The Gone-Away World [DECKLE EDGE] (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: senior board, red sector, red gate, Old Man Lubitsch, Humbert Pestle, Jim Hepsobah (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This unclassifiable debut from the son of legendary thriller author John le Carré is simultaneously a cautionary tale about the absurdity of war; a sardonic science fiction romp through Armageddon; a conspiracy-fueled mystery replete with ninjas, mimes and cannibal dogs; and a horrifying glimpse of a Lovecraftian near-future. Go Away bombs have erased entire sections of reality from the face of the Earth. A nameless soldier and his heroic best friend witness firsthand the unimaginable aftermath outside the Livable Zone, finding that the world has unraveled and is home to an assortment of nightmarish mutations. With the fate of humankind in the balance, the pair become involved in an unlikely and potentially catastrophic love triangle. Readers who prefer linear, conventional plotlines may find Harkaway overly verbose and frustratingly tangential, but those intrigued by works that blur genre boundaries will find this wildly original hybrid a challenging and entertaining entry in the post-apocalyptic canon. (Sept.)
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From School Library Journal

Harkaway has created a monster. Although his debut has been compared to the work of Joseph Heller and Kurt Vonnegut, this epic novel shares with them only the elements of war, satire, and irony (and a few references to Vonnegut's line, "And so it goes..."). This story is more concerned with the fantastical and supernatural underpinnings of war in a futuristic, technologically superior world in which there's a new weapon that wipes out enemies by making them "go away." Many bad side effects ensue, and an eclectic team of soldiers-turned-action heroes is hired to fix them. It's a futuristic doomsday tale of sorts, but it's also the story of an average guy, Gonzo, who must save both the world and a part of himself (literally) several times. The first part is a bit confusing without the later context. However, its humorous parts, mostly in the form of tangents and its accounts of sentimentality among manly men, are a lot of fun to read. Prepare for a multifaceted ride, a mixture of Apocalypse Now and Fight Club. Recommended only for larger public libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 5/1/08.]—Stephen Morrow, Athens, OH
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 512 pages
• Publisher: Knopf; First American Edition edition (September 2, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307268861
• ISBN-13: 978-0307268860
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.5 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (72 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #211,775 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Imaginative - unpredictable - and very well written, August 20, 2008

By	Benjamin (UK) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

With all the promotion accompanying the publication of this book the story probably needs little introduction? However just in case: it is set in Britain in the not very distant future. We join the story and after the Go-Away War when civilisation relies upon and lives within reach of the globe encircling Jorgmund Pipe; and who knows what inhabits the regions beyond its reach? Problem: the pipe is on fire and professional trouble-shooter and all-round hero Gonzo Lubitsch and his crew are hired to extinguish the fire - but there is more to the fire, and the pipe than it seems. As we follow the charismatic Gonzo and his best friend (our apparently happily married narrator) in their exploits the story takes us back to their childhood and the time before the Go-Away War; we learn of the origins of their friendship, follow them to university and through military service and their subsequent involvement in the Go-Away War. Then we pick up the story again post-War; and this is when we learn of the effects of the fall-out, as well as more about the mysterious Jorgmund Company; we gradually understand the disastrous mess of a world which the Jorrmund Pipe appears to dominate and sustain.

But what really makes this book something special is the quality of the writing. It is writing of such eloquence it simply demands to be read. Nick Harkaway (son of spy thriller writer John le Carré aka David Cornwell) juxtaposes the ordinary and the absurd with such naturalness that we almost don't question it; we might just pass it by if it were not so hilariously funny at times; such is the writer's skill. Every page is a pleasure and one wants to dwell on and enjoy each word, but one is torn between lingering at leisure and becoming absorbed in the detailed byways the story regularly takes and the urgent desire to learn what happens next. One thing we can be sure is that what happens next rarely predictable.

As the story unfolds we encounter a wide range of unforgettable characters in addition to our two main protagonists. I'll mention just one as it will also give an indication of the time setting: our narrator's boyhood martial arts instructor the octogenarian Mr Wu of the Voiceless Dragon School, born in the 1930s, a wise, subtle and unassuming man who is relentlessly pursued by his family's arch-enemy the Ninjas, and whose very young female assistant sleeps on his couch. In addition to an array of interesting characters we should add a parade of weird and wonderful creatures.

The Gone-Away World is an amazing tale; it is a fantasy, an odyssey, an epic; it is story of upheaval and disaster, of nightmare monsters becoming reality, of loyalty and friendship, an adventure encompassing tense drama contrasting more leisurely pursuits, a story which takes us along the way, with unhurried confidence, on many detailed diversions and anecdotes, a story which jumps from the mundane to the surreal, even miraculous. But all the while the full comic potential is fully exploited, and it is all the funnier for the masterful writing, for the wry humour is as often found in the choice of expression, the turn of phrase, as in the ongoing events.

That our very likeable and unassuming narrator remains nameless is not inconsequential, it is crucial to the plot; and his loyalty to his friend Gonzo despite some most surprising events might also prove to be the salvation for what is left of the world. It has been likened it to A Clockwork Orange, Catch 22 or Brave New World; it is reminiscent at time of A Hitchhikers Guide . . . Whatever comparison may be made, one thing is beyond question: it is without doubt an eminently enjoyable read and a cracking and original escapade.

If all you are interested in is a quick-fire story which hurriedly gets to the point wasting no time you may in truth find this a laborious read. However if you enjoy reading for the shear pleasure of reading, if you enjoy the liquid flow of words, if for you the adventure of the journey is as important as arriving, you are sure to enjoy The Gone Away World.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ****Read This Review Before You Read Any Others!, September 1, 2009

By	Kevin Nieman "Writer / Provocateur" (Moorpark, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Gone-Away World (Vintage Contemporaries) (Paperback)

In the early Summer of 2009, I heard an National Public Radio segment on summer book recommendations made by librarian, Nancy Pearl. In the piece she talks about Nick Harkaway's "The Gone-Away World" by saying this:

"I refuse to reveal much about Harkaway's outstanding first novel because I want readers -- and I hope there will be many, many of them -- to discover its joys without prejudice."

After hearing her talk about this book, I bought it, sight-unseen, from Amazon.com, and after finishing it, I could not agree more with Ms. Pearl. This is a discovery you need to make on your own.

All I will say is that it contains the following elements:

> A post-apocalyptic world.
> A long pipe.
> A cow.
> Some geese.
> Ninjas.
and
> Mimes.

What we have here is one of the most unique books written by a debut author in many years. It is entertaining, surprising, touching, shocking, and just plain thrilling. You will reach a certain point in the story where you will want to re-read everything you just read because a shift occurs that changes everything, and that shift took me by surprise.

If you like your novels to have a sort of "kick-ass and take no prisoners" quality to it, this is the book for you. You will be missing out on a very good read if you don't buy this book.

If you are even thinking of reading this, STOP READING THE REVIEWS and buy the book! If you're anything like me, you'll love it. It's the kind of discovery that makes me love reading books.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A literary Snow Crash-like tour de force, May 5, 2009

By	C. Poile (Saskatchewan, Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I simply loved this book. It is at times hilarious, touching, and profound. I would make a comparison to Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash and Cryptonomicon, mixed with Chuck Palaniuk, and sprinkled with Joseph Heller.

It's difficult to pinpoint what it is that makes the book so enjoyable, but in this informal recommendation I would say there's a mixture of: plot, character, and language.

Plot: the narrative twists and turns and barely stops for breath. At each point we're left wondering, what could possibly happen next?

Character: Like the best novelists, Nick Harkaway is able to sketch a character in a sentence and yet still surprise you with their unexpected (but in hindsight, understandable) behavior. Although this might be the weak point of the novel; the characters are interesting, but there's only a few that stand out a fully fleshed-out people. I guess that's just the nature of the beast though -- some characters need to be minor, in order to give the novelist space for those who are major.

Language: And here is the real pleasure of this book. I don't think I've ever read anything as inventive, enjoyable and playful. I wanted to ball up these sentences and chew on them for hours and let them dribble down my face like linguistic steak juice. (Okay, maybe I'm getting carried away there.) There's something deeply enjoyable about reading a paragraph long sentence that ends in a joke and thinking, "How did he ever come up with that?"

I truly hope more people will take a chance and get this book. And I wish I could find more books that were as fun to read. This is that rare work that transcends genre and shows people that literature and SF are just marketing categories.