the book are linked by an ancient axe head, which draws people together across the centuries. It covers war and conflict, as well as reminding us that people are people no matter when they lived. And that sexuality plays a prime role in who we are and how we behave.Essentially a book for older teenagers, it is a timeless and challenging classic for encouraging and stimulating the thoughtful imagination.

This is just not a good book. Weird and annoying characters, pretentious writing style that makes it virtually impossible to tell what's going on....I give up. Not quite as torturous as Dhalgren, but then again what book is?

Vintage Garner - read it! He does dysfunctional parenting (among many other things) so well . . .