- Paperback: 320 pages
- Publisher: Scribner (4 April 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0743252284
- ISBN-13: 978-0743252287
- Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 13 x 2.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 183,193 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Independent on Sunday
'What he is doing is wonderful, extraordinarily dark, and yes, important. It is important because he is a major writer'
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Guardian
'An appallingly intelligent writer...a dense, subtle, sensitive, perfectly shaped fiction'
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Has anyone ever read a single scary horror book? I have, Glen Duncan wrote it, and you're reading my review of it right now.
How can I put this eloquently, yet convey my emotion for this book? I loathe and detest it. I hope never, ever to be forced to read a single page of it ever again.
So you may be asking, why did I give it such a high rating? The answer is simple, Duncan is a master wordsmith. The tempo of the sentences match the mood of the book, confused at the start, gradually becoming more understandable as Nathan begins to understand. This is also the reason why it did not get five stars, because it is incredibly hard to get into. Duncan's other books that I have read (I, lucifer and Weathercock) I could not put down for days at a time, but this book took me weeks to read through it. Nevertheless, the thoughts it inspired me with as I gradually got through it were well worth the effort, and I would recommend anyone to read it.
So in summary, this book is bleak, bleaker even than anything by Chuck Palahniuk, but it's a work of genious of words.
This is a book of two horrors (in Duncan's own words):
The first horror is that there is horror, and the second horror is that you can live through it.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
We hear about Nathan, who is dead but definitely not at peace. He needs to find out how and why he died and hovers over his own funeral listening in to everyone's conversations. At his wake there are two people he doesn't recognise - who are they and why are they in his house? Also, Nathan needs to find out why his youngest daughter is dead and it's a heartbreaking revelation when he remembers the circumstances that ended her young life. As he begins to get close to remembering his own death the tension is unbearable and absolutely heart wrenching.
Duncan has a great mastery of words and had me spellbound all the way through this book. He did an incredible job in showing the reader the complexities of our relationships and forces us into facing up to unthinkable scenarios and wondering how we would cope with them. The way that he gets under the skin of a bereaved family is astounding and painfully accurate. This book is shocking and at times harrowing, but exquisitely written and I was captivated by it. If you enjoyed Alice Sebold's Lovely Bones then this is one I would highly recommend to you.
Duncan has a great mastery of words and had me spellbound all the way through this book. He did an incredible job in showing the reader the complexities of our relationships and forces us into facing up to unthinkable scenarios and wondering how we would cope with them. The way that he gets under the skin of a bereaved family is astounding and painfully accurate. This book is shocking and at times harrowing, but exquisitely written and I was captivated by it. If you enjoyed Alice Sebold's Lovely Bones then this is one I would highly recommend to you.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I had never read anything by this author before and I found this book absolutely fascinating. There are moments of stream-of-consciousness and disjointedness to contend with, but I did not have a problem with it because the overall narrative is the experience of a dead man, so I didn't expect it to follow a linear plot structure anyway. What we do have are dreams, memories, sensations and profound emotion all mixed up with some elements of real-time narrative. To say it is a roller-coaster ride would be to demean it with a cliche, but that is what it's like. I defy anyone, particularly if they are a parent, to come away from this book unmoved. Glen Duncan seems able to express the unexpressable in terms of grief, loss and love without becoming maudlin or sentimental. A fabulous book.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
...you can live without hope as long as you've got curiosity...
Glen Duncan has a depth of insight that leaves one astonished and holding on to every word. This is a novel that I'm going to be recommending to everyone I know until I'm blue in... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Eileen Shaw
Glen Duncan's least sinister novel...
Glen Duncan is the master of writing the nitty gritty of those thoughts which most of us are embarrassed to think, or even verbalise. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Federhirn
Great Book
Great book that kept me interested all the way through. have read other titles from the same author and really enjoyed them as well.
Published on 25 May 2010 by JJ
Why did I read it?
Admittedly a departure from the type of book I usually read - but I'm left wondering why I bothered?! Read more
Published on 5 Sep 2009 by P. A. Williams
A departure in style
Not in Glen Duncan's accustomed OTT style, but so successful. This is a serious, moving work, with his trademark intimacy yet it explores a simple man and a simple life affected by... Read more
Published on 26 Jan 2008 by Tricky fan
I thought this was very disappointing
After reading the blurb I thought the story sounded fascinating but I only got to page thirty-one before I gave up. It was the style of writing that killed it for me. Read more
Published on 18 Sep 2006 by SAP
I think I enjoyed it!
I think that any book that provokes a reaction is a worthy read. The stronger the reaction, the better the writing. Read more
Published on 3 Jun 2005 by MarkColchester
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