Skippy Dies
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Review
Savagely funny, brimful of wit, energy, poetry and vision, unflaggingly entertaining. A triumph (Sunday Times )
One of the most enjoyable, funny and moving reads of this year. A rare tragicomedy that's both genuinely tragic and genuinely comic (Guardian )
Darkly comic, dazzles, every line drips ideas for fun. Unputdownably funny, captivating. A masterpiece (Metro )
Ambitious, wise, funny, fiercely intelligent. The beauty of this cynical, hopeful, beautifully written book is that it builds a detailed world to explore life, the universe and everything (Sunday Express )
Hilarious, heartbreaking, totally engrossing. A triumph (Daily Mail )
I loved Skippy Dies . . . three novels fused into one ignited tragicomic tour de force (Ali Smith Times Literary Supplement )
Skippy Dies is one great high-octane fizz bang of a book (Patrick McCabe Irish Times )
Extravagantly entertaining (New York Times Book Review )
A comic epic. Murray is a brilliant comic writer, but also humane and touching, and he captures the misery and elation, joy and anxiety of teenage life. A brilliant depiction of the heaven and hell of male adolescence (David Nicholls Guardian )
Murray's writing has earned a place in the contemporary international canon . . . Murray's characters are so three-dimensionally drawn and brought to such vivid life that they may haunt your dreams (Irish Independent )
One of the most enjoyable, funny and moving reads of this year. A rare tragicomedy that's both genuinely tragic and genuinely comic (Guardian )
Darkly comic, dazzles, every line drips ideas for fun. Unputdownably funny, captivating. A masterpiece (Metro )
Ambitious, wise, funny, fiercely intelligent. The beauty of this cynical, hopeful, beautifully written book is that it builds a detailed world to explore life, the universe and everything (Sunday Express )
Hilarious, heartbreaking, totally engrossing. A triumph (Daily Mail )
Novels rarely come as funny and as moving as this utterly brilliant
exploration of teenhood and the anticlimax of becoming an adult . . . Skippy Dies is intuitive, truthful and one of the finest comic novels written anywhere. Dies? Never! Skippy lives
(Eileen Battersby Irish Times )I loved Skippy Dies . . . three novels fused into one ignited tragicomic tour de force (Ali Smith Times Literary Supplement )
Skippy Dies is one great high-octane fizz bang of a book (Patrick McCabe Irish Times )
Extravagantly entertaining (New York Times Book Review )
A comic epic. Murray is a brilliant comic writer, but also humane and touching, and he captures the misery and elation, joy and anxiety of teenage life. A brilliant depiction of the heaven and hell of male adolescence (David Nicholls Guardian )
Murray's writing has earned a place in the contemporary international canon . . . Murray's characters are so three-dimensionally drawn and brought to such vivid life that they may haunt your dreams (Irish Independent )
Product Description
'Skippy and Ruprecht are having a doughnut-eating race one evening when Skippy turns purple and falls off his chair . . .'
And so begins this epic, tragic, comic, brilliant novel set in and around Dublin's Seabrook College for Boys. Principally concerning the lives, loves, mistakes and triumphs of overweight maths-whiz Ruprecht Van Doren and his roommate Daniel 'Skippy' Juster, it features a frisbee-throwing siren called Lori, the joys (and horrors) of first love, the use and blatant misuse of prescription drugs, Carl (the official school psychopath), various attempts to unravel string theory . . . while at the same time exploring the very deepest mysteries of the human heart.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
60 of 65 people found the following review helpful
Voted #3 in Time Magazine's Top Novels of 2010, Costa Shortlisted and Booker Longlisted
27 April 2010
Format:Paperback
This book (longlisted for the 2010 Booker Prize) grabbed hold of me on the very dramatic opening pages and tossed me out the other end (page 672!) only 3 days later. What a page turner. Hailing as I do from the same side of the Liffey where this story is based, it was like being transported back in time to my schooldays, though how times have changed with the onslaught of modern technologies.
Skippy Dies is based primarily in Seabrook College, home to day and boarding pupils alike. It fixes in on both the young teenage students and their teachers, and their lives away from school. What really struck me was how today's teenagers have no concept of what having a private life means. Camera phones and social networking sites are the norm and any indiscretions can be made widely known in seconds.
The book deals beautifully with the story behind each of the main characters, exploring their past, their family life, what brought them to the here and now and their current emotional state. When you add the girls school next door into the mix the story really takes off.
The title is self explanatory, but all is not what it seems, so my advice is to let Murray take you on this wonderfully touching journey of discovery.
I don't want to give away too much other than to say all the characters are wonderfully portrayed in such fantastic detail. Murray's style of writing is both hilarious and poignant.
This is not one to miss. I read the full, one book edition. It also comes in a really nice 3-volume box set if you fancy breaking it up.
Skippy Dies is based primarily in Seabrook College, home to day and boarding pupils alike. It fixes in on both the young teenage students and their teachers, and their lives away from school. What really struck me was how today's teenagers have no concept of what having a private life means. Camera phones and social networking sites are the norm and any indiscretions can be made widely known in seconds.
The book deals beautifully with the story behind each of the main characters, exploring their past, their family life, what brought them to the here and now and their current emotional state. When you add the girls school next door into the mix the story really takes off.
The title is self explanatory, but all is not what it seems, so my advice is to let Murray take you on this wonderfully touching journey of discovery.
I don't want to give away too much other than to say all the characters are wonderfully portrayed in such fantastic detail. Murray's style of writing is both hilarious and poignant.
This is not one to miss. I read the full, one book edition. It also comes in a really nice 3-volume box set if you fancy breaking it up.
23 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
One of the reasons I love reading entire long lists (Skippy Dies was long listed for 2010 Booker Prize) is that I stumble upon fantastic books that I wouldn't otherwise pick up. I had heard good things about Skippy Dies before the Booker long list was announced, but I couldn't motivate myself to read 650+ pages about teenagers living in an Irish boarding school. I'm so pleased that I read this book as it was entertaining, gripping and insightful.
The book opens with Daniel `Skippy' Juster dying. At first the reason for his death seems obvious, but the plot then goes back in time and we slowly discover that the cause of Skippy's death isn't as simple as people initially suspected.
Much of this book could be described as a coming-of-age story, but unlike most other books which describe the lives of teenagers, this book captivated me. Skippy drew me into his emotionally charged world and nearly managed to make me laugh and cry - something no other book has managed to do. I was amazed at how much the everyday school life engaged me - I flew through the book and found every single one of the pages to be captivating and necessary for the plot.
Skippy's roommate is Ruprecht, an overweight genius trying utilise M-theory to travel to another dimension. I'm a big fan of complex science in literature, but I'm sure that those who struggle to understand physics will still love Ruprecht's enthusiasm for invention. As well as physics we are also treated to war poetry, Irish folklore and an array of other subjects - I loved it!
As the book drew to a conclusion I became increasingly impressed with the complexity of the plot. When I reached the final page I wanted to start the book all over again, just so I could see the little clues that I'd failed to pick up on.
This book works on so many levels - it is easy to read, but the text hides enough to entertain multiple re-readings.
I can see future generations studying this book and I think it would be a worthy winner of the 2010 Booker Prize.
Highly recommended.
The book opens with Daniel `Skippy' Juster dying. At first the reason for his death seems obvious, but the plot then goes back in time and we slowly discover that the cause of Skippy's death isn't as simple as people initially suspected.
Much of this book could be described as a coming-of-age story, but unlike most other books which describe the lives of teenagers, this book captivated me. Skippy drew me into his emotionally charged world and nearly managed to make me laugh and cry - something no other book has managed to do. I was amazed at how much the everyday school life engaged me - I flew through the book and found every single one of the pages to be captivating and necessary for the plot.
Skippy's roommate is Ruprecht, an overweight genius trying utilise M-theory to travel to another dimension. I'm a big fan of complex science in literature, but I'm sure that those who struggle to understand physics will still love Ruprecht's enthusiasm for invention. As well as physics we are also treated to war poetry, Irish folklore and an array of other subjects - I loved it!
As the book drew to a conclusion I became increasingly impressed with the complexity of the plot. When I reached the final page I wanted to start the book all over again, just so I could see the little clues that I'd failed to pick up on.
This book works on so many levels - it is easy to read, but the text hides enough to entertain multiple re-readings.
I can see future generations studying this book and I think it would be a worthy winner of the 2010 Booker Prize.
Highly recommended.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Skippy Dies - a contemporay tale of hilarity and tragedy starring 14 year old boys ( with some adults.. )
16 Sep 2010
Format:Paperback
I was very excited to learn that Paul Murray had written another book, after having recommended his previous book, "An Evening of Long Goodbyes" to all of my friends and given it as a gift to as many people as I could manage.
Skippy Dies is the tale of Daniel Juster (Skippy), a boy named after a kangaroo in a TV series, primarily because of his unfortunate dental formation. He is sensitive, romantic and lacks confidence, living life against a backdrop of difficult circumstances. We meet his friends at Seabrook College, possibly the best boarding school for boys in Dublin; Ruprecht, whose huge IQ is matched only by his girth, Mario the Italian who advises the rest of the boys in matters of love, with insight drawn from his imaginary romantic conquests, the dark and shady Carl, and the girls from St Brigit's Convent next door.
The essential themes of life are to be found in the book, tragedy v comedy, good v evil, truth v falsehood, youth v adulthood, the rosy past v today's gritty reality, bleak pessimism and foolish optimism.. And it also has some excellent jokes and stonking one liners !
So many important places and events of teenage life also appear - the compulsory ' social ' disco for the second years , the do-nut shop ( a place of happiness and immense sadness ), raids on the girls' school next door in the name of science, swimming galas; the plot is so inventive with twist after twist including many interwoven sub-plots.
The characters, both the teenagers and the adults, are drawn in detail and depth with pathos and with humour.
I loved it, could not recommend it strongly enough. It's a marvel .....
Skippy Dies is the tale of Daniel Juster (Skippy), a boy named after a kangaroo in a TV series, primarily because of his unfortunate dental formation. He is sensitive, romantic and lacks confidence, living life against a backdrop of difficult circumstances. We meet his friends at Seabrook College, possibly the best boarding school for boys in Dublin; Ruprecht, whose huge IQ is matched only by his girth, Mario the Italian who advises the rest of the boys in matters of love, with insight drawn from his imaginary romantic conquests, the dark and shady Carl, and the girls from St Brigit's Convent next door.
The essential themes of life are to be found in the book, tragedy v comedy, good v evil, truth v falsehood, youth v adulthood, the rosy past v today's gritty reality, bleak pessimism and foolish optimism.. And it also has some excellent jokes and stonking one liners !
So many important places and events of teenage life also appear - the compulsory ' social ' disco for the second years , the do-nut shop ( a place of happiness and immense sadness ), raids on the girls' school next door in the name of science, swimming galas; the plot is so inventive with twist after twist including many interwoven sub-plots.
The characters, both the teenagers and the adults, are drawn in detail and depth with pathos and with humour.
I loved it, could not recommend it strongly enough. It's a marvel .....
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A mixed bag
This book was hard work. The first third or so of the book was a bit of a struggle - so many different names to keep track of and nothing much happening. Read more
Published 15 days ago by Cobblers
A slow burner but ultimately frazzles and dazzles
For all those people who say this novel should be shorter or that they gave up after a few chapters (citing dull physics or hateful characters) may I suggest that many great novels... Read more
Published 3 months ago by copliah
Novel needs to be edited
I haven't yet completed reading the book, and I will do so. It's OK - a little light and I'm really surprised it made it onto the Booker long list, nevertheless it is easy to read... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Mr. Trench
Very good novel - and I don't like novels
I bought this for my teenagers to read but started it myself and found myself laughing and nodding my head in appreciation of the writing and the situations that the characters... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Miss S. P. Wells
Skippy Dies by Paul Murray
This book wasn't at all what I was expecting. I was expecting it to be set in Australia and about a dolphin (yes, I realise Skippy was a kangaroo, I was confused with Flipper) but... Read more
Published 4 months ago by iandliz
Stick with it, it gets better about halfway through
There's something wrong with the UK and Irish publishing industries if they can't see that this type of over complex, over written and over hyped product is not what people want... Read more
Published 4 months ago by T. C. Hogg
Brilliant
Daniel `Skippy' Juster dies in the first chapter (although you might have gathered that from the title) the book then travels back in time and shows the reader the events leading... Read more
Published 6 months ago by J. Willis
Dont try Audible download
I downloaded the audible version of this book - what a mistake. This does not support my Blackberry - even though the website implies it does. Read more
Published 6 months ago by A. Maloney
One of the rare occasions I didn't finish
I agree with the others that say this was utter tripe.
Slow, nothing happens, confusing, boring. I cant remember the last time I gave up on a book but I did this. Read more
Slow, nothing happens, confusing, boring. I cant remember the last time I gave up on a book but I did this. Read more
Published 6 months ago by joe bloggs
boring, badly written
I'm afraid I put this down after 82 pages. I'm well aware this is supposed to be written in and about a boarding school, but the passages of infantile descriptions and "humour"... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Josey Wales
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