- Paperback: 672 pages
- Publisher: Hamish Hamilton; Boxed Set edition (4 Feb 2010)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0241141826
- ISBN-13: 978-0241141823
- Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 13 x 4.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (60 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 362,829 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Skippy Dies
and over 900,000 other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Amazon.co.uk Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
'Outrageously enjoyable, bittersweet . . . an Irish boarding school comedy to savour' --Guardian
'A blast of a book . . . big, generous, heartfelt, funny and sad' --Irish Times
'Hilarious, touching and tragic. Murray is the voice of a generation' --Grazia
'A triumph . . . brimful of wit and narrative energy' --Sunday Times
'Gigantic, marvellous, witty, heartbreaking. The writing is second to none, the banter between the boys brilliant'
--Daily Telegraph --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
'A blast of a book . . . big, generous, heartfelt, funny and sad' --Irish Times
'Hilarious, touching and tragic. Murray is the voice of a generation' --Grazia
'A triumph . . . brimful of wit and narrative energy' --Sunday Times
'Gigantic, marvellous, witty, heartbreaking. The writing is second to none, the banter between the boys brilliant'
--Daily Telegraph --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
Ruprecht Van Doren is an overweight genius whose hobbies include very difficult maths and the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence. Daniel 'Skippy' Juster is his roommate. In the grand old Dublin institution that is Seabrook College for Boys, nobody pays either of them much attention. But when Skippy falls for Lori, the Frisbee-playing Siren from the girls' school next door, suddenly all kinds of people take an interest - including Carl, part-time drug-dealer and official school psychopath.
While his teachers battle over modernisation, and Ruprecht attempts to open a portal into a parallel universe, Skippy, in the name of love, is heading for a showdown - in the form of a fatal doughnut-eating race that only one person will survive. This unlikely tragedy will explode Seabrook's century-old complacency and bring all kinds of secrets into the light, until teachers and pupils alike discover that the fragile lines dividing past from present, love from betrayal - and even life from death - have become almost impossible to read . . .
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
58 of 63 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Voted #3 in Time Magazine's Top Novels of 2010, Costa Shortlisted and Booker Longlisted,
By Geebus Maximus Americanus (Ireland) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Skippy Dies (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.
23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I couldn't believe 650+ pages about an Irish Boarding school could be so entertaining,
By
This review is from: Skippy Dies (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.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Kept me hooked!,
By
This review is from: Skippy Dies (Paperback)
I don't usually like books set in schools or colleges however well written, and I started this book not really expecting to get very far before getting bored - especially given the length. 600+ pages set in a boys public school in Ireland. However the book is so inventive and intelligent, there is never a chance for boredom to set in. The book is funny, heartbreakingly sad, and very disturbing. It tackles some of the themes you would expect - catholic priests, bullying, coming of age, teenage infatuation etc, but also turns stereotypes upside down and challenges preconceptions. A very entertaining read, an intelligently written book, and a heart wrenching work of fiction. Kept me hooked from start to finish.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews |
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
![[Start the discussion]](http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/02/x-locale/communities/discussion_boards/start-new-discussion-sec._V192198663_.gif){kind=small}
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.
