| ||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £0.25
Trade in Blow Your House Down (Virago Modern Classics) for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.25, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Plus, get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
Barker's creative vision is as in touch with the psychologically primordial as Melville's (HARPER'S )
Swift, spare, and utterly absorbing ... [Barker] makes us see her characters from within... and thereby reveals the full individuality and humanity of women who have got short shrift both in literature and in life (NY TIMES BOOK REVIEW )
Barker's talent for gently sifting through the hidden depths of the human psyche is awesome (NOVA )
Swift, spare, and utterly absorbing ... [Barker] makes us see her characters from within... and thereby reveals the full individuality and humanity of women who have got short shrift both in literature and in life (NY TIMES BOOK REVIEW )
Barker's talent for gently sifting through the hidden depths of the human psyche is awesome (NOVA )
Book Description
* An early novel by one of England's most important contemporary novelists.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
First Sentence
There were two beds and a wardrobe in the room. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
There were two beds and a wardrobe in the room. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book was recommended to me by a friend and i had never read any of Pat Barker's books before. From the minute i read the first page i was hooked and couldn't wait to find out what happened next. The chapters are of a reasonable length and it is a very easy read, something i was looking for as i am a mum of a 2 year old (need i say more!!!). I would like to add the storyline is not for the faint hearted and the language in which it is written is very direct, gritty & straight talking which could easily offend some sensitive people. Although i feel if it wasn't written in this manner it wouldn't be half the good read it was. Throughly enjoyable and highly recommended.
14 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A very good book, very original and brilliantly written. Pat Barker is an excellent author, and this book is a good example of her writing. A gripping read, just like the amazing trilogy 'Regeneration', which had me in tears at various points. A rewarding book.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
2 reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Very Difficult To Read
14 May 2001
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Ms. Pat Barker is a wonderful writer. I have read and enjoyed almost all her work, and while the tone is rarely joyous, nothing prepares you for, "Blow Your House Down". By saying difficult I do not mean complex, rather uncomfortable. The degrading world that she portrays makes Dickensian England appear to be family entertainment.
The story is generally about women who are prostitutes, generally not by choice or to feed an addiction. Most are Mothers paying the bills after the men have finished their abuse and left. Specifically the story centers on a time when a serial killer of prostitutes is at large. This is not a lengthy book and it is not filled with dozens of murders. However, once during the book Ms. Barker portrays a murder and its aftermath in a manner so shocking I put the book down before continuing.
The guts this writer has are amazing. There is nothing stylized, clever or fascinating about this crime. She serves up the act of murder in as disturbing a manner as I have ever read. It is raw and graphic, and totally appropriate, but it is brutal reading. This is not TV nonsense; there is nothing to soften her story. It is about as razor edged as it could be. I honestly cannot imagine it being more coldly depicted.
The writer is not heartless, the book is also full of friendships and compassion, however the two do not mix, and she does not give the reader or her characters a break. There is no pause, no rest, no easing of the tremendous pressure even at the book's end. Ms. Barker writes brilliantly and if you can take her unadorned view of reality you will have a reading experience you will not soon forget.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
this book shouldn't be out of print
4 Dec 1998
Format:Mass Market Paperback
a slim paperback from pat barker. tightly written with believeable dialogue. it describes the yorkshire ripper crimes from the perspective of the women most affected, those working as prostitutes in the north of england. anyone familiar with this series of crimes will remember the shadow it cast over these english cities and the women who lived in them. pat barker's women jump off the page as genuine. her descriptions of domestic life could almost be described as lyrical if it wasn't for the tautness of her prose. the chapter written from the offenders point of view is perhaps the weakest part of what is a very strong short book. tight. succinct. probably a lesson in there for modern writers who often seem to use too many words to say too little. worth reading not only for the suspense in the plot but especially for the beauty and directness of the writing itself.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
