Independent on Sunday
'Docx switches between settings and time-frames with the serene, godlike power of a Victorian novelist...'
Sunday Herald's Cultural Life
'One can say this is a book with big ideas at its heart.'
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
If this is only Docx's second novel, he'll be winning awards in no time.
This is an engrossing novel about families which escapes the banality that often permeates such novels. The plot follows Gabriel and Isabella Glover, thirty two year-old twins, as they come to terms with their mother's death in Russia. Gabriel is based in London while Isabella lives in New York, and the sudden loss causes both to reassess their lives and relationships.
Meanwhile, a talented Russian pianist has links to the Glovers. His life is a million miles from theirs. Docx thrillingly evokes the sleazy underbelly of the poverty-stricken in Russia, and the horrors of drug dependency, withdrawal and eking out a living in a criminal world are fascinatingly depicted.
There are so many breathtakingly potent sections in this novel. Fear, anger, loyalty, hatred and love are all seared into the text, and some sections are white-knuckle inducing. Docx captures the conflicting emotions that family evokes. And the characters are rounded and believable, they have faults like real people, and their dialogue sparkles.
The Booker should have gone to this or to Darkmans.
This is an engrossing novel about families which escapes the banality that often permeates such novels. The plot follows Gabriel and Isabella Glover, thirty two year-old twins, as they come to terms with their mother's death in Russia. Gabriel is based in London while Isabella lives in New York, and the sudden loss causes both to reassess their lives and relationships.
Meanwhile, a talented Russian pianist has links to the Glovers. His life is a million miles from theirs. Docx thrillingly evokes the sleazy underbelly of the poverty-stricken in Russia, and the horrors of drug dependency, withdrawal and eking out a living in a criminal world are fascinatingly depicted.
There are so many breathtakingly potent sections in this novel. Fear, anger, loyalty, hatred and love are all seared into the text, and some sections are white-knuckle inducing. Docx captures the conflicting emotions that family evokes. And the characters are rounded and believable, they have faults like real people, and their dialogue sparkles.
The Booker should have gone to this or to Darkmans.
15 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Self Help is a complex and engrossing novel.
A returned Soviet émigré, Maria Glover, is found dead in her St Petersburg flat by her son. He has flown out at short notice to answer her intriguing call of distress.
In the aftermath of Maria's passing, the Glover family secrets and stories start to come to light. The tentacles of these stories stretch from St Petersburg to London, Paris and New York as Maria's family have flown the nest and made, generally, unsuccessful and unfulfilling lives for themselves.
What makes Self Help is the level of intrigue in the stories - especially as Arkady, aided by English heroin addict Henry, tries to make contact with Maria's family. The novel is narrated from various perspectives, allowing characters to be the villain of the piece in one chapter and the focus of attention and sympathy in the next. The level of detail, too, is astounding. This creates a very real sense of place which, in four different cities, is no mean feat. By way of example, the detail we see of Gabriel's life - he is Maria's son - as he edits the Self-Help! magazine goes way beyond what is needed to carry the story along. Each of Gabe's staff gets a mention, along with their various issues and problems that make them totally unsuited to their work. And Arkady and Henry's dealings with the criminal underworld in St Petersburg ring very true indeed. The arch-baddie Leary is a comic creation of genius - his understanding of the psyche of the junkie is so true.
As the novel meanders its slow but shimmering path to conclusion, the various strands get brought together in various unpredictable ways. There is the obligatory jaw dropping moment of shock - and it really is jaw-dropping, but without being clichéd.
A couple of anachronisms apart, this is a total masterpiece. The language glows on the page, briefly, before the urge to turn the page kicks in. Top class.
A returned Soviet émigré, Maria Glover, is found dead in her St Petersburg flat by her son. He has flown out at short notice to answer her intriguing call of distress.
In the aftermath of Maria's passing, the Glover family secrets and stories start to come to light. The tentacles of these stories stretch from St Petersburg to London, Paris and New York as Maria's family have flown the nest and made, generally, unsuccessful and unfulfilling lives for themselves.
What makes Self Help is the level of intrigue in the stories - especially as Arkady, aided by English heroin addict Henry, tries to make contact with Maria's family. The novel is narrated from various perspectives, allowing characters to be the villain of the piece in one chapter and the focus of attention and sympathy in the next. The level of detail, too, is astounding. This creates a very real sense of place which, in four different cities, is no mean feat. By way of example, the detail we see of Gabriel's life - he is Maria's son - as he edits the Self-Help! magazine goes way beyond what is needed to carry the story along. Each of Gabe's staff gets a mention, along with their various issues and problems that make them totally unsuited to their work. And Arkady and Henry's dealings with the criminal underworld in St Petersburg ring very true indeed. The arch-baddie Leary is a comic creation of genius - his understanding of the psyche of the junkie is so true.
As the novel meanders its slow but shimmering path to conclusion, the various strands get brought together in various unpredictable ways. There is the obligatory jaw dropping moment of shock - and it really is jaw-dropping, but without being clichéd.
A couple of anachronisms apart, this is a total masterpiece. The language glows on the page, briefly, before the urge to turn the page kicks in. Top class.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is an outstanding novel - highly recommended. Docx's writing style is in turn lyrical, affecting and funny.
This book aims high and succeeds, delivering a complex, emotionally involving plot set against an evocative portrayal of St Petersburg and a modern day, media-centric London.
Looking forward to more from this talented author.
This book aims high and succeeds, delivering a complex, emotionally involving plot set against an evocative portrayal of St Petersburg and a modern day, media-centric London.
Looking forward to more from this talented author.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A mix of too much
This crazy story jumps between cities and characters ruthlessly and was a bit hard to get into. There is so much moralising, questioning and general pontification that you will be... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Rosiethorn
An excellent book. Highly recommended
This is the best book I have read for a long time. It is well written; easy to read; has a facinating plot; features voyages into three separate worlds (North London; New York; St... Read more
Published 13 months ago by W. Tegner
great.
I really enjoyed this. The themes-- Russia, travel, death, global dislocation etc are all right up my street, and the narrative, description, and voice of the story all work... Read more
Published on 3 Mar 2010 by JamieJ
Not a book I'd normally go for
I really did enjoy this book, it is the perfect novel about family. The way the many members of the family have their own story within the novel and the emotional tale that is told... Read more
Published on 24 Feb 2010 by M. K. Addison
An important novel
Ed Docx writes with great care and passion for his subject - two societies in decline as a background to the complexities of the faltering family unit. Read more
Published on 14 Jan 2010 by MP
A decent project for an MA in creative writing, but no fun to read.
I was unable to read much more than a third of this book. It was humourless and intellectual for its own sake. Read more
Published on 8 Nov 2009 by T. Levine
what?
well it does start slowly, but that's the only similarity i can see with what the other reviewers say.
it's a book which has a large canvas. Read more
it's a book which has a large canvas. Read more
Published on 10 Oct 2009 by midnightrichard
**Snore**
I have a rule that I have to read at least 100 pages of a book before giving up on it. With this book I broke that rule and gave up on page 88. It is unbelievably boring! Read more
Published on 20 Aug 2008 by Angel of Nine
Utter drivel
This is the worst book that I have wasted eyesight on in some time. I couldn't even it, it was so bad. It is poorly written, depressing and quite uninteresting to boot. Read more
Published on 16 July 2008 by flo
Did we read the same book?
I obviously read a completely different version from the other reviewers! I found the writing style childish, with no change in voice between the characters. Read more
Published on 9 July 2008 by LegalEagle
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