- Hardcover: 288 pages
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (6 Nov 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 074758382X
- ISBN-13: 978-0747583820
- Product Dimensions: 21 x 15 x 3.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,153,260 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Speed of Light
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More About the Author
Product Description
Guardian
`Written with intelligence and humour ... he is a major writer'
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Review
'Cercas's writing has echoes of Scott Fitzgerald in the intense, shining clarity of its emotion, and of Faulkner' Independent 'A deeply affecting novel. A reflection on war, friendship, success and failure ... Cercas's novel carries a powerful warning for the war-hungry modern world' Scotland on Sunday 'Presents his narrator's foibles in a lucid, supple prose, well-matched to the novel's darker elements' Financial Times 'Engrossing ... it has verve and flair' Time Out
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The Speed of Light uses the same author-in-search-of-a-story device as Javier Cercas's previous novel Soldiers of Salamis. At its core the book is a meditation on how war breeds atrocity and the consequences of atrocity on the perpetrators - the murdered are barely mentioned and only fleetingly considered.
However while a gripping read it ultimately is significantly less satisfying a book than the author's earlier one about the Spanish Civil War. As one of the characters says to the narrator in The Speed of Light - "you can't understand because you haven't killed". And because the author - presumably not a killer either - does not understand he cannot explain. Instead he describes, recounts and tries to empathise. This is an honourable exercise, but it provides little insight to this subject. Furthermore the author's blurring of the distinction between himself and his protagonist leads, I found, to great difficulty in trusting the account itself and hence the insight the author offers.
Nevertheless the book is elegantly written and translated, and it is thought-provoking. Perhaps it will lead some to revisit actual histories of the Vietnam war, particularly Four Hours at My Lai, which deals much more directly and insightfully with the realities of war-crimes.
However while a gripping read it ultimately is significantly less satisfying a book than the author's earlier one about the Spanish Civil War. As one of the characters says to the narrator in The Speed of Light - "you can't understand because you haven't killed". And because the author - presumably not a killer either - does not understand he cannot explain. Instead he describes, recounts and tries to empathise. This is an honourable exercise, but it provides little insight to this subject. Furthermore the author's blurring of the distinction between himself and his protagonist leads, I found, to great difficulty in trusting the account itself and hence the insight the author offers.
Nevertheless the book is elegantly written and translated, and it is thought-provoking. Perhaps it will lead some to revisit actual histories of the Vietnam war, particularly Four Hours at My Lai, which deals much more directly and insightfully with the realities of war-crimes.
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is the second book I have read written by Javier Cercas, the first being Soldiers of Salamis, which book I was inspired to read by Sr Cercas' interview on the BBC World Book club. I was completely captivated by the narrative and could not put the book down for several days. The characterisation is very clever and the issue of heroes/wartime is so relevant today when we are sending our people to fight wars we dont comprehend ourselves. These two books certainly make one feel that a strong pacifist route is the one we should all take and this writer certainly knows how to question our own motives for war. Thank you Javier.
3 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This was a terrific read - a gripping narrative full of surprises, with an intriguing mystery at its heart. It also manages to be about so many different things - the damage that war does, the power of evil, the nature of friendship, failure and success, the role of the writer - and yet tackles them all effortlessly. Cercas has a distinctive literary style too.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Thoughtful exploration of friendship
The Speed of Light is not really a crime novel, although there is crime in it. It is a rumination on the effects of war and war-crimes on a thoughtful intellectual. Read more
Published on 24 July 2009 by Feanor
Excellent
What a fantastic book. By far the best thing I've read in a long time: gripping, thought-provoking, sensitive, multifaceted. Totally masterful. Read more
Published on 18 Dec 2007 by Paul Gilson
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