The Weirdstone of Brisingamen

I picked up a copy of The Weirdstone of Brisingamen by Alan Garner in a charity shop a few weeks ago, and was really looking forward to re-reading it. I remember reading it as a child, and certain scenes have lodged deep in my memory.

Coming to it fresh I was captivated by the writing of the first few chapters: the description of an old myth, and then the story of two children coming to stay in Cheshire. But as the book progressed I found it harder to stay engaged with passages of very visual description of how characters get from one point to another in space. I'm not a very visual person, and have to make an effort to visualise landscape. A lot of the book involves the characters finding their way from one place to another, and even with the help of the maps I had to make an effort not to skip parts.

The book also ends very abruptly; I felt a bit like I'd run into a brick wall, and could have done with some more reflection and closure.

The part I did find gripping was the part I remembered best: the escape from St Mary's Clyffe and through the mines and caverns underneath. There are parts of the description I remembered word for word, in particular the part where Peter gets stuck in the tunnel. I am slightly claustrophobic, and reading about when they have to decide to go on through a hole described as a rabbit hole still gives me chills. I can trace certain recurring dreams/nightmares of mine to this book, although of course I don't know whether they infulenced my fears or just stuck with me because they resonated with something already in my nature.

Other parts of the books felt very much like they were copied from Tolkein (for example the
dreamlike island interlude, where a mysterious golden lady gives them gifts). And although the combining of the fantasy world with our own is appealing, for me it suffered from comparison with Susan Cooper. I also had to laugh at some passages of fantasy-speak. The following I just had to read out loud to my husband.

"Along the crest of the Riddings the morthbrood watched Shape-shifter climb laboriously up from the farm. Grimnir sat a little apart from the bood, while over the top of the hill, in an old quarry, were mustered the svart-alfar.

'They are all there,' said the Morrigan. 'And they will not be drawn, though we think the threat of the mara will bring them out once the night is gone. On the move, we shall have them; but we must raise the fimbulwinter at daybreak."

I think The Owl Service is Garner's most acclaimed work. I've read this too, a long time ago, but remember finding the characters a bit unsatisfying. Maybe because they were teenagers and I read it too young. I'd like to read it again, and the sequal to Weirdstone, The Moon of Gomrath (also recently acquired at the School fete). Every book throws up others to read; I suppose that is always the way.