The Wood Beyond the World by William Morris

The Wood Beyond the World by William Morris; narrated by Robert and Pamela Bethune | 2011; originally published 1894| Freshwater Seas | Audiobook $ 15

William Morris’s novel transports his hero, Walter the Golden, from the English village of Langton-on-Holm across the seas to a magical kingdom in a forest beyond the known world, ruled by the Mistress, an extraordinarily beautiful, complex, and sinister woman. There he meets the Maid, a woman captured, enslaved, and tortured by the Mistress, who has magical powers of her own. By the strength of their love and the wisdom of the Maid, she and Walter make their escape through the land of the People of the Bear to the kingdom of Starkwall, where a fate even more extraordinary awaits them.

Here’s another selection from my list for Classics Club! I chose to put this on my list because it is one of the — if not the — earliest examples of the modern fantasy genre. It apparently influenced many later, more well-known fantasy writers like, most famously, J.R.R. Tolkein.

And… I realize this might sound a bit silly, but hear me out… I have always enjoyed the artwork of the author, William Morris, who is possibly most well known as an influential designer of the Arts and Crafts movement, particularly of a style that later became known as Art Nouveau. I thought that if an artist can produce famously beautiful, detailed works in textiles and woodcuts, perhaps that same aesthetic sense can translate in some way to a beautiful, detailed story.

I think that my expectations were simply too high. The book seemed to me to be too bent on some kind of stylistic value than on coherent storytelling. I could probably recap what passed for a plot for you, but I couldn’t tell you what the tale was really about.

It certainly didn’t help that I became increasingly annoyed by one of the narrator’s breathless, entirely overwrought performance. It’s possible that this is exactly how the author would have intended his characters to be perceived, but… I doubt it.

That said, I don’t mean to be too harsh on the book. It was, after all, a new and fascinating concept at the time it was first published. It obviously captured readers’ imaginations then, and it’s probably unfair to judge it from a modern fantasy fan’s perspective. It’s entirely probable that my boredom-to-irritation with the book is just a reflection of my own tastes in speculative fiction + audiobook narration!

To be quite honest, I would not recommend this book to most readers. It’s probably worth a read if you’re a hard-core fantasy genre fan! But I certainly wouldn’t recommend this particular audiobook version to any reader.

Links:

• The William Morris Society
• The William Morris Society in the United States
• Biography from the National Trust of the UK

Publication information: Morris, William. The wood beyond the world. [sl]: Freshwater Seas, 2011. Audiobook.
Source: Public library, via Hoopla.
Disclaimer: I am not compensated, monetarily or otherwise, for reviews of books or other products.