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The Unknown Terrorist (Hardcover)

by Richard Flanagan (Author)
3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
Price: £10.99 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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  • This item: The Unknown Terrorist by Richard Flanagan

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 325 pages
  • Publisher: Atlantic Books (12 April 2007)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1843546310
  • ISBN-13: 978-1843546313
  • Product Dimensions: 23 x 15.6 x 2.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 1,527,451 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Review

"'A masterpiece.' The Times 'The writing is miraculous: multi-layered, poetic and unlike anyone else's.' George Melly, Books of the Year, Sunday Telegraph 'Ferocious in its anger, grotesque, funny, violent, startlingly beautiful and, above all, heartbreakingly sad... I urge you to read it.' Observer 'A vivid, voluptuous, exhilarating writer.' Sunday Telegraph 'Hugely original... passages burn with the intense pleasure of story-making, of the abandon that comes from a seething of ideas and their joyful mutation into words.' Guardian" --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Toby Clements, Daily Telegraph

`Once in a while a thriller of genuine importance comes along, fired by
passionate concern...' --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
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The Unknown Terrorist
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Customer Reviews

9 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
3.6 out of 5 stars (9 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Another Kind of Terror, 15 April 2007
By Mike Fazey (Perth, Western Australia) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Unknown Terrorist (Hardcover)
Richard Flanagan's new novel (released in Australia in December 2006) is about terrorism. Not the kind that involves suicide bombings and religious fervour; the kind that involves mass paranoia and the abuse of power. The second kind is the more insidious.

The unknown terrorist of the title is Gina Davies, a young woman from the suburbs, pretty much alone in the world and focused entirely on achieving material dreams. She's a stripper and pole dancer, a pill-popper and, on the whole, rather a shallow person. Not the kind of character you'd normally feel for as a reader. Yet Flanagan succeeds in making us sympathise with her completely, to feel outrage and pity for the monumental injustice she suffers at the hands of the authorities, the media and the society she inhabits.

A chance encounter and a one-night stand with a suspected terrorist (who, as it turns out, probably isn't a terrorist after all) transforms the rather naive Gina into public enemy number one. Frightened, confused and mistrustful of authority, she becomes a fugitive. Fuelled by hysterical media coverage, Gina is hunted down as a dangerous home-grown terrorist. The ending is not happy.

Certainly, The Unknown Terrorist is emotionally gripping. As we follow Gina's mental and physical unravelling, it's very hard to remain detached. It's hard because it's all so absurd. Surely no sane society could put two and two together and get five in such a disastrous, unjust way.

Of course, it's a highly political novel, and as such, its purpose is to arouse, to question, to jolt. It succeeds handsomely in this regard. It's also guilty of being melodramatic at times, and some strands of the storyline are a little too contrived. However, judging a political novel purely on its technical merit would be to miss the point completely. Flanagan has set out to make a powerful statement and has succeeded.

I hope lots of people read it and talk about it. I hope someone makes a film of it. It's not an uplifting book by any means - it's pessimistic and downright depressing, in fact. But it's an important book for our times, such as they are.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Thrilling, stunning story in the aftermath of 9/11, 14 Aug 2008
By Roland Freisitzer "freisitzer" (Vienna, Austria) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Unknown Terrorist (Paperback)
"The Unknown Terrorist" is Richard Flanagan's so far best book, I would say. It is so far also the only book I have read, which manages to convey a real point in the aftermath of 9/11, without working superficial tears or shallow points. His point here is to show how manipulative media and politics are, how easy people are manipulated, how little someone's rights count and how easy it is to misuse well-staged mass hysteria for personal benefit.
The main hero of this book is the pole (or lap-) dancer Gina Davies, shortly called "The Doll" throughout this book. The Doll's main interest is making enough money by stripping and dancing at the "Chairman's Lounge", in order to change her life. Her biggest mistake is not the one-night stand she has with Tariq, but the rejection of Richard Cody, the media star. When three bombs are found in backpacks, Tariq is far too quickly and easily identified by media as the wanted terrorist. Footage from the supervisory-cams of Tariqs appartment building showing him with Gina, gives Richard Cody the chance to identify Gina and to misuse her for personal advantage as "The Unknown Terrorist". I will not reveal more of the story here.
Richard Flanagans writing is brilliant (even superior to his "Death of a River Guide"), he never lost my attention at any moment. A thrilling book, great literature, beating any thriller by it's writing and it's message, which leaves you stunned and with the shocking thought, that by virtue of some coincidence, this could happen to each and every single one of us. A book, which pleads for understanding rather than prejudice.
One of my personal books of the year!
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8 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars awful!, 7 Feb 2008
By H. Hampson (London) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Unknown Terrorist (Paperback)
This book was one of the worst books I have ever wasted my time reading. I preserved to the end, encouraged by the glowing reviews (what were these critics being paid?!), but there was no redeeming twist or revelation. Firstly, the plot is totally unbelievable, even in this day and age of over-paranoid terror laws. I mean, a drug-taking, promiscuous lap dancer with being mistaken for an Islamic terrorist because she happened to sleep with a drug trafficker (also mistaken for an Islamic terrorist). Secondly, even if the plot was believable, the main character, The Doll, is so thinly constructed and shallow I found it hard to care what happened to her, let alone feel any sympathy. Clunky prose, careless inaccuracies and pointless plot diversions abound. The Unknown Terrorist left me thinking that maybe the Da Vinci Code wasn't that after all.
Don't let the Nietzsche stuff in the prelude, nor the dedication to Guantanamo inmate David Hicks lead to believe that this is a deep, tense thriller. It is a poor example of run-of-the mill genre fiction. It probably only got published because illegal detention is in fashion at the moment. Campaign to get Guantanamo shut down so more books like this don't litter our shelves!
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 		 Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars The Unbelievable Terrorist
The plot - if there is one - revolves around a white Australian lap dancer who is supposedly an undercover Islamic terrorist, or at least the Aussie media and anti-terrorism... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Damien Lewis

4.0 out of 5 stars Slightly flawed, but tragic and powerful...
A not particularly likeable Gina Davies is a pole dancer living in her confused world. She has a one-night stand with Tariq, who is later assumed to be a terrorist. Read more
Published 16 months ago by johnverp

3.0 out of 5 stars Contemporary, real, and well written
The prologue certainly stimulated my interest with its controversial idea of Jesus being the first suicide bomber ever. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Mr. Klaus Muecher

4.0 out of 5 stars Engaging thriller
A very good read which is also my first by this author. I've looked at his other books and whilst they may not appeal to me if his writing style in those is as good as this one... Read more
Published on 6 Jan 2008 by SJSmith

4.0 out of 5 stars Engaging thriller
A very good read which is also my first by this author. I've looked at his other books and whilst they may not appeal to me if his writing style in those is as good as this one... Read more
Published on 6 Jan 2008 by SJSmith

5.0 out of 5 stars Actions and words
Just what is a "terrorist"? How does one identify such a person? How many terrorist threats are valid and how many contrivances? Read more
Published on 3 May 2007 by Stephen A. Haines

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