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Alphabet
 
 
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Alphabet (Hardcover)

by Kathy Page (Author) "There's no chair, even ..." (more)
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

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Paperback (New Ed) 22 used & new from £0.01

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 264 pages
  • Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson (8 Jul 2004)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 029760788X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0297607885
  • Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.8 x 3.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 642,055 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Kath Murphy, SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY

'Page brilliantly captures the brutality of prison life'


Review

'Page brilliantly captures the brutality of prison life' (Kath Murphy SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY )

Page's prison work has given her a profound insight into the workings of the prison system as well as the minds of the prisoners, and she has written a truly gripping novel. (Linda Maher Sunday Business Post )

'ALPHABET is not just highly readable, but one of the strongest, most eloquent, most tightly constructed novels of 2004.......It is a measure of the quiet artistry of ALPHABET that, out of material that would have been at home in the blackest of black comedies, Kathy Page has fashioned a fable about redemptive love........ she has celebrated, with rare deftness, the resilience of the human heart.' (David Robson SUNDAY TELEGRAPH )

' a book which lets us see the humanity and vulnerability that accompany monstrous acts.' (Roz Kaveny TIME OUT )

'They (the main characters) are all there for the recognizable roles they represent but they are individually well-drawn and collectively they help to make the story compelling. Simon himself emerges with a strong credible personality.' (Sarah Curtis TLS )

'a truly compelling read, right to the last page.' (NEW BOOKS MAGAZINE )

'Page, by necessity, keeps her own prose quiet and unbotrusive, while her insight throws light on a painful struggle to understand through articulation.' (MYSLEXIA )

'It is a bracing study, emotionally nimble and intelligent, and forms a very fine novel.' (Patrick Ness THE DAILY TELEGRAPH )
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Inside This Book (Learn More)
First Sentence
There's no chair, even. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews

3 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
5.0 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars seriously readable, 3 Aug 2004
By V. Grut (London United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Alphabet is the story of Simon Austen, a handsome, intelligent, damaged young man serving life for a murder he DID commit. The story is about his painful struggle to come to terms with what he has done, to connect with his own emotions and allow himself to feel and, ultimately, to love. I was gripped first of all by the pitch perfect tone of the narration. Simon's dry, bitter, humourous voice evokes the harsh environment of British prisons in the 1980s and takes us through his own battles to "progress" through the system and ultimately get parole. My sense of the authenticity of the research is backed up by the fact that there is an admiring quote from Lifer & one-time Guardian columnist Erwin James on the dustjacket. Following the twists and turns in Simon's story there were moments when my breath was quite literally taken away by what was happening. And the ending is both uplifting and utterly unpredictable. This is both a serious and very readable work.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful book., 2 Aug 2004
By Richard Steel (British Columbia, Canada) - See all my reviews
I picked up a copy on a recent trip to the UK, and was surprised and gripped by the power of this novel. The subject matter is grim, but Page has conveyed the black humour and harshness of prison life very vividly. In parts, it is at once shocking and unnervingly hilarious. We are given a rare insight into the psychological complexities, and realities of the central character, a murderer and life sentence prisoner, which allows the reader to sympathise with him, but never too much.
I found "Alphabet" beautifully written, intelligent, fast moving, funny, sad and shocking; and totally gripping. The best book I've read this year.
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5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books I have read this year, 30 May 2006
By H. Ashford "hashford" (Sheffield, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Alphabet (Paperback)
I loved this book, and felt quite sad when I got to the end.

The story is about a young man serving life for murder and how he gradually comes to accept his crime and starts to deal with his problems in building relationships with women. Not the sort of material I would normally choose, but I really felt that I got to understand his feelings and thinking - and by about halfway through I was really rooting for him.

I found this book fascinating reading - it held me both intellectually and emotionally. I would love to know how much research the author did - in particular whether the descriptions of the prisons and the therapies he underwent realistic or completely fictional.
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