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Air and Fire
 
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Air and Fire (Paperback)

by Rupert Thomson (Author)
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
RRP: £7.99
Price: £5.49 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Frequently Bought Together

Air and Fire + The Five Gates of Hell (Bloomsbury Paperbacks) + Divided Kingdom
Price For All Three: £16.55

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Product details

  • Paperback: 320 pages
  • Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC; Re-issue edition (19 Mar 1998)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0747536945
  • ISBN-13: 978-0747536949
  • Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 13 x 2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 293,971 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #6 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > T > Thomson, Rupert

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Product Description

Review

'A drama of thwarted passions, the conflict between masculine reason and female intuition, Enlightenment rationality and native superstition Thoroughly enjoyable' Guardian 'A haunting atmosphere, skilfully described Surreal and evanescent' New York Times Book Review 'Thomson has an astonishing eye for detail, coupled with a flair for plots that are both neat and profound' Times Literary Supplement 'Extraordinary Human passions in all their grandeur and frailty are explored under a hot Mexican sky Thomson writes with an intensity that mirrors the emotions - all strongly felt - of his unusual cast of characters' Daily Mail


Product Description

At the turn of the century Theophile and Suzanne Valence sail into the Mexican copper-mining town of Santa Sofia. Theo has travelled here to build a metal church designed by his mentor, the great engineer Gustave Eiffel. His wife Suzanne, wayward and graced with the gift of clairvoyance is deeply in love and has insisted on accompanying him. But the magical landscape inspires no answering passion in Theo. In her loneliness she turns to the American gold prospector Wilson Pharaoh, and soon he, like the town and its inhabitants, falls under her spell, an enchantment as seductive as Suzanne herself.
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Air and Fire
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Customer Reviews

4 Reviews
5 star:
 (3)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
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Average Customer Review
4.8 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Earthy & Dry, 18 Mar 2001
By A Customer
It's a shame that this book has been so long overshadowed by the other, slightly showier, elements of Thomson's oeuvre. It was his third novel, and his first great one, after the entertaining but baggy "Dreams of Leaving" and the forced strangeness of "Five Gates of Hell."

For those readers, like me, who find most of his work a touch glib (if beautifully written and original), "Air & Fire" will cheer your soul. One part "Oscar & Lucinda" to three parts Graham Greene, it's the central love story and the character of Wilson that resonates. The writing is parched and suffocating, appropriate to the Mexican setting, and it's worth noting here that Thomson has probably the deepest bran tub of remarkable similes in modern literature.

It has a coherence and force lacking in, say, "Soft" and "The Book of Revelation," both of which make you feel that too many ideas were thrown into the mix without being fully realised. There is a difference between understatement and frustrating the reader, and "Air & Fire" comes down beautifully on the right side.

And, for once in common with Thomson's other novels, it realises too that happy endings are best left to Hollywood.

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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Aha - Thomson with discipline!, 11 Oct 2005
Having read all Thomson's novels bar the latest (Divided Kingdom), I can now say that this is by far his best. Unfortunately, it is also very different in style and content to all the others - not just due to the early 20th century setting, as opposed to the late 20th century settings of most of his other novels, though this does help avoid some of the more over-detailed sexual obsessions of novels like 'Five Gates of Hell'. It's as if, with the perspective of history, Thomson has to focus on plot rather than just meander in whatever psycho-sexual direction his muse takes him (as in 'The Insult', 'Five Gates of Hell' and 'The Book of Revelation'). I hope that, after the disastrous reviews of 'Divided Kingdom', Thomson moves away from ill-considered science fiction and the sexual and drug-filled obsessions of his youth and writes more fiction from a historical perspective. Thomson is a brilliant writer whose verbal pyrotechnics capture the characters and personalities of social alienation like few others, but he lacks discipline and his editors are not strong enough to tell him where he is going wrong. 'Air and Fire' shows that, with fixed points of historical reference, he can put all his power of expression into telling a good story. Then he can move up into the realms of the great Australian novelist, Patrick White, whose wonderful novel 'Voss' this 'Air and Fire' novel so reminds me of. I fear, however, that Thomson saw this as a one-off (having published it in 1998). I'd dearly like him to re-consider his direction. Leave the macabre to Michel Faber, Rupert, and let's have more of the warm observation, love of detail and, yes, humour, that you put into 'Air and Fire'.
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4.0 out of 5 stars Period drama- not usually my sort of thing, 29 Aug 2009
By K. Wilcox - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I found this novel in the 'to clear' section of my local bookshop, liked the cover and had a quick flick through. I didn't read the synopsis, just one of the reviews, and was about to put it back, when i saw that it was dedicated to 'all kates'. That being my name, i thought 'what the hell, i'll give it a go'. When i embarked on reading i was disappointed to discover that it was a period piece, set in a small town in Mexico at the turn of the century. However, within a few pages i was hooked, not so much by the story, but by the beautiful, evocative language. Rupert Thomson is able to capture the feel and smell of existance in the town, and conveys a deep love for his characters in his quiet description of their unfolding, and unravelling lives. The time-period is less alienating than i expected, and the story engaging, if slightly confusing near it's conclusion. Having finished it, it feels like a private journey that is well worth exploring.
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5.0 out of 5 stars A truly gifted writer
I have just begun reading Thomsons books, and have been completely converted. What a superb writer, and real variety of content/style as well. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Keith D. Langley

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