The Perfect Golden Circle by Benjamin Myers

What Da Cover Says: From a British literary sensation, the story of two rural outcasts and the crop circles they create over the course of a long, hot and very strange summer.

Summer 1989, rural England, the tail end of long decade of mass unemployment, class war and rebellion, and the continued destruction of the English countryside.
Over the course of a burning hot summer, two very different men – traumatized ex-soldier Calvert, and affable and chaotic Redbone – set out nightly in a decrepit camper van to undertake an extraordinary project. Under cover of darkness, the two men traverse the fields of rural England in secret, forming crop circles in elaborate and mysterious patterns, designs so intricate that they inspire the kind of awe that the ancient Gothic cathedral in nearby Salisbury once inspired.

As the summer wears on, and their designs grow ever more ambitious, the two men find that their work has become a cult international sensation – and that an unlikely and beautiful friendship has taken root as the wheat ripens from green to gold.

But as harvest-time beckons — and as media and the authorities begin to take too much interest in their work– Calvert and Redbone have to race against time to finish the most stunning and original crop circle ever conceived: the Honeycomb Double Helix.

What I Says: This is a beautiful story about how nature and art can help with the healing process for two deeply troubled men, it is a story of a friendship with a bond so strong that it is able to surpass the vastly differing personalities and it is a story that is sure to captivate the reader. The writing is so soothing, after a stressful day at work I would sit down and pick up this book, 20min later and it was like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders as I witnessed the elaborate crop circles being created.

We have here two friends with a special bond, Calvert and Redmond, a friendship that reminded me of The Detectorists or Leonard and Hungry Paul. They each have their emotional baggage and this is shared with the reader as each crop circle is created and we see just how important these creations are to them. This book appears to have been written in a simple style and yet at the same time is very complex, there are so many layers like one of those onion things, you have the beauty of nature (a hare caught in the moonlight), the destruction by humans (fly-tipping and illegal hunting), global warming, war and the magnificence of the universe (an eclipse). When each of these layers is revealed you can’t help becoming involved emotionally, the book had barely started when the fly-tipping happens and I was spitting with rage. There are so many things I could write about here but it wouldn’t be fair to anybody who hasn’t read it so trust me when I say that this is one “most excellent book”.

A wonderful book, so tender and heart-warming with a perfect proportion of humour. There was a horror element to this story so be warned…at one point parsnips are consumed…yuck!

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