Sarum (Part 1)

Rating:
Summary: Sarum - the story of Wiltshire England in a bottle
Review: As a casual traveller in Southern England, I walked into Salisbury and sensed the history before reading the book. "Sarum" (named for the Bronze Age hillfort settlement above modern Salisbury) puts historical dimensions on general knowledge of the people who lived during the various eras in Wiltshire over a span of 10,000 years. Weaving fictional family characters throughout the many ages of English history (and prehistory), Edward Rutherfurd provides a rich tapestry of human emotion on the backdrop of otherwise dry events and dates of historical note. A particularly interesting observation of family interaction over many generations is a depiction of many aspects of human nature which have affected the fortunes and misfortunes of individuals and family welfare. Rutherfurd manages to provide villans who "win" and good people who "lose" in the cycle of life's adventure, whether during Roman times or under Elizabeth I. History becomes understandable for this part of teh world because Rutherfurd makes it human. For anyone with English origins who is remotely interested in history, "Sarum" provides a terrific overview with a climax in the 1980's when it is decided to make extensive renovations in the Salisbury Cathedral, built 700 years ago. Since one cannot critically review history, it would be safe to give Edward Rutherfurd high marks for telling the story of his "home town".

Rating:
Summary: A breathtaking novel
Review: Sarum is an enormously ambitious work. Sarum is the ancient name for Salisbury and the author writes a fictionalized history of Salisbury that starts in pre-historical times and continues to 1987. That he succeeds in weaving such a complicated tapestry is a testament to his extraordinary research, his wonderfully firm grasp of human personality, and his fast-paced dramatic writing. Sarum is many things but it is most of all a good read.

By lacing his narrative with so much believable period detail, he makes the universals of his story immediate and fresh. The novel involves five different families as they rise and fall in fortune throughout the ages of Sarum. Especially vibrant are Rutherford's portraits of significant characters in the Mason family. The author may have a special understanding of this family because they are artisans. Nooma-ti, the physically homely founder of the family, is in charge of the construction of Stonehenge. His dedication to his craft and his personal problems with his adulterous wife are riveting.

Even more powerful, indeed the most fascinating accomplishment in his work, is the portrait of medieval architect Osmund Mason. Like his distant ancestor, Osmund is physically unprepossessing and like him, he finds relief in his art. On two of the most important occasions of his life, Osmund seizes victory from defeat by transforming frustration and humiliation into art.

As Rutherford skillfully takes Sarum into the modern era, he dramatizes the enormous changes that take place as the effect countries, families, and individuals, along with the emotional constants that characterize the human personality in any culture.

Rating:
Summary: Too long & inconsistent quality
Review: The book is too long - over 1300 pages.

I found some of the Chapters very interesting, such as the Roman-Britons, the Black Death & the Civil War, but many others just went by as a blur, seeking the next interesting bit.

Rating:
Summary: Well worth the effort. Insightful.
Review: This book is a rough read, but it is well worth the effort. The novel begins in prehistoric, ice age England and continues through the present day, as seen through the eyes of a number of English bloodlines. An ambitious project such as this is bound to have flaws, and this is not a perfect book. But it is an outstanding book, and truly gives the reader a "feel" for England and its history.

Some parts of the book are easy reads, and some aren't. The best parts are the parts dealing with stone age England, the Black Death era, Roman era England, and the times around the American Revolution. Some of the intervals in between the foregoing get pretty bogged down, and are tough sledding. But this is a book that is worth reading, worth finishing, and worth reading again.

Oddly, the book largely ignores the Napoleonic War era, one of Britain's most heroic times. It also does not dwell much on the British Empire at its height. It spends more time on histories of old English cathedrals than most of us care about. But what the heck, with a subject as ambitious as this one, criticism is inevitable.

This book will not disappoint, but it does require effort.

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely unbeatable.
Review: This overview of English history, full of characters to love and hate, begins with the earliest settling of the Salisbury Plain by primitive hunters and farmers. As civilization develops and flourishes, so the story, evolving into a saga of five families who shape and are shaped by the events of this bit of the British historical story.

The creation of Stonehenge will invade your imagination. Christianity comes and the Salisbury Cathedral is a result. Lives and loves of men and women with their triumphs and disappointments evolve against the parade of ages -- kings and their wars and kingdoms, plagues, revolutions, until we get to Queen Victoria and an age that developed faster than ever. The reader gets the impression of a snowball rolling downhill -- time begins with few people and slower development but one bit of progress inspires 30 more and on it goes, bigger and faster ad infinitum.

Rutherford's research is thorough but it doesn't impede his story. With narrative under strict control, his style is clear, descriptive and tight. Relationships wax and wane through the generations as families grow and change with the times.

Rutherford has said about this book that he admires James Michener and deliberately set out to accomplish for England what Michener did for Hawaii, Texas and others. I think he did it better.