- Paperback: 288 pages
- Publisher: Fourth Estate; New edition edition (1 May 1997)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1857025695
- ISBN-13: 978-1857025699
- Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 12.8 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,310,197 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
Product Description
Product Description
A surreal black comedy set in Paris by the most talented British newcomer since Louis de Bernieres.
Philip Kovacs is a teacher in Paris. One evening he returns to his flat beside the Canal Saint Martin to find a sharp, disturbing odour in the air. It is the smell of trespass; the smell of his own fear. Nearby, in a curious corner of Pere Lachaise cemetary, a woman pays her respects at the tomb of Victor Noir, a 19th-century journalist gunned down in the prime of life by his mistress’s husband. Furtively, she pops a letter into the bronze hat that lies beside the effigy of Victor’s supine, bullet-punctured corpse. The envelope bears Kovacs’ name. As Fate would have it, she does not go unobserved. For Philip Kovacs, the nightmare has only just begun. By turns surprising, elliptical and surreal, The Hat of Victor Noir is a wild card of a novel, a moody black comedy that stalks through the City of Light with mayhem in mind.
About the Author
Adrian Mathews was born in 1957. His mother is Czech and his father English. He was brought up in South London and read English at Cambridge University. For several years he moved between jobs in England and France but since 1988 he has been based in Paris. Adrian Mathews is married and lives and works near the city’s Latin Quarter. The Hat of Victor Noir is his first novel.
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
An engaging debut novel by Anglo-Czech writer Mathews. The story is set in present-day Paris where the Anglo-Serbian hero, Philip Kovacs teaches. Divorced from his wife, he becomes embroiled in the affections and hatreds of other females, with potentially disastrous results. Pivotal to these events is the tomb of Victor Noir, a 19th-century journalist shot dead by his mistress's husband, and now a cult symbol for the deepest female fantasies and desires.
Contemporary Paris comes to life on the pages, but underneath it all lurks a more magical, surreal city, waiting to confound our hero. The novel can be read as a battle from darkness to light. There are several oblique references to "The Prisoner" TV series. It's cleverly written, with much innocent humour, including a flippant "Papa?", "Nicole?" exchange at a particularly poignant moment in the plot. The thought of Kovacs having his face burnt away by acid thrown by a maniac is said to be "discountenancing". The language is a delight. Mathews, like others from a dual-language background, revels in word-play. Writers such as Nabokov, Kerouac, and Dylan Thomas spring to mind, and there's also a certain similarity to the style of Paul Auster's New York Trilogy. Maybe it's the French connection.
The characters, including an anglophobic police inspector, and a black Brazilian visitor who befriends Kovacs, are all colourful, three-dimensional and completely believable, and this well-crafted novel is a joy to read.
Contemporary Paris comes to life on the pages, but underneath it all lurks a more magical, surreal city, waiting to confound our hero. The novel can be read as a battle from darkness to light. There are several oblique references to "The Prisoner" TV series. It's cleverly written, with much innocent humour, including a flippant "Papa?", "Nicole?" exchange at a particularly poignant moment in the plot. The thought of Kovacs having his face burnt away by acid thrown by a maniac is said to be "discountenancing". The language is a delight. Mathews, like others from a dual-language background, revels in word-play. Writers such as Nabokov, Kerouac, and Dylan Thomas spring to mind, and there's also a certain similarity to the style of Paul Auster's New York Trilogy. Maybe it's the French connection.
The characters, including an anglophobic police inspector, and a black Brazilian visitor who befriends Kovacs, are all colourful, three-dimensional and completely believable, and this well-crafted novel is a joy to read.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
2 reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Well-crafted delight
1 Sep 2006
An engaging debut novel by Anglo-Czech writer Mathews. The story is set in present-day Paris where the Anglo-Serbian hero, Philip Kovacs teaches. Divorced from his wife, he becomes embroiled in the affections and hatreds of other females, with potentially disastrous results. Pivotal to these events is the tomb of Victor Noir, a 19th-century journalist shot dead by his mistress's husband, and now a cult symbol for the deepest female fantasies and desires.
Contemporary Paris comes to life on the pages, but underneath it all lurks a more magical, surreal city, waiting to confound our hero. The novel can be read as a battle from darkness to light. There are several oblique references to "The Prisoner" TV series. It's cleverly written, with much innocent humour, including a flippant "Papa?", "Nicole?" exchange at a particularly poignant moment in the plot. The thought of Kovacs having his face burnt away by acid thrown by a maniac is said to be "discountenancing". The language is a delight. Mathews, like others from a dual-language background, revels in word-play. Writers such as Nabokov, Kerouac, and Dylan Thomas spring to mind, and there's also a certain similarity to the style of Paul Auster's New York Trilogy. Maybe it's the French connection.
The characters, including an anglophobic police inspector, and a black Brazilian visitor who befriends Kovacs, are all colourful, three-dimensional and completely believable, and this well-crafted novel is a joy to read.
Contemporary Paris comes to life on the pages, but underneath it all lurks a more magical, surreal city, waiting to confound our hero. The novel can be read as a battle from darkness to light. There are several oblique references to "The Prisoner" TV series. It's cleverly written, with much innocent humour, including a flippant "Papa?", "Nicole?" exchange at a particularly poignant moment in the plot. The thought of Kovacs having his face burnt away by acid thrown by a maniac is said to be "discountenancing". The language is a delight. Mathews, like others from a dual-language background, revels in word-play. Writers such as Nabokov, Kerouac, and Dylan Thomas spring to mind, and there's also a certain similarity to the style of Paul Auster's New York Trilogy. Maybe it's the French connection.
The characters, including an anglophobic police inspector, and a black Brazilian visitor who befriends Kovacs, are all colourful, three-dimensional and completely believable, and this well-crafted novel is a joy to read.
4 of 6 people found the following review helpful
A strange tale
22 Jun 2000
I picked up this book for £1 at a local bookshop and have read it 5 or 6 times this year. A best-buy if ever I made one. It *is* a strange tale and I will not spoil your enjoyment by telling it here. Adrian Matthews' words paint wonderful pictures of the characters, you do feel that you know them and share each moment with them. If you see this book, buy it. If you don't mind waiting while Amazon find it, buy it!
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
