The Meaning of Night
One of the beauties of reading bookish blogs is that sometimes you read about a book that sounds excellent but you know that if you had come across the same book in a book shop, chances are for some reason or another, you would never have even picked it up to look at the blurb on the back cover. Michael Cox’s The Meaning of Night
The Meaning of Night is a great long circular novel, which for me took a while to get through, but it has been a regular treat to retire to bed each night to read a chapter and to see what else Glyver has been getting up to. The book is melodramatic (in keeping with it’s Victorian narrator) and at times predictable (there were no real surprises that weren’t hinted at at an earlier point in the text) but it’s still a great read. I enjoyed Cox’s writing greatly, how’s this for an almost opening sentence? (There’s a fictional Editor’s preface before hand).
After killing the red-haired man, I took myself off to Quinn’s for an oyster supper.
Being a Londoner (pretty much so) myself, I always adore good historic novels set in London and this is most definitely one of them, Cox describes the beast like London, from it’s upper class houses and squares to the prostitutes and the opium dens, in my mind perfectly. And this may seem to be an odd thing to compliment a writer on, but he does weather so well, which adds heaps of atmosphere to the story, from the funereal rain, the smogs and the way how you know it’s snowed before you’ve even looked out of the window. Perfect.
I think I may have mentioned The Meaning of Night in my wish list post from last month, so it might be me you’re thinking of. (If so, I’m delighted you liked the book!) I’ve heard such good things about both The Meaning of Night and the sequel, The Glass of Time. I hope to read both of them next year. (They’ll fit in very nicely with a Victorian reading challenge that I’m planning to participate in.)
I loved your observation about the weather. London is such a rich setting, and I love when an author conveys that through atmosphere more than just relying on naming famous places. “Oh, gotta remind the readers we’re in London, let’s take the characters to King’s Cross Station!”
Yes! It was your blog, thank you for introducing me to such a good book! I didn’t realise there was a sequel, I realised how long it had taken to write The Meaning of Night, so thought no way could he have written another yet! I’ve just checked The Glass of Time out on Amazon, definitely going to be getting that if I get any book tokens this Christmas!
You’re welcome! I’m so glad that you enjoyed it! I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed that you get some book tokens. (Is there a better gift than free book money? I think not.)
Pingback: The Sunday Salon: The Resurrectionist and other reading « Lacer’s Life
Pingback: Revelation « Lacer’s Life
Pingback: The Glass of Time « Lacer's Life