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Lanark: A Life in Four Books (Canongate Classics)
 
 

Lanark: A Life in Four Books (Canongate Classics) (Paperback)

by Alasdair Gray (Author), William Boyd (Introduction)
4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
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  • This item: Lanark: A Life in Four Books (Canongate Classics) by Alasdair Gray

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Product details

  • Paperback: 573 pages
  • Publisher: Canongate Books Ltd; New edition edition (31 May 2007)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1841959073
  • ISBN-13: 978-1841959078
  • Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.8 x 4.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 37,766 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #1 in  Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Authors, A-Z > G > Gray, Alasdair
    #1 in  Books > Fiction > Cult Authors > Gray, Alasdair
    #11 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > B > Boyd, William

Product Description

Review
"Remarkable... Lanark is a work of loving and vivid imagination, yielding copious riches." Times Literary Supplement " 'It was time Scotland produced a shattering work of fiction in the modern idiom. This is it." Anthony Burgess "I was absolutely knocked out by Lanark. I think it's the best in Scottish literature in the twentieth century" Iain Banks"

Product Description
"Lanark", a modern vision of hell, is set in the disintegrating cities of Unthank and Glasgow, and tells the interwoven stories of Lanark and Duncan Thaw. A work of extraordinary imagination and wide range, its playful narrative techniques convey a profound message, both personal and political, about humankind's inability to love, and yet our compulsion to go on trying. Widely recognised as a modern classic, Alasdair Gray's magnum opus was first published in 1981 and immediately established him as one of Britain's leading writers. Comparisons have been made to Dante, Blake, Joyce, Orwell, Kafka, Huxley and Lewis Carroll. This new edition should cement his reputation as one of our greatest living writers.

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Inside This Book (Learn More)
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews

3 Reviews
5 star:
 (2)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:
 (1)
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Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
9 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A truly immense book, 6 Sep 2007
By Leo McMarley (Edinburgh) - See all my reviews
My words can't even start to convey the enormity of this magnificent novel, one of the landmarks in twentieth century fiction. Just please read it and you'll then understand why Alasdair Gray has a growing legion of fans.

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6 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing set book material, 3 Dec 2007
By G. L. Haggett "glynlhaggett" (UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)      
At times brilliant, at times maddening in its self-indulgent opacity, this felt too much like an exercise in literary virtuosity, likely to be more satisfying for the author and his literary peers, than a book for the general reader stoically soldiering on, trying to make sense of it.

The author acknowledges his debt to Kafka; I suspect there is not a little of Aldous Huxley in there as well. In turn, I am sure he has inspired the likes of David Mitchell. I read an article on A.L. Kennedy where she nominated this book as this one of her most influential reads.
I can see it as one of those books which would appear as prescribed reading on literature courses; fine, if that's your thing.

Not one I can see myself revisiting any time soon.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent. Loved it., 18 April 2009
By Peter J. Fleming "...evening" (Glasgow, Scotland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I bought this book after trawling the internet for a copy of Gray's 'Unlikely Stories, Mostly' collection and coming up fruitless. I'm glad I got this instead. I don't like to get into the plot or try to summarise a book too much in recommending it to others, and try to avoid cliches like 'social commentary', 'vivid imagery' and 'imaginitive', but Lanark is all of these and alot more (another cliche, sorry). I'm sure some people wouldn't like the odd separation of the four books that make up the titular 'life', but it's worth getting past this. I can't recommend this book highly enough.
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