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Incendiary
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Review
'Stunning... a haunting work of art.' (Newsweek 20050801)
'Chris Cleave has the ability to create moving and beautiful scenes within a terrifying backdrop. I couldn't put it down; it's subversive, thought-provoking and well-written.' (Observer, Books of the Year 20050801)
'Richly sardonic and often disarmingly poignant... How can one fail to be impressed and moved?' (Guardian )
'Cleave's heroine is by turns funny, sad, flawed, sympathetic, both damaged and indomitable, and triumphantly convincing.' (Sunday Telegraph )
'Stunning' (New York Times AND International Herald Tribune AND Bookmarks Magazine )
'This is a compulsive read, sure to stir the dust' (CITY AM )
'Searing.. poignant and compelling.. Utterly believable and mesmerizing' (Newsday )
'Dark, tense and undeniably provocative' (Metro )
'Hilariously sympathetic and convincing' (San Francisco Chronicle )
'Mesmerizing' (Washington Post )
'Chris Cleave has the ability to create moving and beautiful scenes within a terrifying backdrop. I couldn't put it down; it's subversive, thought-provoking and well-written.' (Observer, Books of the Year 20050801)
'Richly sardonic and often disarmingly poignant... How can one fail to be impressed and moved?' (Guardian )
'Cleave's heroine is by turns funny, sad, flawed, sympathetic, both damaged and indomitable, and triumphantly convincing.' (Sunday Telegraph )
'Stunning' (New York Times AND International Herald Tribune AND Bookmarks Magazine )
'This is a compulsive read, sure to stir the dust' (CITY AM )
'Searing.. poignant and compelling.. Utterly believable and mesmerizing' (Newsday )
'Dark, tense and undeniably provocative' (Metro )
'Hilariously sympathetic and convincing' (San Francisco Chronicle )
'Mesmerizing' (Washington Post )
Lawrence Norfolk,
‘The eloquence of Cleaves heroine is equal to the atrocity which claims her family. She is … triumphantly convincing.’
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
45 of 48 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Even without the dreadful coincidence lent by its publication day and the London atrocities occurring together, Incendiary is a truly powerful book.
Using jauntily naive language from a female central character Cleaver has written a book that is both laugh-out-loud funny, deeply unsettling and terribly sad. The book takes the form of a long letter to Osama Bin Laden written by a woman whose "chaps" -- her policeman husband and four year old son -- were incinerated in a terrorist attack on a London football stadium. The letter recounts her experiences after the deaths and her descent into the madness brought about by her grief. Without her chaps she has no real reason to live -- and certainly no reason to remain sane in a world going steadily mad all by itself.
The terrifying, sad story is woven around with a descant of humour, some sharp one-liners, bitingly accurate perceptions and gripping story-telling. Using the device of an uneducated but very intelligent woman as his narrator allows Cleave to write some wonderful descriptions of people that use simile and metaphor to great effect, producing really great writing that delights with its accuracy and perceptiveness. Very, very clever; very very good.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I bought and read this book after seeing someone else engrossed in it during a long train journey between Warrington and Glasgow and was intrigued by the promises it made on the back of the book. While others seem to find the story interesting and realistic this wasn't the case for me and I simply couldn't identify in any way with the lead female character. She doesn't insprire any sympathy or real emotion which is a pity as the book seemed to promise that the story would be about motherhood and its love and guilt when in fact "her boy" seemed to be a mere accessory to her life. To be honest, the main character's primary priority from the first page of the book to the last was sex, which isn't true of most women - or men for that matter (I hope!) As such, it was hard or even impossible for me to care about or feel pity for her.
Both Jasper (the man the narrator is having sex with as her husband and son are blown up) and Petra (his girlfriend) are horrible parodies of the 'Hooray Henry' types and the author seems to rely on steretypes rather a lot: the working class are stereotyped themselves, and I would personally question whether a policeman and his wife are working class. Perhaps upper working - particularly in London - but at any rate, the characters weren't believeable and since the plot relied on them to be effective this book wasn't a particularly enjoyable read for me.
Both Jasper (the man the narrator is having sex with as her husband and son are blown up) and Petra (his girlfriend) are horrible parodies of the 'Hooray Henry' types and the author seems to rely on steretypes rather a lot: the working class are stereotyped themselves, and I would personally question whether a policeman and his wife are working class. Perhaps upper working - particularly in London - but at any rate, the characters weren't believeable and since the plot relied on them to be effective this book wasn't a particularly enjoyable read for me.
23 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Incendiary is one of the most extraordinary books I have ever read. Daring, provocative and sometimes heartbreaking, Cleave's narrator had me gripped from beginning to end. Cleverly told and often uproariously funny, this multi-layered story reveals itself as an impassioned denouncement of terrorism, and a warning that our emotional responses to terrorism risk destroying our own way of life. Like the issue of terrorism itself, this is a complex and divisive book, and people will either love it or hate it. Some people won't get it at all. Read it, and decide for yourself. You won't be wasting your time. I was up till the small hours reading Incendiary - it's that compelling.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Erm....
This book was such a great concept and I had high hopes for it but there were all sorts of issues that I couldn't get past. Read more
Published 25 days ago by Maddy Reading
Written in such an engaging and entertaining style
You can't help but love the main character in this book even if you don't agree with the way she behaves. A gripping read which would make a great film.
Published 27 days ago by Reader82
A few commas would not have gone amiss
Like many others, I am in two minds about this book.
It's about a woman that loses her husband and son in a terrorist event at a football game, and subsequently develops... Read more
It's about a woman that loses her husband and son in a terrorist event at a football game, and subsequently develops... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Marla Singer
Dear Osama...
The above are probably the most gripping two words I have ever had the delight of reading at the very beginning of a novel. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Sarah Gate
PROFOUNDLY DISTURBING
With sanity in freefall, an East Ender pens a letter to Osama Bin Laden - her husband and little boy blown apart in a terrorist outrage. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Mr. D. L. Rees
absolutely awful book
This has got to be one of the worst books I have ever read. The plot is so unrealistic and the characters are ridiculous. Do not waste your time or money on this book. Awful.
Published 9 months ago by bookaholic
Emotionally haunting read
'Incendiary', like no other book in quite some time, evoked a number of emotions in me that were often conflicting. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Katharina
Possibly the worst book I ever read
The writing is the worst I have ever come across. The main character just annoys and the plot is so far fetched that I just regret having wasted my time reading it.
Published 10 months ago by Mrs. Dana Mallon
hmmm....
I am so torn with regards to this book, that in a way I would like to write 2 reviews. In some ways I think the book is brilliant. Read more
Published 12 months ago by H. Seymour
Best book I've read this year.
I can't understand how anyone can give this anything less than 5 stars. Of course it's bleak but this is tempered by the hilariously witty and unervingly wise narrator. Read more
Published 12 months ago by C. Castle
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