The link between these two Gothic environments lies in the main characters. In the first half of the 19th Century, as a newly-qualified physician, narrator Hiram Carver joins the crew of the USS Orbis for a journey from Boston south towards Cape Horn. Aboard ship he befriends William Borden. Though barely older than Hiram, Borden already has a reputation in the seafaring world as the “Hero of the Providence”. Years before, aboard the said ship, Borden negotiated with a group of mutineers for the life of the Captain and a group of sailors, and then led them to safety across the Pacific aboard a fragile dinghy. He’s a living legend, no less. Yet, something seems to trouble the man, and a violent episode on the Orbis threatens to bring his career to a premature end. This one. Isn't this the kind of book I hate the most to review? At one point, I was bewildered and disoriented, silently rehearsing a three-star review that would bash this book while exuding practiced objectivity; at another, I leaned over the book, refused to sleep, and when I finally did, I lay in my bed grappling with what I had just read, silently sketching out a thousand-word essay, divided into at least four sections not counting the intro and conclusion, on its metaphors and symbols and images ... on all that boiled beneath the calmness of Dr. Hiram Carver's practiced professionalism, all that dark water was at once about the ocean and at once something else.

Dark Water by Elizabeth Lowry | Goodreads Dark Water by Elizabeth Lowry | Goodreads

Now, I will come away (briefly) from my thoughts on the structure of the book, and talk a little about its narrative. I found their relationship, and Hiram’s dissection of it, truly gripping. Almost romantic, in a dark way. And upon finishing the book, these two men remain in my mind. As if they’re still sitting on a boat, with a fishing net between them. A lasting impression, indeed – and further proof of this book’s well-sculpted characters. Every ship faces terror from the deep. What happens on the Orbis binds Carver and Borden together forever. When Carver recovers, and takes up a role at Boston's Asylum for the Insane, he will meet Borden again - broken, starving, overwhelmed by the madness that has shadowed him ever since he sailed on the Providence. These comments can probably be applied to 7 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle as well, but I gave that a 5 star because I was invested from the start. Every character in that book was so different and each new POV brought new questions and discoveries. I was desperate to find out the truth, whereas this one took too long to reveal things. Even after the first mystery at the start with the leper I still wasn’t intrigued, so I never felt invested and didn’t care for the details or the characters, especially the ship crew and officers.

Once they set sail, unexplainable atrocities begin happening on board of the Sardaam. A dead man stalks the ship, haunted symbols draw themselves on the walls, and mysterious slaughters begin unfolding. It's harder to ignore the devil's mark that miraculously appears on the sails, however. The incident, understandably, casts a sense of foreboding over the entire voyage. All of the characters were so interesting. Anyone could have been the baddie. I had no clue who to suspect! Biese, Alex (November 20, 2019). " 'Dark Waters': Mark Ruffalo fights 'the biggest corporate criminality' in whistleblower film". Asbury Park Press . Retrieved June 21, 2020. I'm amazed at our conspiracy of silence about it - that we are all hungry, naked, heading towards a death we can't avoid. We are all at sea, sailing over dark waters. Not one of us is safe.

In Dark Water: A compulsive Scottish detective novel

Samuel Pipps, a well-respected detective, happens to be aboard for the journey. Surprising to some is the fact that he is being transported as a prisoner, not a free traveler. Truth, I feel, is one of the core themes of this book. But the madness of the mind is, too. When protagonist Hiram is taken on as assistant physician at Charlestown’s mental asylum, the story begins to open its doors and show its true colours. I will admit I was briefly disheartened the moment Hiram returned to Boston after sailing on the Orbis. I had, in my mind, prepared myself for a book set entirely onboard, and was quite happy with that self-made premonition … but alas, the heart of the story wasn’t to be found on that boat – and I soon came to love the land-dwellers world, too. It's unusual in commercial fiction to find an author who is as adept as Lowry proves herself to be at not just using but sustaining a systematic use of symbolism and figurative language. Here the sea and issues of hunger and need are used in a metaphysical way to think about life and death, survival and conscience. And if that makes this sound pretentious, it's not, because she successfully wraps all these issues up in a neo-Gothic narrative that alternates between an asylum and life on board a C19th ship. But even with Turton’s methodical unfurling of the novel’s layers, the core mystery of The Devil and the Dark Water is virtually unsolvable. Believe me — from my armchair, I tried. I tried hard. And while I did manage to snap into place one extremely important aspect of the plot, I had to eventually accept the fact that I would come no closer to the solution.Tobias, Scott (2020-01-10). "How Did a Todd Haynes Movie Get Ignored This Awards Season?". Vulture . Retrieved 2021-06-12.

Dark Water (2005 film) - Wikipedia Dark Water (2005 film) - Wikipedia

I found this book a bit of a struggle if I am perfectly honest. There is a lot of underlying meaning behind the book which I didn't always follow - or indeed want to follow. There is a lot of discussion about the metaphysical aspects of the mind and the intricacies of that within this story. This aspect of the book just wasn't for me & I found myself skipping over sections. The entire story was completely original. I have never read anything quite like it. Turton's imagination knows no bounds. In every life, I now believe, there is one event that is the well-spring of the fundamental agony and decision in us. It lies beneath the sunlit layers of the present moment, throwing its shade across the foundations of our being, forming the self to come. If grasped and brought to the surface, it can save us or destroy us.” Kiesewetter, John (13 January 2020). "No Oscar Nominations For Cincinnati's 'Dark Waters' ". www.wvxu.org . Retrieved 2021-06-12. Now, Hiram's delusional hero complex is well-explored; his hypocrisy and entitlement are littered throughout the book. Yet this is not a character study. Or maybe it is, but the characters and their struggles are so absolutely painfully clear as allegories for something else, that it's absolutely painfully hard for me not to notice them.The partial memoir of Hiram Carver, a doctor of the mind in 19th century America, specifically relating to a young man he met during his brief and unpleasant time as a ship's doctor (assistant). William (Billy) Borden is a hero, or is he? The story goes that Billy saved several crew members when they were cast adrift following a mutiny. The truth, as it emerges, is somewhat less straightforward. Regardless, I did have strong emotions whenever I read this book, whether positive or negative. I was never bored, and my mind always found something to analyze - what does this metaphor mean? What is it about the choice of words that makes this sentence seem so stiff? Did Hiram really just ... ? Why are there "hmmm's" and ALL CAPS in the dialogue? Other real-life individuals affected by the environmental catastrophe in Parkersburg and who appear in the film, include Darlene and Joe Kiger, Crystal Wheeler and Amy Brode (Wilbur's daughters), Jim Tennant (Wilbur's brother), and Sarah and Rob Bilott. Teddy, Charlie and Tony Bilott (Sarah and Rob's sons) also appear in the film.

The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton | Goodreads The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton | Goodreads

All in all, this is a book I really enjoyed and, although I found the ending disappointing, I would read more from this author.He subsequently bursts into flames and dies a very public and painful death. The observers, although chilled by his damning proclamation, shrug it off as the ramblings of a madman. Not only is Lowry’s mastery of prose sky-high, but her awareness of pace was enthralling. You almost feel like you’re sailing along whilst you read, actually aboard a ship of your own, and then occasionally a sentence will slam down like a whirlpool and you’ll almost feel it under you. I found it an exciting feeling and was happy with the ride from start to finish. Each high and each low was perfectly graduated, and when it did plummet, it hit hard every single time. No high-point felt underwhelming, and my reactions to them remained unnumbed.