- Paperback: 200 pages
- Publisher: Atlantic Books (12 July 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1843546574
- ISBN-13: 978-1843546573
- Product Dimensions: 21.6 x 13.4 x 2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,148,868 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
A barber, a chef and a portraitist are held hostage in a sparsely-furnished room, in a grand summer residence perched on a hill overlooking the capital city of a nameless hot country. They have been seized in a bloody coup to depose the President, their boss. In the city streets below them, chaos reigns. With the old order ruined, the moral landscape ravaged and venality widespread, human relationships - personal and political, between lovers and within families - are being dissected, fought over, abandoned. As the tension builds and the story reaches its devastating climax, "Blood Kin" lays bare humanity's most animalistic and mercenary impulses: lust, vanity, ambition, artifice, betrayal, obsession and vengeance. The locations are lavish, the detail is scrupulous, and the scope and themes are nothing short of Shakespearean. "Blood Kin" is a masterful, thrilling and deeply affecting debut.
About the Author
Ceridwen Dovey is a writer, film maker and anthropologist. She was born and raised in South Africa, and attended high school in Australia and university in America at Harvard. She is currently completing her PhD at Harvard University. She is 23 years old.
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First Sentence
He came every two months for a sitting. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
He came every two months for a sitting. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I enjoyed this unusual novel. Both the style of writing and the structure are out of the ordinary and well worth reading.
The book is ostensibly a series of accounts of the same events (the aftermath of a coup in an unnamed state) from the perspectives of three separate men, each connected to the old regime. But the political events are only apparently the subject, and what in fact emerges is an account of personal, emotional and sexual history and behaviour of the characters. There is a strong element of mystery and much discussion of the nature of betrayal. The author focuses strongly on the sensual experience of the characters, so that the events emerge almost incidentally from the descriptions of what they see and feel and (slightly too often) smell. This is a little bit overdone, but only a little.
My only criticism is that the author resolves all of the mysteries too explicitly, not giving the reader credit for having made some very obvious deductions, and not leaving us room for any alternative conjecture. But still a thoroughly enjoyable novel, beautifully written.
The book is ostensibly a series of accounts of the same events (the aftermath of a coup in an unnamed state) from the perspectives of three separate men, each connected to the old regime. But the political events are only apparently the subject, and what in fact emerges is an account of personal, emotional and sexual history and behaviour of the characters. There is a strong element of mystery and much discussion of the nature of betrayal. The author focuses strongly on the sensual experience of the characters, so that the events emerge almost incidentally from the descriptions of what they see and feel and (slightly too often) smell. This is a little bit overdone, but only a little.
My only criticism is that the author resolves all of the mysteries too explicitly, not giving the reader credit for having made some very obvious deductions, and not leaving us room for any alternative conjecture. But still a thoroughly enjoyable novel, beautifully written.
Format:Paperback
Because it is such a dark novel it's hard to find any enjoyment from it. It is a not a novel read for entertainment. This is a novel of exploration. It is a novel of power and corruption and those who are attracted to it, their motivations and the lies they delude themselves with.
For all it's bleakness it's still worth reading as Dovey manages to build a story where each of these characters is revealed as creatures to pity as well as despise. They are in some ways victims of circumstances who seem to have no choice but to follow the path laid out for them.
Overall, Dovey is an intelligent storyteller who delves a little too deep into darkness to make this entertaining though it is a thoughtful and haunting novel which makes me think of Evita without all the singing and dancing.
For all it's bleakness it's still worth reading as Dovey manages to build a story where each of these characters is revealed as creatures to pity as well as despise. They are in some ways victims of circumstances who seem to have no choice but to follow the path laid out for them.
Overall, Dovey is an intelligent storyteller who delves a little too deep into darkness to make this entertaining though it is a thoughtful and haunting novel which makes me think of Evita without all the singing and dancing.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
9 reviews
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful
The blood line of political corruption
14 Mar 2008
Format:Hardcover
When we think of the corruption of power, what typically comes to mind are the monsters of history: the dictators, the generalissimos, the presidents-for-life. While it's true that these sorts who do the most obvious damage, it's also true that, if power corrupts, it negatively affects everyone who benefits from it. In her Blood Kin, Dovey demonstrates just how far the blood line of political corruption extends by focusing on the lives of three of its indirect beneficiaries: the portraitist, barber, and chef.
These three characters remain unnamed throughout the entire novel--as is appropriate, first because they aren't luminaries but rather "ordinary," anonymous people; second because they're everyperson--they're you and me--in their capacity for being corrupted through association. In the novel's second part, these three anonymous voices are joined by three more, this time female. Moreover, none of the characters in the novel are named, neither the dictator whose political fall land the six members of the Greek chorus (so to speak) in turmoil, nor even the country where all this is taking place. Again, these details don't matter, because the country is everycountry.
One of the especially fine qualities of this novel is its willingness to wrestle with fundamental questions about human decency in the face of evil. The barber, painter, and chef, for example, each represent one possible response to tyranny: the barber is a coward, the painter pretends to be above politics, and the chef is a thuggish, willing collaborator. Given that these characters are everypersons, they serve as mirrors for readers that ask of us our own responses.
The eerie anonymity of the novel's characters and place gave me a taste, sometimes, of Kafka. The sparseness of language reminded me occasionally of Dovey's fellow-countryman, Coetze. The sheer absurdity of the characters occasionally reminded me of Lewis Carroll (especially, for some reason, his poem about the Walrus and the Carpenter). But the book, a modern passion play, is all Dovey's. I look forward to reading more of her.
These three characters remain unnamed throughout the entire novel--as is appropriate, first because they aren't luminaries but rather "ordinary," anonymous people; second because they're everyperson--they're you and me--in their capacity for being corrupted through association. In the novel's second part, these three anonymous voices are joined by three more, this time female. Moreover, none of the characters in the novel are named, neither the dictator whose political fall land the six members of the Greek chorus (so to speak) in turmoil, nor even the country where all this is taking place. Again, these details don't matter, because the country is everycountry.
One of the especially fine qualities of this novel is its willingness to wrestle with fundamental questions about human decency in the face of evil. The barber, painter, and chef, for example, each represent one possible response to tyranny: the barber is a coward, the painter pretends to be above politics, and the chef is a thuggish, willing collaborator. Given that these characters are everypersons, they serve as mirrors for readers that ask of us our own responses.
The eerie anonymity of the novel's characters and place gave me a taste, sometimes, of Kafka. The sparseness of language reminded me occasionally of Dovey's fellow-countryman, Coetze. The sheer absurdity of the characters occasionally reminded me of Lewis Carroll (especially, for some reason, his poem about the Walrus and the Carpenter). But the book, a modern passion play, is all Dovey's. I look forward to reading more of her.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Bravo!
8 April 2008
Format:Hardcover
I have reached a point in life where not much is left that surprises me. Blood Kin surprised me. It is gripping tale and in depth study of how absolute power corrupts absolutely and how those in the vicinity of the corruption corrupt themselves in their efforts to survive. It is not light, happy reading but a book that will challenge your senses and stimulate your mind to look at the world from another angle. Blood Kin is a timeless book that I believe will be read for generations.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Starts off with a bang
23 May 2008
Format:Hardcover
Summary, no spoilers:
This book is told from the POV of several different characters, all of whom have some relationship with the three narrators from part one - a deposed president's chef, portraitist, and barber.
This book starts off with a wonderful, eerie feel to it. The country and background are wonderfully ambiguous, and although it takes place in fairly modern times, that is also vague.
You know that the president has been disposed, but you are not sure why, or whether any of these narrators are reliable, or are hiding some Big Secrets.
This is a quick, fun read. I will say that the finish did not live up to the suspense and the wonderful buildup, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. I also think that there are some clever ideas here, and I there were some passages that I reread just because they were so clever.
Recommended, with reservations.
This book is told from the POV of several different characters, all of whom have some relationship with the three narrators from part one - a deposed president's chef, portraitist, and barber.
This book starts off with a wonderful, eerie feel to it. The country and background are wonderfully ambiguous, and although it takes place in fairly modern times, that is also vague.
You know that the president has been disposed, but you are not sure why, or whether any of these narrators are reliable, or are hiding some Big Secrets.
This is a quick, fun read. I will say that the finish did not live up to the suspense and the wonderful buildup, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. I also think that there are some clever ideas here, and I there were some passages that I reread just because they were so clever.
Recommended, with reservations.
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