- Paperback: 416 pages
- Publisher: Pocket Books; New edition edition (2 Sep 1996)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0684816156
- ISBN-13: 978-0684816159
- Product Dimensions: 19.3 x 13 x 2.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 984,830 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Glamour (Gollancz S.F.)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
"A tightly narrated slice of psychological horror." (The Independent )
"[a] cool, understated chiller. Priest's control over his story will keep you turning the pages as events slowly twist their way to an unseen climax." (Brian J. Robb DREAMWATCH ) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
"[a] cool, understated chiller. Priest's control over his story will keep you turning the pages as events slowly twist their way to an unseen climax." (Brian J. Robb DREAMWATCH ) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Product Description
Cameraman Richard Grey's memory has blanked out the few weeks before he was injured in a car bomb incident. But when Susan Kewley speaks to him of that time, he finds himself glimpsing a terrible twilight world - the world of "the glamour".
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The Glamour is a wonderful story of a man who, caught by the blast from a car bomb, is trying to recover his memory, with the best hope apparently a woman who claims to have been his lover.
But this being a Christopher Priest book more is going on than that. Priest uses his trick of changing the perspective on the story, without suggesting that any particular point of view is more valid than another, leaving you guessing as to what is going on.
I always think of Priest as being the British Philip K. Dick, a man who loves writing about shifting realities. The difference being that whereas Dick seemed compelled to write and would often write hurriedly, Priest is a more considered writer, his prose is more elegant. Similarly Priest is more concerned with the middle classes than Dick's blue collar heroes. And in this book, Priest is doing what Dick would have done more of, had his publishers been more daring, he writes a book that seems like science fiction but isn't. Not really. It's more about relationships and stories and glamour. The science fiction or fantasy element is very slight and if you look at the story in a certain way, does not necessarily exist.
The book is beautifully ambiguous and the fractured nature of this review just testifies to the fact that no review can do it justice. You just have to read it. And then all of Priest's other books. He's that good.
But this being a Christopher Priest book more is going on than that. Priest uses his trick of changing the perspective on the story, without suggesting that any particular point of view is more valid than another, leaving you guessing as to what is going on.
I always think of Priest as being the British Philip K. Dick, a man who loves writing about shifting realities. The difference being that whereas Dick seemed compelled to write and would often write hurriedly, Priest is a more considered writer, his prose is more elegant. Similarly Priest is more concerned with the middle classes than Dick's blue collar heroes. And in this book, Priest is doing what Dick would have done more of, had his publishers been more daring, he writes a book that seems like science fiction but isn't. Not really. It's more about relationships and stories and glamour. The science fiction or fantasy element is very slight and if you look at the story in a certain way, does not necessarily exist.
The book is beautifully ambiguous and the fractured nature of this review just testifies to the fact that no review can do it justice. You just have to read it. And then all of Priest's other books. He's that good.
27 of 32 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have read and reread this book, and it still drives me up the wall! No other book has ever had such an effect on me or on the other people I gave the book to. This edition (1996) is actually a rewritten version of the original.The author had received such a large amount of mail from similarly maddened readers, that he decided to change a couple of details. Whether he created a better book or not is debateable, but the essential twists and turns of story and narrator remain. To say too much about the story would spoil the surprise of potential readers, but I can say that the inherent mystery will change the way you look at the world. Read, read and read again. Remember, the best books make you think for a long time after you have turned the last page.
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Christopher Priest is a superb writer. Using simple direct and unornamented prose he weaves a world where nothing is quite what it seems but where the impact of what he writes is stupendous.
To reveal the storyline in a review like this would be grossly unfair but this is probably one of the two best books I have read this year -- and I read lots.
The writing is crystal clear and unaffected. The story is superbly constructed with the author fully in command of the twists of the plot. Priest's writing is absolutely unimprovable. Why isn't this man at the top of the best-seller lists?
To reveal the storyline in a review like this would be grossly unfair but this is probably one of the two best books I have read this year -- and I read lots.
The writing is crystal clear and unaffected. The story is superbly constructed with the author fully in command of the twists of the plot. Priest's writing is absolutely unimprovable. Why isn't this man at the top of the best-seller lists?
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
"Memory loss = invisibility".
In Priest's capabable hands the idea that invisibility could simply be a failing of memory or a failure to notice someone becomes scarily convincing. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Stalker
haunting novel of memory and metaphysics
I came to this book after a recommendation in the Bloomsbury reading guide '100 must-read science fiction novels' (Andrews and Rennison). Read more
Published on 23 Feb 2009 by L. Williams
Terrific second half!
Despite never quite fully understanding any of the six or so novels that I have read by Christopher Priest over the years, I have always enjoyed reading his subtle brand of... Read more
Published on 28 Dec 2008 by alextorres
Is it just me?
SPOILERS FOLLOW
I have to admit this is a superbly written book and it had me gripped until the very last page but, and I'm going to stick my neck out here as I know... Read more
I have to admit this is a superbly written book and it had me gripped until the very last page but, and I'm going to stick my neck out here as I know... Read more
Published on 23 Jan 2007 by smigulon
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