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Luke and Jon
 
 

Luke and Jon [Kindle Edition]

Robert Williams
3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (50 customer reviews)

Print List Price: £6.99
Kindle Price: £4.19 includes VAT* & free wireless delivery via Amazon Whispernet
You Save: £2.80 (40%)
* Unlike print books, digital books are subject to VAT.

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Product Description

Review

'It's a hell of a thing to accuse a new writer of wisdom, but that's what Robert Williams's first novel has: a warm, dead-to-rights understanding of the human heart, expressed in prose as clear as a glass of water. I'd predict great things for him, but I think that they've already begun.' --Francis Spufford

'Compassionate and perceptive ... Simply a great read.' -- Adele Parks

'A striking and extremely moving debut.' --Alex Clark

'Like many classic stories of childhood, Robert Williams's Luke and Jon is told with an outsider's eye: cool and clear and hiding deep emotion beneath a carapace of coping ... the language with which he recounts this tale of friendship and survival seems newly minted. The kind of book that reminds you why, as a child, you started reading in the first place.' --Financial Times

'The prose here is almost a poem ... Luke and Jon is a novel of promise in every sense... We are left satisfied yet wanting more. 'It was special' as Luke says. 'It was enough.'' --Sheena Joughin, TLS

Book Description

The winner of the Book Tokens' Not-Yet-Published Prize - an arresting debut about friendship, grief and love.

Product details

  • Format: Kindle Edition
  • File Size: 385 KB
  • Print Length: 187 pages
  • Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0571274889
  • Publisher: Faber and Faber Fiction (18 Mar 2010)
  • Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B003FW3ILI
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • X-Ray: Enabled
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #43,690 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
50 of 50 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful, positive story 3 Mar 2010
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)
I loved this book. Not my normal choice for fiction, it nevertheless has been one of the best books I read in the past year. The characters, Luke and Jon, at first I thought may have alluded to something biblical, but it is just coincidence. Luke is a teenage boy whose mother died recently in a car accident. She suffered from manic-depression. His father is a carpenter and he too suffers, but from alcohol dependency. He is not a destructive alcoholic, though his life seems to be going that way. He rarely works and the bailiffs have been round to repossess Luke and his goods and their house.

So they end up in the back end of nowhere in a dilapidated house in Yorkshire, where they encounter Jon, or Slackjaw as everyone calls him at school. He spends his days absorbed in books, learning facts about the world, life and the universe. He dresses weird and is secretive about his home life.

All the characters in the book deal with life indifferent ways: through painting, through passivity, through drink. But by the end all are redeemed and life goes on. The project that the father undertakes represents the iron will inside that is looking to break free in spite of downs in life. The book is about finding the strength to endure, to take all that life throws at you and rise with grit and force. Highly recommended.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Touching, an impressive debut 24 Feb 2010
By David B VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)
This touching "bildungsroman" or coming-of-age novel is an impressive debut from Robert Williams.

The reader is presented not with vile villains and huge heros, but with ordinary and likeable characters working through life's vicissitudes, large and small, and managing to come through.

The degree of resolution by the end of the novel is satisfying, and the way would be open to give us further tales of Luke and Jon, Luke's Dad and Jon's grandparents. I for one would welcome that.

The story is in the form of a first-person narrative by Luke, but we don't know at what remove of time from the events described, which is actually a good thing in my view, and helps to leave the way open for future adventures.

I enjoyed the imagery in the story and found the writing very evocative of the landscape and surroundings.

More please, Mr. Williams!
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Magical Simplicity 25 Mar 2010
Format:Paperback
Sometimes you read a book that makes a profound impression upon you; maybe it's the spell cast by having just the right words on the page, or perhaps there is something in the text that reverberates within you. It is always the sign of a great author.
This is a novel about Luke and his father as they establish a new life in a northern mill town, it's about outsiders, new friendships, grandparents, bullying, illness and, of course, Jon.
Luke's story unfolds effortlessly, and many times the plot surprised me. In essence, the book is a myriad of seemingly unconnected events; woodcarving, death, moving house, alcoholism and fatal accidents, to name but a few. This is a deceptively simple story, told with the power of a confident, natural storyteller, that weaves its magic around the reader within a very short space of time.
No doubt others will be able to better express exactly what makes this book such a refreshing, unique and pleasurable read, but it will occupy its space on my bookshelf for a very long time to come. One thing is for sure; Mr. William's world really is a wonderful one, and I am eagerly awaiting his next novel. A hugely impressive debut novel.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars Be moved by this
On reading the reviews, I realise that I have one of the original Kindle editions of this lovely book - with the faulty punctuation. Read more
Published 6 days ago by The Book Hound
5.0 out of 5 stars A beautifully written book
Really enjoyed this book, I think the author's first. The story is about the friendship between two teenagers and their lifestyles and is beautifully written. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Hazel
5.0 out of 5 stars Heart-warming, innocent and tender
Whilst he is still struggling to come to terms with the tragedy that has struck his young life, 13 year old Luke Redridge learns that he is also to be forced out of his home. Read more
Published 4 months ago by 05061936
5.0 out of 5 stars Heartwarming
Having bought this book some months ago as a Kindle Daily Deal, I looked over the reviews to refresh my memory of the synopsis before reading. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Rose
3.0 out of 5 stars Nice read
Didn't blow me away but I kept going and it's a quietly friendly book with a flimsy storyline but nice easy
Published 5 months ago by fastreader
5.0 out of 5 stars very good
very good pleased ( i will not write words that I do not want to write even to make it 17 words)
Published 5 months ago by G. poa
3.0 out of 5 stars Hmm
I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand it was cleverly written with no time line which gave the story simplicity. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Rachel
1.0 out of 5 stars Don't know
I was unaware I'd bought this book!! When I checked there it is in my kindle ap!! However there is no information about what it's about so doubt whether I will ever get around to... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Lyn
5.0 out of 5 stars As Jon would say "Brilliant!"
I found this book a wonderful read. I'm staggered at the number of reviewers who find the book 'unreadable' due to the lack of punctuation, or even worse, don't seem to realise... Read more
Published 6 months ago by S. Light
4.0 out of 5 stars Nice book, shame about the apostrophes!
Enjoyed this gentle story - appealed as the author is from Lancashire, and the story is well told and a good read. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Martin Dolphin
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