- Paperback: 352 pages
- Publisher: Fourth Estate; New Ed edition (6 April 2000)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1857029836
- ISBN-13: 978-1857029833
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,693,194 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Finn Causley is the auctioneer. The owner of an auction house in a Victorian silk mill, Finn tells his story through the objects others have left behind: a Staffordshire figure in a bonnet, slightly chipped; a faded friendship band; a white pill bottle with an easy-grip screw cap. The lots trigger a flood of mis-remembered conversations, childhood ghosts and memories: memories of Margaret, his mother, who died in a car crash with someone else's watch in her pocket and a whiff of adultery in the air; of Hen, his wife, who suffers from St. Mary's Disease, a form of dementia that erases her memory whilst giving her a masked smile. and then there's Anna, who stole his heart when she appeared in a Kandinsky dress by a pool at midnight.The Auctioneer is about the sort of history "made by cheap useful objects; what's dusty on your sideboard, what's sticky at the back of your drawer."; An intricate, well-paced history that is as much about the things that happen off-camera as on. Told in several voices, this first novel circles around Finn's grief and confusion as he becomes increasingly obsessed with his past. Complex, multi-layered and assured, The Auctioneer explores the relationships between love, deceit and the junk that clutters our lives.--Jane Honey
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Daily Telegraph
"This big, anxious book surely marks the debut of a considerable talent."
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Probably the best book you'll read this century,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Auctioneer (Paperback)
A brilliant book - you find yourself thinking about certain scenes months after you've finished it. You miss the characters and want to know what they are doing now .... I especially loved Hen.Finn, the Auctioneer, observes: "Hen's yellow hair. My palette has no other name for it than yellow; my inside information says it isn't bleached, or poured out from a bottle marked Butterscotch or Strawberry Blonde. The only artificial treatment is the lemon juice she rubs in at the sink in the morning, when she still looks too young to be a mother". And when Finn first met her: "I can't say that's what sealed it. But I know that if a certain part of me, something I had always trusted with my most important decisions, had curled up and gone to sleep instead of standing on tiptoe for a better view, our relationship would have ended with her driving me back to my two-roomed flat and wishing me luck in finding a life." So many threads within the story - is this what travelling in Australia is really like ? what had actually happened to piano playing Margaret? possessions of the dead falling under the auctioneer's hammer, twentysomethings living under the roof of a Victorian mill, plastic brains, drugs, the Green Knight, handcuffs. It was marvellous, when I read it the second time, to discover bits that I hadn't noticed first time round because I had been in such a hurry to know how it was going to work out. Would Finn meet up with Anna ? would it be worth the wait ? were they all going to succumb to "Bliss" ? Surely Hen wasn't going to die ? It's a very clever book and the writing is sublime - it's definitely up there with "The Beach", "Quarantine" and "The Leopard". Absolute entelechy - hurry up and write another one, Charles Fernyhough.
3.0 out of 5 stars
A complex modern love story,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Auctioneer (Paperback)
I think I missed something with The Auctioneer. The other glowing reviews speak for themselves, but I found it difficult to follow and I think I missed the point. Partly I found the style (which clearly many other people adore) got in the way of the story. I don't want to sound too negative: I'm glad I read it, but I was left with an empty feeling afterwards.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A funny, moving page-turner,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Auctioneer (Paperback)
Rarely does a modern book cause me to experience more than the glimmer of an emotion, but The Auctioneer had me roaring with laughter at its brilliant comic scenes and crying at Finn's tragic lack of discernment in women. This book will take you on a trip around the world and introduce you to a band of intriguingly damaged characters. If, like me, you haven't been to Sydney, Fernyhough's description will make you want to take the next flight there. The characters are very well drawn, and by the end of the book, I felt as though they were personal friends. I loved Einar - a true Shakespearean fool - and wanted to slap Finn for his obsession with Anna! Fernyhough writes beautifully; his descriptions of England in the late twentieth century are so well-observed that they immediately strike a chord, and his dialogue is perfect, making you believe wholeheartedly in every character. I found myself so involved with the dilemmas of Finn and Hen's lives that I couldn't put it down. Fernyhough is a fantastic new talent, and The Auctioneer is a wonderful book.
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