The Great StinkClare Clark
This is a crazy bit of a book right here. Quite a large...erm, chunk (gag) of the action takes place in the London sewers (the sewers of 150 years ago, mind you), where all sorts of filth rush past one's feet. Filth. And disease. And rats. Oh, and did I say filth? Because I meant poop. VOMIT.
Anyway, our story follows two different individuals, both of whom rely on the sewers to make their livelihood, albeit in entirely different ways. There's Long Arm Tom, a "tosher" who enters the sewers to find and trap rats used aboveground in dogfighting. And then there's poor William May, so traumatized by his time spent in the war that he enters the tunnels for reasons far darker than those required by his official job. (He is an engineer helping to map the current sewer so that it might be improved.)
The two stories twist and turn and ultimately collide at the end -- but in the meantime, readers are treated not only to a look at one of the grossest places ever -- and May does WHAT there?!?!? Does he not understand DISEASE??? -- as well as a look at life in England during the Victorian period.
In a nutshell: A bit slow in places, but an overall an enjoyable read with a satisfactory resolution.
Bibliolatry Scale: 4 out of 6 stars
FTCBS: Yep, another one I bought. I'm sensing a pattern here.
Anyway, our story follows two different individuals, both of whom rely on the sewers to make their livelihood, albeit in entirely different ways. There's Long Arm Tom, a "tosher" who enters the sewers to find and trap rats used aboveground in dogfighting. And then there's poor William May, so traumatized by his time spent in the war that he enters the tunnels for reasons far darker than those required by his official job. (He is an engineer helping to map the current sewer so that it might be improved.)
The two stories twist and turn and ultimately collide at the end -- but in the meantime, readers are treated not only to a look at one of the grossest places ever -- and May does WHAT there?!?!? Does he not understand DISEASE??? -- as well as a look at life in England during the Victorian period.
In a nutshell: A bit slow in places, but an overall an enjoyable read with a satisfactory resolution.
Bibliolatry Scale: 4 out of 6 stars
FTCBS: Yep, another one I bought. I'm sensing a pattern here.
5 comments:
Sounds like fun :-) Maybe a good one for Halloween? Great review.
Ok, you're really blowing me away ... what is this, THREE disease-related books in a row?! I'm sensing a theme here ...
Tell me about it! Between disease and the apocalypse, I've been reading a lot of unsettling stuff lately. Thankfully, disease takes a backseat in this one. But STILL.
Any nightmen in this one? I think they were earlier, back before London has a sewer system. I won't discuss them, but you may want to look them up.
I read The Ghost Map a few years ago which is non-fiction about the Cholera outbreak in London and the man who finally convinced everyone that it was spread by contaminated drinking water. Sewage in London is very interesting stuff.
This one sounds odd but interesting. I'll check this one out.
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