Sorry, I'm not interested in reading about incestuous paedophilia no matter how brief the interlude was and how well written it is.
I've enjoyed Mark Haddon's other books but think this was ill-judged, as is the weird change into the time of the Ancient Greeks. At that point I gave up and went on to something else.

The Porpoise is a beautiful twist of a revamp on the story of Pericles of Tyre. I couldn't read this fast enough. Being one who is giddy at the thought of anything approaching a mythological yarn, I found The Porpoise thoroughly engrossing and refreshingly delightful. Mark Haddon is a multifaceted talent that brings new life to an old story. Satisfying, even the most disturbing bits seemed...ah, less wrong? Hey, I've been watching Game of Thrones so my moral scale may be a bit skewed. This is a luscious tale, from differing time periods, that delivers. I loved it!

A wonderful, evocative novel full of echoes and surprises. The early time shifts were slightly disarming at first but once I was in the swing of them I thought they worked beautifully. I loved the way the stories overlapped and fed into each other.

I read and loved Mark Haddon's other books and while I enjoyed the start of this one there was a lot of timeline shifting which left me confused and a little annoyed. Ultimately it detracted from my enjoyment of the book.

Angelica will never know her mother. She was killed in a plane crash and Angelica was born in the aftermath.
Her father cuts himself and his daughter off from the world raising her himself with just servants for company. She grows into a beautiful young woman but the outside world is beginning to come into their secluded world and rumors start. The son of a friend of her father, comes to visit with an art collection and soon realizes what is happening to Angelica. He tries to get her away but ends up fleeing for his own life. He meets friends and ends up aboard The Porpoise. But is he safe?
The story then switches from present time to ancient times and will he ever make it home and how is Angelica mixed up with all this?

In an opening that will turn off any Cardiff FC fans, a small plane that shouldn't be flying across from France to England crashes, with fatal repercussions. After that we get high-class incest, after which we swoop into a boring exposition of Pericles and suchlike – oh, and then Shakespeare and some friends turn up. Deliriously, and deliberately, dodgy, this was one I had to hope was going to justify all its switcheroos. From reviews I read when dithering about continuing, it doesn't. DNF at a third.

An extraordinary read and very unlike ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time’. Very well researched and most engaging; this is a time slip novel with a difference.

At the outset, Phillipe, a very wealthy businessman, has lost his beloved wife in a plane crash. The only survivor of the incident is Phillipe’s new-born daughter, Angelica. Devastated, Phillipe retreats from the world to raise his daughter in almost total seclusion. His affection for his daughter is so intense that is crosses the boundaries of a moral society. When Darius, a potential suitor for Angelica appears, Phillipe tries to murder him. In fear for his life, Darius escapes on the ship, The Porpoise and this is where the novel turns completely on its head.

Essentially this is a re-telling of Shakespeare’s Pericles, Prince of Tyre with brief revisits to Angelica’s story. During her upbringing Angelica has immersed herself in the stories of ancient Greece and Rome and it isn’t clear whether the actions in the past are real or all in Angelica’s head. I know what I think but I’ll let you come up with your own interpretation.

This is a fascinating novel with an excellent re-working of an ancient Greek myth. Aspects of the novel are not for the faint-hearted but I have no hesitation in recommending it. It is not a straightforward read but it is very much worth pursuing.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Random House UK for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I found this too disjointed to really get into .Two very different storylines , one modern and one mythological I could not get them to blend easily . Unfortunately the book did not draw me back to keep reading so abandoned it at about 60% read . I have read earlier books by this author so was disappointed .

I was looking forward to reading this book. It started well, a moving account of the plane crash, but then I found it hard to follow as it went from reality to mythological. Angelica's story was an unsetting one from start to finish. Not an easy read. The retelling of the story of Pericles was well written. But I think I may have enjoyed to more as two separate books.

I have enjoyed many of Mark Haddon’s books so was looking forward to reading The Porpoise.
The opening chapters were very unsettling and took me well outside my comfort zone. As the story progressed it became more strange and weird – a rollicking voyage through time. Apparently based on the story of Pericles Prince of Tyre,
a well written tale but I did not like all the to-ing and fro-ing through time.

Where to start, great book, great writing could not put it down! same effect that with the curios incident of the dog at night -time.

However, once finished I felt emotional (the contemporary and the antique story lines are both fascinating and gripping) but also confused by the multiples story-lines. In my view the Shakespeare's one does not bring anything to the story. Finally the ending let me a bit frustrated.

Excited about reading this one owing to his fantastic debut, and whilst I enjoyed the story on the whole I did find it quite tricky to follow. As a fan of Greek Myths I was particularly intrigued by where Mark Haddon would take this Appolonius-esque story and think that perhaps some of the story's complexity was caused by this tie-in.

Readable, but unlike me to give three stars to a story too!

I chose to read this having enjoyed both 'The Curious Incident --' and 'A Spot of Bother', also by Mark Haddon. This book is very different from either of those but like his other works is a wonderfully written story. In The Porpoise the reader is reading two tales at the one time, separated by time and space. The novel starts with a contemporary story in which a young, very pregnant, woman dies in a tragic accident and her newborn daughter is saved. The contemporary story, which is very uncomfortable to read, concerns the abusive incestuous relationship to which this daughter is subjected by her father. This story is the backdrop to a retelling of the story of Pericles of Tyre, a tale which has been told by many authors in many times. Haddon's version is fascinating with very sympathetic main characters and two very strong women: Chloe, married to Pericles, and their daughter Marina. I found the section of the book in which Haddon told a side tale of Shakespeare and George Wilkins, two earlier tellers of the tale of Pericles, a confusing and unnecessary aside in what was otherwise a beautifully crafted tale, The book motivated me to find out more about the myths of Pericles and as a result I will re-read 'The Porpoise'.

I've seen another reviewer who mentioned being interested in the book but not enjoying it, and that's exactly how I would summarise my experience of this novel. I found the second half of the story a lot more gripping as we delved further and further into the classical world and Pericles' story

The story of Angelica and her father is disturbing on many levels; for me, the most disquieting part of reading their story line is that everything is presented at a distance to us, without any in-depth exploration of the characters' feelings or behaviours so I felt like a voyeur throughout. Angelica is presented passive and doll-like; the perfect receptacle for her father's desires, much as her mother was ideally positioned on TV screens for him to project his desires onto. It's clever writing that makes for uncomfortable reading, but I couldn't escape the feeling that it was too consciously clever - I felt like it was glaring me in the face from the pages of the book.

One thing Mark Haddon does beautifully is conjure imagery that is at once painfully clear and understood, while also being so obscurely derived that you can't help but take a moment to appreciate its artfulness. The book is gorgeously written and resplendent with descriptions that haul you straight into the story; Haddon has an incredibly deft touch when it comes to balancing detail and imagination, which is absolutely showcased as the plot moves through ancient cities and lands.

Beautiful, disturbing, enthralling, slow, clever, difficult - I have so many mixed feelings towards this book that, while I'm not sure I liked it, I would absolutely still recommend you read it.

I read the first third of this book which was beautifully written albeit with very dark content, but I could not engage with the story when it started to shift between reality and mythology. I think its a shame the story of Angelica did not continue without the fantasy side, but then I suppose that isn't what the author intended.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this book.

Oh I am so torn. Part of me absolutely loved this book, and the rest was left feeling disappointed. The initial disaster scene was so sad and beautifully written, and I enjoyed the part of the story in relation to that. I didn't like the underlying Pericles tale. So for that reason I'm split. But his writing is excellent so I will give this 4/5 anyway!

Beautifully written but not an easy read. I felt like I had been following the plot quite fluidly when it suddenly changed before me. It was tricky at times to keep an idea of where you were but I imagine that was the point. I know people who absolutely adored this book so i think that Mark Haddon ultimately set out what he achieved to, I'm just sorry i didn't love it as I have his previous books.

Mark Haddon's latest novel moves into markedly different territory from his previous work, it shifts into different time periods, from the modern to more ancient times, with strong elements of the fantastical. Haddon draws on Greek mythology, the story of Appolonius and Shakespeare's Pericles, reworking them but with differences, and for those readers unfamiliar with them, it will pay to become acquainted with at least the broad outlines of what happens in them prior to reading this. The novel has a haunting dreamlike quality in its telling, of the tragic, a need for justice and revenge, and with its depiction of strong and resilient women. I should point it has some gruesome aspects and includes the dark, unsettling and disturbing themes of abuse and incest.

Philippe's wife, Maja, is killed in a plane accident, and he is overcome by grief. His baby daughter, Angelica survives, untimely ripped from her mother. Angelica is raised in splendid isolation by her over protective father, she is to become the focus of a deeply unhealthy and troubling obsession. She finds herself escaping into literature. Darius makes a failed attempt to rescue Angelica from her well guarded father, only just managing to board The Porpoise and embarking on a series of adventures. The multiple threads interconnect in this complex, multilayered and beguiling book, although it can feel disjointed occasionally. This is a beautifully written novel, thought provoking, and whilst overall I found it an enthralling read, it is not likely to be for everyone. Many thanks to Random House Vintage for an ARC.

At first I thought gosh I’m enjoying this. Then, oh dear enjoying might be the wrong word. Then! What’s happening now? where has Pericles come from? I settled into that and made my mind up that it was the main characters way of escaping her horrendous life. I might have been right or wrong but either way I was left confused. This novel felt disjointed and didn’t grab me.

Multi-strand novel about Pericles amongst others – not great

This novel is about various inter-linked characters in different timelines. Philippe, in our era, has a daughter, Angelica, born in tragic circumstances. Meanwhile, in ancient times, Pericles discovers love, marriage, tragedy, the birth of a daughter and a host of adventures. In the 17th century, we encounter George Wilkins, a collaborator of Shakespeare's. All their stories are linked, sometimes in a supernatural way. There is incest, murder, plots, abuse and all sorts of action.

I found this novel too disjointed, a bit pretentious, a bit too clever-clever for my liking with loads of references to demonstrate the author's knowledge or extensive research. The writing is detailed and flowing, full of description and with well-developed characters. I think that there are better examples of literary fiction but fans of Mark Haddon may enjoy this work. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.