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Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. And awfully sad. You have to pity Futh, a man injured deeply by the sudden departure of his mother when he was twelve. The poor, dull man seems to be one of life's losers: everybody betrays him - friends, father, even his own wife. Sex-mad German landlady Ester - whose husband only takes an interest in her when another man does - is an accident waiting to happen. And ultimately, when Futh's and Ester's lives intertwine, happen it does. The characters are well drawn, I liked the motif of a lighthouse and the circularity of the story that coincided with Futh's walk.
ReplyDeleteAlison Moore creates a wonderful sense of unease and impending disaster. The message I took away was that we can all only do what we do: that Futh can't help being as he is, giving off all the wrong signals as far as women are concerned, that Ester can't help herself in spite of the punishment she gets from her husband, and that he can't help himself either. There is a wonderful and horrible sense of all three being on tracks where they have to collide disastrously.
ReplyDeleteI found this a well written novel with a quite evocative theme in terms of the sense of quiet despair experienced by the main characters. It is also a story with a sting in the tale.
ReplyDeleteGood storytelling and characterisation though and I felt it remained on track throughout. However, while a quick, engaging read I didn't feel that it really was an exceptional novel in terms of its style, themes or narrative.
I found the Lighthouse quick to read, but not inspiring. The story was well told and the characterisation was good, but it never really got anywhere.
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