Yes, finally. A book with talking animals that I prefer over the legendary Watership Down. YES. THERE. I SAID IT. OH MAN OH GOD OH MAN.A book about talking animals that seem rather unremarkable and harmless in reality, but that are given a wonderful own world of their own, an own history and mythology, and a great adventure to explore this world as a human reader in intricate detail. A book that occasionally makes you forget its characters are animals and which still convincingly transitions said characters as animals - and not as humans doing human stuff and accidentally looking like moles. And in the end it works as a great allegory to great human topics.I was completely thrown into the underground after the first few pages in. Horwood paints vivid pictures in my mind, pictures about underground tunnels and burrows, the trees and grass from tiny mole-perspective, and of course the awestruck sight of looking up to the great Stone - the monolith the moles pray to in some vaguely pagan religion. I think one of the points, if not THE major point why I prefer the moles to the rabbits is this very world. It seems so much more fascinating to me, and Horwood did it so bloody convincing. It's easy to write one of these "talking animals"-books with wolves and slap some mediocre fantasy story around it. We are all accustomed to canines. But doing this convincingly with MOLES and weaving a huge religious allegory around it really left a lasting impression on me.I am used to Horwood's extreme attention to detail, especially concerning everything related to geography (I guess it's a geologist-thing...), but it was bearable to me in this book. I was just so eager to explore this fantastic world. I enjoyed the lovely details about the countryside, be it beautiful Duncton wood or the harsh mountains of Siabod. Other, more to-the-point readers might become bored of this, understandably.Horwood's moles are slightly more anthropomorphic than Adam's rabbits. Their basic behaviour was left as true to zoological facts as possible though, their changes seemed acceptable to me to make things more interesting for the sake of the story (for example the Duncton moles are not exactly solitary). In my inner eye, every mole automatically received their own look, some with lighter or darker fur, some with a sturdier built, some rather fragile looking. That's quite an accomplishment I credit the author with, since I don't really remember any detailled descriptions of the characters. And have you ever looked at a mole? There is not really much to them.I especially liked Mandrake and Bracken. Mandrake was so enjoyably terrifying and twisted. Bracken was the weak outsider you just have to root for. Rebecca was too much of a Mary Sue to me, can't really say that I cared much about everybody's darling that is beautiful AND strong AND loved by everyone. Boswell embodies the "wise old master"-trope very lovely. Rune was the typical Horwood villain: a bit too twisted and violent for my tastes.Speaking of which, the Duncton series is just as much a children's book as Watership Down is. Which is: not at all. We get violence and rape, rather complex allegories to think about and even sex scenes. Horwood prefers to allude to these with flowery metaphors rather than detailled descriptions, but the fights and battles are damn graphic. Just a fair warning.Horwood is an extremelly skilled writer and fantastic storyteller with keen attention to detailled descriptions. If descriptions about the environment that serve no direct point to the plot (but to the atmosphere) bore you, this book might not be for you. If you can't get into these kind of animal books, don't even try it, it won't work. Try lighter and easier to digest stuff like the work of David Clement-Davies. If you like pagan allegories with a slight hint of Shintoism to it and would like a fantasy tale with talking animals to transport this - try it, it might be very worth it. And for any lover of "talking animal" books - I recommend this to you as a total must have!
I must admit I am facing quite a struggle in trying to write this review. Where to begin? My response to Duncton Wood seems to have almost as many layers as the novel has pages, which is a bold claim. I'll try to tackle it accordingly.To briefly sum up a 582 page novel, it is an allegory of the cycle of decay, destruction, and rebuilding of a civilization, tied up in grand adventure and a spiritual journey into the soul. Oh, and it's about moles. If Richard Adams (Watership Down) and Tolkien wrote a book together (however unlikely that sounds) it might look something like Duncton Wood. First of all, even if Horwood does not consider this his magnum opus, certainly he put his heart and soul into it. It is really more of an epic than a novel, spanning many generations and more than a mole's lifetime, which, apparently, is about five human years. Thoroughly researched, exhaustively detailed and described, and diving into the depths of life, death, worship, love and the meaning of joy. Mole characters vividly imagined and clearly known intimately by the author, and in the end by the determined reader. It is the pinnacle of what he could make it, and his dedication and passion shines in every page. He has a rare gift for bringing you down to a moles-eye view of the world, although time was difficult for me to follow. I also admired his ability to give them character without un-animalizing them.And there were parts of it that were beautiful: Cairn and Rebecca's story; the loving descriptions of Duncton Wood, which is near where the author lives; the first journey through the Chamber of Roots. There were parts that were horrible, horrible: Rune, Rebecca's litter, Mandrake's birth, the marsh, Skeat, the plague. Descriptions that awed with their imagination, power,and ability to paint the picture in the mind: The Ancient System and the Chamber of Dark Sound, and particularly Siabod--part of it may have been our very effective central air conditioning, but Siabod was truly chilling and I saw and felt its unforgiving heights very vividly. As for the actual reading: it was slow going. It took me a month and a half to finish it and I read several other books in the meantime. I would read it in fits and starts, lose interest and come back to it later. Some books of greater length (Harry Potter, for instance) I have read in no time at all, but this was dense reading. (I realize Harry Potter is not in the least a fair comparison. Gone with the Wind would be a more fitting one, and that probably took me at least as long to read the first time.) And the woodland descriptions, beautiful or no, became quite exhausting at times.My verdict: Very well-written, and full of gems, but not recommended for any but the dedicated reader. My rating is once again based on personal enjoyment and not literary merit. And my last word on the matter: it would not hurt Horwood to develop his sense of humor. I suppose perhaps if it were more highly developed he could never have written the book he did, but his sense of the dramatic is a little strong for my taste.
What do You think about Duncton Wood (1994)?
It seems the world has almost forgot about Duncton wood. The books are hard to find in second hand shops. I would rate the books up there with Lord of the rings, Dune, the dark materials trilogy and watership down. If you like that sort of stuff you will simply be amazed by the moles of Duncton Wood. Amazed it took you so long to read it, for starters. The characters are lovable, you will really care what happens to them and the world they inhabit underground is well developed to the point of fascinating. The religion the moles practice hints to me of pagan celtic nature worship, they revere the standing stones, still standing, left by that civilization in the British isle millenniums ago. When they emerge above ground on a spiritual quest and enter our world they see roads as noisy rivers of death and Owls as lethal killers with terrifying screams and hypnotic eyes. Mesmerizing anthropomorphic fantasy. Seriously, do it.
—Liam Mulkeen
As the tagline on the book suggests, this is "A clash of good and evil in the savage kingdom of moles." It bears comparison to Watership Down, but the moles are more anthropomorphic. As well as speaking, they worship the Stone, they scribe books and they have the capacity to love.It is this capacity to love that brings us the story of Bracken and Rebecca, two moles who grow up in the Duncton Wood system. At the time of their birth, the system is being overthrown and then led by two evil moles - Mandrake and Rune. We learn over the course of the book that there are reasons for Mandrake's ability to be so cruel - his upbringing on the wild slopes of Siabod bred him that way - but Rune is pure evil.Rune is perhaps the most interesting character in the book. I find Bracken a bit wishy-washy and whiny to start, and then slightly dense in the middle, and then hard to idenitfy with at the end. Rebecca is a sweet character, but I don't like the way she sighs in her speech.This novel is all over the place regarding pacing. When Horwood is concentrating on the goings on in the Duncton system, describing the moles and their daily lives, he is at his strongest. These parts of the book fly by and I am never less than interested in what is happening to Mekkins and Rose and the Pasture moles.At times Horwood goes into a whimsy of describing every tiny thing and there are a couple of occasions in the book that made me almost want to put it down in disgust - when Bracken is first exploring the Ancient System; when Boswell and Bracken journey to Siabod; when Bracken secretly attends the singing of the Song. These parts of the book really drag.I also disliked greatly the descriptions of mating - these were far too sensual for what is, in essence, a book about animal (however human they may act at times). One instance in particular between Rune and Rebecca is almost obscene and made very, very difficult reading.And the rape/incest scene that we get is a step too far. These parts of the book made me feel deeply uncomfortable and lead me to believe I would never want to re-read, however entertaining other parts of the book are.And there are fun parts. The descriptions of the ever-changing woodland, the plants and the animals are superb - Horwood clearly has a great deal of sympathy and appreciation for the English countryside which comes out in his work. A number of his characters are excellent value for the entry fee - Mekkins is great fun; Rose is gentle and loving; Boswell is both mysterious and down-to-earth.You have to suspend your disbelief massively in order to read this book. As well as the moles writing, they undertake massive journeys - Boswell and Bracken, in particular, travel from Duncton via Uffington to the heart of Wales. This is necessary from a plot point of view, but I just cannot pretend to belief that two little moles could accomplish this.The worship of the Stone colours every little part of this book, which Horwood declares in his notes at the end is an allegory - probably for pagan worship. I understand that this only increases in the future books of the series, which disappoints me, because I found it a little too preachy.All in all, a very uneven book, which was entertaining in parts, but couldn't hold my interest over the long haul.
—Amanda
I picked this up with the intention of reading all six Duncton books, since it's been so long since I've read them, but once I was nearing the end of this I found I wasn't really in the mood for the rest. Maybe they're not as good as I remember or perhaps I just wasn't quite ready to settle down for an six-book epic series about moles and religion! I used to love this book, and it is still good, don't get me wrong, but I guess it takes a level of commitment I wasn't quite up for. But if you're the kind of person who fancies six thousand-odd pages of religion, genocide, warfare, mysticism, romance and...er, moles then this series is for you. I used to be one of those people. Perhaps I'm not anymore.
—Caroline
