I think this book was a little more intelligent than I am and went over my head a bit (haha) but I don't think I could connect all of the metaphors and was a bit confused. I don't think this was the book for me.

So much of current wellness and well-being talk emphasises living in the moment, or at least that's what it feels like to me. It is about seizing the day, about being in the now, and yet we are becoming increasingly anxious. Our future feels uncertain and nothing made this clearer than the COVID-19 pandemic. So is it any wonder that Delphi's narrator grasps for inklings of the future in whatever way possible, even if it doesn't prepare her for it? Thanks to Avid Reader Press and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. My sincere apologies for the delay.

Delphi is the first Pandemic novel, specifically COVID-19 novel I have read. I requested it two years ago on NetGalley, thinking that I was ready for it, but it actually took me until now to dive in. Delphi focuses on both prophecy and doom, future and the absence of it, seeing but not understanding, and that doesn't make it an easy novel. It was also confronting to read about something I experienced so directly myself. Literature always reflects, in some way, lived experience, but often it is at somewhat of a remove. In this case, however, COVID-19 and the way it was handled in the UK is much closer. I experienced my own lockdowns and my family was in London at the time, experiencing the same waves of lockdowns, the same betrayals by public figures, the same death toll. I am still not sure I enjoyed reading about this, but there was something compulsive about the reading experience as well, as if somehow Pollard could offer an alternative past in which things didn't happen the way they did. I still don't know whether I would read any other books which feature COVID-19 in such a central way. We're not out of it yet, after all, we are still dealing with it.

Our narrator is a lecturer and translator, splitting her time between teaching courses on the Classics and translating German novels into English. From a working class background herself, she is now solidly middle class and can't help but feel weird about the comfort she now experiences. Something is looming, something is coming, or maybe she is just stuck in life. She is always looking for signs and her interest in prophecy shapes not just her outlook on life but also the novel. Each chapter is dedicated to a different kind of prophecy as our narrator looks for signs of threats to her way of life, husband, beloved son. When COVID-19 hits, it seems the threat has been found, but perhaps something else is developing, lurking. Delphi is a novel about a woman's desire to know the future, to know that one is coming, a search for a certainty which isn't promised to any of us. Delphi is also a highly uncomfortable novel, but I do believe purposefully so. Our narrator isn't always likeable and neither is her husband. The worst is brought out of each of them by the pandemic and neither is prepared for actual tragedy.

What I really enjoyed about Delphi was its structure. Our narrator is working, sort of, on a project about prophecy and so the novel is split into chapters which focus on different kinds of prophecy, from the reading of hands to the reading of bones and so much more. Some chapters are very short, perhaps a page, while others are a little longer. The link between the type of prophecy and the contents of the chapter aren't always immediately obvious, but what I liked was how it spoke to the narrator's mindset. In a world that is becoming unpredictable, where the future does not feel certain or even guaranteed, her focus on prophecy structures not just the novel but also her perception of her life. Delphi is also a highly personal novel, in some ways. It addresses issues of class, gender, parenthood, and selfhood, as well as self harm. Much of what happens in the novel will be recognisable, but for that reason it might be a difficult read. However, I was intrigued by the emotional sharpness of the novel and would definitely like to read more by Clare Pollard.

Delphi is a fascinating novel which really gripped me. While Pollard makes it clear that it is not autobiographical, the setting amidst our pandemic makes it feel incredibly real. It won't be for everyone, but I found Deplhi an intriguing read that touched on some important points.

I loved Pollard’s poetry as a teenager and was excited to try her fiction. A pandemic based novel, told around different methods of prophecy this blends the tangible with fantastical. At a time when what was real felt like the fantastic, the fantastical suddenly felt more real. The chapters are short and not necessarily wholly linear, more vignette style. Unusual and intriguing.

3.5+ stars

Weird, a bit abstract, a bit (intentionally) fragmented, yet still compelling, and not only because it feels like a real-time pandemic narrative. It kind of reminds me of something I would’ve had to read for a class in undergrad. I did enjoy the references to and discussions of divination/prophecy and mythology, though, and I liked how they did, in a sense, pull together the story and connect it to its setting (both in place and time). It was an oddly intriguing little story, and I’m glad I had a chance to go back and read it.

Interesting book, not quite what I was expecting. I am definitely not ready to read pandemic books yet. I enjoyed the prophecy/academia stuff much more than the COVID turn the book took at the end. Will check out Pollard's next books, but this one wasn't really for me.

Clare Pollard’s “Delphi" showcases her versatility as a writer.

It’s 2020, the first year of the pandemic, and Pollard creates a relatable and intimate atmosphere, allowing readers to find echoes of their own experiences within her novel.

I found ‘Delphi’ a humorous and thought-provoking read.

While the writing style itself was beautiful, the conceit of the novel (a chapter each dedicated to different ways of telling prophecies) grew very old to me. Additionally, I felt the characters were not as fleshed out and I couldn't get into the book.

Okay, I really thought this was clever, and I enjoyed all the titles so much. For the first 10%, I really enjoyed it. But it started to peter out for me. Even as the action ramped up, the mundane annoyance of existing in a pandemic is both too close for comfort right now and feels a little tepid to me. I'm not sure how else to say it — I lost interest. I enjoyed Pollard's writing in the first half, though, and I look forward to seeing what else she writes.

In Feb. 2022, The New York Times said that novelists writing of the global Covid pandemic will have "the awkward narrative problem of how to turn what some have termed the 'boring apocalypse' — a period of stasis that, for the most fortunate, has been defined by staying home and doing nothing — into a gripping story."

The New York Times is wrong. DELPHI is gripping as hell.

This book was not quite what I expected, but I really ended up enjoying it. I've been reading a lot of pandemic books during our Covid-19 pandemic because there is something rather cozy catastrophe about that experience. I expected more mythological and classical references here based on the book description, but they are really only used for the chapter setup, and then what follows is an account of the pandemic experience in London for individuals and families. It's a fascinating read, and it's good to return to those frantic pandemic days and weeks now that vaccines are available, and we are on the other side of that experience. I'm going to look for more from this author-she has a strong writing voice.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4914469896

A lockdown novel set during the COVID-19 pandemic; honestly it seemed pointless to me. The characters seemed vapid and boring, with a bit of Greek myth and practices thrown in. Only my opinion.

Delphi is a short book written in the perspective of a Classics professor in England during the 2020 pandemic. It's written in vignettes, each labeled as a different type of prophecy by tarot, dreams birth date, etc. as she describes her life and what's going on. It's a very literary book and starts off a little slow, but it pulled me in and I was curious to see what would happen in her life. Clare Pollard captures the mundanity of lockdown, absurdity, and overall sense of dread and aimlessness many of us felt.

Thank you Avid Reader Press and NetGalley for this ARC. All thoughts are my own.

3.5 stars. This book was sharp & well written but almost maybe too soon to read about our shared lived experience that was the first year of COVID lockdown. The book reads like a frazzled stream of consciousness that feels very familiar to that collective anxiety, grief, and discomfort we all felt during the early days of the pandemic. There was some interesting intertwining of Greek mythology in here but I was hoping for more.

Had to abandon his book abruptly as for some reason my eARC had pages missing.I thought maybe its just one page but soon it was frequent and in succession.
I was very intrigued by its premise and was invested but sadly the glitch seem to ruin it for me,

Auramancy: Prophecy by Aura.
Lampadomancy: Prophecy by Flame
Moromancy: Prophecy by Foolishness
Oinomancy: Prophecy by Wine

These are chapter titles in Clare Pollard’s novel Delphi, a morose treatise on one woman’s 2020 quarantine lockdown. It’s basically what my old Mema would call navel-gazing. I did like to try to find the connection between a chapter’s content and the interesting chapter titles. Most of it was pretty obvious.

I loved this book so much! Delphi tells of a professor managing day to day live and her increasing anxiety about the future in a story that interweaves mythology with the mundane of ordinary life in the first year of the pandemic. I will review it in depth on my YouTube channel later today!

Delphi by Clare Pollard follows a Classics professor investigating the relationship between modern technology and ancient prophecy, as well as her own marriage, in pandemic-era London. Written in succinct chapters, the story unfolds at a dizzying pace. Our unnamed narrator provides insight into hot issues such as data gathering by social media companies, climate change, and personal responsibility during the pandemic. The breadth of topics covered by this book is ambitious, and while it falls a bit short in providing a cohesive voice in this discussion, it certainly sparks interesting thoughts for the reader.

This was such a me book. With the mythology, the autofiction vibes, and the really good writing, it was a book that I really enjoyed. Even though it was written in a fragmentary style which usually isn’t something I enjoy, reading this might have swayed me into reading more books like this. A very 2020-2021 book, normally I’m skeptical of, but this was done so well. The ending is the only thing that threw me a bit, and I’m still not sure about. But other than that, amazing! Obsessed!

Thank you to Netgalley and Avid Reader Press for sending me an advanced copy

In Delphi, we follow a middle aged classics professor in London who, in the midst of a COVID lockdown, searches for a ways to deal with feelings of anxiety, depression, and powerlessness. Pollard explores sixty-five different types of ancient prophecies (who knew there were so many?) and mingles them with the reality of the unpredictability of life during a pandemic. The short chapters helped move the story forward without becoming maudlin but also precluded the deep dive into feelings I would have liked to have seen.

A compelling account of fear, doubt, loss and being lost in fragmentary sections that mix philosophical musings, essayistic analysis of ancient mythology, poetic prose and literary criticism. The parallels to Jenny Offill and Olivia Laing that are being used to blurb the book are absolutely appropriate; I would also add Anne Carson and Maggie Nelson, for this book’s comfortable mixing of historical research, poetry and prose. The plot — set in pandemic lockdown — was the least interesting aspect of the book for me, but it made a good setting for the psychological meat of the novel. I have already recommended this book.