Weymouth Sands

Rating:
Summary: A bit of a disapointment
Review: First of all forgive my English, it is not my native tongue. Having read A Glastonburry Romance first and being overall pleased with it I was looking forward to reading this one. Overall it misses the mark in generally the same manner as Glastonburry does, the start of the book throws you in a new scenery, convincing enough and quite evocative and you get the feeling of truly being displaced and part of a new life (at least if you don't live around there)but the problem is that you are introduced to a large number of characters and story lines but none of them end up leading anywhere (a bit too much like normal life...). I mean what is the point of stepping into the minds and psychological processes of a dozen characters if nothing ends up happenning ? You keep reading quotes about Powys being the Dostoievsky of English literature but I plainly don't see it... I suggest you get any book from Dostoieivsky before this one (which is what I did)....

Rating:
Summary: A calm, grey masterpiece
Review: Powys's scene is the overarching image for this silent, serene, sad book. The sands at Weymouth, and the sea lapping, or crashing, on them reflect the human drama, the human heart. The book is filled with unforgettable people, and Powys delves quietly beneath their conventional surfaces to reveal their torment, joy, longing.

Rating:
Summary: phantasmagoric
Review: This one seems to have been pulled from the most watery depths of Powys' imagination. It is saturated with an inscrutable feminine element, a mysterious plexus of forces. As much as I like most of his other books this one seems the most naturally magical, not as often forced as the others. The plot possibly suffers from his giving in to the dreamy depths of his imagination, but I welcome the richness of sheer strange atmosphere he manages because of this limitation.