Rapids: A Novel [Hardcover]

Tim Parks (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 12, 2006

A riveting white-water ride down a raging river in the Italian Alps, pitting people against Nature in "the novel Tim Parks was born to write" (Sunday Telegraph, London).

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Parks, whose Europa was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, sets his highly engrossing novel on a swollen, swift-moving river in the Italian Alps, where 13 Brits from a London kayak club have come to run the rapids. Vince, a timid, middle-aged banker, recently widowed, serves as the story's center and worries that he won't be able to keep up with the group. He has good reason: Clive, the guide, is a fierce environmentalist and veteran of antiglobalization demonstrations whose frustration with peaceful protests coupled with his shock over the death of two fellow demonstrators leads him to consider—with ominous undertones—doing "something bigger" for the cause. In Clive's wake is Michela, a young Italian whose clinging, worshipful love of Clive renders her increasingly unstable as the trip progresses. Parks keeps the kayaking scenes lively, and he nails the strange hierarchical culture of group trips—and their possibility for implosion. It's part of what transforms Vince, who begins by ruminating over his wife's cryptic last words ("I'm so, so sorry"), but who, over the course of the trip, loses himself in the immediacy of the rushing river, and in Michela, with whom he forges a peculiar bond. It's an urgent, thoughtful and convincing portrayal. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Set against the backdrop of nature, global warming, and middle-age crises, 15 members of a kayaking club from Britain descend upon the Italian Alps to test their mettle on the white waters of the torrential River Aurino. Clive, the strong and stoic leader of the expedition, along with Michela, his Italian partner, are fresh from protesting globalism in Milan. Vince, a recently widowed banker--whose late wife was formerly active in the group--along with his daughter, joins the group and immediately must confront his own fears, insecurities, and shortcomings, as well as his role in Third World debt and climate change. The rapids are definitely not for beginners. The summer heat has accelerated the melt-off of the glaciers, increasing the volatility of the water, and an unusual number of mishaps result. An infatuation with kayak-savvy but emotionally unstable Michela forces Vince to reappraise his marriage, his career, and his worldview. Parks, author of Europa (1998), shortlisted for the Booker, expertly captures group social dynamics and the Alpine locale, all while maintaining an ongoing sense of environmental calamity. An adrenaline-filled cautionary tale. Benjamin Segedin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 245 pages
• Publisher: Arcade Publishing (April 12, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559708115
• ISBN-13: 978-1559708111
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,622,098 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a thrilling ride, August 20, 2006

By 

F. Bernstein - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Rapids: A Novel (Hardcover)

Not only did I learn an enormous amount about kayaking in dangerous waters, but the character development was really interesting. The characters were beautifully drawn,unexpected, and weird. Most of all, I found this novel on par with a book like Krakhauer's 'Into thin air' where they climbed Mt. Everest. It is an A-plus thrill ride for people who prefer to read about dangerous adventure vacations rather than actually do them. Could not put it down!

5.0 out of 5 stars Booker material, July 16, 2011

By 

GD - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rapids (Kindle Edition)

Yet another top rate novel from Mr Parks - the Booker must not be far off now. Character development was superb and I think the ending was well handled. I am no kayaker but it didn`t matter.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars For kayakers, really, November 2, 2005

By 

M. Eva Kulda (Austria) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rapids (Hardcover)

If you're a kayaker, you're bound to love this novel: It has an ultra-authentic ring to itself, from the logistics of arranging a shuttle to the place where you exit to the smell of the wetsuits in the very cars that provide that service. You'll end up looking for the Aurino, the river depicted, thinking, *well, would be worth a try*.

It's one of the few novels where kayaking isn't primarily a metaphor for something else, but where you can almost *feel* the water... then again, in some ways it *is* a metaphor, of course, especially when one thinks of the somewhat contrived political rift between the rugged, stoutly anti-globalization activist guide and between his yuppy banker clients who end up acting more responsibly when it comes to the fate of those close and personal rather than remote and exotic.

The ending was disappointing for me, kind of loose, in a way, like a river taking you away, with a couple of different outcomes. Unfortunately, Parks takes leave of his rather grim realism towards the end, when a miraculous survival of resuscitative efforts raises no further eyebrows as she makes it without brain-damage, and that, somehow, invalidates the whole set-up. It was as if the author had been keen on finishing the book off, no matter how, and if the whole book essentially amounted to little but a sequence of well-described river runs - something that also makes sense when one thinks of the rather bland other characters featuring.

So - if you're a white-water enthusiast, you're going to read this book in a single session, and like it - just as I did. If not, it'll leave you annoyed, as it seems to be a good opportunity wasted, wasted by a fine writer. And that's a shame, really.