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Review
'Not in a very long time have I read something that gripped me so intensely' - Andre Brink --Review
'A serious, harrowing read ... Morgan evokes the intensity of the situation brilliantly' - Herald
--Review
`The novel maps the grief of two families and is often extremely powerful' - The Times --Review
`Morgan's spare, stripped-down prose lends this debut surprising resonance' - Daily Mail --Review
`A brutal, brilliant examination of loss and obsession. Sleeper's Wake is a razor-sharp psychological thriller to boot' - Big Issue
-- Review
'A serious, harrowing read ... Morgan evokes the intensity of the situation brilliantly' - Herald
--Review
`The novel maps the grief of two families and is often extremely powerful' - The Times --Review
`Morgan's spare, stripped-down prose lends this debut surprising resonance' - Daily Mail --Review
`A brutal, brilliant examination of loss and obsession. Sleeper's Wake is a razor-sharp psychological thriller to boot' - Big Issue
-- Review
Review
'Beautifully told'- Peter Matthiesson, author of The Snow Leopard
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
When John's wife and daughter are killed he has no memory of the car crash that killed them. At the invitation of his sister he goes to live at Nature's Valley in the Tsitsikamma national park, South Africa. By chance he meets another bereaved family and their paths become horribly entwined. There are some powerful themes explored in the book, the nature of grief (do we really only grieve out of selfishness), marriage (do we only enter into it as an escape), parenthood, dementia, sexuality, alcoholism, religion and racism. There is powerful symbolism too, and at the end we see John literally naked and stripped of everything that labels him civilized, right at the lowest point a human can reach - in competition with another animal. What happens after that, is the answer to a question that crops up several times as the book progresses: are we equipped with everything we need to deal with everything life can throw at us?
Alistair Morgan's honesty often succeeds in arousing revulsion and this is frequently an uncomfortable ride. I found it impossible to read slowly, and thought it amongst things an unusually brave admission of the sexual forces that rule a man in spite of himself. Not long back from Tsitsikamma myself, I could well appreciate the wildness of that place being an appropriate setting for this almost "Lord of the Flies" scenario. If this book were a swim, it would not be a gentle swim in an English cove but a long dive into icy, shark infested waters - but what an adrenaline rush.
Alistair Morgan's honesty often succeeds in arousing revulsion and this is frequently an uncomfortable ride. I found it impossible to read slowly, and thought it amongst things an unusually brave admission of the sexual forces that rule a man in spite of himself. Not long back from Tsitsikamma myself, I could well appreciate the wildness of that place being an appropriate setting for this almost "Lord of the Flies" scenario. If this book were a swim, it would not be a gentle swim in an English cove but a long dive into icy, shark infested waters - but what an adrenaline rush.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
Sleeper's Wake is a pretty dull affair concerning writer John who escapes to his sister's beach house following the death of his wife and only daughter in an accident where he was the driver. No other cars were involved. It is off-season and he spends his days walking, swimming and drinking. He is reluctantly befriended by another family who had suffered even worse traumas than him at the hands of a violent gang of robbers. The father was in a fragile state, using his religion as a crutch but the two children are even more deeply damaged, especially the precocious 17 year old Jackie. The (almost) inevitable happens despite John's feeble attempts to stop it and he betrays Jackie's fathers kindness and generosity.
I'd be lying if I said I enjoyed this book, John was a pretty weak, self-centred and unlikeable character. Plagiarist and failed husband, possibly at fault for the death of his own family he then proceeded to blow apart another one with his selfish actions. Old enough to know better, he used his own self pity as an excuse to behave how he wanted and was not the victim here but the perpetrator. It's an interesting study of how people behave "in the wild" and in the aftermath of tragedy but the author's attempts to shock (the baby dream, violent end game) do not make this a great read. For a far better "lost summer" novel (ok, winter in this case), I would recommend Tim Winton's Breath which has a far greater depth of characters and storyline but is not without controversy either.
I'd be lying if I said I enjoyed this book, John was a pretty weak, self-centred and unlikeable character. Plagiarist and failed husband, possibly at fault for the death of his own family he then proceeded to blow apart another one with his selfish actions. Old enough to know better, he used his own self pity as an excuse to behave how he wanted and was not the victim here but the perpetrator. It's an interesting study of how people behave "in the wild" and in the aftermath of tragedy but the author's attempts to shock (the baby dream, violent end game) do not make this a great read. For a far better "lost summer" novel (ok, winter in this case), I would recommend Tim Winton's Breath which has a far greater depth of characters and storyline but is not without controversy either.
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
From reading the back cover this sounded like a genuinely interesting read, but sadly it only partially lived up to it's potential. The novel starts well enough detailing the tragedy that befalls the main protagonist John and his guilt at driving the car which kills his wife and daughter. This is certainly the most fascinating part of the book, particularly considering the poor relationship he had with his wife before the crash and I think it would have been better to maintain focus on his feelings of guilt and his reactions to their deaths.
Instead there is another story in which John goes to stay with his sister and ends up having an affair with a 17 y old. Of course there is the implication that the crash and resulting guilt have played their parts in this new relationship, but this seems to be peripheral to the relationship itself. What's more is that the story is actually quite slow at times and there are chunks where not a great deal seems to happen.
Overall therefore this story had great potential and started well, but a disappointing follow-up plot meant that I ended up with the view that it was just OK.
Instead there is another story in which John goes to stay with his sister and ends up having an affair with a 17 y old. Of course there is the implication that the crash and resulting guilt have played their parts in this new relationship, but this seems to be peripheral to the relationship itself. What's more is that the story is actually quite slow at times and there are chunks where not a great deal seems to happen.
Overall therefore this story had great potential and started well, but a disappointing follow-up plot meant that I ended up with the view that it was just OK.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
A Deep Feeling Read
9The first thing that attracted me to this book is that I thought it was some kind of horror story. I thought it would also be quite mysterious with some sort of violence in it. Read more
Published 17 months ago by U Dick
More snoozing than awake ...
This sounded like an interesting novel about a man who loses his wife and daughter in a car crash and becomes involved with a disturbed seventeen year old girl while recuperating... Read more
Published 17 months ago by P. Millar
Well written but unappetising
There is great beauty in this author's writing. He has a fine eye for both detail and dialogue, and constructs characters well. Read more
Published 17 months ago by littlepig littlepig
very powerful story
'Sleeper's Wake' is a very powerful and moving story. John is in a car accident in which his wife and daughter are killed. Read more
Published 18 months ago by laineyf
A little masterpiece
Sleeper's Wake is a haunting novel written in very spare language. Alistair Morgan's writing has much in common with JM Coetzee and Damon Galgut, fellow South African writers. Read more
Published 19 months ago by MisterHobgoblin
good read
A very enjoyable read. The story was well written and in quite a lot of detail- some people may feel some of the details were not always necessary. Read more
Published 21 months ago by M. A. Coyle
dark and interesting
This book made me think about how life could be on one path one second and another the next. The main charactor in this book had just such a life changing second, and the twist and... Read more
Published 21 months ago by G. Cook
Uneven
I would describe this book as uneven - sometimes the writing draws you in so that time flies by without you noticing and at other times, the descriptions and dialogue leave you... Read more
Published 22 months ago by Lilly Penhaligon
Next big thing ? Not with this book ...
I bought this as a result of a newspaper review and as it was dealing with the big issues, death, grief and pain, while drawing (also on the dustcover) adjectives like gripping,... Read more
Published on 16 Nov 2009 by John H
brave debut
This is a brave debut, a novel that doesn't shy away from tackling big issues like grief, death and the darker motivations of the human soul. Read more
Published on 13 Aug 2009 by Sef Martel
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