|
Wetlands
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £0.25
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in Wetlands for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.25, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
'Profoundly unsettling' Rowan Pelling, Daily Mail
'If you ever wondered what you'd be like if you weren't shy, polite, tolerant, modest, sexually repressed, logical and constrained by modern standards of hygiene, this may be the book for you!This is not a beautiful or perfect book, but an enterprising one, and its cumulative effect is admirable!Our bodies mean a lot to us -- even the asshole, about which far too little has been written. Every writer needs to claim a bit of territory, and assholes are there for the grabbing. Boldly, Roche takes them for her own' Guardian
'"Wetlands", in the tradition of Plath's "The Bell Jar", is a remarkable novel about mental illness that has been mistaken for feminist literature' Alice O'Keefe, New Statesman 'The cause of the fuss is the novel's extreme obscenity -- though "obscenity" doesn't quite catch the particular, pungent flavour of the thing. "Grunginess" is nearer the mark' Adam Lively, Sunday Times
'Literary news this week suggests that when it comes to women writing about sex, reviewers are still reacting in the same way as Dr Johnson to his walking dog, surprised that it's being done at all. So hats off to Charlotte Roche, who has managed to give both the "Sunday Times" and the "Guardian" the willies by cheerfully confessing to consuming pornography with her husband and starting her book "Wetlands" with a graphic discussion of hemorrhoids' Lisa Hilton, Spectator
'Maeve Binchy is famous for her unique humour and insight; Cecelia Ahern is popular for her unlikely twists and touches of magic; Charlotte Roche has a different formula for success -- haemorrhoids, hairy armpits and halitosis, mixed together into an unlikely erotic pot-pourri' Irish Independent
'Graphic, brutal scatological glimpse of one young woman's sexual proclivities!Helen celebrates shattering sexual and social taboos in a way others might only dream of' London Lite
'Carrying "Wetlands" around with me over the past few days, I have bumped into quite a few people who imagine, from all the publicity, that it is a steamy sex-romp of the type few of us can resist. But I have had to disappoint them. Steamy it may be, but the steam comes from something less attractive than sex; in a characteristic phrase, Roche describes the smell coming from her bowels as being "like warm pus mixed with diarrhoea and something acidic"' Craig Brown, Spectator
'As the furore surrounding the publication of "Wetlands" has shown, there's a very vocal segment of the population ready to accuse women who embrace pornography of some sort of treachery' The List
'If you ever wondered what you'd be like if you weren't shy, polite, tolerant, modest, sexually repressed, logical and constrained by modern standards of hygiene, this may be the book for you!This is not a beautiful or perfect book, but an enterprising one, and its cumulative effect is admirable!Our bodies mean a lot to us -- even the asshole, about which far too little has been written. Every writer needs to claim a bit of territory, and assholes are there for the grabbing. Boldly, Roche takes them for her own' Guardian
'"Wetlands", in the tradition of Plath's "The Bell Jar", is a remarkable novel about mental illness that has been mistaken for feminist literature' Alice O'Keefe, New Statesman 'The cause of the fuss is the novel's extreme obscenity -- though "obscenity" doesn't quite catch the particular, pungent flavour of the thing. "Grunginess" is nearer the mark' Adam Lively, Sunday Times
'Literary news this week suggests that when it comes to women writing about sex, reviewers are still reacting in the same way as Dr Johnson to his walking dog, surprised that it's being done at all. So hats off to Charlotte Roche, who has managed to give both the "Sunday Times" and the "Guardian" the willies by cheerfully confessing to consuming pornography with her husband and starting her book "Wetlands" with a graphic discussion of hemorrhoids' Lisa Hilton, Spectator
'Maeve Binchy is famous for her unique humour and insight; Cecelia Ahern is popular for her unlikely twists and touches of magic; Charlotte Roche has a different formula for success -- haemorrhoids, hairy armpits and halitosis, mixed together into an unlikely erotic pot-pourri' Irish Independent
'Graphic, brutal scatological glimpse of one young woman's sexual proclivities!Helen celebrates shattering sexual and social taboos in a way others might only dream of' London Lite
'Carrying "Wetlands" around with me over the past few days, I have bumped into quite a few people who imagine, from all the publicity, that it is a steamy sex-romp of the type few of us can resist. But I have had to disappoint them. Steamy it may be, but the steam comes from something less attractive than sex; in a characteristic phrase, Roche describes the smell coming from her bowels as being "like warm pus mixed with diarrhoea and something acidic"' Craig Brown, Spectator
'As the furore surrounding the publication of "Wetlands" has shown, there's a very vocal segment of the population ready to accuse women who embrace pornography of some sort of treachery' The List
Product Description
With her jaunty dissection of the sex life and the private grooming habits of the novel's 18-year-old narrator, Helen Memel, Charlotte Roche has turned the previously unspeakable into the national conversation in Germany.
Since its debut in February, the novel (‘Feuchtgebiete’, in German) has sold more than 680,000 copies, and is the biggest selling book on Amazon anywhere in the world.
The book is a headlong dash through every crevice and byproduct, physical and psychological, of its narrator's body and mind. It is difficult to overstate the raunchiness of the novel. Wetlands opens in a hospital room after an intimate shaving accident. It gives a detailed topography of Helen's hemorrhoids, continues into the subject of anal intercourse and only gains momentum from there, eventually reaching avocado pits as objects of female sexual satisfaction and – here is where the debate kicks in – just possibly female empowerment. Clearly the novel has struck a nerve, catching a wave of popular interest in renewing the debate over women's roles and image in society.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Other reviewers have complained that this book is just a kind of pornographic attempt to shock, but I think that is missing the point. Sure, the writer appears to be obsessed with the most basic animal functions of our bodies, but there's more to this than pornography, which is rarely readable or intentionally amusing (or so I'm told!). The reason the book has sold so well is surely because it is, in parts, very funny, and although there are lots of dirty words it is at least quite well-written, though Ms Roche does have a problem knowing when to use commas instead of full-stops (eg: 'They thought I didn't notice. But I did. And how.') And this: 'I swear I will. Helen. Very impressive'. Note that one-word sentence: 'Helen', which is the narrator referring to herself, something she does about a thousand times throughout this relatively short book, rather irritatingly.
The author is English but brought up in Germany and it is surely the combination of English lavatory humor and German openness concerning the body that is responsible for producing such an unlikely best-seller. So is it worth reading? Only if you've got nothing better to do and want to know what all the fuss is about. (Yes, there's been a lot of fuss over this book, which has been taken far too seriously for a novel that was obviously intended as a joke.)
The blurb on the back cover, a Granta quote claiming the book evokes 'The Catcher in the Rye', is nonsense, and anyone expecting such quality will be sadly disappointed, as is usually the case with back-cover blurbs. The best that can be said about this book is that, considering the limitations of the subject matter and the location (we never leave the hospital), and the fact that there is no plot whatsoever, it is quite entertaining and easy to read, assuming you aren't too squeamish.
The author is English but brought up in Germany and it is surely the combination of English lavatory humor and German openness concerning the body that is responsible for producing such an unlikely best-seller. So is it worth reading? Only if you've got nothing better to do and want to know what all the fuss is about. (Yes, there's been a lot of fuss over this book, which has been taken far too seriously for a novel that was obviously intended as a joke.)
The blurb on the back cover, a Granta quote claiming the book evokes 'The Catcher in the Rye', is nonsense, and anyone expecting such quality will be sadly disappointed, as is usually the case with back-cover blurbs. The best that can be said about this book is that, considering the limitations of the subject matter and the location (we never leave the hospital), and the fact that there is no plot whatsoever, it is quite entertaining and easy to read, assuming you aren't too squeamish.
20 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I read this because I wanted to make up my own mind about the controversy it has generated, but the book is actually very different from what I had expected from all the reviews. Yes, it is gross and completely disgusting in lots of places, to the point where there were pages I had to skim through since they were so stomach-churning.
But at heart this is a story of Helen, an emotionally-damaged eighteen-year old, scarred by her family, sexually-promiscuous but lonely, and screaming her pain through her defiant and rebellious relationship to her own body. Like a seven-year old, she thinks she's being clever and shocking, but what gradually builds up in this short book is not a sense of empathy but of pity.
Charlotte Roche isn't Helen, but she has created a monstrously vivid anti-heroine. I can completely understand the people who have slated this book for its repellent and sometimes nauseating episodes, but I can also understand their necessity in defining who and what Helen is. So not a pleasant book to read, but ultimately a brave and interesting one.
But at heart this is a story of Helen, an emotionally-damaged eighteen-year old, scarred by her family, sexually-promiscuous but lonely, and screaming her pain through her defiant and rebellious relationship to her own body. Like a seven-year old, she thinks she's being clever and shocking, but what gradually builds up in this short book is not a sense of empathy but of pity.
Charlotte Roche isn't Helen, but she has created a monstrously vivid anti-heroine. I can completely understand the people who have slated this book for its repellent and sometimes nauseating episodes, but I can also understand their necessity in defining who and what Helen is. So not a pleasant book to read, but ultimately a brave and interesting one.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The book cover itself says its a marmite book you either love it or hate it. Most of the reviews that are one star reviews say it is shocking for the sake of being shocking and other cliches sorry but i did not find it shocking but funny and humane a reclaiming of our bodys and the reality of them from the medias idea of what is right and proper. So i would say give it a go and if you don't like it fair enough but don't be put off by the endless cliches of the other reviewers.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
yes.
Adrian Mole's little sister has hit the typewriter, hard. This book is disgustingly toe curling, brilliantly myopic and in the top ten of my book recommendations to well-heeled,... Read more
Published 28 days ago by Ruby Lou Presley
What more can I add?
...well, not a lot really. Everything has already been said about this book that needs to be said, I just had to add my one star. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Jemmy Bloocher
such a bestseller, really?
I read an article on the author, and many reviews that this is such a ground breaking book. 'catcher in the rye' themes I recall reading in one of them. Read more
Published 6 months ago by MariaMagdalena
very saucy!!
Got this after hearing on the radio that old ladies were fainting at live readings of it. thought it must be right up my street!! Read more
Published 6 months ago by kulawheeler
Not for the faint hearted
This book was certainly 'different'. It was absolutely disgusting and made me cringe at most points and laugh at a few, but I was still strangely intrigued by this book. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Stepping Out of the Page
Being Shocking Does Not Make You A Good Writer...
Last week I reviewed Richard Milward's Ten Storey Love Song which experimented with the entire book being a single paragraph. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Book Republik
what would we be like without inhibitions and fears?
Reading the other reviews, I guess my threshold for being offended or grossed out is a bit higher than average ... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Christian
pointless
This is the single most pointless book i have ever wasted my money on. This book is not breaking taboos or liberating. It is just pointless. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Mrs D
Wow
I thought I wasn't easily shocked and a little bit creeped out. Well here has something that has managed to do this, and indeed out-dirty me. Read more
Published 13 months ago by rmc89
Enjoyed it
I really enjoyed it, I thought Helen was a fascinating character and the way the author described a womans bodily functions and sexuality was really refreshing. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Ms. E. L. Davis
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.
|
