Cuddy

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I knew nothing about St Cuthbert before reading the novel although I was vaguely aware of the Early Christian church and Lindesfarne..This book manages to be about his cult following but to encompass so much more .It touches on amongst other things belief ,on love .on family and on early Christian architecture.The novel moves through time concentrating on a collection of characters who share characteristics through time but are mostly living in the area around Durham Cathedral .We meet an owl eyed boy in modern times who appeared in early historical sections likewise an orphan girl who cooks and provides for our characters is seen accompanying the itinerant passage of St Curhbert’s bones and repeatedly through time until she appears in our own time working in the Durham cathedral tea shop .i loved the way these stories disappeared and returned ,the author is able to change their writing style to match the time period so there is modern story telling towards the end but gothic Victorian In the middle .So clever I really appreciated the intellectual experience of reading it .Having said that don’t let it put you off as it is an easy comfortable read throughout Cuddy is a bold and experimental retelling of the story of the hermit St. Cuthbert, unofficial patron saint of the North of England. Benjamin Myers wins Gordon Burn Prize". Newwritingnorth.com. Archived from the original on 3 February 2014 . Retrieved 12 August 2014. But here, in Cuddy, I feel that Myers has excelled himself. Here we have all the poetry and intensity of his writing, all the excellence of his historical fiction and it is all mixed together with some literary experimentation that makes you think Myers is really going places with his writing. Cuddy is a book told through four connected novels, plus an interlude, at different key moments throughout the history of Durham Cathedral and its founding as a home for the relics of St Cuthbert. (Although the choice of 1827 for one part also allows an implicit dig at Liz Truss!)

Richardson, Hollie; Davies, Hannah J.; Verdier, Hannah; Virtue, Graeme (31 May 2023). "TV tonight: Shane Meadows's first period drama is about the Cragg Vale Coiners". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 31 May 2023 . Retrieved 31 May 2023. In Book I, Cuddy, the dead saint, speaks to Ediva, a young woman adopted by the haliwerfolc, the “people of the saint” as their cook and helper. That community carried the relics of their saint in his wooden coffin away from Viking raids on the island of Lindisfarne until eventually Ediva helps them to find a home for Cuddy on the hill like an island in 995.This will be incredibly difficult for me to review. My admiration of Benjamin Myers' work is well known, and I think with Cuddy- because it is extremely experimental in style and approach- he has positioned himself more than ever before to be in the running for a longlist nomination on this year's Booker Prize.

If all of this sounds too heady or terribly uninteresting, there is good news: The five narratives which contribute to the book's overarching story are excellent. The writing is extremely fine. There is plenty of wit, intrigue, conflict, atmosphere, character development, and good old storytelling to make this a worthwhile read. I am very glad this one found its way into my hands. BENJAMIN: Writing is fun. When I do it, I feel free. Not always, but often. I get to be king of my own kingdom, or at least until the doorbell goes and there’s a parcel to be retrieved from the hedge, or my faithful hound is letting me know that he needs emptying. But inspiration comes from the love of the form, really: if you want to write, ideas will hopefully come. And if they don’t, just log-on to BBC news, buy your local paper or go and sit in a library for a morning: they’re full of endless stories, or at least the seeds of ideas. In this unique new novel by Benjamin Myers, the story of Cuddy is retold and reworked to take place over multiple centuries after the saint’s death in 687AD. In fact, most of Cuthbert’s story takes place after his death, when he is exhumed and moved to safety. While his actual life is mostly myth and legend, his posthumous wanderings are points of fact and history.

BENJAMIN: Well – world exclusive here – Shane Meadows’ adaptation is, in fact, more of a prequel to The Gallows Pole, so it is very different to the novel. The first time I met him, I told him that the story wasn’t even mine in the first place – it was merely my version of real events, real history – and now it would become ‘ The Gallows Pole by Shane Meadows’, and he should feel free to do whatever he wants with it. Shane is a true auteur, he has a singular vision, and he has taken it off in a new direction.

As a teenager Myers began writing for British weekly Melody Maker. [6] In 1997 he became their staff writer while residing in the Oval Mansions squat for several years. In 2011 he published an article, about his brief time as an intern at News of the World. [6] He has spoken about failing English Literature at A-level and being rejected by "more than a hundred" universities before being accepted by the University of Bedfordshire (formerly Luton University). [7] Work [ edit ] Journalism [ edit ]What makes this book special are the characters and their first person accounts, the names and things that repeat, linking the stories from period to period, creating a sense of continuity through the centuries-the story begins and ends with a Cuthbert, and the landscape of Northern England, especially Durham and environs, few writers create the strong sense of place like Ben Myers. Stewart, Ethan (2 December 2020). "A Look at the '80s and '90s UK Straight Edge Hardcore Scenes" . Retrieved 7 December 2020. His novel Beastings (2014) won the Portico Prize For Literature and the Northern Writers' Award. It was also longlisted for the Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize. In 2019 he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters from York St John University. [24]

Jordison, Sam (15 October 2012). "Not the Booker prize: The winner | Books". The Guardian. theguardian.com . Retrieved 12 August 2014. Cuddy is a return to epic historical fiction and it didn't surprise me to learn that this labour of love took several years in different locations to write. I imagine as a son of the area that Benjamin Myers grew up steeped in the Cuddy mythology. From life in a brutal eighteenth-century coiners gang ( The Gallows Pole) to a late 1980s public obsession with crop circles ( The Perfect Golden Circle); where do you get your limitless inspiration from? There's no doubt that Ben Myers is one of my favourite writers and I will read anything he writes. I'm always full of admiration for Ben and his ability to write something completely different every time.Cuddy, Benjamin Myers’s bewitching tenth novel, starts with a short history lesson about St Cuthbert, a 7th-century shepherd boy who became a monk after experiencing a vision. He died as Bishop of Lindisfarne in 687 on the even more remote island of Inner Farne, off the Northumbrian coast. Today, his remains lie in a shrine in Durham Cathedral, which was founded in his honour in 1093 and draws 700,000 visitors a year. Rating this a 3* read tells barely half the story. For a start, nothing about it is middling, or average. So perhaps even rating it all is a futile pursuit. The Quietus | Features | Baker's Dozen | The Hills Are Alive With The Sound Of Music: Benjamin Myers' Favourite Music". The Quietus . Retrieved 24 March 2023. I just adore discovering a book that is so perfect that I keep stopping to enjoy perfectly composed sentences .This is why I read so much .I read lots and lots of 4 star really good books but for me the joy is finding the 5 star ones .Cuddy is one of these books it is a perfectly crafted beautifully poetic book of loveliness .