Finished it!

I finished Skallagrigg last night.

Having read some tales of hopelessness, of war, concentration camps and genocide, I thought I'd become hardened to difficult and emotive subject material.

Man, was I naive!

Skallagrigg isn't about any of those forms of seemingly remote cruelty. It's far more piercing because it's set much closer to home, in everyday society. The main thread that guides the story is in fact, a computer game, but the book isn't about technology or any virtual reality. It's about people, an incredibly powerful story of cruelty, love and hope, and ultimately the resilience of the human psyche. Sprinkled amongst it's pages are some beautiful bubbles of laughter and moments that simply brim with happiness, yet even now as I write, I find myself shedding tears.

William Horwood's strength here is that he doesn't offer the reader a passive role. He pulls you right in, exposes you to cruelty to the extent that you become as reliant on hope as do his helpless characters.

Although I've finished the book, I know that it hasn't yet finished with me. Skallagrigg is right at the top of my list of books to re-read over the Winter.

I still want to write properly about this story but for now I need to rejoin the life I know and that I really shouldn't take for granted.