Boxer, Beetle
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Review
'a piece of staggeringly energetic intellectual slapstick . . . it's crammed with strange, funny and interesting things' (Sam Leith, Guardian )
'an enjoyable confection; witty, ludicrous and entertaining' (James Urquhart, Financial Times )
'An astonishing debut...buzzing with energy, fizzing with ideas, intoxicating in its language, Boxer, Beetle is sexy, intelligent and deliriously funny' (Jake Arnott )
'A rambunctious, deftly-plotted delight of a debut' (Observer )
'Ned Beauman's astonishingly assured debut starts as it means to go on: confident, droll, and not in the best of taste . . . Many first novels are judged promising. Boxer, Beetle arrives fully formed: original, exhilarating and hugely enjoyable. ' (Peter Parker, Sunday Times )
'Frighteningly assured' (Katie Guest, Independent on Sunday )
'Exuberant . . . There are politics, black comedy, experimentation and wild originality - and I haven't even got to the beetles. Terrific.' (The Times )
'Debut bout is a real knockout . . . dazzling' (Daily Express )
'Its ambitions are enormous, in terms of the range, energy and quality of the writing' (Literary Review )
'Dazzling . . . As in PG Wodehouse and the early Martin Amis the tone is mischievous and impudent without being merely jaunty or wacky . . . in Erksine and Broom we have two endlessly curious heroes whose thoughts are fascinating even at their silliest.' (Leo Robson, Express )
'A witty, erudite debut . . . thick with trivia, it confidently takes on British fascism, the Thule society, anti-Semitism, atonal composition, sex, and the class system . . . An articulate and original romp . . . often gobsmackingly smutty. Beauman is one to watch.' (Katie Allen, Time Out )
'Not one for the easily shocked, young scribe Ned Beauman subjects the reader to a parade of ghoulish events and ghastly theories throughout his dazzling first novel Boxer, Beetle . . . deeply researched and punchily written, this is an utterly unique work that marks the London-based author out as an exciting new voice in fiction.' (The List )
'Beauman skips with panache between his dreadful version of the present and the macabre absurdities of a period when cock-eyed science and rabid anti-Semitism provided a toxic cocktail for the upper classes. His killer irony evokes early Evelyn Waugh, and his lateral take on reality Will Self at his unsettling best. This is humour that goes beyond black, careening off into regions of darkness to deliver the funniest new book I've read in a year or two.' (Pete Carty, Independent )
'Clever, inventive, intelligently structured, genre-spanning, as magpie-like in its references as any graphic novel, and above all, an enjoyable, high-octane read through a fascinating period in history.' (Rob Sharp, Independent on Sunday )
'The 1930s are wonderfully evoked, and the historical sections of the novel are taut, thematically rich and extremely well written . . . it takes real skill to make a tragic hero out of the five-foot, nine-toed alcoholic Seth Roach . . . it's clear from this compelling debut that Beauman can perform the complicated paradoxical trick required of the best 21st-century realist novelists: to take an old and predictable structure and allow it to produce new and unpredictable connections.' (Scarlett Thomas, Guardian )
'An edifying treatise on the absurdity of eugenics and racial theories, and probably the most politically incorrect novel of the decade - as well as the funniest . . . Monstrous misfits with ugly motives are beautifully rendered in a novel where Beauman's scrupulous research is deftly threaded through serious themes in a laugh-out-loud-on-the-train history lesson.' (Anna Swan, Sunday Telegraph )
'I can only gape in admiration at a new writing force and wonder what he's going to produce next.' (Victoria Moore, Daily Mail )
'The scenes set in the past are reminiscent of Evelyn Waugh's Decline and Fall in their grotesque stupidity and amorality, and the present-day characters are as ruthless as any in modern noir fiction. It also makes a persuasive argument for the moral repercussions of Darwinism and the absurdities of fascism and repressed homosexuality, but that's just three aspects of a witty, fascinating and romping read.' (James Medd, Word )
'Beauman writes with wit and verve.' (Carl Wilkinson, Financial Times )
'an enjoyable confection; witty, ludicrous and entertaining' (James Urquhart, Financial Times )
'An astonishing debut...buzzing with energy, fizzing with ideas, intoxicating in its language, Boxer, Beetle is sexy, intelligent and deliriously funny' (Jake Arnott )
'A rambunctious, deftly-plotted delight of a debut' (Observer )
'Ned Beauman's astonishingly assured debut starts as it means to go on: confident, droll, and not in the best of taste . . . Many first novels are judged promising. Boxer, Beetle arrives fully formed: original, exhilarating and hugely enjoyable. ' (Peter Parker, Sunday Times )
'Frighteningly assured' (Katie Guest, Independent on Sunday )
'Exuberant . . . There are politics, black comedy, experimentation and wild originality - and I haven't even got to the beetles. Terrific.' (The Times )
'Debut bout is a real knockout . . . dazzling' (Daily Express )
'Its ambitions are enormous, in terms of the range, energy and quality of the writing' (Literary Review )
'Dazzling . . . As in PG Wodehouse and the early Martin Amis the tone is mischievous and impudent without being merely jaunty or wacky . . . in Erksine and Broom we have two endlessly curious heroes whose thoughts are fascinating even at their silliest.' (Leo Robson, Express )
'A witty, erudite debut . . . thick with trivia, it confidently takes on British fascism, the Thule society, anti-Semitism, atonal composition, sex, and the class system . . . An articulate and original romp . . . often gobsmackingly smutty. Beauman is one to watch.' (Katie Allen, Time Out )
'Not one for the easily shocked, young scribe Ned Beauman subjects the reader to a parade of ghoulish events and ghastly theories throughout his dazzling first novel Boxer, Beetle . . . deeply researched and punchily written, this is an utterly unique work that marks the London-based author out as an exciting new voice in fiction.' (The List )
'Beauman skips with panache between his dreadful version of the present and the macabre absurdities of a period when cock-eyed science and rabid anti-Semitism provided a toxic cocktail for the upper classes. His killer irony evokes early Evelyn Waugh, and his lateral take on reality Will Self at his unsettling best. This is humour that goes beyond black, careening off into regions of darkness to deliver the funniest new book I've read in a year or two.' (Pete Carty, Independent )
'Clever, inventive, intelligently structured, genre-spanning, as magpie-like in its references as any graphic novel, and above all, an enjoyable, high-octane read through a fascinating period in history.' (Rob Sharp, Independent on Sunday )
'The 1930s are wonderfully evoked, and the historical sections of the novel are taut, thematically rich and extremely well written . . . it takes real skill to make a tragic hero out of the five-foot, nine-toed alcoholic Seth Roach . . . it's clear from this compelling debut that Beauman can perform the complicated paradoxical trick required of the best 21st-century realist novelists: to take an old and predictable structure and allow it to produce new and unpredictable connections.' (Scarlett Thomas, Guardian )
'An edifying treatise on the absurdity of eugenics and racial theories, and probably the most politically incorrect novel of the decade - as well as the funniest . . . Monstrous misfits with ugly motives are beautifully rendered in a novel where Beauman's scrupulous research is deftly threaded through serious themes in a laugh-out-loud-on-the-train history lesson.' (Anna Swan, Sunday Telegraph )
'I can only gape in admiration at a new writing force and wonder what he's going to produce next.' (Victoria Moore, Daily Mail )
'The scenes set in the past are reminiscent of Evelyn Waugh's Decline and Fall in their grotesque stupidity and amorality, and the present-day characters are as ruthless as any in modern noir fiction. It also makes a persuasive argument for the moral repercussions of Darwinism and the absurdities of fascism and repressed homosexuality, but that's just three aspects of a witty, fascinating and romping read.' (James Medd, Word )
'Beauman writes with wit and verve.' (Carl Wilkinson, Financial Times )
'This first novel is as oddball and rambunctious as it sounds. It's also funny, raw and stylish.'
(New York Times )Product Description
This is a novel for people with breeding.
Only people with the right genes and the wrong impulses will find its marriage of bold ideas and deplorable characters irresistible. It is a novel that engages the mind while satisfying those that crave the thrill of a chase.
There are riots and sex. There is love and murder. There is Darwinism and Fascism, nightclubs, invented languages and the dangerous bravado of youth. And there are lots of beetles.
It is clever. It is distinctive. It is entertaining.
We hope you are too.
Shortlisted for The Guardian First Book Award.
Named one of the dozen most promising new writers in Britain by John Mullan.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A rollicking read,
By
This review is from: Boxer, Beetle (Hardcover)
This first novel moves between the present day and England a few years before the Second World War. Kevin, a collector of Nazi memorabilia and the sufferer of a very unpleasant medical condition, is sucked into a dangerous adventure, as he tries to unravel a seventy-year old mystery involving beetles, boxers, eugenics, and fascists.Among the book's great characters, are an upper-class entomologist, a beautiful but violent Jewish boxer, and a spirited composer of atonal music who longs to escape from her family so she can go to a big city and learn to be witty, ironic, and brittle. Some of these people may not be particularly likeable (although one does warm to Seth 'Sinner' Roach, the boxer) but they are always interesting, and are treated with enough depth that, as well a being repelled, one also feels compassion when faced with their flaws, failings, and delusions. 'Boxer Beetle' displays a great depth of learning and the reader learns about invented languages, anti-Semitism in England and America before the war, and the battle of Cable Street among other things. The recreation of thirties England feels perfect. In conclusion this book is funny, exciting, and clever; telling its story with confidence and verve, whilst never becoming pretentious or vacuous.
25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
missing a heart,
By
This review is from: Boxer, Beetle (Hardcover)
I desperately wanted to like this book. Its unusual enough and "clever" enough that I wanted to get that buzz of excitement at discovering something fresh and original. But in the end I found it hard work. Always clever. Always taking me down unusual pathways and telling me interesting things about subjects that I knew nothing about, but somehow missing out as true story-telling. Somehow missing a heart.The good news is that the book is ambitious, inventive and well written. So I'm sure the author will be worth following in the future.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Nice bit of Crime and Grime, and a Page-turner,
By
This review is from: Boxer, Beetle (Hardcover)
I bought this book mostly on the strength of its cover. I know that's supposed to be a rookie mistake, but then again, the graphics are charming, the book is well-made, with good-quality paper and so on; and it turns out it was a jolly good read anyway. The title, also, was a bit of a draw: it seemed to promise something Kafkaesque; though in that regard it didn't quite deliver. Instead of Kafka's labyrinths we are presented with a mixture of crime, obscenity, and scientific discourse. That is to say: with murder, lots of graphic hetero- and homosexual intercourse (though mostly homo-), invented languages, dissonance, Darwinism, eugenics, and Nazism. It's a good recipe, especially if you're one of those readers who likes to come away from his (or her) reading feeling a bit grubby.The book switches back and forth mostly between two time-lines, before World War II and the present. In the past we are given the story of the relationship between two very different individuals: Seth Roach and Sir Philip Erskine; one a talented Jewish boxer from London's East-end, the other an aristocrat interested in eugenics. The former, a law unto himself, and prone to violence; the latter, a bit of a fop. Both of them are gay, though Sir Erskine is in denial. In the present we follow a despicable boy, Kevin Broom, in his hunt (under duress) for a certain piece of Nazi memorabilia. What makes Kevin particularly distasteful is his infliction with a certain condition, trimethylaminuria, which basically means he sweats urine. Of course, the two stories link together quite well; the plot is well constructed, and to the author's credit, what we have here is a bit of a page-turner. It's also very well written, and whilst I wouldn't say this book contains anything sublime, is perhaps lacking in emotion, clearly a lot of research has gone into its writing, and the end result is an eloquently written, if filthy, fairly humorous murder mystery. The description in the book almost reeks a little bit of Dickens. The names in any case -- Grublock, Gittins, Pearl, Broom, Roach, Siedelman, Erskine, Zroszak &c -- all seem to possess a sort of Dickensian potency. It's a very good book; and considering it's Ned Beauman's first effort, I am certainly looking forward to his next.
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