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Deaf Sentence (Paperback)

by David Lodge (Author)
3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
RRP: £8.99
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Product details

  • Paperback: 320 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin (4 Jun 2009)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0141035706
  • ISBN-13: 978-0141035703
  • Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 12.8 x 2.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 1,034 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #1 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > L > Lodge, David
    #84 in  Books > Fiction > Contemporary Fiction: 1970 Onwards

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Product Description

Review

'Brilliantly entertaining. Makes us giggle, laugh and even roar' Daily Mail 'One of the most moving things I have read in a long while... extremely readable, pitch perfect writing' Spectator 'Very funny. Deaf Sentence supplies the unusual sight of a senior British novelist bringing off the very difficult trick of successfully extending his range' Guardian 'Expert and enjoyable... many laugh-out-loud moments... gloriously funny, moving' Literary Review 'Full to bursting with comic riffs, apercus and insights. Seriously funny' New Statesman 'Very good, deeply enjoyable... rich with satirical set-pieces' Observer 'Sophisticated, beautifully layered... speaks to the intellect as well as the senses. As moving as it is entertaining. Lodge is a consummate observer of modern life' Herald 'There is much that is wonderful' Scotland on Sunday 'A quietly brilliant study of deafness, death and linguistics' Prospect 'Defies categorization... celebrates the sheer preciousness of existence' Irish Independent 'Enjoyable, thought-provoking... Lodge at the top of his game' Irish Times 'One of Britain's best-loved comic writers' The Lady 'He renders the painful isolation of deafness comic. A deeply melancholic novel' Independent 'Extremely readable, generously studded throughout with amusing comic moments underpinned with passages of genuine compassion and insight' Big Issue 'Wise and witty' Tatler 'Witty, exhiliratingly sharp' Sunday Times 'Funny, humane' Financial Times 'Dark and revealing comedy... probably no other work of fiction has described so successfully the multiplicity of confusions, frustrations and social stratagems deriving from deafness' The Times Literary Supplement

Tatler

`moving and playful by turns... a wise and witty book'
--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Deaf Sentence
94% buy the item featured on this page:
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Customer Reviews

42 Reviews
5 star:
 (16)
4 star:
 (10)
3 star:
 (10)
2 star:
 (4)
1 star:
 (2)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.8 out of 5 stars (42 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars You are deaf right, David, 31 Mar 2009
By Alexander Bryce (Scotland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Deaf Sentence (Hardcover)
As a sixty something who has been losing his hearing for about ten years i was attracted to this title and how glad i am that i was. His descriptions of hearing tests , the fitting of devices [ none of which work really well ], the weird shrieks and whistles therefrom, the batteries running out at the worst times and of course the embarrassment of guessing what is being said to you and getting it totally wrong are all spot on. After reading this book i find that i am not alone in finding this loss of one of my faculties while rather sad also not short in mirth and humour. Reading this was like sharing, for the first time, this whole deaf business with a close pal.
Like our main character, Desmond Bates , i found early retiral not really enjoyable; missing the day to day pressure of business and the banter with colleagues and clients. In the early days feeling suddenly rather useless. Again his descriptions are so apt.
There is, of course, a lot more to this than the above. He illustrates the acceptance of growing old ,becoming deaf, losing a loved one with a fine, realistic, but comic touch. His sympathetic visits to his old dad's dreary home and frugal yet independent life; his fragile emotional and physical relations with his younger wife Winifred and the mysterious even younger woman Alex Loom who nearly causes the collapse of all he holds dear makes for a never a dull moment novel.
As i have said i only picked it up because of the intriguing title and i now look forward to reading more by David Lodge.
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19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but..., 24 Oct 2009
By Dave Gilmour's cat (on Dave Gilmour's boat) - See all my reviews
Excellent in places, with a few reservations:

1. The Gladeworld and Poland trips seemed a bit tacked on
2. It's not clear why Desmond finds (Wini)fred easier to like as the book nears its end - she still seems thoroughly insensitive, shallow and obnoxious
3. The Alex Loom storyline seems to be building up to something and then... peters out
4. Nearly all of the characters were extremely hard to like: not a major flaw if this is what Lodge intended, but still makes the book less enjoyable

Plus points:

1. It offers a real insight into being hearing-impaired
2. The father sub-plot is genuinely moving
3. Some funny lines and scenes
4. The stuff about linguistics is interesting

If you are new to David Lodge I would suggest that you start with the David Lodge Trilogy: "Changing Places", "Small World", "Nice Work".
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18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Comic not tragic, 9 Jun 2008
By Lynette Baines (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)      
This review is from: Deaf Sentence (Hardcover)
Desmond Bates has been going deaf for the last 20 years. He took early retirement from his position as Professor of Linguistics because he couldn't hear what his students were saying. Now, he faces the frustrations & indignities of deafness every day. His wife, Winifred (Fred), is sympathetic but sometimes irritated. When Desmond meets post graduate student, Alex Loom, he agrees - without realizing it - to a meeting about her thesis on the linguistics of suicide notes. He hasn't heard a word she said at a noisy gallery opening & doesn't realize he's agreed to anything at all. This leads him into a confusing relationship with the manipulative Alex, who wants Desmond to supervise her thesis. Desmond is also worried about his elderly father (also going deaf), living alone in London. This is the most poignant and humorous part of the book. Harry lives in the family home, in increasing squalor, hiding money under the floorboards, and refusing to spend any money on making his life more comfortable. David Lodge has written a beautifully observed novel which illuminates the world of people with hearing loss. Desmond's theory that blindness is tragic while deafness is merely comic is illustrated by the facts of his everyday life - struggles with hearing aid batteries, lip reading classes, & the funny yet frustrating misunderstandings in everyday conversation. Lodge shows the reader the isolation of the deaf in this absorbing novel.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars two books grafted together
Previous works by David Lodge have been very enjoyable, but within this book is a funny novel struggling to get out. Read more
Published 2 days ago by book groupie

4.0 out of 5 stars losing it
A delightful story about some of the mid-life or later-life crises. Told in full and with humour.
I chose the book to learn about hearing impaired and how to cope with it... Read more
Published 2 days ago by A. Loubser

1.0 out of 5 stars Most boring...
book of the year. What a disappointment! The book tells the (mostly autobiographical) story of a retired linguistic professor going deaf without any spark of humour, a very week... Read more
Published 5 days ago by Mark

5.0 out of 5 stars Lodge does it again
David Lodge has always been a perceptive writer, with a combination of scepticism and humour when describing the human condition. Read more
Published 18 days ago by Mr. J. Cox

5.0 out of 5 stars a return to form
This book was a delight. It is a slow start typical David Lodge. As the story builds we come to a deeply moving finish. Read more
Published 21 days ago by A. Browne

3.0 out of 5 stars Deaf sentence by David Lodge
Very funny beginning to this book, but not a lot of the remaining chapters were as entertaining. Good interesting book though, and very true to life.
Published 1 month ago by Mrs. J. P. Webb

5.0 out of 5 stars Best book of the year
Wonderful insight into what it is like to be deaf - written in a lighthearted way that makes the book a real page turner. Read more
Published 1 month ago by M. Nicod

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining
I decided to read this book after hearing a rave review on one of the Radio 4 book programmes. I enjoyed some of David Lodge's earlier work (e.g. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Jools

3.0 out of 5 stars Deaf Sentence
Useful to read oneself if, as in my case you're hard of hearing. Not quite so explicit from the deafness point of view as I expected but worth recommending to relatives and... Read more
Published 2 months ago by A. Wallace

4.0 out of 5 stars A POIGNANT READ
Perhaps having gone through the same situation with my mother, as Desmond did with his father I found the latter parts thought provoking and interesting. Read more
Published 2 months ago by bibliophile

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