Book Description
The long-awaited novel from Nathan Englander, author of For the Relief of Unbearable Urges. Englander’s wondrous and much-heralded collection of stories won the 2000 Pen/Malamud Award and was translated into more than a dozen languages.
From its unforgettable opening scene in the darkness of a forgotten cemetery in Buenos Aires, The Ministry of Special Cases casts a powerful spell. In the heart of Argentina’s Dirty War, Kaddish Poznan struggles with a son who won’t accept him; strives for a wife who forever saves him; and spends his nights protecting the good name of a community that denies his existence--and denies a checkered history that only Kaddish holds dear. When the nightmare of the disappeared children brings the Poznan family to its knees, they are thrust into the unyielding corridors of the Ministry of Special Cases, the refuge of last resort.
Nathan Englander’s first novel is a timeless story of fathers and sons. In a world turned upside down, where the past and the future, the nature of truth itself, all take shape according to a corrupt government’s whims, one man--one spectacularly hopeless man--fights to overcome his history and his name, and, if for only once in his life, to put things right. Here again are all the marvelous qualities for which Englander’s first book was immediately beloved: his exuberant wit and invention, his cosmic sense of the absurd, his genius for balancing joyfulness and despair. Through the devastation of a single family, Englander captures, indelibly, the grief of a nation. The Ministry of Special Cases, like Englander’s stories before it, is a celebration of our humanity, in all its weakness, and--despite that--hope.
Customer Reviews:
Quite an engaging read!.......2007-10-14
This book presents what seems at first a humorous look at a serious problem - that of the disappeared Jews in Argentina's "dirty war". As the story progresses, the reader leans that the situation is not quite as funny as it first seems. Although I know some reviewers disapprove of the light-hearted approach with which this book was written, I think that the black humor only makes this book more readable. I love the funny characters who reinforce a sense of poignancy in their desperate attempt to limit their vulnerability in an especially precarious time for Jews in Argentina's history. Englander's taut construction of the story, thoughtful approach to a heart-breaking situation, and outrageous material makes me think of him as a Jewish John Irving!
In an age of rampant hyperbole, what is the word for genius?.......2007-09-04
Nathan Englander's short story collection, "For the Relief of Unbearable Urges" received accolades and awards when it debuted five years ago, all well deserved. Now, after five-years, Englander offers his first novel, "The Ministry of Special Cases." If any thought that the fresh pathos laden voice of "Relief" was a fluke, "Ministry" will surely set them straight.
First, a brief review of the plot. The place is Argentina in the 70's under the reign of a military junta that snaps citizens up without paper work and recourse and then pretends as if they know nothing about them. In this surreal environment, where reality, memory, and the official story often conflict lives our main character, Kaddish Pozen, a Jewish son of a whore living on the outskirts of his community who supports his family by collecting fees from the descendants of unsavory deceased Jews who pay him to erase their ancestors name off of grave stones in the cemetery where criminals lay buried. The cast of characters we meet along the way are as many and varied as one can imagine, all touched and warped by the insanity of their world.
While the premise surely will prove irresistible to many readers, a few may question an author's ability to execute a tale layered with such a thick helping of symbolism. A credit to Englander's talent then that he not only succeeds, but does so with the sensitivity and humor that marks him as a young author of great potential. While every writer imagines themselves a unique voice, Englander's novel, with its characters facing problems far beyond their depth and often contrasting images at once frightening and absurd brings to mind Isaac Singer's work, clearly one of the author's inspirations.
Any effort to explain too much of this novel risks spoiling some of the fun of watching it uncoil. Suffice to say, I suspect in a few decades' people will recall fondly when they first discovered Mr. Englander's gift.
The Power To Do Anything.......2007-08-13
Englander's book is truly an amazing example of the author's superb writing abilities. It compares very favorably with his first book of short stories, but here, Englander gets into serious depth of character development and how they deal with bad situations way beyond their ability to control.
The book describes a period during the dictatorship of Argentina and the discrimination experienced by Jewish Argentinians during the reign of the dictatorship in the country at the middle and end of the 20th century. The book focuses on not just discrimination against Jews, but governmentally sanctioned discrimination against youth and liberal or different political and social ideas and ideals. The book is the story of one very unusual Jew, who realized that an old and closed Jewish cemetary could in fact be of danger to those still living. Many decades ago, the business of prostitution in Buenos Ares was a Jewish monopoly, no longer true, but at a time it was. Those people had their own cemetary and it occured to Kadish, the protagonist, that people would pay to have their last names removed from those tombstones. So, he started a business removing the names off people's tombstones to protect those still living.
While the story centers around the Jewish element of the social climate, Englander is careful to point out that the discrimination was not just against Jews, but against Youth and Thought. The police randomly rounded up groups of youths and then either incarcerated them, released them or killed them. The actions of the police were related to power and control.
In addition, Englander paints a wonderful picture of the legal system and its absurdity. In fact, the book is reminiscent of "The Trial" by Franz Kafka, in that no matter what is done, there seems to be no end or ability to seek legal relief or redress. The system seems to be designed to specifically frustrate and delay the attempts of any individual trying to get information on any youth taken away by the police.
In totality, the book is a truly wonderful picture of life in a totalitarian dictatorship, where those who are given the power to enforce the law, abuse this duty to the maximum extent. Absolute power corrupts absolutely; as illustrated so beautifully and graphically by Englander in this book.
The book is truly powerful and beautifully written. All the author's unique talents have been brought to bare in this fabulous work. The book is recommended to all adults who have interest in seeing how things become skewed horribly in situations where there is no check and balance on power, and where people find it amusing and fun to inflict pain, anguish and even death randomly on people, purely because they CAN! It is a fast reading book and highly recommended for its beautiful writing and its clarity of intent.
"The troubles always start when they start for you.".......2007-08-04
Set in the Argentina of 1976 - a dark and violent time of upheaval - "The Ministry of Special Cases" is about a family torn apart by a power-corrupted government. It centers primarily on the actions of Kaddish and Lillian Poznan after their teenaged son, Pato, is `disappeared' by mysterious officials one night, perhaps never to be seen again. Kaddish and Lillian are locked in a futile race against time, knowing that every day their son is missing the likelihood that he has not survived increases. But how can they penetrate the defenses of the government and the police to get information regarding a son whose existence is now denied? At best, Kaddish and Lillian are told that their son must have run away from them, and are advised to give up their search before making `needless' trouble. But the Poznans know the truth about Pato's disappearance - Kaddish was home when his son was escorted from their apartment by mysterious men, who also removed three of Pato's books that they had deemed inappropriate.
The search for their son leads Lillian to Argentina's Ministry of Special cases, where hundreds of people line up and fight for information about missing loved ones, and are frustrated by bureaucratic dead-ends. Worse than the government's unswerving apathy toward Kaddish and Lillian is the fearfully uncaring attitude that they find from general citizens they turn to for assistance. Everyone is too wrapped up in their own problems to care about the Poznan's plight - and much too afraid of losing their own family if they anger the government. Until their own son was taken from them Kaddish and Lillian themselves had been blind to the severity of the problem - Lillian is genuinely startled to find so many people waiting at the Ministry of Special Cases, and dismayed to hear from a couple that is finally giving up hope after two long years of no news.
The strength of Englander's story is that the Poznans are a believable family unit. They are not the utopian family of amateur fiction, but a realistic family burdened by animosity and failure and bitter disappointment. Kaddish is marked by his low birth - an `hijo de puta' who will never earn respect or dignity, and the spectacular failures of his numerous get-rich-quick schemes to overcome his status have put a great deal of strain on his marriage to Lillian, who had believed in his abilities as a young (naïve?) young woman. And Pato is your typical disgruntled teenager; he hates his parents, acts out, runs away to his friends' home, smokes pot, and refuses to listen to their sage advice that could have kept him safe. And yet the reader feels the strength of their familial bond thanks to Englander's prodigious talents as a writer. Despite their fighting, it feels devastating when the Poznans are torn apart.
But is "The Ministry of Special Cases" for everyone? No. Englander is a gifted writer, but his eccentricities will turn some readers off as unnecessary and annoying. As a fan of Nathan Englander's story collection, For the Relief of Unbearable Urges: Stories, perhaps I was already primed for his style before picking this book up, but I enjoy his quirks and I have spoken to several other people who do too. For those who can appreciate them, "Ministry" is a one-of-a-kind treat and an amazing novel.
Grade: A-
something missing.......2007-07-15
I read the book and couldn't put it down. I gave it to my mom and she couldn't finish it (which is rare it is usually the other way around). I really wanted to like this book, but there is some quality about it that I just can't describe. The book takes place in a time and place that makes it difficult to fully get into the context of the book and the author doesn't do a lot to describe the character's environment. The book zig zags around with suspense but not much action. Extremely well written, I just didn't like the story.
Book Description
A mesmerizing labyrinth of art, magic, cryptic codes, and young love that sparks the imagination and teases the mind-an arresting first novel about a young man's quest to unravel the puzzle his missing girlfriend may (or may not) have left behind.
Anastasia (Anna) Cayne is a complicated high school girl with a penchant for riddles and affectionate mind games, who spends much of her time writing obituaries for every living person in town. She is unlike anyone the narrator has ever known, and her energy and enthusiasm explode his quiet universe, revealing a world of Houdini tricks, strange art, covert messages, and ghost stories-although her past remains an even bigger enigma. Even so, he couldn't be happier.
But a week before Valentine's Day, Anna disappears, leaving behind nothing except a dress placed neatly near a hole in the frozen river, and a string of unanswered questions.
Determined to find Anna-to comprehend what happened, and why-he begins to retrace their past five months together. Soon the fragments of events, conversations, and letters (and new messages that continue to arrive) coalesce into haunting and surprising revelations about friends, about family, and especially, about Anna Cayne. And perhaps these revelations will solve the puzzle of Anna's disappearance, whether it was her own invention, or is simply another of life's great mysteries.
Customer Reviews:
A delicious surprise.......2006-06-20
I went out on a limb with this book. It was really outside of my comfort zone; but it did have something to do with a creepy little goth girl so I figured I'd give it a try. IT WAS PHENOMENAL! I have never once read a book that provoked so much catharsis from me. At more than one point in this journey I cried. But don't worry about what I have to say about this book...just take a chance and read it!
"Snow's not simple at all...".......2006-02-02
This novel is easily one of the best books I've ever read. After simply reading the very first sentence of Gregory Galloway's As Simple as Snow, I was completely emersed into the story and the mystery that is Anna Cayne. This aspect of mystery layered with the awkwardness of adolescence, which we can all relate to, makes this book an instant classic and forces the reader to open one's mind and heart to the characters and their distinctive personalities. Galloway's simple, yet amazingly complex, prose guides the reader through each page allowing just enough fact to slip through the clouded surface to make the story a different experience for everyone.
In the story, an unnamed boy falls in love with a girl, Anna Cayne, who changes his life and then disappears. Our unnamed narrator is then left to deal with the grief and frustration of her disappearance and forces to ask the question, "what now?". The characters succeed in bringing life to the story in a way that anyone who has suffered through high school can relate to and for once, does not glorify the jocks and preps, but focuses on the loners, the kids who stay on the outskirts and watch from the sidelines. I loved this about it because I could relate exactly to what the characters were saying and the ways that they were acting. Not many books focus on these "average" types of characters so it was a breath of fresh air compared to the other coming-of-age novels that are out today. I reccommend this novel to anyone who wants to expand their mind and just read a touching story about a boy who loves a girl. I give it an A++++++.
One of the best books I have ever read.......2005-10-25
This book is simply amazing. I am a teen librarian and have read lots and lots of books. I have read this book four times, it is a great mystery and so brilliantly written. I have never read a book so fast and didn't want it to end. I gurantee if you read this book you will want to pass it on to somebody else to read just so you have somebody to discuss it with. I can't believe that it is not on the bestseller list. Shame on the publisher for not promoting this book more. It is AWESOME. I hope the word gets out, I know I am trying to get more people to read it.
"Simple" and Complex.......2005-08-17
"As Simple as Snow" will be haunting me for a long, long time.
Some say that all stories can be narrowed down to one of two plots. This story employs the "new person moves to town" plot - but it's far more complex than that.
Anna, a high school student, is more than what she seems. She likes to write obituaries for people who are still alive - for every person in town, even though she's just moved there with her parents. She wears black clothes, black boots, dark makeup, offsetting her blond hair. She loves Lovecraft, making mix CDs, and discussing the codes Houdini and his wife shared. She can argue both sides of a debate with equal passion and knowledge, thus making it unclear which side she herself would support. She insists that people call her Anastasia.
The narrator calls her Anna. He's a high school student as well. His name is unknown; it is unimportant. What is important is their relationship. He finds himself intrigued with Anna, despite her status as a "Goth," and the two begin dating. Her ideas challenge him; her intelligence impresses him; and, seven months later, her disappearance baffles him.
Author Gregory Galloway has created a stunning and haunting tale. Just as Anna herself, this book is hard to categorize. Many would call "As Simple as Snow" a mystery, but just as many might refer to it as a coming-of-age story. The writing is engrossing, placing the reader on the same page (no pun intended) as the narrator, trying to figure out Anna herself as well the codes she used. Readers will be looking for clues in the grand design while falling for this strong, willful character and wondering why she left.
It even has an appropriately creepy website, where you may download the mix CDs Anna created and watch a unique trailer for the book. If the trailer doesn't make you want to read the book immediately, I don't know what will.
This isn't a run-of-the-mill mystery, nor a cautionary tale. It's a story about a boy, a girl, a town, a code. It's a story about that time in your life when you realize nothing is as simple as it seems. Once you realize that, you can't go back, no matter how hard you try. You can only go forward.
Couldn't put it down.......2005-05-16
The subtle details and alternative and pop culture woven into this masterful tale make for a book I was unwilling to put down. Galloway's writing style improves as the book progresses. I'm not sure if that's intended or not, but it works. As a busy college student, I don't have time to read a lot of unassigned fiction, but I'm so glad I worked this one into my schedule. You should too!
Amazon.com
Peel back the made-for-TV-movie premise of Dave King's The Ha-Ha and you'll find a shrewd, engrossing, and occasionally gritty first novel in the tradition of Jane Smiley. Howard is a brain-damaged Vietnam vet who can't speak or write, but who has managed to establish a reasonably good life in his small Midwestern hometown. In fact, Howard's chief limitation isn't his silence but his lingering romantic attachment to his high school girlfriend, Sylvia, now the drug-addicted single mother of a nine-year-old boy named Ryan (not Howard's child). Accustomed to Howard's devotion--and equally accustomed to rejecting his love, like a campfire she pees on again and again--Sylvia more or less dumps Ryan on him when she is forced to enter rehab. Yes, the handicapped vet must forge a relationship with the sullen fatherless boy. With material as Hallmark-tinged like this, it's only through vivid, honest, and far from syrupy characterization that King keeps sentimentality at bay. You can predict what happens when the gruff Howard begins to coach Little League (aw, shucks), but not his ferocious reaction to Sylvia's eventual betrayal. A skillful debut with several surprises. --Regina Marler
Book Description
Peel back the made-for-TV-movie premise of Dave King's The Ha-Ha and you'll find a shrewd, engrossing, and occasionally gritty first novel in the tradition of Jane Smiley. Howard is a brain-damaged Vietnam vet who can't speak or write, but who has managed to establish a reasonably good life in his small Midwestern hometown. In fact, Howard's chief limitation isn't his silence but his lingering romantic attachment to his high school girlfriend, Sylvia, now the drug-addicted single mother of a nine-year-old boy named Ryan (not Howard's child). Accustomed to Howard's devotion--and equally accustomed to rejecting his love, like a campfire she pees on again and again--Sylvia more or less dumps Ryan on him when she is forced to enter rehab. Yes, the handicapped vet must forge a relationship with the sullen fatherless boy. With material as Hallmark-tinged like this, it's only through vivid, honest, and far from syrupy characterization that King keeps sentimentality at bay.You can predict what happens when the gruff Howard begins to coach Little League (aw, shucks), but not his ferocious reaction to Sylvia's eventual betrayal.A skillful debut with several surprises. --Regina Marler
Customer Reviews:
Good description of human character.......2007-10-02
I think the beauty of this book is that we can all find a little of ourselves in the Characters. I loved this book!
Not a haha, but a winner.......2007-07-21
This is an incredibly powerful story. I loved it! The irony of such a strong voice for a character without a voice!
At times I became so entwined with Howard's life that I felt as if I myself could not speak.
I was disappointed to find, after finishing The Ha-Ha, that this is a first. Now I have to wait for what Dave King comes up with next.
Listened to it on ebook.......2007-04-22
I listened to this book on ebooks from my library. There was a great depth to the main character and I enjoyed the story. It was paced well and ended to my satisfaction. For me this was a perfect read! I may have felt differently had I read it rather than listened to it.
Exposition Overload.......2007-01-15
This book never grabbed a hold of me. It's premise is a good one, but the writing style of exposition only bogged me down and forced me to skim a lot in the middle. I didn't miss a thing.
I think this book suffers from trying too hard to be meaningful, and so instead of being meaningful and engaging, it just grinds. This would have been a much much better book if we were shown the interesting beginning part of Howard's recovery, instead of only recieving hints and glimpses from where he now stands, embittered.
Dave King's HA HA.......2006-08-28
The novel is engrossing and finally moving. He writes with a very clear and sometimes beautiful prose style. However, I never was fully convinced by the narrative voice of the central character and this kept me from fully surrendering to the book.
Average customer rating:
- A nice collection of short stories
- Cool stories by hip writers
- 20-minute doses
- Nick Hornby is God
- Not all best selling authors can write short stories
|
Speaking with the Angel
Manufacturer: Riverhead Trade
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Anthologies
| Genre Fiction
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
United States
| Short Stories
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Anthologies
| Short Stories
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
British
| Short Stories
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Hornby, Nick
| ( H )
| Authors, A-Z
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Look Inside Fiction Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Songbook
-
The Polysyllabic Spree
-
A Long Way Down
-
Housekeeping vs. the Dirt
-
How to Be Good
ASIN: 1573228583
Release Date: 2001-02-06 |
Amazon.com
There are lots of reasons to buy Speaking with the Angel, an anthology of first-person narratives by bright, young, mostly British literati: these are smart and original stories, none of them previously published elsewhere. What's more, it's for a good cause. Nick Hornby, editor of the collection and author of one of the pieces, has an autistic son, and in a raw and wrenching introduction he stresses the importance of educational institutions to serve such children, who "have no language, and no particular compulsion to acquire it, who are born without the need to explore the world." Accordingly, a portion of each sale benefits autism charities around the world.
Still, this is a collection that stands on its own merits, and requires no act of charity to purchase. In Roddy Doyle's "The Slave," for example, a 42-year-old family man discovers a dead rat on his kitchen floor, and this unwelcome incursion from the natural world plunges him into a midlife crisis. In "Last Requests," Giles Smith introduces us to a prison cook who specializes in, well, last suppers. It's both hilarious and shocking to encounter this egomaniacal chef on the job:
They can have what they like, within reason, up to a maximum of three courses, with coffee or tea and a piece of confectionary or a biscuit if they want it. No alcohol, for obvious reasons. Obviously, you'll get the jokers, like the one who said he wanted a whole roast pig with an apple in its mouth. Or the governor's head, one of them said he wanted.
Elsewhere, in Hornby's own "NippleJesus," a skinhead bouncer becomes a museum guard and falls for the painting he's charged to protect, a crucifixion collage made up of thousands of tiny breasts cut out of porn magazines. The stories in Speaking with the Angel all feel up to the minute, abounding with references to politics and popular culture. Yet the obscenity and slang ultimately amount to a form of bluster, an acknowledgement of the intrinsic fragility that all 12 of these narrators share. --Victoria Jenkins
Book Description
Speaking with the Angel:
12 completely new stories, narrated by 12 completely fabulous characters, written by 12 of the most celebrated voices in fiction today. Bestselling author Nick Hornby has brought together a star-studded group of writers to create this one-of-a-kind collection of first-person narratives.
From the imaginations of Dave Eggers, Zadie Smith, Irvine Welsh, Helen Fielding, Roddy Doyle, Melissa Bank, and others, including Nick Hornby himself, have sprung eleven enthralling, unforgettable talking heads. Clever, outragious, witty, edgy, tender, wicked....This is what is meant by "original."
Customer Reviews:
A nice collection of short stories.......2007-07-03
Quite frankly, I liked some stories and didn't quite enjoy some of the others, but I still think this is a book worth reading, especially because the purpose for its creation is aimed to help autistic children. I was very touched by Nick Hornby's introduction. A must-buy.
Cool stories by hip writers.......2004-05-12
I think Nick Hornby is the coolest writer in the World today. This compilation was a way for me to find out other writers who are as cool as Nick. I wasn't disappointed. Here is my review of the short stories:
PMQ: Wonderful comedy piece about a Prime Minister's wild night out.
The Wonder Spot: Kind of too "New York Hipster" for me, but still a nice read.
Last Request: Great story. Mix of a serious topic with a light point of view.
Peter Shelley: Funny story about a boy losing his virginity. My favorite story in the book.
The Department of Nothing: Not bad, but a bit too sentimental for the tone of the book. This was my least favorite story. I wouldn't say Colin Firth should keep his day job, but hey, his day job is awesome.
I'm the Only One: Very short and a bit unsatisfying story about a kid's getting a visit from a super-tall friend. I still liked it.
NippleJesus: My second favorite story. A blue-collar man (a bodyguard) who admires an artsy-fartsy museum piece. Really funny.
After I was Thrown in The River...: I particularly didn't care much for this dog. My second least favorite.
LuckyBitch and The Slave: Both are about middle aged people. One seen from a woman's point of view and other from a man's. Both are equally a riot.
Catholic Guilt: My third favorite story, and being from Irvine Welsh, is also the edgiest. A homophobic hooligan gets his afterlife punishment. Simply hilarious.
Walking into the Wind: Just when I thought I couldn't laugh any harder comes this story about a mime to finish it off.
20-minute doses.......2004-04-12
With "High Fidelity" and "About a Boy" as two of my favorite books, it was Hornby's name that drew me to this anthology, though the other contributing authors are certainly not unrecognized.
I enjoyed each of this book's twelve stories, but a few in particular stood out. Hornby's "Nipple Jesus" was my favorite. In it, a security guard charged with protecting a controversial work of art - a beautiful depiction of the crucifiction that, upon close inspection, is seen to be composed of a collage of pornographic photos - wrestles with questions of whether or not the piece is really art and whether or not he really wants to guard it. The story forced me to examine similar questions as to what I felt constituted art. I was left thinking that it would have made a great bit of reading for a Philosophy of Art class.
Other memorable stories were "Last Requests" by Giles Smith, in which a prison cook ruminates upon preparing last meals for death row inmates; "The Slave" by Roddy Doyle, in which a man tries to slowly ween himself from paranoia after nearly stepping on the carcass of a giant rat in front of his refrigerator; and "Catholic Guilt" by Irvine Welsh, where a man gets his just deserves for beating a homosexual. Each of these stories went beyond merely providing entertainment, and led me to think as well.
Oddly enough, the least enjoyable stories were the first and the last in the collection - "PMQ" from Robbert Harris and "Walking into the Wind" from John O'Farrell. It's not that these two were poor entries - they were both solidly readable - they just didn't seem to have the zing of the other selections.
But with that small detraction as my biggest complaint, I have no hesitation in recommending "Speaking With the Angel." It's perfect for digesting in 20-minute doses, providing a dozen opportunities to, at least, briefly escape and, at best, to make you think.
Nick Hornby is God.......2003-07-07
This book is full of wonderfull short stories. Many of which are deeply funny. One is from the mind of a dog, another about a Chef that delivers last requests to prisoners about to be executed, and of course Nick Hornbys Nipple Jesus. I am not a huge fan os short stories but i knew this would be good since Nick Hornby was the author and i was not let down. A very good fun read.
Not all best selling authors can write short stories.......2003-01-10
When I saw the line-up of authors on the cover of this book, I was expecting to be blown away. There were a few stories that stood out from the rest, but I felt like the majority of them were stories I would have seen in a fiction class, not a published collection of stories. "NippleJesus", by Nick Hornby, was probably my favorite, along with "PMQ" by Robert Harris. Colin Firth's "The Department of Nothing" struck a sentimental chord, but I'd say the rest were about average, not leaving too much of an impact. As a result, the book took a while to get through. I guess not all best-selling novel authors are meant to cross over into the short story genre - either that or we are seeing their weaker ones in this collection.
One thing worth mentioning, however, is that a portion of the proceeds from this book goes to two different schools for autistic children. So even if you think the book [is bad], at least you know it wasn't all for naught.
Average customer rating:
- A delightful book full despite rat-eating violence
- Original, adventurous, and completely enjoyable.
- Great Writing, OK Story
- A great page turner
- Wonderful fantasy fiction
|
Neverwhere
Neil Gaiman
Manufacturer: William Morrow
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
United States
| Horror
| Genre Fiction
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Gaiman, Neil
| ( G )
| Authors, A-Z
| Horror
| Genre Fiction
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Horror
| Genre Fiction
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
| 18th Century
| 19th Century
| 20th Century
| African American
| Asian American
| Classics
| Collections & Readers
| Drama
| General
| Hispanic
| History & Criticism
| Humor
| Jewish American
| Letters & Correspondence
| Native American
| Poetry
| Short Stories
| Women Writers
Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Gaiman, Neil
| ( G )
| Authors, A-Z
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
Contemporary
| Fantasy
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Fantasy
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
Urban
| Fantasy
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
Dark
| Fantasy
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
Popular Fiction
| Literature & Fiction
| Book Clubs
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
American Gods
-
Stardust
-
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch
-
Coraline
-
Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions
ASIN: 0380973634
Release Date: 1997-07-01 |
Amazon.com
Neverwhere's protagonist, Richard Mayhew, learns the hard way that no good deed goes unpunished. He ceases to exist in the ordinary world of London Above, and joins a quest through the dark and dangerous London Below, a shadow city of lost and forgotten people, places, and times. His companions are Door, who is trying to find out who hired the assassins who murdered her family and why; the Marquis of Carabas, a trickster who trades services for very big favors; and Hunter, a mysterious lady who guards bodies and hunts only the biggest game. London Below is a wonderfully realized shadow world, and the story plunges through it like an express passing local stations, with plenty of action and a satisfying conclusion. The story is reminiscent of Douglas Adams's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but Neil Gaiman's humor is much darker and his images sometimes truly horrific. Puns and allusions to everything from Paradise Lost to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz abound, but you can enjoy the book without getting all of them. Gaiman is definitely not just for graphic-novel fans anymore. --Nona Vero
Book Description
Richard Mayhew is an unassuming young businessman living in London, with a dull job and a pretty but demanding fiancee. Then one night he stumbles across a girl bleeding on the sidewalk. He stops to help her--and the life he knows vanishes like smoke.
Several hours later, the girl is gone too. And by the following morning Richard Mayhew has been erased from his world. His bank cards no longer work, taxi drivers won't stop for him, his hundred rents his apartment out to strangers. He has become invisible, and inexplicably consigned to a London of shadows and darkness a city of monsters and saints, murderers and angels, that exists entirely in a subterranean labyrinth of sewer canals and abandoned subway stations. He has fallen through the cracks of reality and has landed somewhere different, somewhere that is Neverwhere.
For this is the home of Door, the mysterious girl whom Richard rescued in the London Above. A personage of great power and nobility in this murky, candlelit realm, she is on a mission to discover the cause of her family's slaughter, and in doing so preserve this strange underworld kingdom from the malevolence that means to destroy it. And with nowhere else to turn, Richard Mayhew must now join the Lady Door's entourage in their determined--and possibly fatal--quest.
For the dread journey ever-downward--through bizarre anachronisms and dangerous incongruities, and into dusty corners of stalled time--is Richard's final hope, his last road back to a "real" world that is growing disturbingly less real by the minute.
If Tim Burton reimagined The Phantom of the Opera, if Jack Finney let his dark side take over, if you rolled the best work of Clive Barker, Peter Straub and Caleb Carr into one, you still would have something that fell far short of Neil Gaiman's NEVERWHERE. It is a masterful debut novel of darkly hypnotic power, and one of the most absorbing reads to come along in years.
Download Description
"Special e-book feature: contains three stories - ""Fifteen Painted Cards From a Vampire Tarot""; ""Eaten""; ""Apple"" - not available in print edition. The distinctive storytelling genius of Neil Gaiman has been acclaimed by writers as diverse as Norman Mailer and Stephen King. Now in this new collection of stories--several of which have never before appeared in print and more than half that have never been collected--that will dazzle the senses and haunt the imagination. Miraculous inventions and unforgettable characters inhabit these pages: an elderly widow who finds the Holy Grail in a second-hand store...a frightened little boy who bargains for his life with a troll living under a bridge by the railroad tracks...a stray cat who battles nightly against a recurring evil that threatens his unsuspecting adoptive family. In these stories, Gaiman displays the power, wit, insight and outrageous originality that has made him one of the most unique literary artists of our day."
Customer Reviews:
A delightful book full despite rat-eating violence.......2007-09-25
Gaiman has this way of creating delightful stories even though they might contain less than delightful content: such as biting the heads of off live rats, bloody torture, and sifting through human sewage with a net. This is true in Neverwhere, where the story often turns violent. Somehow, though, it doesn't leave any feeling of nervousness or disgust, which is what grounds this type of story in Fantasy and out of Horror.
I'm not sure how he does it, but I believe it might the wondrous and complex worlds that he creates: in Neverwhere, this world is "London Below", a pseudo-real subterranean world in the tunnels and sewers under London. There are many interesting things happening, that the brutality of certain scenes is somehow made more palatable. Dont get me wrong - this is not a gore-fest, but there are very violent moments, as well as moments of extreme emotional distress for some of the characters... but there's no lasting sting. I associate it with a fine Single Malt: there might be a smokey or even sharp flavor to start, but the finish is pure velvety smoothness.
Another reason that Neverwhere appealed to me is the characters: each was a hard-survivalist on the surface (a requirement of living in the dangerous world below London), but they all had a depth to them that quickly revealed the heart under the hard exterior. I found myself liking every character, no matter how small their part in the story.
I highliy recommend Neverwhere, alhtough it may not be as suitable for younger readers as, say, Stardust
Original, adventurous, and completely enjoyable........2007-09-24
I'm relatively new to Gaiman's work, but I found this novel to be quite amazing. The subterranean world he creates below London is quite strange, yet I often felt as if I were there as I read it. The characters are quite appealing and easy to relate to, and the plot takes many unexpected twists and turns, making for a very interesting and enjoyable read.
Great Writing, OK Story.......2007-09-19
This book was highly recommended, but I found it somewhat difficult to get into. The characters are very sketchily drawn, and the story just seems to wander with no real point. There are plays on the names of several London Underground stations, but they seem randomly selected and don't really add anything to the story. There's no explanation of the talents of the various inhabitants of London Below, or any indication of the alliances/hostilities that require areas/times of safe passage. Some characters seem to move between the worlds and the main character suddenly "disappears" from the world above for no apparent reason other than to bring him below as the narrator. The book is very well written as far as the imagery, but without a compelling story to hold it together, it just doesn't mean much.
A great page turner.......2007-08-28
I was recommended this book by my friend, and I'm not disappointed. After reading this, I also read Stardust since it was by same author, and found Neverwhere to be better (darker). I would recommend this book to anyone who likes science fiction, has vivid imagination, or looking for a thriller. If you've ever been to London (I haven't), you might find this book close to home as well.
Wonderful fantasy fiction.......2007-08-27
I've always enjoyed fantasy fiction, and thrillers. Combine both, and throw in a good sprinkling of self-deprecating humor, and you have the wonderful read: Neverwhere.
I can't tell you how much I loved this book - I didn't want it to end. The world of Door, and Islington, and Croupe and company is entertaining, inventive, and imaginative. I love books where you are actively challenged to use your imagination, but to do so as smartly and whimsically as in Neverwhere is a total joy.
Set aside a few hours to read -- this is a can't-put-it-down-read-until-you-are-dizzy thrill of a book. I can't recommend any recent fantasy book more heartedly, I loved it.
Book Description
In Josh Emmons's inventive and utterly engaging debut, ten residents of Eureka, California, are brought together by a mysterious man, Leon Meed, who repeatedly and inexplicably appears -- in the ocean, at a local rock music club, clinging to the roof of a barreling truck, standing in the middle of Main Street's oncoming traffic -- and then, as if by magic, disappears.
Young and old, married and single, punk and evangelical, black, white, and Korean, each witness to these bewildering events interprets them differently, yet all of their lives are changed -- by the phenomenon itself, and by what it provokes in them. And whether they in turn stagger toward love, or heartbreakingly dissolve it, Emmons's portrayal of their stories is strikingly real and emotionally affecting.
Customer Reviews:
anyone, any time........2006-11-08
Emmons' novel, it's true, has a broad cast of characters, but each is so well characterized that they are easily distinguished from each other if the reader is willing to actually read the words on the page.
Each character has a vivid and distinct character from the next, lending the book a variety and scope that is sure to entrance the reader! And, accordingly, each character understands the mysterious appearances and disappearances of Leon Meed in their own appropriate way.
This book is a delightful read; it was great to curl with in bed and yet it also grabbed my attention mid-afternoon. It's an any time, any person kind of a novel, and those don't come along often!
Good casual read........2006-06-16
If your someone with a limited attention span seeking a good casual read this is for you. Yes, there is a larger cast of characters under the protagonist, and it does take a while to sort out who is who. However the characters share an indirect connection to eachother so it makes it easier to identify them. Each of the passages are short and distinctly marked so it makes it easy to leave and come back. The book is divided into three sections further simplifying the reading. It is an under the radar book from a new author and is original, well written, and flows like a swift cool creek in summer. The diverse characters, contemporary conflicts (i.e. homosexuality, redefining of family, and addiction problems), attention to setting, macabre plot, make this work a good example of contemporary Americana. It does not follow the trend of many contemporary Americana works, crappy writing pretending to be good. It is a book you only have to read once, so its better to get it from a library. I look forward to reading more from this author.
For every contrived phrase there are three remarkable ones.......2006-02-09
I should have hated this book. I lived in Eureka for 16 formative years. I graduated from the same high school as the author, and too aspire to write novels, none of which have, as yet, made it to paper much less shelf.
Like is not strong enough a word to describe my admiration for this work (though Love is admittedly too strong -- and too gay). This book is at once intriguing in its American everytown/no-town details and with its able determination to enthrall the reader with a delicately woven handful of characters, each despicable and attractive in his/her own unique way.
Shall I dare say it? I had trouble putting it down. Like many of the most memorable things experienced, it carefully avoided bashing me over the head with anything (moral, meaning, false profundity), and instead rang true with sincerity.
And sincerity does not come easily.
Confusing.......2006-01-23
I found the characters difficult to distinguish. There were so many characters that I got confused. Most of them were not distinctive enough to be remembered, so I kept having to go back and see which character I was reading about. Eventually, I gave up and could not finish the book. It was too much effort. The writing was fine, but certainly not captivating.
Loved this book.......2006-01-19
I had difficulty putting this book down. As someone who grew up in Eureka, I was impressed with how Josh Emmons was able to capture the essence of the town, of Humboldt County and in general of the lost coast of California. For those not familiar with the area, you will feel like you've been there after reading this book. Each character was a true representation of the odd mix of people one can find in this strange town in one of the most beautiful places in California. I couldn't wait to find out what was next in store for each character as I turned the pages.
Lines like "it was 4:30 and Barry was not gay" - to describe a young man at the cusp of admitting his homosexuality to himself - were constantly popping up in this book. The writing is fresh and takes chances.
Loved it.
Average customer rating:
- Do you think you have read it all?
- A daring novel that you'll either love or hate (I loved it)
- Not worth the time
- An original and thought-provoking first novel
- Original, witty, and fun, this novel is very entertaining
|
A Parisian from Kansas
Philippe Tapon
Manufacturer: Dutton Adult
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
| 18th Century
| 19th Century
| 20th Century
| African American
| Asian American
| Classics
| Collections & Readers
| Drama
| General
| Hispanic
| History & Criticism
| Humor
| Jewish American
| Letters & Correspondence
| Native American
| Poetry
| Short Stories
| Women Writers
Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Look Inside Fiction Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
The Mistress
ASIN: 0525942394 |
Amazon.com
In the almost 30 years since Stonewall, the gay male novel has settled into a few comfortable forms: the coming out story, the sex story, the AIDS story. Philippe Tapon's shocking new novel A Parisian from Kansas takes those forms and shakes them, bullies them, into something new. Ostensibly the story of Daren Swenson, an HIV-positive American living in Paris, as told by a fictional Philippe Tapon, A Parisian from Kansas is really a meta-novel. A meditation on writing and the imagination, it is more concerned with how we turn reality into imagination, fact into fiction, and our lives into art. This is one of the most original works of gay fiction in years.
Book Description
This remarkably assured, accomplished, and spellbinding novel is the extraordinarily engaging story-within-a-story of the friendship between two Americans in Paris. Darren Swenson is a disaffected, world-weary HIV-positive man who believes his life worthy of a novel. Philippe Tapon is the sensitive, poetic young man who attempts to turn Darren's life story into a post-modern, self-referential novel about life and death that will do justice to his remarkable subject. Unconventional, uncompromising, and unblinkingly truthful, A Parisian from Kansas is an emotion-packed exploration of the limits of compassion and the ills of a generation. A first-rate, page-turning narrative, a dramatization of the creative process and the inherent challenges of novel writing, this story is provocative in the very best way.
Customer Reviews:
Do you think you have read it all?.......1998-11-09
Are you bored of conventional writing styles? Are you looking for a good story to read and reflect about? Then look no further, because "A Parisian from Kansas" is all you need to enjoy yourself and see some things in life with wide-open eyes. Ambitious to its purpose and true to its kind, this story unfolds the life of Darren Swenson, an American dealing with AIDS who despises his roots and believes that a book about his life will immortalize him forever. Darren's life and the making of this biography both intertwine between each other, building up a concept worthy of admiration. In a few words, a story inside a story. Skills and originality describes this novel, at times quite confusing, but definitely a story that will change your view of how to read a book.
A daring novel that you'll either love or hate (I loved it).......1998-08-31
Although I (and most people I know) loved the novel, there are a few that don't like it. Who will NOT like it? Those who insist that stories should be told in a linear fashion. This novel jumps back and forth in time and space, sometimes within a paragraph. For those who prefer traditional story telling, you may not like this. I enjoyed this unique style because it made me pay attention, and after all, no one in real life tells long life stories in a linear fashion, it's natural to jump around.
Also, those who dislike gays/homosexuals may not appreciate the novel. Although this novel is certainly not a "gay novel," the protagonist is gay, and so it is hard to avoid the subject! Chapter 11 (in the middle of the novel) is graphic, so those who are sensitive to this, may want to skip the chapter and continue reading.
However, in the end this novel is about creating a novel, the desire for immortality, and the works of literature that inspire writing.
I've read many professional reviews of this book, and they are consistently positive.
I can understand why some readers may not like the style. You never know if you are in or out of the novel. Sometimes you don't know if an event really happened. To some, this can be maddening. To most, however, it makes the novel thrilling and engaging.
The novel is mostly true, but is in the fiction category, because there is some artistic license.
I can't guarantee that you'll love it, although nearly everyone I know who has read it has love it.
I recommend taking a small risk and buying it. I doubt you'll regret it, especially if you have any appreciation of literature and/or original writing styles.
Philippe Tapon's next novel will be entitled "The Mistress" and it comes out in January 1999. I can't wait!
Not worth the time.......1998-08-04
This book is pretentious and boring. Like another reviewer I struggled through the first 20 pages, pushed ahead a bit further (mostly because I was stuck on an airplane and had nothing else to read) and eventually gave up to read the airline magazine. The characters are inconsistently drawn and not very deep and the proclaimed architecture and self-referential nature of the book is a cute trick that adds little. I doubt this will ever be studied in a graduate English course.
An original and thought-provoking first novel.......1997-09-18
Tapon's first novel is a wonderful journey into the mind of a first-time writer. The characters, all based on reality, come to life in the reader's mind as s/he joins Tapon in deciphering his way through that nebulous area between art and reality. I can't wait for his next novel
Original, witty, and fun, this novel is very entertaining.......1997-08-29
This novel is refreshingly different from the standard fare. Its non-linear storytelling is enormously
realistic, because persons rarely recount their experiences in a chronological fashion. The novel skips
back and forth in time, but never in a way that is confusing or difficult to follow. Its self-referential
style is also refreshing as you witness the creation of the novel, including: criticisms by the
protagonists about the work; internal struggles of the author as he crafts the novel; and even praises
and critiques from the press after the novel is published! It is these unique twists and original story
telling that make the novel so entertaining and real. Although not everyone will appreciate such a
style, I believe most will. Overall, an amazing debut by a unique author. For more information and
professional reviews, check out: http://www.mba1997.hbs.edu/ftapon/philippe.html
Book Description
This anthology of thirty works by some of our best contemporary American writers looks at our perennial American obsession: fat. It's everywhere, all around you, and maybe even on you. Now, America's consuming passion at last has its own anthology. From Andre Dubus's delicious story of a young woman more comfortable in her fat body than her thin one
("The Fat Girl"), to Tobias Wolff's tale of bonding over pancakes ("Hunters in the Snow"), Dorothy Allison's poem about food and love ("Dumpling Child"), Peter Carey's surreal tale of a fat-man revolution ("The Fat Man in History"), Wesley McNair's poetic celebration "Fat Heaven", and George Saunders's "The 400-pound CEO," this bountiful feast of fiction and poetry will ensure no reader ever looks at fat quite the same way again.
Including stories and poems by
Dorothy Allison
Frederick Busch
Peter Carey
Raymond Carver
Junot Díaz
Andre Dubus
Pam Houston
Jill McCorkle
George Saunders
Tobias Wolff
Customer Reviews:
More stereotypes and fat-negativity truly NOT needed!.......2005-03-09
What a disappointing book -- I had such high hopes!
I haven't found anything fat positive or inspiring in this book. Several of the stories have characters whose main purpose in life, no matter what is happening, is that they are sticking to their diets. Warped. Yuck. So many of the stories talk like dieting and depriving yourself are just the normal and correct course of life for a fat person.
I thought it might be good at the beginning of the introduction --but by the end of the introduction, they say, "This anthology is not intended to celebrate size but to celebrate self-acceptance; to acknowledge, matter-of-factly, our human value in spite of our human condition."
And they're right -- they are NOT celebrating size. And did that last sentence mean, "in spite of our fat"? Because self-acceptance still seems to be predicated upon the loss of weight, striving to be thin, and having the self-discipline (self-negation) to stick with carrots and celery sticks. Doesn't sit well with me. I'd like to see a book that promotes self-acceptance, period -- not "in spite of" the size and shape of our bodies.
If you are looking for stories that celebrate fat experience, that show that fat people can have wonderful lives and be healthy and happy and have loving relationships (all of which are TRUE), then don't look here. This is simply more fat-bashing.
5 stars for the poetry, 2 for the stories.......2004-11-17
A guest review by Lara Frater
Heroines: varied
31 stories and poems that have something to do with being fat by such authors as Frederick Busch, Junot Diaz, Jill McCorkle, Katherine Riegel, Rebecca Curtis, Donna Jarrell, and Raymond Carter.
What worked for me:
This book is only worth it for the poetry. So check out "Full Figure" by Allison Joseph, "Nouveau Big" by Katherine Riegel, "For the Man who likes my Thighs" by Denise Duhamel, and "When Fat Girls Dream" by J. L. Haddaway. These poems show the suffering and joy of fat women. The only short story that was interesting and somewhat fat positive was "The Displaced
Overweight Homemaker's Guide to Finding a Mate", and that was saved only by its humor.
Size-wise only the poems seemed to praise plus-sized people.
What didn't work for me:
Where do I start? With the exceptions of the entries listed above, most of the stories portray fat women and men as lazy, obsessed, out of control eaters, neurotic, and they could only lose weight and be happy if they received counseling and really tried.
Overall:
I recommend borrowing the book and not buying it. (Or perhaps getting it used.) The poems are much more positive than the short stories, but there just aren't enough of them.
If you liked "What are You Looking at?" you might also enjoy the "Love at Large", "Living Large" or "At Long Last, Love!" anthologies.
Too many suffering characters.......2004-03-18
The blurb at the top of the jacket says, "Here is fat in all its glory and grandeur - a large-hearted celebration of the human spirit and each individual's unique value, regardless of size."
But it isn't. I was hoping for some proud, in-your-face fat people who believed in themselves. But nearly all the fat characters in this story collection are miserable, and some are tragic. The only contented one is a cat.
Some of the stories are marvelously written. Junot Diaz' "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" paints an amazingly colorful picture of the culture of young Dominicans in New Jersey. And Rhoda Stamell's "Love for a Fat Man," set in a public health clinic in poverty-stricken Detroit, is one of the few stories where people change in positive ways. But several others, including S.L. Wisenberg's "Big Ruthie Imagines Sex Without Pain," present people with too much self-hatred to identify with or enjoy.
Perhaps I was looking for something that doesn't exist. I'm not heavy myself. I regard overweight as a health condition, not a character flaw. I have a chronic condition myself, multiple sclerosis. But unlike overweight people, I get sympathy for my problem, not blame. I interviewed several overweight people for my book, "The Art of Getting Well: Maximizing Health When You Have a Chronic Illness" (Hunter House 2002). Even though some of them are very fit aerobics instructors, most have a lot of self-doubt. I don't know if society put it there, or if there's something else about being heavy that hurts your self-esteem. Anyway, the protagonists in these stories are mostly damaged.
It's worth reading, though. There are more poems than stories. I very much liked J.L. Haddaway's "When Fat Girls Dream." I think this book could start a lot of valuable discussion about weight and society's attitude towards it.
David Spero RN, author of "The Art of Getting Well." Write "david at davidsperorn.com"
It's About Time.......2003-09-24
For anyone who loves fiction and has struggled with weight (or not) this is a wonderful, insightful book. The stories are funny, sad, and real. I'm so glad someone had the guts to put together this collection. The book makes you realize that it isn't fat that's obscene, it's America's gluttonous hyped obsession with perfection and "skin deep" body image. (My only complaint is that I wish the book had been fatter.)
From The Oswegonian (by myself).......2003-09-24
My first thoughts were "Bad timing, Ira."
Publishing a "fat fiction anthology" right now might seem tantamount to endorsing al-Qaeda, with Dr. Phil's new diet book dominating store shelves and airwaves and with an unprecedented number of local and regional news stories doing "lose-weight-or-die" features as well. (When a potential customer calls up "What Are You Looking At?" on Amazon.com, they are offered a "package deal-order it along with Dr. Phil's diet book and get $11 off.)
It's exactly what Oswego professor Ira Sukrungruang has done, though-and it's selling well. Critical and reader response to "What Are You Looking At?: The First Fat Fiction Anthology" has been good since its September 9 release, says Sukrungruang, who will speak about the book on October 2 at River's End Books in Oswego.
Perhaps it's because with story after story on the news networks bemoaning the health risks of obesity and hour after hour of talk show dedicated to people wanting to "get fit," some overweight people are just saying "Sweet living Lord, I need a little reinforcement here!"
At any rate, the collection itself is what merits review, more than the stories themselves, which have largely been culled from other sources. Sukrungruang says that "fat has been kind of an obsession" for he and his co-editor Donna Jarrell, both of whom characterize themselves as having grown up fat. "It's what we lived with," Sukrungruang says.
A variety of writers ranging from Ray Carver and Tobias Wolff to Sukrungruang and his wife, a fellow Oswego professor and poet, contributed to the anthology; even the oldest of the stories are very contemporary. Sukrungruang says that while he was at first shocked to find how much material was available on the topic, he later ended up leaving a lot of good work on the cutting room floor.
So much so, in fact, that he and Jarrell have signed with Harvest Books to follow up "What Are You Looking At?" with a second volume-this one dedicated entirely to personal experience essays that revolve around being fat.
It was a chore to find an agent to represent them, Sukrungruang says, because anthologies are rarely profitable for agents. Once they found someone to bring their work to potential publishers, though, it took only a few weeks to find the book a home at Harvest. The largest buyer of the book is also the nation's largest bookstore chain, Barnes & Noble, where students reported seeing the book a couple of weeks before its September 9 release date.
The anthology itself is a great blend of touching and humorous stories, blending the established writers and the "staples" of fat fiction with relative unknowns and gems found in the rough. They are told from a variety of perspectives and, for someone who has been thin (often not just "average," but actually "too thin") for most of my life, it's an interesting way to see through the eyes of the folks who catch a lot of ridicule in an image-conscious society like ours.
Amazon.com
Told both in real-time and through flashbacks, The First Desire follows the Cohen family through several life changes, including the death of their mother, the birth of a child, financial hardships, and eventually World War II. While much of the novel is seen through the eyes of Sadie Cohen Feldstein, the second eldest and seemingly most responsible of the five Cohen siblings, debut novelist Nancy Reisman does an excellent job of getting into the heads and hearts of the remaining characters. For example, when Jo Cohen, the moody, withdrawn, almost masculine sister falls in love with a coworker, her desire is so vivid it seems almost tangible. Celia, the youngest sister who floats in and out of reality, is prone to moments of clarity that completely negate her role as the neediest, most vulnerable sibling. Finally, through Irving, the lone male in the group, Reisman shows the powerful effect that loneliness can have on the relationships that seem to matter most. Yet while each of these characters is revealed to be a juxtaposition of extremes, it is always family that draws them back in eventually. As Goldie says, "he is crossing the snow of the lawn, he is holding out his arms. Her life astonishes her: he is calling her name." --Gisele Toueg
Book Description
1929. Buffalo, New York. A beautiful July day, the kind one waits for through the long, cold winters. Sadie Feldstein, née Cohen, looks out her window at the unexpected sight of her brother, Irving. His news is even more unexpected, and unsettling: their elder sister, Goldie, has vanished without a trace.
With Goldie’s disappearance as the catalyst, The First Desire takes us deep into the life of the Cohen
family and an American city, from the Great Depression to the years immediately following World War II. The story of the Cohens is seamlessly told from the various perspectives of siblings Sadie, Jo, Goldie, and Irving—each of whose worlds is upended over the course of the novel, the smooth veneer of their lives giving way to the vulnerabilities and secrets they’ve managed to keep hidden—and through the eyes of Lillian, the beautiful woman their father, Abe, took as a lover as his wife was dying. But while Abe’s affair with Lillian stuns his children, they are even more shocked by his cold anger in the wake of Goldie’s disappearance.
The First Desire is a book of great emotional power that brings to life the weave of love, grief, tradition, and desire that binds a family together, even through the tumultuous times that threaten to tear it apart.
Customer Reviews:
Pleasurable read but confusing.......2007-02-08
I enjoyed learning about all the characters in the book, but I didn't see a theme. Getting to know this family was interesting, but I couldn't fathom what the author's message was, if, indeed, there was a message. Not understanding the purpose left one frustrated at the end.
family affair.......2006-10-20
And you thought your family has problems well you have not met the Cohen's. We have Abe, who doesn't even acknowledge his girlfriend's existance even after his wife died. Then he's eldest daughter they think died but we dion't even know why everyone thinks she's dead. The father decides to have a shiva without a body. Then Lillian who stays with Abe and doesn't marry even til the very end. You have Sadie who wants to tell everyone how to live. Goldie, she is the smart one she was the caretaker til she realized what she was in for and left.
Jo who is a lesbian and has a woman she is attracted to get fired. Celia, who has to be taken care of. Irving, who is the womanizer, theif and fake. What would you do. I think I would do the same as Goldie and leave town.
Our book club discussed this book. We all agreed ( we are a jewish book club). But this was not about being jewish but the family and character dynamics. It made you want to know why they didn't get committed. But, it made you feel and go with the emotion of each character. For example Sadie was giving birth but during that time you actually felt her pain and agony and you wanted to strangle Bill's mother neck too.
sister's disappearance frays already flawed family.......2005-12-31
Nancy Reisman poses an important question in her provocative, if sometimes overwritten, debut novel, "The First Desire': What do we really want out of life? Reisman examines this question through the experiences of one family, grappling with the aftershocks of the sudden and unexpected disappearance of its oldest daughter. Each character confronts the issue, and in those confrontations, reveals the core components of his or her personality. It is Reisman's contention that we don't know ourselves well enough to act on our desires, and, as a result, we tend to live in illusion and seek to escape life's possibilities.
Set in Buffalo and spanning a generation (from 1929 to the immediate post World War II era), "The First Desire" chronicles the Cohens' response to an event that signals the erosion of an already overstretched family fabric. After assuming the caretaking responsibilities for her terminally-ill mother and unwillingly shouldering maternal obligations as well, Goldie simply vanishes. Though Goldie's resentments are demonstrably obvious and her resentment at a restrictive, meaningless existence palpable, her family is strangely oblivious to the possibility that Goldie simply may have fled. Her father, the grimly responsible Abe Cohen, quickly sits shiva and washes his hands of her. With a jeweler's quiet efficiency, he literally and figuratively buries his wife and daughter. Once he puts aside death, Abe separates himself from his remaining three daughters and sole son and devotes himself to his work and his frantic, passionate but sterile pursuit of romance. His is a singularly unfeeling man, whose carefully-maintained veneer cracks only after his unwanted confrontation with the Holocaust.
Abe's children prove to be the most interesting characters in "The First Desire." Each faces the absence of the family's true symbol of strength; they must discover an answer to what it is they want out of life. Of the remaining four, Sadie assumes moral responsibility for finding her sister. She subordinates other desires and determines to live an ordinary bourgeois life, never straying too far from the lines, always careful to maintain proper appearances, often bewildered as to how life seems to have swallowed her. She ruefully acknowledges "what she once wanted is not necessarily what she wants now." Despite her functional marriage and competent motherhood, her "desire often slides to the periphery, or beyond, into murk."
Murk is where her brother, Irving, lives. Pilfering money from his father's business or cadging change from Sadie, the sybaritic Irving never musters the courage to live life. He retreats to faceless trysts with nameless partners, shuns the possibilities of genuine affection and lives in a twilight world of burlesque houses, poker nights and false identities. One of the middle sisters, Jo, exudes frustration and suffers the consequences of a sterile, repressed life. Sexually frustrated (and perhaps a closet lesbian) and yoked to her developmentally-disabled sister Celia, Jo lacks the instinct to even nibble at life. Instead, she burns with resentments...anger over her unwelcome responsibilities to care for Celia and her father, despair over an absolute lack of possibilities and bewilderment over how little control she has of life. She is genuinely lost.
Reisman offers believable insights into the lives of the Cohens; her portraits are sensitive, compassionate and believable. However, when she strays from the narrative and focuses on minor characters (Abe's mistress, Lillian, receives far too much attention), "The First Desire" loses traction. Reisman's detailed descriptions of the Cohens' physical environment veer dangerously into excess, and much of the family's angst is repetitive. The novel's braided chapters, written from a family member's perspective, occasionally hinder the plot's continuity.
Despite these weaknesses, "The First Desire" showcases talent. Nancy Reisman boldly stakes out psychological terrain that is difficult to navigate. Her characters, uncomfortably flawed and frightfully ill-equipped to deal with the centrifugal impact of Goldie's disappearance, remind us that regardless of the vicissitudes of life, we have an obligation to discover our first desire.
Choppy, boring, lacking unity, & no plot.......2005-11-23
This book is a string of characters thoughts with nothing of interest to hold it together. You don't identify with any of the characters as they are all shallow, wallowing in the wind, not knowing what they believe or want in life. What a true bore and waste of time.
Nothing Happens...Yet Everything Happens.......2005-09-19
For those readers who are only content with action novels, this is not a novel that will satisfy. But for those who enjoy characters who unfold and come to life and haunt you for days -- weeks! -- to come, The First Desire is a novel to be read and savored.
In essence, the First Desire is about how a family can sustain and at the same time, destroy us..how our internal vistas end up exploding into the harsh glare of reality. While reading this novel, I kept wondering: "How can someone as young as Nancy Reisman "get" what life was like in the 1920s and 1930s and recreate it so convincingly? How can she breathe life into these characters so beautifully?" It's the novelist's skill, and she does it to near perfection.
These are not one dimensional characters and there's not a false move here. Anyone who has ever explored the minefields of family life (and that's about 99% of us), will find something to relate to. I felt as if I knew these characters, their confusions and frustrations, as they muddled through. With the wealth of intimate details, these characters are very, very real.
Average customer rating:
- Prose excellent, dialogue dreadful.
- Murder & mayhem in the Canadian frontier!
- Fast-moving and suspenseful
- Multiple characters, multiple plot lines, well-juggled.
- Not a Beach Book...
|
The Tenderness of Wolves: A Novel
Stef Penney
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Canadian
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Mystery
| Mystery & Thrillers
| Subjects
| Books
Historical
| Mystery
| Mystery & Thrillers
| Subjects
| Books
Canadian Detectives
| Mystery
| Mystery & Thrillers
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Mystery & Thrillers
| Subjects
| Books
Look Inside Mystery & Thriller Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
The Exception: A Novel
-
The Master Bedroom: A Novel
-
Down the Nile: Alone in a Fisherman's Skiff
-
Mary Modern: A Novel
-
Away: A Novel
ASIN: 1416540741 |
Book Description
A brilliant and breathtaking debut that captivated readers and garnered critical acclaim in the United Kingdom, The Tenderness of Wolves was long-listed for the Orange Prize in fiction and won the Costa Award (formerly the Whitbread) Book of the Year.
The year is 1867. Winter has just tightened its grip on Dove River, a tiny isolated settlement in the Northern Territory, when a man is brutally murdered. Laurent Jammett had been a voyageur for the Hudson Bay Company before an accident lamed him four years earlier. The same accident afforded him the little parcel of land in Dove River, land that the locals called unlucky due to the untimely death of the previous owner.
A local woman, Mrs. Ross, stumbles upon the crime scene and sees the tracks leading from the dead man's cabin north toward the forest and the tundra beyond. It is Mrs. Ross's knock on the door of the largest house in Caulfield that launches the investigation. Within hours she will regret that knock with a mother's love -- for soon she makes another discovery: her seventeen-year-old son Francis has disappeared and is now considered a prime suspect.
In the wake of such violence, people are drawn to the crime and to the township -- Andrew Knox, Dove River's elder statesman; Thomas Sturrock, a wily American itinerant trader; Donald Moody, the clumsy young Company representative; William Parker, a half-breed Native American and trapper who was briefly detained for Jammett's murder before becoming Mrs. Ross's guide. But the question remains: do these men want to solve the crime or exploit it?
One by one, the searchers set out from Dove River following the tracks across a desolate landscape -- home to only wild animals, madmen, and fugitives -- variously seeking a murderer, a son, two sisters missing for seventeen years, and a forgotten Native American culture before the snows settle and cover the tracks of the past for good.
In an astonishingly assured debut, Stef Penney deftly weaves adventure, suspense, revelation, and humor into an exhilarating thriller; a panoramic historical romance; a gripping murder mystery; and, ultimately, with the sheer scope and quality of her storytelling, an epic for the ages.
Customer Reviews:
Prose excellent, dialogue dreadful........2007-09-25
I wanted to like this book, given its interesting setting, time period and characters. Unfortunately, I found much of it to be a painful slog. Author Stef Penny is an able writer of prose, but her dialogue is stiff, boring and unvarying from character to character. I've found this to be true of many writers -- the inability to write both fluid prose and realistic dialogue -- and it's too often true for young authors and debut novels. Still, the fact that plonky dialogue is common doesn't make it any nicer to read. Overall, this novel has an interesting plot, some well-rounded characters (Mrs. Ross is complex and intriguing), and enough portentious leads to take you from one chapter to the next. It offers good, solid writing and structure, and it comes across as fresh and original. Readers less particular than I might not even notice any problem when the characters open their mouths, but for me the reading experience was ruined by just about everything that appeared between quotation marks.
Murder & mayhem in the Canadian frontier!.......2007-09-17
I like authors who treat the readers as if we have some intelligence! There are many subtleties to this story. I enjoyed moving along with the story as more details unfolded. Penney's descriptions of her characters are so articulate that we can almost read their minds, so where a plot may seem to dangle, all we have to do is think of who the character is and surmise.
I was drawn to the cover and title of this book, therefore is was a bit puzzling to me where the wolf theme related. All I could come up with was that, as with her chapter headings, there was some sarcasm to it. Wolves are very social and nurturing of their own. The humans in this story were viscious on many levels and the ones living any length of time in the snowy wilderness became barbaric, even.
The bone tablet was simply an enigma. Did it ever truly "exist"?
I liked this book from the beginning and found it more engaging as I read. A very good first novel! Brava, Stef!
Fast-moving and suspenseful.......2007-09-16
Great book - my husband started reading it and has it in his hands whenever he has a spare minute - he is not a huge fiction reader, so that is saying something. Great characterizations and gripping storyline ... Last of the Mohicans meets Hercule Poirot?
Multiple characters, multiple plot lines, well-juggled........2007-08-30
The setting of THE TENDERNESS OF WOLVES is the Northwest Territory of Canada. A trapper, Laurent Jamment, has been murdered and Francis Ross a local youth who has also disappeared, is one of the main suspects. Tracks lead north into the wilderness.
Several characters head out after Francis Ross, including Donald Moody, a Hudson Bay official, and Jacob, his Indian guide. At first Moody is one of the most sympathetic characters in the book. He's not prepared for the rigors of life in the wild, plus he has sort of an inferiority complex. He's also in love with Susannah, Andrew Knox's daughter. Knox is like the mayor of Caulfield, the biggest town in the area.
The first man arrested in the murder investigation is William Parker, a half-breed voyageur, who was seen searching Laurent Jamment's cabin. When a Hudson Bay official uses torture to pry the truth out of Parker, Andrew Know releases him. Shortly thereafter Francis's mother and Parker follow the others into the wilderness.
There are dozens of characters in THE TENDERNESS OF WOLVES, most of whom have their own viewpoint; however, Mrs. Ross is the only one who speaks to us in first person. There are also several plot threads. In addition to the murder plot, we have a budding romance between Mrs. Ross and Parker and a homosexual relationship between Francis and Laurent Jamment (portrayed in Francis`s memory). Then we have the Seton sisters, two sisters who disappeared several years prior to the murder, while out berry picking. Throw in the bone with mysterious markings on it that Francis took from Laurent's belongings and we have almost as many plot threads as characters.
To complicate matters more fully, Mrs. Ross has a mysterious past. At one time she was confined to an insane asylum where she was a laudanum addict. Occasionally, Stef Penney will flash back to those times.
Also, way out in the middle of the wilderness there's a fundamentalist Lutheran settlement called Himmelvanger (The Fields of Heaven) and several characters there have their own plot thread as well.
Somehow, Stef Penney is able to balance all of these different viewpoints and plot lines into a coherent narrative. My soul problem was with the ending. It fizzles to say the least. We find out who murdered Laurent Jamment, but several of the other plot lines are left hanging.
Not a Beach Book..........2007-08-29
While I thoroughly enjoyed this book once I got into it, it was a challenge to figure out what was going on. The story itself is really interesting and the setting is fabulously well-drawn, but there are so many names to remember that it is kind of tough going, at times. The first 50 pages or so are completely hard to follow, but stick with it and it will begin to gel later on. Each chapter is told from a different character's point of view, and while interesting, it makes for a lot of head scratching. The names of many of the characters are similar, and we often go through 100 pages or more before a character is mentioned again. I would recommend this to the more sophisticated reader. This is not a book to be casually leafed through while sitting on the beach at Waikiki. One other thing, I can't imagine why the publishers decided to make this book a "summer release". The setting is so dark, cold, and snowy that it's difficult to even imagine what these people are feeling as we are suffocating of heat here in the Pacific Northwest in August. Overall, after a slow start, this book got under my skin and is now one of my all-time favorites. But it's not for everyone.
Books:
- The Nature of Consciousness : The Structure of Reality: Theory of Everything Equation Revealed : Scientific Verification and Proof of Logic God Is
- The New Rules of Marriage: What You Need to Know to Make Love Work
- The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency Box Set: "The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" "Tears of the Giraffe" "Morality for Beautiful Girls"
- The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't
- The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
- The White Mountains
- The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl
- These Three Remain: A Novel of Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman
- Thicker Than Water (Heartland #8)
- Travel Team
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- The Book of Kells: An Illustrated Introduction to the Manuscript in Trinity College Dublin
- History: Fiction or Science
- Vibrational & Rotational Spectrometry of Diatomic Molecules
- Another Man's Wife: A Novel
- Color Drawing: Design Drawing Skills and Techniques for Architects, Landscape Architects, and Interi
- History: Fiction or Science
- Curso a Distancia de Reiki
- Visual Illusions in Motion with Moire Screens: 60 Designs and 3 Plastic Screens
- African-American Artists, 1929-1945: Prints, Drawings, and Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of A
- Roundhead General: The Campaigns of Sir William Waller
The Yiddish Policemen's Union: A Novel
On Chesil Beach: A Novel
For the Relief of Unbearable Urges: Stories
Kalooki Nights: A Novel
Divisadero
