- Hardcover: 320 pages
- Publisher: House of Anansi Press (30 Jan 2010)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 088784202X
- ISBN-13: 978-0887842023
- Product Dimensions: 20.6 x 14.2 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,635,914 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
February
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Lisa Moore is a subtle writer, building up her picture of long-term bereavement and gradual recovery grain by grain, which draws in the reader to a wholly realised world, across thirty years of a woman's life.
Apart from the meticulously realised retelling of the (true) loss of all hands on a floating oil platform in the North Atlantic on 14 February 1982, there is not a vast amount of plot. But this isn't a shallow thriller, and plot is not Moore's main interest. Rather, she is interested in revealing depths and subtleties of character through the little (or major) incidents of their lives, overshadowed by the disaster. She does so in a non-linear fashion, like a conversation where people reminisce up and down through the well of time.
Individual chapters, particularly towards the end, would stand out as short stories in their own right, and Moore is not averse to introducing characters for single episodes, taking as much care to bring them to life as with the central half-dozen family members. However, the reader becomes especially close to Helen, and to her son John, the two very different individuals who dominate the narrative.
Of all the 2010 long-listed Booker novels, this is the only one which I found personally moving, as the accumulation of detail, especially of the minutiae of loss, becomes overwhelming across 300 pages. The pace never drags, and the characters remain true and fresh to the end. A very satisfying read - and a life-affirming book which surely deserves to win the Booker.
Apart from the meticulously realised retelling of the (true) loss of all hands on a floating oil platform in the North Atlantic on 14 February 1982, there is not a vast amount of plot. But this isn't a shallow thriller, and plot is not Moore's main interest. Rather, she is interested in revealing depths and subtleties of character through the little (or major) incidents of their lives, overshadowed by the disaster. She does so in a non-linear fashion, like a conversation where people reminisce up and down through the well of time.
Individual chapters, particularly towards the end, would stand out as short stories in their own right, and Moore is not averse to introducing characters for single episodes, taking as much care to bring them to life as with the central half-dozen family members. However, the reader becomes especially close to Helen, and to her son John, the two very different individuals who dominate the narrative.
Of all the 2010 long-listed Booker novels, this is the only one which I found personally moving, as the accumulation of detail, especially of the minutiae of loss, becomes overwhelming across 300 pages. The pace never drags, and the characters remain true and fresh to the end. A very satisfying read - and a life-affirming book which surely deserves to win the Booker.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I enjoyed this, though at times got a little fed up of the multi-point narrative. Moore's writing is tentative, she does not pretend to know what her characters think and feel, often suggesting a string of possibilities. I found it interesting that it is in part the story of the romance of an older lady, but a shame that Moore skims over this, in this the end felt rushed.
The book follows, among other things the story of a birth and of a death. The death is Helen's, the 54 year old grandmother protagonists, husband Cal, on the Ocean Ranger disaster. The birth is of the accidental child of her oldest child John. The blurb suggests that John grapples with what to do about the impending birth, the grappling wasn't too evident.
Moore writes in beautiful, short chapters, which are rich in imagery and place. I imagine that Newfoundland is well captured, but I've never been there. I wondered if Moore had ever been to England, as at one point Helen sits on a coach between Stanstead and Heathrow and rhapsodises about the 'stonewalls and sheep', the Englishness of the countryside.......its sounds more like she is in Yorkshire than near London!
I found it enjoyable, as I have said, and a great book to read on the bus. I did not find it terribly memorable. Its the sort of book I like to take on holiday.
The book follows, among other things the story of a birth and of a death. The death is Helen's, the 54 year old grandmother protagonists, husband Cal, on the Ocean Ranger disaster. The birth is of the accidental child of her oldest child John. The blurb suggests that John grapples with what to do about the impending birth, the grappling wasn't too evident.
Moore writes in beautiful, short chapters, which are rich in imagery and place. I imagine that Newfoundland is well captured, but I've never been there. I wondered if Moore had ever been to England, as at one point Helen sits on a coach between Stanstead and Heathrow and rhapsodises about the 'stonewalls and sheep', the Englishness of the countryside.......its sounds more like she is in Yorkshire than near London!
I found it enjoyable, as I have said, and a great book to read on the bus. I did not find it terribly memorable. Its the sort of book I like to take on holiday.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Reviewers seem to be split on this one, but I'm firmly in the `pro' camp. One critic complains of getting lost in the back-and-forth in time that structures the book, yet every chapter heading makes it clear what time we're in. Another says the whole idea of a novel based around a real-life Newfoundland oil-rig disaster three decades ago is a dubious waste of time. Eh?
What Lisa Moore does is to anatomise grief, and methods of coping (or not coping) with it, by incrementally fleshing out the life, thoughts and emotional responses of the main character, widowed Helen, and to a lesser extent her son and daughters. John has discovered that a holiday fling has led to the prospect of a child he hadn't contemplated and may not want. Helen, by contrast, has had snatched away from her the husband she very much wanted to hold on to for ever.
This book could have been dull, or maudlin or just plain irritating, but it never is. Instead it's quiet, thoughtful and redemptive. Time and again I found myself thinking, Yes, that's just right. If you like books like The Shipping News, or anything by Alice Munro, this is for you.
What Lisa Moore does is to anatomise grief, and methods of coping (or not coping) with it, by incrementally fleshing out the life, thoughts and emotional responses of the main character, widowed Helen, and to a lesser extent her son and daughters. John has discovered that a holiday fling has led to the prospect of a child he hadn't contemplated and may not want. Helen, by contrast, has had snatched away from her the husband she very much wanted to hold on to for ever.
This book could have been dull, or maudlin or just plain irritating, but it never is. Instead it's quiet, thoughtful and redemptive. Time and again I found myself thinking, Yes, that's just right. If you like books like The Shipping News, or anything by Alice Munro, this is for you.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
An in depth look at love and bereavement
This is not a genre I would normally read, but as it was longlisted for the Orange Prize I decided to try it. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Leicsliz
A book that steadily grows on you
I didn't think I would persevere with this book. The writing style and movements back and forth in time didn't grab me for a while. Read more
Published 10 months ago by araminta
very readable and gives insight
I enjoyed February, and while I don't think it should have been a Booker Prize Winner, it was certainly better than the winner and most of the other shortlisted books of 2010. Read more
Published 15 months ago by SH
Very Disappointing
After reading good reviews I bought this on Kindle.
Quite frankly I was glad to be able to 'turn the pages over' quickly.
The plot could have been summarised in one page. Read more
Quite frankly I was glad to be able to 'turn the pages over' quickly.
The plot could have been summarised in one page. Read more
Published 15 months ago by G W
February
In 1982, the oil rig Ocean Ranger sank off the coast of Newfoundland. All 84 men aboard died. Clearly this wasn't tragedy enough for Lisa Moore, whose novel 'February' is a... Read more
Published 18 months ago by TomCat
I was disappointed
I'm still not entirely sure what I thought or felt about this one. The blurb really tells you the full story, the only unexpected element was the way the story was told. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Welsh Annie
February
The author writes in an immediate way though we move between the past and the present. The voice of the main Character rings true, and the sense of location is strong. Read more
Published on 14 Mar 2010 by Liz
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
