- Paperback: 384 pages
- Publisher: Sceptre (23 May 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0340832746
- ISBN-13: 978-0340832745
- Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 12.8 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 421,741 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk
A novel which is, like George Hagen’s The Laments, about a continent-hopping family might seem like yesterday’s news when an international upbringing now seems almost de rigueur amongst writers. Yet this is no self-aggrandising romp round the world. Howard Lament’s grand plans for a better life and career lead his family from colonial Rhodesia to a bigoted, hypocritical 1970s New Jersey, via Bahrain’s blinkered ex-pat community and a violent small town in England.
The novel spans the eighteen years from Will’s birth and the secret of his adoption by the Laments to his graduation from high school. The first years in Africa provide a solid foundation to the story. It is when Will is a little older, and the family have left the obviously unjust colony that Hagen’s skill at peppering the story with culture shocks and mischievous details really enlivens the Laments’ travels and Will’s friendships and loves.
Luckily the reader is kept chuckling, because Hagen takes us unflinchingly into the depression of Howard’s spectacularly failed career, his wife Julia’s loneliness and the reality of family poverty. Tragedy never turns to bitterness though, and the characters’ final, tempered hopefulness is a well-earned haven for this long-adrift family.--Stefan Tobler --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
'A fine novel, about family, migration, identity and the struggle to find and hold onto it. It is also hugely entertaining and very, very funny.' (Roddy Doyle )
'The family story has been a durable mainstay of the novel for more than a century ... THE LAMENTS is a lively corrective to the subgenre, a family story on speed, with a jolt of black comedy that makes it a close relative to that greatest of all American family stories, THE SIMPSONS ... any apparent invitation to either characters or readers to fall into a sentimental slump is quickly withdrawn. The only other novel I can think of that creates this effect with equal success is John Irving's WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP ... There is an admirable and enviable range and ambition ... the appearance of George Hagen on the literary scene is a gain for readers everywhere.' (New York Times Book Review, Jonathan Wilson )
'Immensely readable, funny, and touching - a complete joy.' (Elizabeth Strout )
'George Hagen's highly entertaining debut novel features an irresistibly headstrong family, a global sweep, and not only a sense of loss and displacement that's perfectly in tune with the world we live in but also a full measure of resilient humanity.' (Gary Shteyngart )
'Luminous, humane, and wonderfully acerbic - as if Evelyn Waugh got a hold of John Irving's characters and handed them all Pimm’s No. 1. Hilarious and heartbreaking, this is one of the best debut novels I've read in years.' (Peter Blauner )
'The family story has been a durable mainstay of the novel for more than a century ... THE LAMENTS is a lively corrective to the subgenre, a family story on speed, with a jolt of black comedy that makes it a close relative to that greatest of all American family stories, THE SIMPSONS ... any apparent invitation to either characters or readers to fall into a sentimental slump is quickly withdrawn. The only other novel I can think of that creates this effect with equal success is John Irving's WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP ... There is an admirable and enviable range and ambition ... the appearance of George Hagen on the literary scene is a gain for readers everywhere.' (New York Times Book Review, Jonathan Wilson )
'Immensely readable, funny, and touching - a complete joy.' (Elizabeth Strout )
'George Hagen's highly entertaining debut novel features an irresistibly headstrong family, a global sweep, and not only a sense of loss and displacement that's perfectly in tune with the world we live in but also a full measure of resilient humanity.' (Gary Shteyngart )
'Luminous, humane, and wonderfully acerbic - as if Evelyn Waugh got a hold of John Irving's characters and handed them all Pimm’s No. 1. Hilarious and heartbreaking, this is one of the best debut novels I've read in years.' (Peter Blauner )
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I loved this book. It made me laugh out loud and it made me cry. Parts of it verged on madness and it was like riding a roller coaster - one minute you were howling and the next in tears. I loved the family (the Laments), and felt as though I had embarked on their travels with them. I followed them through their happy and dreadful experiences (living in the UK being one of their less successful attempts at finding a new life) and I felt for them - I really cared what happened to them. I was sad when I finished the book because I couldn't think of anything I would read next that I might enjoy as much. I thoroughly recommend this novel.
9 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is truly a great book and a great read (if too un-put-downable, it didn't last me the weekend). However, I was perplexed by the reviews on the back cover describing it as a funny read. Yes, there were places where the style of writing did cause me to laugh out loud (often out of shock) but this is a more tragic than humorous novel. One could be mistaken into thinking they were to start reading a non-stop comedy from the treatment the novel receives from surely well-meaning reveiwers. This is a fantastic book- tragic, compelling and brilliantly written, everyone MUST read this. I'd snap up a sequel if it should ever appear!
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a well written novel. Hagen manages to use dark comedy with out losing the readers compassion.
The novel is funny as well as sad and moves the reader to think about many different things without enforcing oppinions or playing on sentiment.
You won't be able to put it down. A book for anyone who's ever felt out of place in this strange world
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Enjoyable
Very good read, no major plot but I couldn't put it down. Sort of a 'feel good' book and nicely written. Quite funny in some places but not 'humorous'.
Published on 2 Feb 2010 by Mills
No cause to lament the life of this Lament
A boy is born in 1950s South Africa. Due to circumstances and a tragic trio of deaths, the lad is adopted by Julia and Howard Lament and given the name Will. Read more
Published on 4 Feb 2009 by Joseph Haschka
Nothing special
This was readable but quite dull. It is well enough written but not too big on plot. Certainly wouldn't rush to read anything else by this writer.
Published on 4 Jan 2008 by love reading
A touching tale of a families journey through life.
A truly touching story of what a family can face in life. A profound story filled with all the emotions life can present. Funny in parts, a great read.
Published on 10 Aug 2006 by S. Redpath
what is all the fuss about ?
An interesting start but from then on its was all downhill...wierd story, frustatingly narrow characters with inbuilt inertia.An unsettling atmosphere. Read more
Published on 1 Mar 2006
An unforgettable read
What can be said about this fine novel? What a magnificent story complete with humour, sadness and a real sense of the time that the story is set in. Read more
Published on 14 Jun 2005 by "joe599"
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