Old Filth: Amazon.co.uk: Jane Gardam: Books

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

The Road Home

by Rose Tremain

3.9 out of 5 stars (73) �3.20

The White Tiger

by Aravind Adiga

3.7 out of 5 stars (103) �3.84

The People on Privilege Hill

by Jane Gardam

5.0 out of 5 stars (2) �5.99

The Uncommon Reader

by Alan Bennett

4.4 out of 5 stars (76) �3.49

Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance

by Barack Obama

4.5 out of 5 stars (123) �4.49

› Explore similar items

Product Description

The Guardian, 30th July, 2005
'The writing crackles with energy, variety, sensuous richness.'

Guardian, 19 November 2005
'Gardam does old age brilliantly ... She is on top form here' --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Product Description

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

(What's this?)

Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.

jane gardam(1)

Customer Reviews

18 Reviews

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

4.7 out of 5 stars (18 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Funny and moving, 18 Sep 2005

By A Customer

What marvelous characters! This book opens a whole world--the world of the Raj Orphans, those sent back to Britain from the farflung Empire between the two wars--and makes it come alive through the complex character of Edward Feathers, Old Filth. As he moves in and out of time, his experiences bring to the reader not only magically historical moments but characters so beautifully drawn their equals are rarely seen in modern fiction. From his best friend at school to the "Chinese dwarf" with whom he sails back East as a teenager to his mad cousin Babs, the cast of Old Filth's life turns out to be rich and quirky and not at all what many of his admirers might have guessed as they describe him as someone to whom "nothing happened."

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clever, subtle and very funny, 30 Oct 2006

By	A. Gordon "annettego" (London) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Old Filth (Paperback)

A gentle yet gripping story (I won't indulge in spoilers see reviewer below if you want your pleasure ruined) that describes the life of a distinguished judge taking the unpleasant consequences of his childhood and carefully unwrapping them to show how they have echoed and shaped his adult life. The book is at different times very funny but also very poignant and tragic. I think the great strength of Gardam's writing lies in her effortless understatement. Too many writers now either have nothing to say or else tell their stories with great big hairy signposts you can't fail to miss.
Engaging and intelligent without being obscure and all done in less than 250 pages - amazing!

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Rembrandt portrait of a man - funny, tragic, compelling, 19 Jan 2005

By	A. Craig "Amanda Craig" (London United Kingdom) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

Although I haven't quite finished it yet, I already know this is the novel I'll be urging readers to buy this year. It's so good I'm savouring it every night...like Shirley Hazzard's The Great Fire, it has the absolute mastery of tone which perhaps can only come at the peak of a novelist's career.
Old Filth (Failed In London Try Hong Kong)is a retired octogenarian barrister whose formidable wife Betty has just died. Unable to feel her loss consciously, he drives across England to visit the other two "Raj orphans" of his boyhood, both women, having an "internal telephone conversation" with his dead wife while pretending things are normal. Interwoven with this is the story of Edward Fevvers, whose mother died in childbirth and who was exiled from the paradise in Malasia where his malarial father lived. His betrayals and reversals make up an agonising portrait of mental suffering which is never fully confronted, but which is also mediated by a gift for irony. Gardam is one of our finest writers, and her perennial theme is how the human spirit survives despite great loneliness and against seemingly insurmountable odds. Her other great novels are Crusoe's Daughter, God on the Rocks and Queen of the Tambourine. If she doesn't at least get short-listed for the Booker with this it will be a crying shame.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 18 customer reviews...

Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Awful title, brilliant book
I know that I admire Jane Gardam's work, and I can only suppose that it was the offputting title that prevented me reading this before. Read more

Published 3 months ago by Anastasia Brown

5.0 out of 5 stars It stays with you
I read this book because my father is in his eighties and both my parents are children of the Raj, so I thought it would be interesting. Read more

Published 9 months ago by FIONA STOW

5.0 out of 5 stars Best book I've read for ages
This really was a highly original and well-crafted five star read - curious, shocking and haunting and somehow also amusing and even somewhat heart-warming. Read more

Published 14 months ago by scotvic

5.0 out of 5 stars Magnificent

A wonderful book. This is an extraordinary achievement of understated but beautiful prose, deep insight, and compassion. Read more

Published 22 months ago by George Knight

4.0 out of 5 stars Not a book I'd rave about.
This was and interesting account of Edward Feathers' upbringing as a Raj orphan and the effect it had on his whole life. Read more

Published on 21 Feb 2007 by MaryAnne

5.0 out of 5 stars very well plotted and freshly original
This is a very readable book. 'Old Filth' is a lawyer and judge - 'Failed in London, Tried Hong Kong' - and a very sympathetic character. Read more

Published on 23 Dec 2006 by Mr. Ian A. Macfarlane

5.0 out of 5 stars "All my life I have been left or dumped...I want to know why."
Sir Edward Feathers, known as "Old Filth," is, ironically, "spectacularly...ostentatiously clean." His nickname derives from the fact that as a lawyer, he "Failed In London, Tried... Read more

Published on 14 Sep 2006 by Mary Whipple

3.0 out of 5 stars Overrated
this book received rave reviews from the broadsheets - "masterpiece" etc. I don't read many modern novels, so I can only assume that this is because there is a dearth of quality... Read more

Published on 27 Aug 2006 by molondas

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful
This is a truly wonderful read. Old Filth is still with me days after I finished the book. I read the last few chapters so slowly as I did not want it to end. Read more

Published on 20 Aug 2006 by M. Stanley

4.0 out of 5 stars Life, love and loss
An entertaining, often very funny and moving riff on the never-ending search for identity and a sense of belonging in a difficult, changing world. Read more

Published on 17 April 2006 by G. L. Haggett

› See all 18 customer reviews...

Listmania!

My Best Ever Reads: A list by J. Turner "Jan"
What everybody's reading: A list by Lily Cox
Favourite books of 2009 so far: A list by Mrs. M. L. Ash "Boogie"

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > G > Gardam, Jane
Books > Fiction > By Period

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.

Fun for Everyone

Achieve over 15,000 RPM with our great range of Powerballs.

›Shop the Powerball store

More From Jane Gardam

The People on Privilege Hill

'her new collection exemplifies Gardam's zest for human oddity, which... Read more
£7.99 £5.99

Up to 50% off Dental Care

Put a sparkle in your smile with up to 50% off selected Oral-B and Philips rechargeable toothbrushes.

›Up to 50% off power toothbrushes

Treat Someone

With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is).

›Learn more about Gift Certificates

	96% buy the item featured on this page: Old Filth 4.7 out of 5 stars (18)
	1% buy Still Alice 4.3 out of 5 stars (9) �9.09
	1% buy The Road Home 3.9 out of 5 stars (73) �3.20
	1% buy The Angel's Game 3.8 out of 5 stars (26) �9.49


Amazon Home

International Sites: United States \| Germany \| France \| Japan \| Canada \| China

Business Programs: Sell on Amazon \| Fulfilment by Amazon \| Join Associates \| Join Advantage

Customer Service \| Help \| View Basket \| Your Account

About Amazon.co.uk \| Careers at Amazon

Old Filth (Hardcover)

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Product details

Product Description

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Customer Reviews

Customer Discussions

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight

Start a new discussion

Listmania!

Look for similar items by category

Feedback

Fun for Everyone

More From Jane Gardam

Up to 50% off Dental Care

Treat Someone

Where's My Stuff?

Delivery and Returns

Need Help?

Your Recent History