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| The Thames: Working River Pt. 2: Sacred River | 
 enlarge | Author: Peter Ackroyd
Creator: Simon Callow
Publisher: Random House Audiobooks
Category: Book
List Price: £13.99
Buy New: £9.79
You Save: £4.20 (30%)
New (8) from £4.30
Avg. Customer Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 277739
Format: Audiobook
Media: Audio CD
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 5.7 x 4.9 x 0.9
ISBN: 1846570522
EAN: 9781846570520
ASIN: 1846570522
Publication Date: September 6, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 6-9 of 9 | | « PREV | | |
 swept away December 1, 2007
16 out of 19 found this review helpful
Peter Ackroyd's bestseller London: The Biography seemed to be part of a fashion a few years ago to write 'The Biography' of any kind of inanimate object ranging from the Bible to the Moon. It was however a fascinating journey through the history of the capital and as a Londoner myself I still get a thrill walking through some of the ancient streets and passages (especially those around the river) thinking of who else has been there before me. So what of this history of the river itself?
Following a meandering course this book is divided into short thematic chapters such as 'The Working River' and 'The River of Art'. With this approach Ackroyd is able to write not only about the history of the river but what it represents. Some reviewers have complained that this way of writing is not suited to the subject but I found it refreshing and invigorating to read a writer who sees the river in similar terms to the other great rivers of the world. The Ganges is seen as sacred in India and all life in Egypt runs alongside the Nile. In Britain, the Thames has always been associated with power and industry, literally the lifeblood of the capital but its influence is also felt along its full length from Thameshead to the sea.
If there is a problem it is that Ackroyd tends to give us all of his copious research and so the myriad of facts in each short chapter, whilst thematically linked, can feel a little disorganised. It is his trademark enthusiasm which keeps the momentum going though and as we follow the river's course it is hard not to get caught up in its wake. I am sure there are better textbooks available for those who want a more serious study but just as his book on London provided a popular, accessible history of the city this companion volume is sure to do the same for its famous river.
 One man's view of the Thames November 12, 2007
18 out of 25 found this review helpful
Anyone who has read Ackroyd's `London: the Biography' will not be surprised that this book about the Thames is no straightforward history of a great river. Rather, Ackroyd sees the river as a metaphor for some everlasting truths and he approaches this via a series of thematic chapters: `The Working River', `The River of Death', `The Sacred River' etc. Each of these is fairly short, but all are packed with vast numbers of facts, anecdotes and speculations. Unfortunately, because these are thrown at the reader in an almost random fashion, the effect is often overwhelming. Lists of examples can extend over whole paragraphs and are sometimes simply boring and even lessen the impact of the point being made. I was prepared for a rather rambling unstructured style, but the writing here is far more flowery than in `London' and too mystical for my taste. Also, too often the author has difficulty in separating speculations from facts. Wanting something to be so, does not make it so. Peter Ackroyd has a substantial and well-deserved reputation, not least for the wide range of books that he has written, but for me this is not one of his better works.
Misses the boat September 12, 2007
57 out of 87 found this review helpful
Twenty years ago I tired of London, but not of life. Ackroyd's tribute to this river creeping through it fails to tempt me back. The dense flowery language and metaphysical ponderings are more off-putting that its broad, flat surface. The book is crammed with facts, anecdotes, speculation, lists, the period from prehistory to the present, the geography from sea to source. The information fascinates, some is incorrect. The author will not slow down, check, edit, producing books at a rapid rate of knots and, no getting away from it, acquiring a formidable reputation in the process which no doubt deters reviewers here.
But good writing marries structure to content, and thematic chapters are unsuited to this subject, forcing readers to dabble in pools - not the first feature of the Thames to spring to mind. Peopled from Caesar to Shelley to Jack the Ripper, Pepys to Hogarth to Morris, it ranges among boatmen and industrial workers, from flooding, malaria among estuary marsh-dwellers, to sewage. A house of easement once provided 128 seats and, unsuprisingly, foul sludge floated 6 inches deep. There is too much to do justice too. Many Londoners will love it for that alone.
My problem is in seeing the waterway as a fanciful symbol of eternity and metaphor for all things, including 'art and history and poetry'. Questions rise unbidden while reading. Given the magnitude of that metaphor, why so little reference to literature, art, poetry, film? Does Ackroyd really mean to present the Virgin Mary as 'the most powerful' water goddess? News to me. Though it's worth the bookshelf space as a reference book, I've missed the boat on this one. Not to worry. Laughter caught it and is speeding all the way to the bank.
 Father Thames finds a perfect biographer September 12, 2007
82 out of 86 found this review helpful
The hugely industrious and readable Peter Ackroyd has released what can be seen as a follow up to the rather amazing `London; A Biography' with `Thames: Sacred River'. This substantial book charts the history of the River Thames, the vital waterway at the heart of London life for centuries. Given the history of this vital conduit is pretty much the history of the metropolis, at least until the invention of the railway, it allows Ackroyd to delve once more into the murkier and less well known depths of London history.
Ackroyd is never a writer to deliver a straightforward narrative history. And in many ways his subject matter lends itself to this meandering, potted approach. As the river twists and turns, is fed by tributaries and becomes the mighty estuary feeding into the North Sea, so too does the book change subject, period and characters with each chapter. Broad subjects are covered, trade, communications and naval associations, but Ackroyd has a gifted eye for the smaller details and more obscure gobbets of history.
Ackroyd is best served by two key attributes, a voracious appetite for research and a style of prose that is both intelligently accessible and deliciously evocative. It is almost with an unrestrained glee that the author tackles the subjects associated with the river, the same clear interest that sustained `London: A Biography'.
However it is important to note that the book is wider than just being a follow up to that book. The Thames flows from its source at Thameshead to the sea, and as well as London flows through Oxford, Reading and Henley. It encompasses royal history, passing within sight of Windsor, next to Hampton Court, and through Greenwich. It is the artery connecting the heart of empire, London, with the world. It has been the source of great pleasure and entertainment as well as dark sorrows and tragedy. Ackroyd deftly captures the many moods and colours of the river, the characters who have interacted with it, the major events and the minor common happenings to construct a rich and vivid mosaic of life by and on the water.
This is not a complete or narrative history of the river, or the city. There are better books available if one is seeking an overview of these massive subjects. But for an idiosyncratic glimpse of a huge variety of colourful threads of London's watery past, there is no better writer than the talented, readable and researched Ackroyd.
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