Hallucinating Foucault
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Review
'Ominous, classical, dark and romantic' Louis de Bernieres 'If you buy one book make it Hallucinating Foucault ... Not to be taken at face value, this novel leaves you perspiring, but chillingly inspired' Observer 'Stylish, surprising, teasing, but above all grippingly readable' Margaret Drabble 'A brilliant first novel - dark, romantic and scholarly' Fay Weldon, Sunday Times
Margaret Drabble
‘Stylish, surprising, teasing, but above all grippingly readable’
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A simply wonderful little book which I would not hesitate to recommend. Its packed full of ideas and makes one cogitate about life as each page is turned. The main success and the principle delight of the novel for me was in its evocation of falling in love and being in love. A book for all those who have ever been a student or admired or just simply longed for someone.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Duncker has written a wonderful, engaging and challenging piece of fiction, which uses "real" figures such as Foucault to background a marvellous story. The narrative draws on the relationship between the writer and the reader, with great effect. It is absolutely "unputdownable" (can be read in an afternoon!) and yet it isn't trashy airport-lounge stuff!
Duncker has wit, intelligence and insight. This is about love, human relationships, the impersonality (or not) of the author/writer and art, madness and many of Foucault's notions of governmentaltiy and power/knowledge.
A truly absorbing debut that will surely appeal to the casual reader who knows nothing of Foucault and yet, also, those who are more familiar with the theoretical underpinnings of the novel. Wonderful!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
At the risk of appearing to swim against the tide, I didn't find this a particularly thrilling book (the description of it as a 'literary thriller' is difficult to swallow). It wore its intellectual pretensions firmly on both sleeves, and risked being overwhelmed by those at the cost of the story. The attempt at a twist in the tail is heavy handed and largely pointless, as it doesn't add anything to the plot as such.
But in places it is very well written, with some lovely turns of phrase. Unfortunately the sum of the parts in this case is insufficient to win me over. Perhaps if the lead characters had been more likeable (and dare I say believable) it would have been different. I wondered at times whether the Germanist would be better off swapping places with the novelist, given her sociopathic tendencies. The parallel was doubtless intended, but the novelist seemed considerably more sane!
The quality of the writing has much to offer, I just did not find the story particularly engaging, or the main characters any more so.
But in places it is very well written, with some lovely turns of phrase. Unfortunately the sum of the parts in this case is insufficient to win me over. Perhaps if the lead characters had been more likeable (and dare I say believable) it would have been different. I wondered at times whether the Germanist would be better off swapping places with the novelist, given her sociopathic tendencies. The parallel was doubtless intended, but the novelist seemed considerably more sane!
The quality of the writing has much to offer, I just did not find the story particularly engaging, or the main characters any more so.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Offensive twaddle
What a strange novel. I bought it having read about it and then seen the reviews here on Amazon. I was shocked by the portrayal of mental illness and the fact that none of the... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Sweet suburbia
enjoyable read though not a great novel
This book is the kind of trashy novel I haven't read in ages except its pretensions are high. In fact if you take the Foucault and the fictional French novelist who is a devotee of... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Mr. Robert Marsland
A Deceptively Small Book
`Hallucinating Foucault' is told from the perspective of an unnamed narrator who is researching the work and lives of the mysterious author Paul Michel. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Simon Savidge Reads
Fascinating Foucault
I am reading Halucinating Foucault for the second time, because I found it was so full of information, my small brain had some difficulty in assimilating it all. Read more
Published on 22 April 2010 by Ms. B. Taylor
Page-turner
A page-turner, though not necessarily a careless one. I read it in one sitting - it is a short book, and not too challenging either. Read more
Published on 6 Jun 2008 by Stan
My favourite book
This is my comfort book - the one I turn to when I'm lonely or feeling down - I love it to bits. I'm not sure what the other reviewer is going on about but everything about this... Read more
Published on 11 Jan 2007 by A. W. Fletcher
Passionate and rivetting read
Darkly erotic (as in all Duncker's best work), this tale is a rivetting page-turner and tumbles the reader into the roller-coaster world of falling in love and being in love. Read more
Published on 16 Sep 2004
Fascinating
This book is captivating, fascinating and quite inspiring. The climax is quite hard-going even to the colder reader. Worth reading!
Published on 4 Jun 2004 by "kickinghigh2"
Formidable
Thanks, Patricia Duncker - this was probably one of the best books I have read in the last two years. Read more
Published on 30 Nov 2001
Brave
It is not easy to describe this book. The writing is tight and poetic, the story is gripping. Take a few hours out of your life and read this book; it will stay in you mind for a... Read more
Published on 5 Jan 2001
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