- Paperback: 313 pages
- Publisher: Harvest Books; Reprint edition (10 April 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0156030551
- ISBN-13: 978-0156030557
- Product Dimensions: 20.1 x 13.5 x 2.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
The Optimists
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Review
'Dramatic and wide-ranging, written at the top of his form.' -- Tower Hamlets Recorder 'Exceptional' -- Sunday Times 'A profound novel, meditative, not conclusive, offering no simplistic answers to what Miller calls 'the vertigo of self-knowledge'. Yet despite the absence of an easy happy ending, it leaves the reader with a feeling of courage and, in the face of so much evidence to the contrary, hope.' -- Observer 'The writing is clear, precise, feelingly observant ... Miller is a fine writer.' -- Spectator 'A delight to read ... [Miller] incites thought without dictating it, and conjures emotion without prescribing it ... THE OPTIMISTS is a novel of great intelligence and understanding, populated by characters who are recognisable yet exceptional.' -- Alex Heminsley, Time Out 'The uncluttered narrative and the slow, quiet accumulation of everyday detail imbues this novel with a quiet grace' -- Daily Mail 'A powerful and lively book, seriously engaged and cathartic ... gently, almost imperceptibly, impelled by the nourishment of love.' -- James Urquhart, Financial Times 'In Clem Glass, Miller has created neither a victim nor a victor but a man driven by his own innate decency, a character in whom we can believe, a person about whom we care and that is what great writing is about.' -- Irish Times '[A] delicate, compassionate tale' -- Metro
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Time Out
'A delight to read ... a novel of great intelligence and understanding, populated by characters who are recognisable yet exceptional.'
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Returning from central Africa where he photographed a massacre in which three thousand innocent women and children were hacked to death, forty-year-old photographer Clem Glass finds himself too stunned to function in the "normal" world of London. Dividing his life into the "time before" and the "time after" the horrifying event, Clem is "without desire," a man unable to work or think about the future. When his older sister Clare, an art historian, suffers a breakdown, Clem, with no assignments or job to occupy his time, offers to become her "primary carer" in Colcombe, a remote village where his aunt has a cottage.
Imposing some sort of order on their lives, he helps Clare to become less fearful, and begins to confront his own memories and face his own problems. A trip to Toronto where he meets the journalist with whom he shared the African nightmare, followed by a trip to Brussels, where he pursues the architect of the massacre, "the Bourgmestre," Sylvestre Ruzindana, whom he hopes to bring to trial, lead to Clem's realization that people and issues are far more complex than he has previously believed--that Ruzindana, despite his crimes, is a real, complex human being, not simply a "monster."
Miller is an exceptionally clear writer with the ability to create unusual and engaging characters facing unusual, but understandable, problems. Clem's inability to cope with the magnitude of the slaughter (based on a real event in Rwanda in 1994) parallels the similar inability of the comfortable reader, and the western world in general, to do so. Wisely, Miller never describes much of the massacre, leaving it up to the reader to imagine the horrors which would drive a professional photographer to such despair. Through the personal terrors of Clare's much smaller but no less frightening world, he puts her psychological trauma into a perspective that allows the reader to understand and care about her recovery, too.
The use of symbols enhances the themes--the faint outline of leaves in paving stone is a reminder of the miracle of life superimposed on stone. A swim becomes a sort of baptism and rebirth. The trying on of a pair of glasses suggests the seeing of life from someone else's perspective. These details are gracefully integrated, broadening the novel's scope without being ponderous. In a surprising conclusion (and like the proverbial snake biting its tail), Clem harks back to an early event, revisits it, and ultimately learns something new and important. Rewarding on many levels, The Optimists is carefully written and well-developed literary fiction in which every detail adds to the psychological tension and to the development of themes. Mary Whipple
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The book never reaches the excitement promised by the sexy cover photo and in fact the anti-plot structure leaves both reader and narrator receding ever further from the evil drama that kicks the story off. But his style is remarkably engaging, beautifully underplayed, and there are passages of description that are like painting: vivid and yet coolly detached. If there was a sense of purpose or any depth - deeper than paint - in the characterisation, it would be stronger for it.
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A weak book from a strong writer, The Optimists is a misstep into Graham Greene territory. A news photographer shoots the aftermath of an African massacre, his sister has a nervous breakdown, he seems to be having one himself--none of it is compelling or fresh, and, at time, it's even somewhat ludicrous. The imagery, obvious metaphors about sight and pretty juvenile stuff about optimism, is hackneyed. And when his companion at the massacre site, a supposedly hard-boiled journalist, turns up voicing platitudes and dedicating himself to feeding the Toronto homeless, it's definitely one cliche too far. Even the family's name is worn out--they're (accidentally?) named after another of the more annoying families in literary history, the Glasses. Read Miller's first two books: they're so good it's hard to believe the same writer brought us this. Or maybe this one is actually that first novel he couldn't sell before, which is what it reads like.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A cracking read
I got this book a while ago for no reason other than that I liked the title, and I picked it off my shelf last week for nothing other than it's incredible cover. Read more
Published on 25 May 2008 by A. Furse
really good read
Really good book.
Clem is a single guy, alone and has photographed horrific images while working in parts of war-torn Africa. Read more
Clem is a single guy, alone and has photographed horrific images while working in parts of war-torn Africa. Read more
Published on 14 April 2008 by Someone
I loved reading this...
Clem, a freelance photo-journalist, is traumatised by something he photographs, so when his sister falls ill he willingly leaves his work to take her down to Cornwall to help her... Read more
Published on 31 Aug 2006 by Deb
Forgettable
it was the book cover and it's blurb that made me buy this book. i was hoping to read something fresh as it dwelt with a photographer and an issue that isnt much talked about. Read more
Published on 15 Jun 2006 by clare
Compelling
This is a brilliant book. It deals with deep emotions, blending the personal and impersonal, and is extremely well written. Read more
Published on 27 Mar 2006
Exceptionally weak
Far from being 'exceptionally powerful', this is an 'exceptionally weak' book. It lives up to none of the promises on the back cover. Read more
Published on 27 Feb 2006 by G. Thulbourn
Miller hitting his stride
This is a book full of eye-wateringly momumental ideas and emotions; its complexity and subtlety all too rare in modern British writing. Read more
Published on 27 July 2005
Struggle to find meaning in modern world
Clem Glass is a photo-journalist used to working in the world's troublespots, but has returned to London shellshocked and traumatised after witnessing and photographing the... Read more
Published on 23 May 2005 by "gavinrob2001"
A Glass half empty
Clem Glass is a photojournalist, but never found with a camera in his hand. Never obligated to duty, work or social responsibility he has plenty of time on his hands. Read more
Published on 14 April 2005 by R. C. Thompson
Peaks and troughs
There is no doubt that Miller is a wonderful writer. His quiet style suits certain parts of this book perfectly. Read more
Published on 8 April 2005 by DM Webster
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