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Beatrice and Virgil
 
 
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Beatrice and Virgil [Kindle Edition]

Yann Martel (Author)
3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
Print List Price: £8.99
Kindle Price: £4.28 includes VAT* & free wireless delivery via Amazon Whispernet
You Save: £4.71 (52%)
* Unlike print books, digital books are subject to VAT.

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Hardcover £10.23   -- --
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Product Description

Review

* Every page offers something of tension, humanity, surprise, or even ecstasy The Times on Life of Pi * Ultimately uplifting Daily Mail on Life of Pi * A terrific book ... fresh, original, smart, devious, and crammed with absorbing lore -- Margaret Atwood Sunday Times on Life of Pi * A hilarious novel, full of clever tricks, amusing asides and grand originality Daily Telegraph on Life of Pi * This enormously lovable novel is suffused with wonder ... this is fiction probing the imaginative realm with scientific exactitude, twisting reality to "bring out its essence" Guardian on Life of Pi

Review

A provocative and fiercely brave novel. It grips the reader with teeth as sharp as a Bengal tiger's - author of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
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Product details

  • Format: Kindle Edition
  • File Size: 489 KB
  • Print Length: 225 pages
  • Page Numbers Source ISBN: B004QPXK70
  • Publisher: Canongate Books (3 Jun 2010)
  • Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B003OQUJDA
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • X-Ray: Not Enabled
  • Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #49,274 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
40 of 42 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Highly original: but does it work? 17 May 2010
By Julia Flyte TOP 50 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback
Like Yann Martel himself, Henry is a Canadian author whose second book - which features wild animals - has become both a critical success and a wildly popular bestseller. He then struggles for five years with his next book, which is about the ways that the Holocaust is represented in literature. He thinks he has found a fresh approach to tell the story, but his publisher, editor and agent unanimously reject it. Henry and his wife move away and he takes a break from writing. He starts working in a café, takes up the clarinet and joins an amateur theatrical group. One day he receives a package containing a short story by Flaubert (in which many animals are killed) together with an extract from a original play featuring a discussion between two characters: Beatrice and Virgil. An accompanying note reads: "I need your help". This prompts him to track down the author, an elderly taxidermist (also named Henry) who lives in the same city. Taxidermist Henry has been working on his play for 40 years, but isn't satisfied with it. At this point the plot slows down, and the play becomes the focus of the story.

So Beatrice and Virgil is a strange combination of what seems to be a highly autobiographical memoir with a not-very-compelling mystery, that centres on a play about a donkey and a howler monkey living on a striped shirt - which is itself a fairly laboured and obvious metaphor for something else. And that's the biggest issue for me. When I started reading the book I felt that it was stimulating, riddled with clues and associations, that it was operating on so many levels. But as I read on, I increasingly felt that I was being bludgeoned with the same heavy-handed metaphors over and over.... Read more ›
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Trash or genius? 28 July 2010
By Boof TOP 500 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE
Format:Hardcover
I barely know where to start with this book. I actually finished it over a week ago but wanted to wait a while to collect my thoughts about it and see if they are any clearer after some consideration. They aren't: I am just as confused.

I was so desperate to get my mitts on this book: Life of Pi is one of my all-time favourites and I have developed a huge crush on tigers since reading the book. When I saw the cover and the blurb for Beatrice and Virgil I was practically cartwheeling round the room in anticipation of my my brand new crush on donkeys and howler monkeys. It's by Yann Martel. It's got animals in it. What's not to love?

I will attempt to describe the plot now: There is an author called Henry who has had two really successful books out and he has just written a third which gets panned by his publishers. In the first 20 pages of this book I learned more about flip books than I ever realised I cared (and am assured that I still don't). Henry throws his toys out of the pram and moves to another (unamed) city to live off his previous royalties and do things like join an orchestra and a drama group without writing another thing. One day he ets a strange letter from a man also called Henry. The letter contains a chapter of a play that Henry #2 has written and asks Henry #1 for help. Coincidentally, Henry #2 lives in the same city where Henry #1 has just moved to so Henry #1 decides to pay him a visit and finds that Henry #2 lives and works as a taxidermist. The rest of the book flits between the play that Henry #2 has written which is about a donkey called Beatrice and a howler monkey called Virgil who live on a striped shirt, and the two Henry's meeting to discuss the play.... Read more ›
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Anyone who had a heart !!! 15 Jun 2011
By Katysparkle
Format:Hardcover
I absolutely loved this book. I have not read life of Pi, but it will be the next book I read. I cant really understand how you could not get this book as some reviewers have said, there really is nothing to get. I was completely immersed by the authors writing style from the first page and found myself drawn in completely. I found the descriptions of the animals, the pear and the shirt all equally delightful. The juxtaposing of the animals innocent enjoyment of the minutia of things around them with the story of the Holocaust was extremely powerful in bringing out the horror of the laid back violence. In short if you love animals like i do and you are sensitive to the emotions of others you will be deeply touched by this book. I read the final pages with the games for Gustav through a flood of tears. Loved it , loved it , ,loved it .
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars 3 parts enjoyable and 1 part harrowing 3 May 2011
By B. McGarvey
Format:Hardcover
I find some of the negative reviews of this book quite surprising, especially the people who said it is not an easy read. I found that it was a real page turner and I read it in a couple of days. I liked the several different texts / stories within the main story of Beatrice and Virgil, a technique which is often employed by Paul Auster who is one of my favourite writers. I wouldn't say Beatrice and Virgil is as good as Life of Pie but I did actually find B and V easier to read from the onset (I found that it took me a while to get into Pi before it became unputdownable!). When I first saw the animals on the book cover I thought Martel may just be cashing in on the success of Life of Pie, and maybe that was Martel's initial reason for choosing to use animal characters again, however I must say that this book is an altogether different beast (with beast being the operative word). I think Martel achieved what he set out to do in respect of using animal characters instead of humans, in that I think it added to the horror of the ending of Beatrice's and Virgil's story (the play) which I found really quite harrowing and shocking, probably more so than if Martel had used human characters in a more straight-forward holocaust novel (which there are of course so many of already). I felt genuinely upset after reading this book and actually contemplated skipping some scenes because they were so distressing. There was the occasional humorous moment too, especially when Henry's wife makes a "Winnie the Pooh meets the holocaust" comment (it's rare that a book has me in hysterics!). On the whole I found B and V enjoyable and interesting and the type of novel that will no doubt play on my mind for some time.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars Well written but my head hurts
Very unusual approach to bringing to 'life' a fragment of the holocaust. If you want your head filled with just a part of the enormity of mankind's potential for inhumanity and... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mr G P Smith
5.0 out of 5 stars ???
Good book well written keeps y engaged but I found the story v v disturbing. It will defo make y think
Published 2 months ago by Happy customer
2.0 out of 5 stars Difficult to read
I found this book very difficult to read, although I did persevere until the end, which is a good job because it's not until the end that it all makes sense. Read more
Published 2 months ago by scaddy
4.0 out of 5 stars not for the faint hearted
this novel hard to get to grips with, but well worth it when you do.. Kind of "Waiting for Godot" dialogue, and great for would be philosophy students. Read more
Published 2 months ago by alijohn40
2.0 out of 5 stars A Far Cry from Life of Pi
I finished Life of Pi in one sitting, and have raved about it ever since; countless persons have read the book and seen the movie because of my recommendations. Read more
Published 3 months ago by S
1.0 out of 5 stars AVOID
Like me you may buy this because you've read and loved Martel's Life of Pi. This is a very different book. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Trish McNaughton
5.0 out of 5 stars Very original
Very original way of portraying the subject material. Interesting the way bits of material were released to fill in the picture of what had gone before
Published 3 months ago by Mrs Susan L. Phillips
4.0 out of 5 stars Good book
It's a good book,wothy reading,I like the way of the creation, unfortunately,English is my second language, I think the book is quite difficult to undersand.
Published 3 months ago by Oliver Twist
3.0 out of 5 stars Not the easiest
Not the easiest of subject matters but Martel deals with the subject expertly. I expect that this could make a great film, but who will play Beatrice!
Published 3 months ago by John jones
5.0 out of 5 stars Short but beautiful
This is very different to Life of Pi. It's not uplifting, at times very hard going, violent and gruesome. It is enthralling nevertheless. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Mogboggogrogzog
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