From the acclaimed author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time comes this stunningly ambitious, fantastical novel that reworks Shakespeare's Pericles into a parable for today . Mark Haddon's breathtaking novel begins with a harrowing plane crash: Maja, the pregnant wife of the unimaginably wealthy Philippe, is killed, but their daughter, Angelique, survives. Philippe's obsession with the girl's safety morphs into something sinister and grotesque. A young man named Darius, visiting Philippe with ...
Read More
From the acclaimed author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time comes this stunningly ambitious, fantastical novel that reworks Shakespeare's Pericles into a parable for today . Mark Haddon's breathtaking novel begins with a harrowing plane crash: Maja, the pregnant wife of the unimaginably wealthy Philippe, is killed, but their daughter, Angelique, survives. Philippe's obsession with the girl's safety morphs into something sinister and grotesque. A young man named Darius, visiting Philippe with a business proposition, encounters Angelique and intuits their secret--he decides to rescue her, but the attempt goes awry. This contemporary story mirrors the ancient Greek legend of Antiochus, whose love for the daughter of his dead wife was discovered by the adventurer Appolinus of Tyre. The tale appeared in many forms through the ages; Shakespeare transformed Appolinus into the swashbuckling Pericles in his play. In The Porpoise , as Angelique grapples with the wreck of her life, trapped on her father's estate, Darius morphs into Pericles, voyaging through a mythic world. In a bravura feat of storytelling, Haddon recounts his many exploits in thrilling fashion, mining the meaning of the old legends while creating parallels with the monstrous modern world Angelique inhabits. The language is rich and gorgeous; the conjured worlds are perfectly imagined; the plot moves forward at a ferocious pace. But Haddon's themes are deeply urgent--the theft of female agency by rapacious men; the uses of archetypal stories to warp history and the present. As profound as it is entertaining, The Porpoise is a major literary achievement by an author whose myriad talents are on full, vivid display.
Read Less
I have to admit a certain amount of shame with The Porpoise - I was granted the ARC back in February 2019 and I started it that May just ahead of its initial publication date. Having loved 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time' I was excited to read something new by Mark Haddon. I got to about 20% of the way through, where Darius somehow, inexplicably turns into Pericles, put it down and never picked it back up again. It then proceeded to haunt my Goodreads 'Currently Reading' list, staring up at me every time I logged in for almost *2 years* before I picked it up again in the hope of clearing out my TBR. This time however, I finished it in two sittings and learnt my lesson to just persevere with books I don't initially enjoy!
The Porpoise is an odd story; it's essentially a re-telling of the play Pericles, Prince of Tyre, written in equal halves by William Shakespeare and George Wilkins. There's perhaps a reason why this Shakespeare story is not particularly well-known or often retold as it's a bit of a meandering epic, with Shakespeare's usual trademarks of confusing identity changes and too convenient coincidences which muddy the waters a little. This is interspersed with the story of Angelica, a teenage girl whose father abuses her and as a result she retreats into her imagination. It's kind of implied that she is making these scenes up in a dream after reading the book but I perhaps would have liked a little more hints to this throughout or some more of her experiences influencing the story. There's also a very weird segue halfway through where we briefly meet George Wilkin's after he has died and see his journey into the afterlife. This was very weird and jarred with everything around it - I honestly do not understand why it was included.
I skimmed the synopsis for Pericles before I started reading The Porpoise and I'm glad that I did. I think if you are already aware of the story you will get more out of the book than going in cold. Most of it seems very faithful to the original, with a few tweaks here and there. I didn't understand why nearly all of the character's names had been kept the same except the wife who was called Chloe instead of Thaisa. I think this change would have worked better if it was perhaps a re-working of the name Angelica to perhaps link the two stories together? In any case, I actually enjoyed the story of Pericles and it's very well told although it's hard to tell whether this is a credit to its source material or if Haddon should be praised for this. Having only read the synopsis of Pericles it's hard to tell.
Overall, if you are able to persevere and suspend your disbelief then The Porpoise is an interesting book. However, it feels as though it is two stories that aren't properly linked and this seems like a missed opportunity. Thank you to NetGalley, Random House UK, Vintage Publishing and Chatto & Windus for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
