The Dig: A Novel Based on True Events

I didn't know what to expect when I read this except that I wanted a preview of the upcoming BBC/Netflix production which appears to be that rare film artefact these days: serious adult fare - no superheroes! In any case The Dig is not the best nor worst of reads but it holds my attention in its deliberateness of pace - refreshing. The author is the nephew of Margaret Guido who was earlier the character, Peggy Piggott, one of the archeologists who worked on the 1939 efforts. It is hard to find good non-crime novels that don't involve an author navel gazing or involve family redemption stories etc. A lot of what passes for literature today is dreck but The Dig is just a nice quiet read - based on fact. Enjoy.

As a member of the Pretty family ancestry I was fascinated to learn about the story behind The Dig. The narration of this story made the tale so much more intriguing. It is a wonderful story rich with details one might not otherwise hear.

The continuing story is told from the viewpoint of several different characters. It was an okay read, I thought, but there were loose ends. I wanted more from the story than the author chose to impart. The bottom line is that "The Dig" is interesting but not emotionally satisfying.

Preston fills a potentially interesting story with improbable, awkwad fiction and too much of it. About 25% of the book deals with the dig and for the most part it is lost in meandering stories that neither advance the plot not are they interesting.

This book, one I highly anticipated reading, is an unfortunate example of choreographed marketing hype. From whom...The publisher, the publishing industry, the press, colleagues? I don't know, but the novel, based on true remarkable events, is more like a self-published $0.99 bid for pay dirt than even average fiction of any genre. I am a lifelong fan of good archaeological novels, which are few and far between....an example of one of the best in recent years is The Egyptologist. I expected writing, research, characterization, and overall novelization of similar quality. The Times Literary Supplement called The Dig "a masterpiece in Chekhivian understatement." Think instead of understatement to the point of minimal substance on every level.The setting had everything going for it -- a genuine, major archaeological discovery and subsequent huge dig in England during 1939, just as the country was entering WWII, with major archaeologist rivals racing to be part of it, yet having to work with the fragile property owner and irrelevantly, her small son. Disappointingly, the author did not step up to this plate of opportunities with the dramatic story he could have told.I was so surprised by the weakness and superficiality of this book, I went to Wikipedia to check the event out. My advice: read the Wikipedia facts instead of "The Dig." True, the former doesn't delve into the lives, circumstances, and personalities of the several principal players, as it's not a novel. But, essentially, the novel does little more, except on the most superficial level. Moments of intriguing potential come and go. Cherry-picked minutiae suddenly appears without reason or value. The story's characters are moved from scene to scene by the author, who offers little insight into their their motivations, thoughts or reactions. A little more work goes into Peggy, one of the archaeologists, but it is tantalizingly little.Upon finishing the book, I felt sympathy for the chief archaeological players, Stuart and Peggy Piggott, Basil Brown and Stuart Phillips who were real, complex, and very accomplished leaders in their field, and came through either as slightly dotty treasure hunters or over-ambitious academics looking to go down in history. This would have been a one star review...I gave it two stars only because I learned of an extraordinary archaeological event.

The plot of this novel is firmly anchored in the historical facts relating to the incredible finds at the Sutton Hoo shipburial. This quiet, magisterially told story manages to develop characterizations that are complex, involving and moving despite their being based on real people. The drama in the story comes from the archeological discoveries (again, sourced in the real, almost unbelievable, facts). While the plot is far from being a thriller in conventional terms, and the characters are not given easy or romantic lives, the novel's realism gives it a modern resonance despite its historical setting. The writing is usually simple and direct, rising to near poetic passages. In one passage, two characters. who in another novel would fall in love and run away with each other, stroll into the night and listen to the plaintive lovecall of a Nightingale, a call which goes unanswered. I enjoyed reading this imaginatibe and believable depiction of a famous excavation and found the evocation of the people involved almost heartbreaking. This novel is an easy read, but is likely to haunt the reader long after the last page is turned.

I totally enjoyed the subject matter,and it made me want more informMarionIThis story gives you a glimpse into the past that is foreshadowed by future events. It discovery was incredible and as a reader I wished that it's initial progress could have continued unfettered by outside influences,but that is wishful thinking. To me the book was a metaphor for a photograph in time,of events and people coming to get her briefly to alter history but also to make history. Looking forward to learning more about this historical site.I

I really enjoyed reading The Dig. The descriptions of The Dig are so well written. I felt like I was right there digging with them. I enjoyed the descriptions of the artifacts, as well. I love books written about the 1930s and 1940s. The Dig told a story of the impending war, the urgency to get the dig completed, and the artifacts safely stored . A great true story told from the view point of several characters that participated in The Dig. I could feel the sand in my hands and the weight of the gold objects as they removed from the site.

This book should not be missed. I first read ‘The Dig’ several years ago, enjoyed it thoroughly and passed it on. The memory of it stayed with me, but inevitably merged with all things archaeological in newspapers, books and on TV. Then along came the film adaptation which I watched and enjoyed - to an extent, but felt it a compromise, and in some instances indelicate. So, I decided to buy another copy of the book and have been so pleased and rewarded that I did. The novel is written with 4 narrators. This is what makes the books so much better for me. There is more to learn and to enjoy about the characters from their view point and it reminds that this is a book of fiction and why fiction is fundamentally important. The narrations of Edith Pretty and Peggy Piggot are at the heart of this novel (as they should be) as this is about people first and foremost; an exploration of loss, disappointment, the wheel of time, and what of us we leave behind. The male narrations have their place, but the women make the book special. I thought long and hard about what seems something of an abrupt end to the novel and it actually fits. It is no surprise and no regret that there are no narratives from the professional archaeologists who all appear earth-bound. What I hope will remain in me are the individual narratives of the four characters.

This elegant historical novel is well-conceived and beautifully written. The author recreates the excavation of Sutton Hoo through the eyes of various participants, drawing on authentic detail and historical material. The result is both convincing and emotionally moving. There can be no explosive conclusion save what we already know: the excavation was successful, which is the reason there's a story at all. The novel's limitations, however, are finally one of its many strengths: it sticks to the facts while animating within the parameters of what is known-- or even knowable-- about this particular historical moment. I highly recommend this book not as intense drama (despite its dramatic moments) but as excellent historical fiction by a sensitive author who writes with informed understanding not only of his material but of both narrative and language.

Not nearly as good as the marketing suggests. I know the Sutton Hoo story well and looked forward to reading Preston's novel but I felt very short handed after reading the book. Apart from a few niggling details (the High Street in Woodbridge is actually called The Throughfare and have to question whether any one village in England had 61 men serving in WW1) the prose is purple, leaden and difficult to believe. The book didn't hold my attention and I'm astonished at some of the reviews I have read calling it a masterpiece. Was it this the book critics were reading?

Make no mistake about this, this book is definitely a novel, so please do not take everything that happens here as fact. What John Preston has done is use the real event of the discovery at Sutton Hoo and used quite a bit of license. The dig itself actually took place over two seasons, but here has been compacted into one, and 1939 was the last, not the first season.The story is told through five different narrators, although the last one is set in 1965 and is the son of Mrs Pretty, Robert who is mentioned in the tale. Here then Mrs Pretty, now a widow with a young son has been advised to gain the services of a certain Basil Brown to look at whether to investigate the mounds on her estate. As we follow, we see what happens when others start to get involved, and thus can see the politics of the Ipswich and the British Museum coming to play, and what this means for Brown and others who originally started the excavations. As the year is 1939 so we also can see how the country is starting to gear up in certain ways for war, and there are thus also the remembrances of characters to the First World War.So, although there is quite a bit of fact and detail to the dig and how archaeologists worked at the time, and we can see the pressure that they were under due to impending war and had to cover up the ship, leaving it alone whilst hostilities began, this is more of a tale about people. We see Peggy Piggott thus being side-lined, although she was the first person to find any gold on the site, which is shown here, but we also see her being told that she has only been picked for the dig because as a woman she is of a lighter frame than the men, and so should cause less disturbance in case there is a cave-in. There is also some humour here as Mrs Pretty holds a sherry party so that those interested in the county can come and see the discovery, although as shown this is a bit of a nuisance.This does make for a good read then, and it is interesting how the author brings to life certain elements, and how the different characters get on, or not, working together. If you want to know all the facts though you will have to turn to a non-fiction book with accounts of all that did actually go on, and what was discovered in detail.

A fictionalised presentation of the true story of the discovery and excavation of the Sutton Hoo Treasures. Next look out for the film! I quote my friend:"Felt the need to tell you I have just watched one of the most riveting, gripping, Suffolk- sky glorious films I've ever seen. Am sitting now with a cup of Earl Grey, letting it all sink in. Acting, directing, production - stunning."