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Sacred Hunger (Paperback)

by Barry Unsworth (Author)
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
RRP: £9.99
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Product details

  • Paperback: 640 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin; New Ed edition (28 Aug 2008)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0140119930
  • ISBN-13: 978-0140119930
  • Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 4.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 66,685 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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    #3 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > U > Unsworth, Barry

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Product Description

Product Description

WINNER OF THE 1992 BOOKER PRIZE 'Gripping . . . SACRED HUNGER covers a period between 1752 and 1765 . . . it concerns the entangled and conflicted fortunes of two cousins: Erasmus Kemp, the son of a Lancashire merchant, and Matthew Paris, a scholar and surgeon just released from prison for "denying Holy Writ" . . . the Liverpool Merchant is the vessel on which the whole of the novel hinges, and it carries the reader deep into the history of man's iniquitous greed . . . AS REGARDS ITS DRAMATIC BREADTH AND ENERGY, NO RECENT DOMESTIC NOVEL HAS COME WITHIN A MILE OF IT' - Anthony Quinn in the Independent


About the Author

Barry Unsworth won the Booker Prize with SACRED HUNGER and has been shortlisted for PASCALI'S ISLAND and MORALITY PLAY. He is author of many other acclaimed novels. Originally from Durham he now lives in Italy.
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8 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.8 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful, immediate and disturbing - a wonderful novel, 25 Oct 2001
This epic of the eighteenth century British Slave Trade works at two levels. The first is as a straight and exciting narrative of the different stances to it of the two main characters, one who profits from it, and is at last morally enslaved by it himself while the other recognises its evil and attempts his own ultimately futile protest against it. At the second level the novel serves as a meditation on the nature of greed - the "Sacred Hunger" of the title, and the extent to which it can become a justification for any excess. Mr.Unsworth's genius in this book is however that the does not adapt a simplistic moralising tone but writes with understanding of the society that produced this abuse, and shows how potentially decent people could be drawn, unthinkingly, into the position of profiteers and exploiters. One does not get a sense here of modern perceptions and values being projected back on to an earlier age - the weakness which destroys so much serious fiction set in the past - and the characters' behaviour and attitudes, whether sympathetic to the Slave Trade or not , are consistent with those of eighteenth century British society. Like other novels of Unsworth's, this work has many echoes of Conrad, in its depiction of the depths to which humanity can so quickly plunge once the restraints of law and custom are relaxed. Though gripping from the first page it is disturbing work and the vividness of its plot and imagery will not quickly leave the reader. Very highly recommended.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic piece of history, 23 Feb 2004
By A Customer
What a wonderful book! The amount of research required for such an epic must be mind boggling. This is not just a novel about the slave trade, but a close look at the two very different personalities of the main protagonists, (as relevant today, as in 1752), and the justifcation, or not, of the Sacred Hunger of the title. We are treated to a graphic description of the terrible privations suffered by both the crew and their human cargo, and reminded of how human beings in certain parts of the world were treated worse than any animal, simply because of the colour of their skin. What more can I say? read it!
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Historical Fiction You Cannot Do Without, 14 Dec 2004
By A. O. AKEMU (Amsterdam, NL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Barry Unsworth's novel does deserve the Booker Prize that it won. From the moment I picked it up it was impossible to put down. The novel starts with a description of two classes in 18th century England: the working class and the burgeoning mercantile class exemplified by Erasmus Kemp. I particularly like the way Barry Unsworth portrays bawdy tavern speak using its clipped sounds and mispronounced words.

Sacred Hunger races between gaudy mansions of the nouveau riche in the English countryside and the slave dealers abode in humid, hot West Africa. It underlines the common humanity in us all and the questions that injustice raises. The novel's ace-in-the-hole is that he does not adopt a moralizing tone on the issue of slave trade. The novel is a stark description of our pitiful, insatiable greed, which was the cause of the the injustice that was the Slave Trade.

If you are a serious history buff looking for some perspective into the Slave Trade then this is not the book for you. However, if you want a fantastic bit of storytelling with the slave trade as a backdrop then you must read this one.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars An informative and interesting historical book
I purchased this book after a read about it in the Wall Street Journal - it was one of her ten best historical novels the newspaper's critic presented. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Georgia P.

5.0 out of 5 stars Forget Rushdie - This is my Booker of Bookers
The love of money, the making of profit is the sacred hunger of the title. This quest justifies everything and sanctifies all purposes. Read more
Published 11 months ago by LizzySiddal

5.0 out of 5 stars The finest piece of historical fiction I've ever read.
Unsworth's Booker prize sharing _Sacred_Hunger_ is a book of virtually unparalleled beauty. It sustains you, beckens you along, and leaves you heartbroken, with an entire new... Read more
Published on 20 Feb 2001

3.0 out of 5 stars This novel was semi-good compared to others i've read.
Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth was a moderate novel. It took well into the 400's to get interesting enough to make myself not want to put it down. Read more
Published on 10 Dec 2000

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect read
I went back to this book last week, for the first time in about five years. The odd thing is that even historical fiction ages. Not so in Mr. Unsworth's case. Read more
Published on 30 Jun 1999

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