A huge feat of imagination, mythic and compelling. An exploration of the story of Pericles, staring in the present day, and then shifting into ancient times with a detour into late 16th century London to spend a little time with George Wilkins, possible collaborator with Shakespeare on Pericles. (and all round horrible person). The incestuous "relationship" in the story is retold, rightly, as abuse. The women in this novel are not victims, however, and are for me the most memorable characters. The Porpose is dazzling storytelling with some definite scholarly research behind it, but that is worn lightly as the layers build and split apart to create a fascinating whole.

A traumatic beginning to a book that confronts the emotions and tragedy surrounding the main character who is abused by her over-protective father.
The swift transitions between the modern-day story and the myth of Pericles can be difficult to take on board at first but when the reader adapts to Haddon's writing style, s/he is transported into this world of powerful events and repercussions.

Thank you to NetGalley and Chatto and Windus (Vintage Books) for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was excited about this book, coming as it does from an author whose other books I have enjoyed. And get for the first time in years I found myself skimming though it hoping it would get better after I got a quarter of the way through. It didn't. It started out with a very promising storyline, but then that shifted into one of sexual abuse which somehow shifted into one of a time travelling, body hopping boat.

Nope.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

The content of the story did not appeal and it has been a long time since I have been unable to finish a book. Just didn’t like this one sorry,

It seems my choice of book to review has again led me to a strange and mysterious world. If you choose to make the same choice you will doubtless experience similar feelings of discomfort - particularly with regard to what the reader will (mistakenly) take to be the main story that starts this strange adventure; disorientation; fascination; and - for sure - total absorption in the interweaving of myth and excellent storytelling. Like more than one reviewer I had to resist the temptation to give up when - without warning - it seemed that I had been given a faulty copy as the story simply changed its settings of time, location and tempo. Persistence, though, paid off handsomely; the writing is beautifully fluent and occasionally magical in its evocation of distant times and lands. Read it and be prepared for that which only a good book can provide - a beautifully told journey taking place inside your head in the most glorious detail. Strongly recommended.

When Maja dies in a plane crash her unborn daughter is saved. Brought up by her father, secrets are hidden until a young man starts to infiltrate, running for his life he escapes on a ship called the Porpoise. Hero Pericles is shipwrecked but wins the heart of a princess, he tries to return home but tragedy dogs him. Wilkins is dying and he sees fanatical visions in the Thames.
Just trying to write a précis is impossible and this story is so complex that one cannot believe its scope. the first part reads like a 1960s French film, languid and matter of fact yet covering painful subjects. Then the whole book shifts thousands of years and becomes a tragedy about Pericles. Interwoven in this is the sub-plot about Wilkins, author of a version of Pericles. This is an ambitious novel which enthrals and appals in equal measure but is definitely the most ambitious thing I've read this year.

Having read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night I was very interested to read The Porpoise. The start of the book was not a particularly comfortable read due to its subject matter. Suddenly the story moves from the present day to Shakespearean and Greek tragedy which was difficult to understand how the novel married up and I felt somewhat bemused. Interestingly, the horrors described in the Shakespearean and Greek tragedy sections were much more acceptable to read because much of it was so surreal.
A strange book but I am pleased I continued to read it. Its saving grace was the beautiful writing.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Mark Haddon/Random House UK for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

I've read three of Mark Haddon's previous books - The Red House, A Spot of Bother, and of course The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. If you haven't read any of his previous works I would highly recommend any of them. I loved them all and would place the author among the best modern British authors. He always writes from the heart and his other books are centred around the emotions and tribulations of families and normal people.

The Porpoise is a departure from Haddon's usual writing. It is essentially a Greek tragedy with a modern twist. Loosely based on the same story as "Pericles, Prince of Tyre" written by William Shakespeare and George Wilkins, the book starts in the modern day with the tragic death of a rich man's wife. As the plot progresses it splits into a few different strings which follow different characters. Some of these characters are in the real world and modern day, and some are perhaps part of an imagined fiction in mythology. Or perhaps not. Perhaps based on pure strength of will and spirit, the dreams of a troubled soul with a pure heart can be made real.

Either way, the story progresses in an unusual manner. It is, as always for this author, extremely well and delicately written. The author's care and compassion for the characters is felt very strongly throughout and that's what's important here. By the end anyone reading the book will be passionate about the welfare of most of the characters.

The Porpoise is a tragic story of love and loss, and an emotional but enjoyable read. It isn't my favourite book by Mark Haddon, but I did enjoy it and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys either classic or contemporary stories.

I don't seem to be able to relate to reimagined stories, already written by another author. If it has been successful previously what is the point. I would rather stich with the original. You don't usually know this when requesting books to read.

Dramatic and gripping - a story about the power of stories to feed the soul in the most desperate circumstances. The novel slides in time from Pericles to modern day interpretations and back again. A tour de force.

I may be the only person in the world who hasn't read Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, but as my first Mark Haddon book, this is pretty great.

I really enjoyed this book. The characters were appealing and well written and I felt immersed in the story throughout the book.

There’s an animation – I wish I can remember where it comes from – where a man transforms in to a fish, then a bird, then a tiger, then a man again. Mark Haddon’s The Porpoise reminds me of that animation a lot. No sooner are you getting comfortable with his story trajectory than all dissolves around you and you are in a different terrain, watching different parts being played out. Different, but allegorically the same.

Philippe is a mega-rich, has-it-all banker married to the beautiful Maja, a Swedish actor who dies while heavily pregnant in a plane crash that leaves no survivors apart from their newly delivered child, whom Philippe names Angelica. Philippe raises Angelica in isolation, soon denying her the comfort or consort of other children; alone save for a nanny and the household staff. For Philippe, used to getting what he wants is now so fixated on his daughter that he is abusing her and though the servants suspect, they say nothing. Angelica knows no different; she knows she doesn’t like what her father wants, but he loves her and it has always been this way. She retreats into fiction while, like Sleeping Beauty, she awaits her rescuer.

Then one day Darius, the son of his recently deceased art dealer comes by with a cartoon Philippe has been seeking to add to his collection. Darius just wants to make a quick financial killing but is immediately drawn by Angelica. Philippe sees the mutual attraction and in a fit of jealous rage, murders him.

This is where it all goes strange. For Darius has now morphed into Pericles, at least in Angelica’s dreamlike state; not dead but fleeing.

Shakespeare’s Pericles begins in the court of Antiochus, king of Antioch, who has offered the hand of his beautiful unnamed daughter, to any man who answers his riddle; but those who fail shall die. I am no viper, yet I feed On mother’s flesh which did me breed. I sought a husband, in which labour I found that kindness in a father: He’s father, son, and husband mild; I mother, wife, and yet his child. How they may be, and yet in two, As you will live, resolve it you.

Pericles, the young Prince of Tyre in Phoenicia hears the riddle, and instantly understands its meaning: Antiochus is engaged in an incestuous relationship with his daughter. If he reveals this truth, he will be killed, but if he answers incorrectly, he will also be killed. Pericles hints that he knows the answer, and asks for more time to think. Antiochus grants him forty days, and then sends an assassin after him.

Darius /Pericles is now on the Porpoise, a great wooden battleship, sailing across the Aegean, fleeing from his assassin. We watch as he falls in love, shows off his fighting skills in wrestling bouts and the winning battles, deals with world defining natural disasters, has a family, loses them and is then reunited with them.

Now it becomes clearer. This is Angelica’s dream; this is what she has taken from her stories. For Angelica’s world turned when Philippe murdered Darius. She could no longer acquiesce to his horrifying behaviour. Instead she has withdrawn from the contemporary world and after self-harming is now starving herself. The stories we are reading are the stories in this poor abused girl’s head.

The Porpoise is not an easy read and it does help enormously if you know Pericles the play (which I do, at least a bit) and the work of George Wilkins (which I don’t at all).

The writing is dazzling and confident; full of richness and great escapades, everything good storytelling should be. Underneath it all, though, is a perceptive consideration of the absence of women’s voices, of the words men use to avoid calling out rape for what it is.

In the end, I’m not sure what to make of this book. I know the writing is exceptional, I can follow most if not all of the train of thought and I can see the parallels between Philippe and Antiochus, Darius and Pericles.

Angelica’s rebellion and resistence against her father’s vile behaviour is incredibly powerful. That glimpse of another life was enough for her to start hoping and to begin hating her father. Her silent starvation her only truly effective weapon of resistance.

As we follow Darius’ exploits, woven into a massively colourful and magical tale, even as Angelica’s body fails her, her mind is working on a multiplicity of technicolour threads, we understand the stark reality of such heinous cruelty as Philippe has perpetrated in stark black and white relief.

Haddon’s novel is ultimately affirming of the power of women and the way we are fighting back, but one can’t help but wonder what the cost is when considering Angelica’s own fight back.

Verdict: Beautifully written, cleverly done and very thought provoking but complex novel.

I have loved much of Mark Haddon's previous books, and embarked upon this well aware that is was going to be very different. It is a reimagining of 'Pericles', a Shakespeare play of which I have no prior knowledge. The novel shifts into different time periods, from the modern to ancient times ,and there is a very strong sense of the fantastical. The novel is strange and unique; I could not say I particularly enjoyed it, but I am very glad that I read it as a really interesting and clever literary experiment,

Beautifully written, but quite a bit weird, based on the Pericles myth. The assorted storylines sort of fitted together, but a few leaps of imagination were required.

I've always loved whatever Mr Haddon has written, but unfortunately this one just didn't work for me.

I read interested to read his new book after being more disappointed with books after his first, but sadly fell that this one continues the trend. I didn't feel that the different worked as stand alone or together, and by half way through the book gave up on one, too focus on the present day one, which felt le a self- conscious exercise in writing a piece in the style of someone like Ian McEwan. Mark Haddon can write well, but this (at least for me) doesn't work.

I really tried to like The Porpoise, which starts well and quickly becomes very dark. Sadly, it then ultimately spins off at a speed that I couldn't keep up with. Less twists and turns and more fragmented pictures that just didn't meet.

I loved the omniscient narrative to The Porpoise and Hatton is undoubtedly a talented writer. However - in the case of The Porpoise - it just wasn't for me and I gave up at around a third of the way in.

This is a complete surprise. I went into it knowing absolutely nothing and came out of it wanting to dig deeper into mythology and the stories that are referenced throughout. A baby born after a plane crash is enclosed within her father's life and overwhelmed by him. A man seeks to save her, but instead ends up on a boat heading out to sea. The boat transforms and with it, the people on board, and the tale becomes one of ancient mariners. It's quite a surprise from nowhere and there's some lovely storytelling involved in bringing the book to its conclusion. Well worth the read.

One thing I love about Mark Haddon's books is that they are all so different, yet I always enjoy them. There was so much to enjoy about this - brilliantly written, full of heartstopping moments and adventure. Yet there was something I just didn't quite get with this one - especially the ending, which I found disappointing. Perhaps he was a bit too ambitious with this one, but didn't quite pull it off.