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John Brown's Body [Hardcover]

A.L. Barker (Author)

5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review) |

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Book Description

Publication Date: October 1969

'It is an extraordinary achievement.' A. S. Byatt Marise Tomelty is a child-wife who dislikes sex and is terrified of open spaces. Ralph Shilling, a dealer in pesticides, lives in the flat above the Tomeltys'. One day, Marise's travelling-salesman husband casually mentions that he recognises Ralph as John Brown, the suspect who, for lack of evidence, was acquitted in an atrocious double murder. Nevertheless, Marise encourages Ralph's attentions, intoxicated by a heady mix of passion and fear. Shortlisted for the 1969 Booker Prize, John Brown's Body is a serious exploration of the tug between body and soul, life and death, truth and fantasy. An extraordinary novel, it is written in the precise, impeccable prose for which A. L. Barker is famed. 'She is formidable, and from a bare corner of human relations gathers a rich harvest.' Adam Mars-Jones 'Her glancing, allusive writing carries one along easily, darting from invention to invention . . . Underneath there is a firm, ordering imagination and the poise of perfect pitch.' New Statesman 'It would be hard to find anyone who chooses words more exactly or constructs with more precision.' Penelope Fitzgerald

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

#outer_postBodyPS { display: none; } #psGradient { display: none; } #psPlaceHolder { display: none; } #psExpand { display: none; } 'It is an extraordinary achievement.' A. S. Byatt Marise Tomelty is a child-wife who dislikes sex and is terrified of open spaces. Ralph Shilling, a dealer in pesticides, lives in the flat above the Tomeltys'. One day, Marise's travelling-salesman husband casually mentions that he recognises Ralph as John Brown, the suspect who, for lack of evidence, was acquitted in an atrocious double murder. Nevertheless, Marise encourages Ralph's attentions, intoxicated by a heady mix of passion and fear. Shortlisted for the 1969 Booker Prize, John Brown's Body is a serious exploration of the tug between body and soul, life and death, truth and fantasy. An extraordinary novel, it is written in the precise, impeccable prose for which A. L. Barker is famed. 'She is formidable, and from a bare corner of human relations gathers a rich harvest.' Adam Mars-Jones 'Her glancing, allusive writing carries one along easily, darting from invention to invention . . . Underneath there is a firm, ordering imagination and the poise of perfect pitch.' New Statesman 'It would be hard to find anyone who chooses words more exactly or constructs with more precision.' Penelope Fitzgerald

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Editorial Reviews

Review

It would be hard to find anyone who chooses words more exactly or constructs with more precision PENELOPE FITZGERALD She writes with a precision and an economy of words which had me gasping with admiration AUBERON WAUGH At her best she is formidable, and from a bare corner of human relations gathers a rich harvest ADAM MARS-JONES --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Publisher

Marise Tomelty is a child-wife who dislikes sex and is terrified of open spaces. Ralph Shilling, a dealer in pesticides, lives in the flat above the Tomeltys'. One day, Marise's traveling-salesman husband casually mentions that he recognizes Ralph as John Brown, the suspect who, for lack of evidence, was acquitted in an actrocious double murder. Nevertheless, Marise encourages Ralph's attentions, intoxicated by a heady mix of passion and fear. In this shrewdly-observed novel, A. L. Barker explores the tug between body and soul, life and death, truth and fantasy. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: The Hogarth Press Ltd (October 1969)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0701203277
ISBN-13: 978-0701203276

Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,985,293 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I'm twelve and I love this book!!!!!, May 25, 2001

A Kid's Review

This review is from: John Brown's Body (Paperback)

I have not read all of it but I have read John Brown's Prayer part and thought that it was great. I need to read the rest of it soon -Claire

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Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

Inside This Book (learn more)
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First Sentence:
Marise saw at once that this place was far behind Plummer Court. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
John Brown, Uncle Fred, Ralph Shilling, Jack Tomelty, Madame Belmondo, Casimir Terrace, Lilliput Lodge, Miss Elvie, Thorne Farm, Miss Fran, Isle of Wight

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Concordance | Text Stats

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Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

Citations (learn more)

This book cites 16 books:

The Woman Who Talked to Herself by A.L. Barker in Front Matter
George Eliot: Centenary Essays and an Unpublished Fragment (Barnes and Nobel Critical Studies) by Anne Smith in Back Matter
My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin in Back Matter
Heavy Feather by A. L. Barker in Front Matter
The Bread and Butter Stories by Mary Norton in Back Matter

See all 16 books this book cites

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