The Weirdstone Of Brisingamen: Alan Garner

[poliphilo]

I began my reading of Alan Garner with Elidor (I think I read it aloud to my kids) and carried on from there in chronological order. Somehow I never bothered to go back to the first two books- and I doubt if I'd ever have bothered if Boneland (out this August) hadn't been announced as the long-delayed third part of the trilogy. I'm reading The Weirdstone now and- coming to it straight from a re-reading of The Stone Book Quartet-  I'm taken aback by the flabbiness of the prose, the absence of characterization, the stiltedness of the dialogue.  Two middle-class children come to Cheshire to lodge with a couple of salt of the earth peasanty types who say "sithee"; it could almost be Enid Blyton...

Garner himself went through a phase of hating the book. In his first revulsion he called it "one of the worst books published in the past 20 years." Now he's mellowed. Books don't last for half a century if they're unmitigated rubbish. In a recent interview he calls it "a young man's book" and praises its "energy". 

I still don't altogether understand the affection in which it's held. It's the work of writer who is still learning his craft and hasn't- to be honest- got very far with it. Great things were to follow, but when Garner's name comes up it's not Red Shift that gets mentioned first, or Thursbitch, it's the bloody Weirdstone- even though they are masterpieces and Weirdstone is a codge.

No, it's beyond me. I'm missing something, but what? 

Comments

[glitzfrau.livejournal.com]

I read it as a child and loved it, but then, I haven't read the Stone Book or Red Shift or Thursbitch (why not?). I think what I loved most was, firstly, the glorious dark creepiness and terror of the dark Edge and winding holes and the Morrigan. Secondly, Susan is the heroine, not Colin, and Colin is very, very fallible. Enid Blyton children don't make the terrible mistakes that these two do.

But you have lengthened my reading list! Hooray! Thank you.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

The later books are so much darker and creepier and genuinely strange.

I hadn't thought about how the children make mistakes- yes, that is attractive.

BTW. Have you ever been out to Alderley Edge? Only a short ride from Manchester and well worth it. A magical place.

[glitzfrau.livejournal.com]

I've been through it with my parents, but you're right, I should stop and explore. It looked amazing from the road. And I was ecstatic to see the Wizard pub!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

You need to walk through the woods to Stormy Point and look out across the Cheshire plain. You can see all the way to the gleaming towers of Manchester. It's one of the best views in Britain.

Garner always writes about real places- and all of them close to Manchester. I've been to several of them. They don't disappoint. Mow Kop (which features in Red Shift.) The secret, demon-haunted valley of Thursbitch.

[glitzfrau.livejournal.com]

We were en route to Mow Kop when we passed the Wizard. Red Shift here I come!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Red Shift is my favourite.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Red Shift is excellent - but The Owl Service is my Garner book, in the sense of having that "read it at the right time" quality. I enjoyed the early ones, but have problems with them for all the reasons you mention. Elidor is a transitional work, with a kind awkwardness about it that is both appealing and off-putting. So far, I think Thursbitch may be his best all round. Except perhaps for the Stone Book Quartet, which has a kind of gem-like perfection but is hard to cuddle for the same reason.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I need to re-read The Owl Service. In fact, I need to re-read most of Garner. I've just ordered Strandloper- which is the only one of the later novels I haven't read.

Red Shift is my favourite, closely followed by Thursbitch. The Stone Book Quartet has, as you say, a kind of perfection.

I have a question which you may be able to answer. Do you know what is meant by "the Aimer Gate"? I take it Charlie is talking about his own death, but I've dug around and I can't find any closer explanation of the phrase.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

It's dialect for 'The Narrower Way'.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

i.e., in context, death, I think.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Ah, thank you. That's the key.

Perhaps a reference then to Matthew 7.14:
"Strait is the gate etc..."

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

I assume so.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

All Garner's titles from The Owl Service through to Tom Fobble's Day have double (or misleading) meanings.

The Owl Service - Not, as many believe, about Owl Post
Red Shift - Astronomical, but also Meg's petticoat, etc etc
The Stone Book - A book made of stone, rather than a book about stone.
Granny Reardun - is not about a Granny called Reardun.
The Aimer Gate - not about a gate.
Tom Fobble's Day - not about a man called Tom Fobble and how he spent his day.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

They're excellent titles, all of them.

The Aimer Gate (fot instance) sounds grand, even if you don't have a clue about its meaning.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Also Thursbitch- not a rude word.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

He is nothing if not mischievous!

[sambeth.livejournal.com]

Don't know. I read this to Lenny last year, because it's such a famous classic and all, and all he can remember of it now is the hours and hours they spent wandering around caves, and the implausible rustics. It's a shame, because I loved Elidor, and I wish I'd read that to him now.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

The wandering around in the caves is the best bit.

It's not too late to try him out with Elidor, is it? Elidor is much better.

[jfs.livejournal.com]

You're missing the patina of nostalgia that reading it in childhood would have laid over it.

Weirdstone Is the reason I'll never take up pot holing as a hobby.

[jfs.livejournal.com]

Oh, and the Stone Book quartet is one of my favourite books. Have you read 'The Summer Book" by Tove Jannson (the author of the Moomin books)? Like the Stone Book Quartet, it too is full of tiny moments of quiet beauty.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Yes - both are wonderful. And both concern the ways in which different generations learn from each other and from their place.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I don't know that- not even by reputation. Thanks for the recommendation.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

That's true. I think Weirdstone would benefit from that patina. It is, however, a measure of the superiority of the later books that they don't need it.

I went potholing once. It was an experience I'm glad to have had, but I'm in no hurry to repeat it.

[sovay]

Great things were to follow, but when Garner's name comes up it's not Red Shift that gets mentioned first, or Thursbitch, it's the bloody Weirdstone- even though they are masterpieces and Weirdstone is a codge.

It will be interesting to see what Boneland is like.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

It's strange that 50 years on he's writing a sequel to a couple of books he no longer rates.

[jfs.livejournal.com]

LeGuin took many years before she could write Tehanu. Perhaps its time has just come?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

A decade or two back he was saying Weirdstone and Gomrath contained the seeds of a sequel, but it would never be written.

Things change.

[ooxc.livejournal.com]

The Dear Departed loved the Alderley Edge books, because he was brought up there, and he remembered people who said "sithee".
He loathed Red Shift. I think that it's rather fine.
I don't think that there is any resemblance to Blyton - the geography is too correct, and the children are much more real - but Elidor and Weirdstone are certainly child-orientated. Also, Blyton, although she published anthologies of Greek and Roman tales, didn't make nearly so much use of traditional mythology, which is what I find appealing about them

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

It's one of Garner's great strengths that he uses real places. I always love it when a writer does that.

I've been to a number of his locations- Alderley, Mow Kop, Jenkin Chapel, Thursbitch- all of them numinous.

Red Shift is my favourite of his books.

Locations

[(Anonymous)]

Forgive me for making a small correction, it is Mow Cop, not Kop. I presume the latter is from Spion Kop,(as in the Boer War Battle of...,) which gave its name to a number of football terraces, most famously at Anfield. Although I cannot say with any certainty, I believe that Cop is derived from the Anglo-Saxon 'coppa' meaning 'head'.
I agree that these locations are quite peculiar and special - add also the Welsh valley at the heart of The Owl Service - but so too are the books.

Re: Locations

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the correction.

I persistently mis-spell Mow Cop. Maybe this'll larn me. :)

[petercampbell.livejournal.com]

For most people Wiredstone was their first Garner book, and it holds a special place in their affection for that reason alone. But his later work is undeniably superior. How did Red Shift ever get marketed as a childrens book?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Good question. I gather his editor had to fight for it. Mind you, Garner doesn't like being pigeon-holed as a children's author.

[methodius.livejournal.com]

Enid Blyton? Enid Blyton!

I thought Garner was all downhill from Elidor.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Absolutely not. He just gets better and better, I adore his later books.