The Porpoise by Mark Haddon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A retelling of the Pericles story and then some. Intertwining tales ranging from the ancient world, through Shakespeare’s day, up to the modern era. The Porpoise is a ship, and ships, the sea, and the perils of travel run throughout, with shifting casts of characters who reflect one another. Crime, passions (and criminal passions), wars, axe fights, lethal anorexia, mutiny of different sorts, parental awfulness and tragedy, faltering men and superhuman women… all gorgeously rendered by Haddon in spare, pitch-perfect, vivid prose.
A rare gem, this book: a singular, brilliantly imaginative story that with roots in our most classic Western literature, and wonderfully written to boot. And I loved the fact that one character, utterly gutted by the death of his wife, in his grief can do nothing but read Fred Vargas and Arnaldur Idridison novels – two of my favorite crime writers. Thank you, Mr. Haddon!
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