Jerusalem is a new novel by Alan Moore that is some 600,000 words long and 1200 pages of very long paragraphs and small type, at least in the galley version that was given away at BEA this year.
It’s daunting. By design.
I reviewed it for Publishers Weekly in a signature review. You’ll have to click on the link to find out what I thought. Spoiler: at first I started dog-earing pages with particularly memorable turns of phrase that I thought I might quote in my review but then I realized just about every sentence was a memorable turn of phrase.
Despite the daunting nature of the book, it’s also eagerly awaited. But, very few people have read the whole thing, despite galleys of it circulating since mid-May at least. I think the entire Jerusalem experience will remain an epic level achievement yay well require hours of play to unlock.
In order to review the book I had to set aside weekend afternoons to go to the park where there were few distractions. After a few hundred pages, I got into it, however. Really.
Maybe making it a little easier: Knockabout, the UK publisher of the novel, is releasing it as a trilogy of books in this handsome slipcased edition. The narrative is divided into three distinct books and this makes for a sensible trilogy, although, warning, it’s not a feelgood, breezy adventure type thing.
Seriously I can’t wait to see what people think of Jerusalem, if they can either lift it or read it.
Sounds like the epic RPG of graphic novels. “It gets really good after the first 10 hours.”
This sounds like Promethea. It was an amazing book until the last ten or so issues (maybe more?) Where it turned into a monthly religious learning experience. But it was so deep and complicated, I honestly stopped reading the book towards the end. I bought ALL the issues, and plan on reading them one day, but I just couldn’t at the time…
This is the kind of book the Kindle was made for.
But I’ll admit to being wary of entire chapters written in invented languages, and such.
Yes as much as I love buying and collecting trades, hardcovers and omnibus, for pure prose my kindle is my preferred method of reading.
Really looking forward to this.
Count me as utterly intimidated. Especially since I never finished reading the pastiches in Black Dossier. Moore makes me feel like a really dumb guy.
I read Voice of the Fire, and frankly it wasn’t very good. The first chapter was very painful to get through. That book, combined with the Black Dossier, convinced me that Moore is at his best in the comic book medium (telling comprehensible stories in understandable English and not trying to fill every paragraph with literary references.. I’ll only be reading this if the reviews are very positive.
Sounds like it’s almost as wordy as one of Alan Moore’s comics.
If it’s anywhere near reminiscent of From Hell it’ll be magnificent.
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