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Boy in the World (Paperback)

by Niall Williams (Author)
3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 352 pages
  • Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd (5 Mar 2007)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 000724438X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0007244386
  • Product Dimensions: 23.2 x 15 x 3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 394,274 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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    #14 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > W > Williams, Niall

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Product Description

Review

Praise for 'Only Say the Word': 'This is a subtle, meditative and beautifully written book.' Peter Parker, Sunday Times 'The perfect read to leave you with a warm glow this winter.' Glamour Magazine 'Slow, sensitive and rich in emotion.' Eve Magazine


Product Description

This is a beautiful and moving novel about a young boy's journey from childhood to adulthood from best-selling author, Niall Williams. Niall Williams draws us into life in a small village in Ireland where a boy is growing up and making his first tentative steps to becoming a man. Questioning everything in an attempt to make sense of the world he is discovering through books, he is on the cusp of an understanding of what it is to be a man. But, when the Master, his caring old guardian, gives him a letter from his long-dead mother, his world comes crashing down. Learning for the first time that his father is not dead, as he had been led to believe, the boy must relearn everything he thought he knew. He sets out to find his father, piecing together the information he can glean from his mother's letter: he is a journalist for the BBC, he has lived in London, and he is a Muslim. The boy sets out to find his father. Arriving in London, disorientated and alone, he finds himself at the centre of a terrorist attack as the BBC is bombed and hundreds are killed and injured. Taken under the caring wing of Sister Bridget, a nun also caught up in the chaos, he refuses to allow this catastrophe to move him from his goal; he must find his father. This is the heart-warming tale of a young boy trying to find his way in a changing world, a world where no-one is safe and where terrorists seek to destroy all that civilisation holds dear.
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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Boy in the World
55% buy the item featured on this page:
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Customer Reviews

3 Reviews
5 star:
 (1)
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2 star:
 (2)
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Average Customer Review
3.0 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Lyrical tale, 7 Jun 2007
By kehs (Hertfordshire, England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
This is a remarkable tale about a young boy finding his way in a world full of global terrorism, whilst learning all manner of religious beliefs, and also trying to understand the meaning of life and death. This book has really made me sit up and think about the world around me. Speaking as an agnostic I was worried that I would find this tale a little too 'preachy' for my tastes, but was surprised to find that it didn't come over that way at all.

We follow the boy on his journey round the world, accompanied by a nun he meets on the way, as he searches for his father that he has never met. He has a grandfather who he loves dearly but whilst on his travels he hears that he has been killed in a car accident, yet somehow he still keeps `seeing' him and talking to him in his dreams and thoughts. Through all manner of trial and tribulations the boy remains undeterred in his efforts to track down his father who he has never met before. This is an uplifting tale about the power of love and the resilience of the human spirit. It shoes us how we should learn to love each other and accept our differences.

Williams has written a thought-provoking book that is sure to become a best seller. He has a beautiful, lyrical style of writing that kept me turning the pages and made this book impossible to put down.


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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Williams gets it wrong (Spoilers alert), 5 Oct 2008
By DM Webster "arakis2002" (Norfolk) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Boy in the World (Paperback)
Williams, in my view has never surpassed the wonderful Four Letters of Love. Boy in the World takes the theme of faith and puts it into an ambling road trip. There's some supernatural stuff (The Master appearing to the boy), there's some soul searching stuff (Bridget wondering what she should do, there's some faith stuff (all the way through), but the only bit that Williams seems to be comfortable with is the faith issues he describes. I never got the feeling his protagonist was a young boy. Characters don't really get fleshed out and everyone seems to move listlessly from one place to the next with no real sense of purpose. Even the end is unsatisfactory with characters who should be together still being far apart and no real sense of closure.

What really ruined it for me though was the master coming back alive after being declared dead, with no signs of any brain damage. This was a real plot blunder on Williams' part. I hope this isn't the sign of an excellent writer starting to run out of ideas.

Severely disappointing.
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2.0 out of 5 stars A disappointment!, 12 Dec 2008
This review is from: Boy in the World (Paperback)
I bought this book randomly at a bookshop because the title seemed interesting. However, I agree with the second review that this book has no sense of purpose. I can simply say that it is written by a good writer who does not know how to write a novel. While it has some new ideas such as the journal that the boy used to keep, there weren't enough interesting things to keep the reader going on. Although the novel is keen on getting things from reality such as the terrorist bombings, the writer brings in things which do not happen in real life, like the letter being rescued from the fire by the master or the hearing of the boy being returned! Although, I was able to bear these things, I could not bear the ending which was just a shame. The writer simply rushed through it!
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