- Paperback: 300 pages
- Publisher: Bluemoose Books Ltd (1 Sep 2011)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0956687644
- ISBN-13: 978-0956687647
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.6 x 2.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 820,336 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 |
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
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
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Set in mid Seventeenth century Amsterdam the central character is the philosopher Baruch Spinoza - the Thorn of the title - then a young man in his twenties in the early stages of formulating his philosophy. He suffers the dual disadvantages of being a Jew and and a heretic both in the eyes of the Calvinist majority and his own co-religionists and he faces these difficulties with a winning combination of self deprecation and intellectual arrogance. He meets and becomes the friend of his fellow Amsterdammer the painter Rembrandt who is having his own, largely self inflicted, problems and the plot essentially traces the pairs rejection by conventional, intolerant society but also their freeing from its constraints. That perhaps makes this book sound rather worthy but a bit dull. It is anything but that. It is that rare thing a very very funny historical novel. This is largely driven by the persona of the narrator Spinoza who maintains an intimate and ironic 'buttonholing' relationship with the reader throughout. Add to this a cast of supporting characters worthy of the best of Tom Sharpe or J.P Donleavy in their prime and you have a must read for this autumn.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a tremendously intelligent,humane & informative book, written with great gusto & wit. It is constructed around the (imagined) friendship of Spinoza & Rembrandt, each an unworldly genius whose essential honesty & inability to conform to society's hypocrisies causes them in their different ways to fall foul of the authorities. Although each chapter is prefaced by a quote from Spinoza's rationalist philosophy, and as narrator Spinoza dwells (sometimes in amusingly inappropriate circumstances) on his thoughts & ideas, this is never done in a difficult or indigestable way. The author uses real historical institutions, events & characters to create vividly the background against which Spinoza developes the 'heretical' ideas which result in his religious excommunication & his political exile from Amsterdam. If you are at all interested in the history of the enlightenment, in 17th century life, religion & politics in Europe & particularly in the Dutch Republic, all brought together in rollicking good story then you must read this. As far as I can tell it is Michael Dean's first book, & I hope & am sure it will get the recognition it deserves.
Format:Paperback
I first picked up this book because I was intrigued by its unusual setting of 17th-century Amsterdam - a nice change from all those Tudor and Regency stories! I wasn't disappointed. Thorn is an intelligent and well-written novel which depicts two of the great geniuses of the age, Spinoza and Rembrandt, who meet by chance and then find themselves linked by a combination of failed business ventures and religious intolerance.
The story is told in the first person from the point of view of Spinoza, and this injects wit and humour into the novel as the reader (well, this one, anyway) winces at Spinoza's social ineptitude. This humour doesn't detract from the powerful narrative: I don't want to give away too much of the plot, but it depicts in detail two individuals who are affected in different ways through their refusal to bow to social and religious norms. The backdrop of 17th-century Amsterdam is convincingly portrayed, and it is clear that the author has carried out rigorous research.
All in all, highly recommended.
The story is told in the first person from the point of view of Spinoza, and this injects wit and humour into the novel as the reader (well, this one, anyway) winces at Spinoza's social ineptitude. This humour doesn't detract from the powerful narrative: I don't want to give away too much of the plot, but it depicts in detail two individuals who are affected in different ways through their refusal to bow to social and religious norms. The backdrop of 17th-century Amsterdam is convincingly portrayed, and it is clear that the author has carried out rigorous research.
All in all, highly recommended.
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Fiction > Historical
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.
|
