- Paperback: 390 pages
- Publisher: Faber and Faber (6 Aug 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0571204449
- ISBN-13: 978-0571204441
- Product Dimensions: 21.2 x 13.4 x 3.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 5,020,448 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
| ||||||||||||||||||
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
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
S.O.S. serves as a welcome introduction to the fiction of Joseph Connolly, also a noted biographer. As the New York-bound SS Transylvania proceeds serenely across the Atlantic, those on board find themselves thrown from pillar to post, battered physically and emotionally. Only the most pig-headed disembark unscathed. Literate and witty, displaying a common touch while eschewing gratuitous vulgarity, this La Ronde for the 21st century beguiles and surprises, often both at once. A sense of pervading doom grows as the unlikely but inter-related couplings accumulate and multiply. The myriad surprises are revealed deftly. That protagonist David has a problem saying no in the pub is clear from the first line; that his wife Nicole has a problem in the casino is not. David's discovery that Nicole's new close friend Patty is his own older, even closer friend Trish is enhanced by the brevity with which it is described. There is a Joycean tint to the stream-of-consciousness narrative style, with an overlay of Henry Miller's grown-up eroticism and a strong suggestion of Evelyn Waugh's melancholic "orphans of the storm" passage in Brideshead Revisited. Rather more disturbing is the hint of Michael Dobbs as David finds himself in bed with the nubile and keen-to-experiment daughter of his new-found drinking chum Dwight (Oh Daddy, darling; just cherish me, won't you!). The constant shifting of perspective between major and minor players gives a 360 degree picture of life, or what passes for life, on the SS Transylvania. As the ship pitches and rolls, Connolly is sure-footed in capturing the voice of the despairing Englishman, arguably less so in depicting members of alien species, including Americans and all women. As the Transylvania approaches dock, the ending is rushed, even arbitrary, suggesting that it is indeed better to travel hopefully than arrive. The SOS metaphor is perhaps overplayed here, and, it must be said, not entirely accurately. There is little or no evidence that any souls have been saved, but then maybe the definition of "soul" has changed in the new millennium. --Brian Bollen
Review
'The repetitions and ruminations of a multitude of inner voices, the comic set-pieces and the horrified, hyperreal prose are as spot on as ever.' Justine Jordan, Guardian
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is the sort of book that should make you think twice if you are planning on booking a holiday on a cruise ship! One thing that has always put me off that idea is the thought of being holed up in a giant tin can with a bunch of people you can't stand the sight of, and unable to get away from them. Mr C only reinforces my view! We have his usual motley of grotesque characters, such as Dwight the cartoon American, with his unhealthy mania for young girls, (Mr C doesn't over-egg this horrid man, he just gives us enough information to understand quite how appalling he is), Stewart the Assistant Cruise Director who is on the verge of a massive nervous breakdown, and Nobby, quite easily the most boring man who ever existed on Earth! Then we have the family who has won the holiday in a competition. When you get Nicole, who thinks ANYTHING must be better than sex, and her husband, David, who thinks NOTHING could possibly be better than sex, then you know you haven't exactly got a marriage made in Heaven! This book is funny, it's also very dark at times. I only gave it 4 stars because I did get tired of it towards the end - Joseph Connolly characters usually end up out-staying their welcome. And if he set out to make the SS Transylvania seem hellish and claustrophobic, he managed it almost too well for me!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Well... I have just finished reading this book, mainly on the train during my commute... and I can honestly say, it had me laughing out loud.. I love the way it's written, I'd like to shake Joseph Connolly's hand and thank him for keeping me more entertained with his book, than I have been in rather a long time... I will read some of Mr. Connolly's other books now... I love his style... I love the way S.O.S. is written, his characters thinking just the same things that I would have thought about the others... and should I ever find myself encumbered with a Nobby and an Aggie for any length of time, I will seek a piece of rope... whether for his neck or mine, I'm not sure.......
Thank you Mr. C, for your book!!!!!!!!1
Thank you Mr. C, for your book!!!!!!!!1
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I simply can't agree with the other review of this book.
Connolly is a master of this genre, both funny and sad, moving and amusing. To say this is a complex novel is unfair. Yes, the plot connects a number of people together, but this is true of any good novel and in Connolly's hands the results are not just funny. The sheer agony of his characters is what draws me to read his books. There is something for everyone here, a laugh, a sob, shame, anger and perhaps more importantly a mirror in which we are all reflected.
Connolly is a master of this genre, both funny and sad, moving and amusing. To say this is a complex novel is unfair. Yes, the plot connects a number of people together, but this is true of any good novel and in Connolly's hands the results are not just funny. The sheer agony of his characters is what draws me to read his books. There is something for everyone here, a laugh, a sob, shame, anger and perhaps more importantly a mirror in which we are all reflected.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Simply and great read
This is not a serious book and not the type of book that would win a literary award.
It's a light, yet a brilliantly written,extremely funny read. Read more
It's a light, yet a brilliantly written,extremely funny read. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Mr. P. Salt
All Aboard the Transylvania!
I came to this book after being captivated by Jack the Lad and Bloody Mary. This is a less substantial book, but it is still an enjoyable read with elements of broad farce. Read more
Published on 2 Jan 2010 by Steven Thompson
Connolly launches another winner
As an avid Joseph Connolly fan I am bound to have enjoyed his latest offering. As all Connolly's novels revolve around a handful of strong characters whose lives are ridiculously... Read more
Published on 16 Feb 2003 by Victoriana_Mad
Not nearly as good as Summer Things
I really enjoyed 'summer things', unfortunately writing in the first person is much tougher, than in the third person, and jumping around many different characters in the first... Read more
Published on 3 Sep 2001
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.
