- Hardcover: 512 pages
- Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson; First Edition edition (10 Aug 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0297852353
- ISBN-13: 978-0297852353
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 16.2 x 4.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 703,609 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Exception
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Review
'Wise and disturbing, Jungersen's grippingly intimate dissection of betrayal, paranoia and human atrocity heralds him as a brave and gifted observer of the psyche - and a masterful storyteller. But beware: after reading The Exception, you may never look at your colleagues in quite the same way again... ' (Liz Jensen )
'It's a wincingly nasty, brilliant piece of work.' (Jessica Mann LITERARY REVIEW (August 2006) )
'From the quiet, understated early chapters the story develops into a tense struggle for survival...it is a powerful yet disquieting study of the psychology of evil, and a tense thriller.' (Susanna Yager SUNDAY TELEGRAPH (13.8.06) )
'It's a taut book with a powerful hook...Terrific stuff.' (Peter Guttridge OBSERVER (27.9.06) )
'It's a murder mystery full of mental and physical cruelty...It reminded me of the novels of Patricia Highsmith, and even more of Lionel Shriver's We Need to Talk About Kevin, which asked the same question - how innate is evil?...A horribly vivid and fiendishly clever novel.' (Carole Angier THE INDEPENDENT (25.8.06) )
'[a] disturbing and strongly written novel.' (GOOD BOOK GUIDE )
'A story of suspense, intrigue and fragile relationships...if you like your psychology, I'd highly recommend giving it a try.' (IRISH NEWS (26.9.06) )
'Plenty of books promise to change their readers' lives. Few succeed. Christian Jungersen's "The Exception" is truly an exception. Read it and you will never look at your work colleagues in quite the same way again...[a] highly original psychological thriller.' (THE ECONOMIST (30.9.06) )
'a powerful thriller...The Exception is a page-turning novel and an insight into some of the most evil people in the world...[it] will linger in the mind long after the last page has been turned.' (Linda Maher SUNDAY BUSINESS POST (17.9.06) )
'Christian Jungersen provides an excellent example of what we find admirable in Scandanavian crime writers...The Exception is an interesting novel with quite unexpected pace and a great deal to tell us about the psychological games we play with other people and with ourselves.' (Natasha Cooper TLS (22&29 Dec 2006) )
'[an] original and brilliantly constructed thriller.' (John Dugdale SUNDAY TIMES (7.1.07) )
'It's a wincingly nasty, brilliant piece of work.' (Jessica Mann LITERARY REVIEW (August 2006) )
'From the quiet, understated early chapters the story develops into a tense struggle for survival...it is a powerful yet disquieting study of the psychology of evil, and a tense thriller.' (Susanna Yager SUNDAY TELEGRAPH (13.8.06) )
'It's a taut book with a powerful hook...Terrific stuff.' (Peter Guttridge OBSERVER (27.9.06) )
'It's a murder mystery full of mental and physical cruelty...It reminded me of the novels of Patricia Highsmith, and even more of Lionel Shriver's We Need to Talk About Kevin, which asked the same question - how innate is evil?...A horribly vivid and fiendishly clever novel.' (Carole Angier THE INDEPENDENT (25.8.06) )
'[a] disturbing and strongly written novel.' (GOOD BOOK GUIDE )
'A story of suspense, intrigue and fragile relationships...if you like your psychology, I'd highly recommend giving it a try.' (IRISH NEWS (26.9.06) )
'Plenty of books promise to change their readers' lives. Few succeed. Christian Jungersen's "The Exception" is truly an exception. Read it and you will never look at your work colleagues in quite the same way again...[a] highly original psychological thriller.' (THE ECONOMIST (30.9.06) )
'a powerful thriller...The Exception is a page-turning novel and an insight into some of the most evil people in the world...[it] will linger in the mind long after the last page has been turned.' (Linda Maher SUNDAY BUSINESS POST (17.9.06) )
'Christian Jungersen provides an excellent example of what we find admirable in Scandanavian crime writers...The Exception is an interesting novel with quite unexpected pace and a great deal to tell us about the psychological games we play with other people and with ourselves.' (Natasha Cooper TLS (22&29 Dec 2006) )
'[an] original and brilliantly constructed thriller.' (John Dugdale SUNDAY TIMES (7.1.07) )
OBSERVER
'It's a taut book with a powerful hook...Terrific stuff'
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is the story of four women who work for a government-funded institute in Denmark, providing information, analysis and support for those researching genocide. I tell you this, because their occupation is crucial.
It is difficult to write about bullying and office politics, simply because one person's brutal slight, is another person's casual remark. But this is the essence of Jungersen's skill in this book. Told variously from each woman's perspective, it captures how personal bullying is, how easily it flips and changes, and how much of ourselves - and our sense of self-worth - is wrapped up in what we do for a living.
While I would quibble with the last fifty pages, in general Jungersen has written a superb book of modern office life, where each woman's past is the key to how they see the present and future. There is a subtle contrast between the inherent goodness and humanity of their job description, and their treatment of each other in daily life.
It's a simple idea, but a clever one, and for once an author has had the ability to take their initial idea to fulfilment
It is difficult to write about bullying and office politics, simply because one person's brutal slight, is another person's casual remark. But this is the essence of Jungersen's skill in this book. Told variously from each woman's perspective, it captures how personal bullying is, how easily it flips and changes, and how much of ourselves - and our sense of self-worth - is wrapped up in what we do for a living.
While I would quibble with the last fifty pages, in general Jungersen has written a superb book of modern office life, where each woman's past is the key to how they see the present and future. There is a subtle contrast between the inherent goodness and humanity of their job description, and their treatment of each other in daily life.
It's a simple idea, but a clever one, and for once an author has had the ability to take their initial idea to fulfilment
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The Denmark Centre of Genocide Information (DCGI) is founded on good intentions: to provide comprehensive resources about cases of genocide around the world; to raise awareness about the political and social issues associated with it; and to unfathom how apparently civilized human beings can commit horrendous atrocities against each other. Ironically, the Centre itself becomes a microcosm of all that its staff consider themselves objective commentators on.
The story of the four female employees at the DCGI is told by an omniscient, but not entirely reliable, narrator, who alternates the perspective between the main characters. We see how each person's words and actions resonate with, and become distorted by, those around them. We become aware of the increasingly toxic and insidious atmosphere in the office, as the women's professional and personal relationships with each other gradually unravel, and their mental stability is called into question. We see how the Centre's studies into the psychology of evil, the capacity to justify one's own cruelty, and even to deceive oneself about one's actions, are played out by the four women.
This is a fairly long novel at 567 pages, but the story and characters are so riveting that I hardly noticed. The way factual accounts of genocide and clinical studies into human behaviour are woven into the main story is very effective. The depiction of office bullying and mental disintegration is subtle and chilling. The only quibbles I had with the book was that one of the four women was given significantly less focus than the others, so I didn't feel I could relate to her experience as much. The climactic scenes towards the end of the novel rang slightly false after the subtlety of the preceding narrative, but I suppose were necessary in order to present "the exception" of the title.
The story of the four female employees at the DCGI is told by an omniscient, but not entirely reliable, narrator, who alternates the perspective between the main characters. We see how each person's words and actions resonate with, and become distorted by, those around them. We become aware of the increasingly toxic and insidious atmosphere in the office, as the women's professional and personal relationships with each other gradually unravel, and their mental stability is called into question. We see how the Centre's studies into the psychology of evil, the capacity to justify one's own cruelty, and even to deceive oneself about one's actions, are played out by the four women.
This is a fairly long novel at 567 pages, but the story and characters are so riveting that I hardly noticed. The way factual accounts of genocide and clinical studies into human behaviour are woven into the main story is very effective. The depiction of office bullying and mental disintegration is subtle and chilling. The only quibbles I had with the book was that one of the four women was given significantly less focus than the others, so I didn't feel I could relate to her experience as much. The climactic scenes towards the end of the novel rang slightly false after the subtlety of the preceding narrative, but I suppose were necessary in order to present "the exception" of the title.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I simply couldn't put this down. A very disturbing take the hostility which underlies many ostensibly friendly relationships between women. Anyone who has ever worked in an office will recognise Jungerson's story. He has an inspired if cruel eye for detail. The book is highly suspenseful, too - for at least the first two-thirds you really can't tell quite where it is going. I would recommend this to anyone who has enjoyed the more psychological Ruth Rendells.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
An intelligent psychological thriller
Like many, I've found that I enjoy Scandinavian writers - so this was the first reason for my choosing this book. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Alison McVey
superb
When is Jungersen's other novel going to appear in English? This one is gripping both on the level of the narrative and of the research material generated by the office in which... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Dr. F. M. A. Jones
Cognitive Dissonance
The four women who work at the Danish Centre for Genocide Information are a motley bunch - there is Camilla, the secretary, who is plagued by memories of her miserable childhood,... Read more
Published 23 months ago by Eileen Shaw
Such a successful thriller
This is a truly excellent book, with tension, drama and atmosphere throughout. At the beginning I thought quite a thick book (over 500 pages) like this would be a struggle to... Read more
Published on 3 Jun 2008 by A. Auburn
A fascinating read on two levels
This is the story of four women who work in the centre for genocide studies in Denmark. The book intersperses what appears to be factual information about genocides and the... Read more
Published on 8 Jun 2006 by M. Dean
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