Isaac, a young Australian photographer, is travelling through Europe. His whole life he has longed for the sophistication and wealth of the Europe of his father's stories, the Europe at the centre of civilization and culture. But behind the facade of a unified and globalized contemporary society, he finds a history-blasted wasteland, a place forever condemned by the ghosts of its unspeakable past. In the mountain village in the Balkans where his mother was born, he unearths ancient terrors that have not been laid to rest, and perhaps never can be. Part long-forgotten myth, part meditation on the violence and tragedy of contemporary Europe, Dead Europe is an unsettling story about blood lust and blood revenge; a novel of blazing brilliance from the acclaimed author of The Slap.
Dead Europe
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About the Author
Christos Tsiolkas is the author of four novels: Loaded (filmed as Head-On) The Jesus Man and Dead Europe, which won the 2006 Age Fiction Prize and the 2006 Melbourne Best Writing Award. The Slap won the Commonwealth Writer's Prize 2009 and was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2010. He is also a playwright, essayist and screen writer. He lives in Melbourne.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful
By Penny B
Format:Kindle Edition
Dead Europe begins innocently enough; with a Greek-Australian photographer; Isaac being invited to Greece to open an exhibition of his photographs. In his trip around Europe he returns to mother's home town in Greece; before embarking on a trip through Europe's seedier side in Prague, Amsterdam and Paris. In the cities he encounters pornography, prostitution and drug taking.
At the same time another story is told about the past events in his mother's home town.
The book attempts to deal with themes such as belonging, beliefs and anti-Semitism but it gets a little bit lost when Isaac has an episode on a train where he drinks a woman's menstrual blood; and then becomes almost vampire like.
This vampire twist doesn't feel consistent with the rest of the novel and it takes away from the main themes the author had constructed. It is a bizarre book; and whilst parts of it were enjoyable; such as the trip to his mother's town and its past; the story as a whole didn't flow.
At the same time another story is told about the past events in his mother's home town.
The book attempts to deal with themes such as belonging, beliefs and anti-Semitism but it gets a little bit lost when Isaac has an episode on a train where he drinks a woman's menstrual blood; and then becomes almost vampire like.
This vampire twist doesn't feel consistent with the rest of the novel and it takes away from the main themes the author had constructed. It is a bizarre book; and whilst parts of it were enjoyable; such as the trip to his mother's town and its past; the story as a whole didn't flow.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By fisherman
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I'm an avid reader of both fiction and non fiction but it's a long time since I have read such a pointless and tedious book. The story is about a Greek/Australian photographer who returns to visit and experience a number of European cities. The text is rambling and at times unnecessarily crude, and the author seems to give the impression of being bored.For readers who suffer from insomnia this could be a remedy but for most it should be avoided
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By J. Currie
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
Sheer Hell. Europe, that is; Athens, Venice, Prague, Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam, Cambridge, London - all of Europe, (Australia a bit hellish too); in fact, anywhere that human beings live, if they can be counted as human beings at all, especially if they are Jews, or Hebrews, as they are normally referred to in this novel. Europe, a stinking cesspool of the accumulated miasma of centuries - dead Europe, populated with ghouls, ghosts and vampires, all Jewish, all horrible. And as for the gentiles, not a lot better, murderous, perverted and superstitious.
Sheer Hell in another sense too, this book, hell to read, quite the most repulsive and vile content I think I have ever experienced. One scene of spectacular ghastliness was nominated for a Guardian Bad Sex award - I could think of any of a dozen others which could also have qualified.
Why on earth did I spend good money buying this book? That's another gripe. The sleeve notes give no real indication of the true content, instead quoting words of praise from the likes of Colm Toibin. You will find moderately positive reviews, although a trifle uncomfortable, from the quality newspapers. So maybe I have missed the point.
Why on earth did I waste time finishing this book? Sheer horrified fascination, perhaps, a forlorn wish that there might be some hope, something positive in the end. No matter, I have read it - you don't have to.
Sheer Hell in another sense too, this book, hell to read, quite the most repulsive and vile content I think I have ever experienced. One scene of spectacular ghastliness was nominated for a Guardian Bad Sex award - I could think of any of a dozen others which could also have qualified.
Why on earth did I spend good money buying this book? That's another gripe. The sleeve notes give no real indication of the true content, instead quoting words of praise from the likes of Colm Toibin. You will find moderately positive reviews, although a trifle uncomfortable, from the quality newspapers. So maybe I have missed the point.
Why on earth did I waste time finishing this book? Sheer horrified fascination, perhaps, a forlorn wish that there might be some hope, something positive in the end. No matter, I have read it - you don't have to.
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3.2 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
Snot, blood, spunk in an ashtray; not just Dead but dreary
Christos Tsiolkas is a gifted and competent writer and this is a novel that stands on its own as a crafted piece of work. Sadly, the story rarely rises above the life as a sewer. Read more
Published 2 months ago by "Belgo Geordie"
1.0 out of 5 stars
Ultimately a meandering, desperate incoherent bore
The back cover draws you in - don't be fooled. It does start well on the narrator's odyssey to Greece and the older story is mostly coherent. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Jon Swan
4.0 out of 5 stars
Provoking
I read this book's reviews in a magazine and thought I would give it a try. Well, this book is brilliant, with all the supernatural literature floating around at the moment you can... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Michael
1.0 out of 5 stars
disappointing and sordid
The back story about the past was quite interesting until it took an unlikely turn into vampirism, but what really put me off were the frequent sordid sex scenes. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Carolyn Devine
2.0 out of 5 stars
Ran out of steam
What a shame, the book started so well, an Australian-Greek's return to Greece was engaging, a dialogue of the old and new worlds, past and present. Read more
Published 13 months ago by DM
5.0 out of 5 stars
for the clued in only
Dead Europe is a daring and brave novel which sheds light on essential themes underlying global politics today. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Loli
1.0 out of 5 stars
Dead Europe
My reason for chosing this book was because The Slap I thought was brilliant. This book cannot be compared to it. Read more
Published 16 months ago by moyholm
1.0 out of 5 stars
Awful book
Incoherent, ugly, anti Semitic and pointless. Having read 'The Slap', this book came as a very bad surprise. Hubristic piece of work
Published 17 months ago by nbody
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