The Forest

Rating:
Summary: History at it's most accessible...
Review: Edward Rutherfurd specialises in "Michener"-style books. Even tho he did not originate this type of novel, I personally feel he is the best at writing them for 2 reasons: 1) Instead of dealing with a very large area (Hawaii, South Africa, etc) as Michener does, Rutherfurd picks a small geographical area such as London or England's New Forest. This makes the focus of the story more manageable. 2) Rutherfurd is much better at characterisation & plot developement than Michener.

"The Forest" is Rutherfurd's latest 1000 year geographical epic, & altho not his best work, is eminently readable. Unlike his previous (& better) work, "London", "The Forest" deals with an area few people outside of the UK will be familiar with. This of course means the historical events he fictionalises will also be unfamiliar to the average American reader, thus adding some freshness to tales of Cavaliers vs. Roundheads, peasants relating to their feudal lords etc. In the chapter entitled "Albion Park" Rutherfurd even tries to adapt Jane Austen's "Pride & Prejudice" to his multi-generational narrative!

Does it work? For the most part, yes. Rutherfurd's novels are an excellent way for a reader to get a handle on history, & he makes large events personal to the reader. My main problem with his writings is his tendency to make family members thru the generations have the same appearance & mannerisms over hundreds of years. They never seem to inherit anything from their mothers; a Furzey is a Furzey whether in the 11th or the 19th century. This seems especially strange in "The Forest" as he has the same families marrying each other for the entire book without ever starting to share characteristics! I assume this is the author's way of making a protagonist instantly identifiable & not confusing the reader with too many different people to keep track of. The other fault I found with "The Forest" was starting the story at the end of the 11th century. Although the Roman period & Anglo-Saxon eras are mentioned, there is no narrative covering them as there was in "London". Personally, I would have welcomed the inclusion.

If not quite as good as "London", fans of Edward Rutherfurd will not be disappointed with "The Forest".

Rating:
Summary: The Forest has become my favorite book!
Review: Having read all of the authers works, I am not suprised by the wonderful depth of this one. Sarum used to be my favorite book now the forest has surpassed it in my mind. Of course I recomend it to everyone!

Rating:
Summary: Rich and meaty novel
Review: The New Forest has played a central role in the history of England starting with William using it as a hunting "spa". It is in the New Forest where William's son Rufus is killed under strange circumstances. Throughout the remainder of the millennium, this area has been on center stage almost as much as London has. Even in the present, the locale serves as an example of the modern day debate between development with easy access vs. environmental protection by pushing to name it a national park. In between much happens to members of the English Who's Who to include Austen, Drake, and Nelson, etc.

Edward Rutherfurd is considered one of the giants of fictionalized history that provides a story telling account centering on real events and people. His latest work THE FOREST will show his talent to educate his audience with a well-written account that spans a thousand years of English history. Though some sections will overwhelm the reader with its vast historical tidbits, sub-genre fans will enjoy this book as much as Mr. Rutherfurd's previous works, LONDON and SARUM.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: An Enjoyable History Lesson
Review: Well, Edward Rutherfurd has done it again! Somehow, he is able to take an area of land and give us a history lesson about it--without boring us to death. He also has an incredible talent for covering a large span of time, yet he is still able to be detailed in his telling and make us care about his characters. "The Forest" is no exception. He teaches us English history while giving us stories that intertwine throughout the timeline. We learn the background of both obscure and well-known relics, and are shown ways that people earned their surnames. One of the things I really appreciate about this author is that he's realistic--sometimes the good guys don't win, and every once in a while, a bad guy gets away with an evil deed. Be sure though, that in Rutherfurd's books, the ancestors will pay! If you liked "Sarum" and "London," be sure that you won't be disappointed with this one. I don't often buy hardback books, but I was confident that Edward Rutherfurd wouldn't let me down, and he didn't.

Rating:
Summary: re:forestation and Rutherfurds
Review: This is an extremely rich body of work. I hesitate to say 'novel' since there are eight parts to this book of equal stature. Is it then a collection of novellas? Well, no not quite, since all of these stories have a tendency to refer to each other. For instance, there is the little wooden cross that is handed down the generations of families whose paths we follow. Of no great monetary value in itself, this ornament, whose origin is more or less forgotten, still signifies a great deal to whomever happens to be wearing it at the time. The author concentrates his attention of a handful of fictional families, from the Albions of the gentry, to the coarser tribe of Seagulls. The one great thing which binds all these families is the New Forest. The author takes great pains to also bring the forest alive, from the mighty oak, to the fallow deer. Anyone who's in love with English history will find much richness here. What the author has done is to realise a great empathy for the English peoples of the last thousand years, and even beyond, if you include the Prehistory of the Saxon Prides. Also mentioned are modern day forest disputes, which are rooted in the past.

The prose is light and easy to follow. The author has a few old storyteller tricks here: such as employing loose ends. A character will do something in one story that will resound greatly in another. Those who dislike such loose fragments left unresolved will be relieved to find that this author is extremely tidy. However, I did spot a few typos, but these hardly spoil the impact of such great tales. This author is also very aware of the literary conventions concerning the historical periods of which he writes. You groan when the section set in Beaulieu Abbey starts off with the murder of a monk, and suspect that Cadfael is not far behind with his herbal remedies. However, the author is very clever here, for he plays delightfully with your expectations - he does not provide mere homage to the past - he always brings something new and unique to such fictions. The tale of 'Albion Park' is very much Jane Austen, and as the author admits, he derived this story from something which really happened to Austen's aunt at Bath. The heroine, like that of 'Mansfield Park', is called Fanny. During the latter parts of the book, we also get a delicious portrait of a Victorian Pre-Raphaelite artist, who is inspired by the forest of his ancestors. But all is not sweetness and light: perhaps the grimmest chapter features the plight of Alice Lisle, caught within Judge Jeffries' notorious Assizes. There are accounts of famous rebels, such as Penruddock and Monmouth: the author really does bring the history alive. He reveals how place names and surnames change over time, due to historical events.

However, there was one family that I was particularly interested in concerning this novel, but whom I found to be only obliquely mentioned: the Rutherfurds. I first became intrigued because of the peculiar spelling - trying to search for this author's surname in online bookshop search boxes provides a variety, so much so that it's highly tempting to believe that the internet will have impact on this ancient name. Rutherfurd begins his novel by going back just under a thousand years to the murder of King William 'Rufus' (so-named because he had red hair). 'Ruther' is also derived from the Celtic word for 'red'. One of the stories concerning the origins of the Rutherfurd name is that it relates to a ford. The Rutherfords first seem to appear around this era as inhabitants of the Scottish borders. There is an account of them beating back an invading English force across a ford before the time of William Wallace, and it's romantic to believe that the name could derive from this incident. Is it just a coincidence that Walter Tyrell has a ford named after him in the New Forest (as Rutherfurd writes in the opening novella), due to his flight after the death of Rufus?

Rutherford also briefly mentions Wallace, and the Scottish Rutherfords certainly fought for him and Robert the Bruce against the English. Rutherfurd writes of the protestant dissenters: Samuel Rutherfurd may have been one such historical ancestor. There is also a strong branch of Rutherfurds in America, possibly related to the Pilgrim Fathers or others like them. Certainly the American heiress Consuelo Vanderbilt had a distant relation to the Rutherfurds, and may even have been in love with Winthrop Rutherfurd before she married the Duke of Marlborough, whose Blenheim Palace is mentioned in the novel (along with, I think I recall, a cheeky comment about the Marlboroughs marrying into the best families). Sir Walter Scott was related to a branch of Rutherfurds, one of whom is mentioned in his 'The Bride of Lammermoor'. However, all this might be baloney or coincidence, except for one thing: Edward Rutherfurd keeps mentioning the Royal Navy ship, the Swiftsure, which was at the battle of Trafalgar as part of Nelson's forces: it's captain? - Why, none other than William Gordon Rutherfurd! I therefore think that the author has derived a great deal from a rich family history, as his characters do also.

Rating:
Summary: A true saga in the Michener vein
Review: Mr Rutherford has given us another story rich with delightful characters and vivid scenery. If you are a fan of James A Michener's books, you will enjoy the rich tapestry that is woven here. The story line covers an area within the catchment of his masterpiece "Sarum", but there is no duplication, and this book stands alone as a work of art.

Also of interest is the fact that this book looks at great moments in English history, but almost skirts around them, giving us an insight into what it must have been like to be common folk, in the midst of great events. It is also very entertaining to read. I recommend it highly.

Rating:
Summary: Rich,moving Rutherfurd epic.
Review: Edward Rutherfurd's novels provide rich,exciting sagas that bring centuries of history to vibrant life. In THE FOREST, he sets his story in the quintessential English heartland: the New Forest. From the time of the Roman Conquest to the present day, the New Forest has remained mysterious,powerful, mythic. Rutherfurd's characters--highborn and low--play out their lives with a powerful connection to the primeval forest. Rutherfurd is a master story teller equally at home with history, magic, murder, greed, love and war.

I have worked with Edward Rutherfurd on all his books and I marvel at his ability to create characters and tell stories that are dramatic, moving and historically accurate. I've learned more about English history from reading Rutherfurd than I have from years of classes in college. His novels are a pleasure to read.

Rating:
Summary: Rutherfurd: The next generation
Review: I've waited quite a while for Rutherfurd's latest effort, and it has not disappointed. I could not put down his latest book, The Forest. Although he has covered part of this area previously in Sarum, his prose for the area surrounding the Forest and its inhabitants does not disappoint. My only wish on this book was that it was longer. It is about 1000 years shorter than his previous works. Amazingly, I understand he has another book due for release in 2001, so his newfound brevity can be attributed to a shorter new-work pipeline.

Rating:
Summary: El mundo de Rutherfurd
Review: Toda la obra de Rutherfurd es espléndida, producto del trabajo arduo de un escritor que penetra en el tiempo y en el espacio, a traves de una indagación histórica bien documentada. La consulta de libros, documentos, cartas y mapas sobre los lugares y los sujetos de cada época, constituyen sus fuentes principales de inspiración. El bosque es uno de sus libros mejor logrados desde el punto de vista estético-literario. Sus personajes están bien cuidados, a fin de resaltar los rasgos que le dan vida a cada uno de ellos. El comienzo de la historia es de por sí singular, pues inicia precisamente con un animal típico del bosque ingles cuando olfatea el peligro y alcanza a escapar de sus cazadores. Esta novela me gustó mucho, pues es una exaltación de las virtudes del bosque, de la importancia de su preservación en su estado natural y de como el hombre, a través de su cultura y sus habitus, transforma el entorno natural, rivaliza con otros grupos sociales y establece una percepción sobre el bosque que varia con el tiempo histórico. Mil años de la historia de un bosque no pueden sustraerse a la vida cotidiana y a las relaciones que sus pobladores han mantenido con éste ( y entre ellos mismos) a través del tiempo.

En nuestro país, México, los bosques se agotan, se extinguen por la implacable acción de grandes expoliadores de la madera y sus derivados. "The Forest" resulta entonces una lectura no sólo agradable, entretenida y provechosa, sino al mismo tiempo, ofrece la oportunidad de reflexionar sobre la vinculación entre el hombre, el espacio y el medio natural, respecto a lo cual las visiones más chatas de la ideología dominante han distorsionado y aún obscurecido durante el último siglo. Obras como las de Rutherfurd son aún más encomiables, dadas la escasez de trabajos literarios de esta naturaleza en nuestro país y supongo, en buena parte del orbe.

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Rating:
Summary: Making history great fun!
Review: Having read "Russka," "London," and "Sarum" and enjoyed them all, I was eager to read "The Forest"--and I wasn't disappointed, overall. Some people might complain that the New Forest area of England is hardly worthy of such a long novel, but Rutherfurd's interest in and portrayal of the "small people" of the forest make fascinating reading. In fact, I'd have much preferred more about the forest dwellers and somewhat less about the "society types" who dominate so much of the book. Give me more Puckle and Seagull any day! Even so, the book is well worth the time for anyone who has ever entertained an interest in England and English history. Rutherfurd's literary strength lies in his wonderful descriptions of the natural world in which his characters move and I often found myself rereading paragraphs in order to soak in that description. As for his characters, I enjoyed them, but the copy I read would have benefitted from a family tree similar to the one found in "London," although Rutherfurd throws in enough physical similarities and references to ancestors to help his readers keep the characters quite distinct. I also have a couple of nitpicks about the book. In one spot, the owl is said to be able to turn its head 360 degrees, which is incorrect. Also, the mark of the arrow in the Rufus tree is said to have grown higher with the passing decades. This also is incorrect, as trees grow from the ends of the branches out and a mark in the trunk never gets any higher. These are quibbles with a wonderfully readable story which I am otherwise happy to recommend.