Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

  • Apple
  • Android
  • Windows Phone
  • Android

To get the free app, enter your email address or mobile phone number.
Download to your computer
Kindle Cloud Reader
Facebook Twitter Pinterest <Embed>
Qty:1
  • List Price: $17.95
  • Save: $5.68 (32%)
FREE Shipping on orders with at least $25 of books.
Only 2 left in stock (more on the way).
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.
Lanark (Canongate Classic... has been added to your Cart
Want it Thursday, April 7? Order within and choose Two-Day Shipping at checkout. Details
Ship to:
Select a shipping address:
To see addresses, please
or
Please enter a valid US zip code.
or
+ $3.99 shipping
Used: Good | Details
Sold by worldofbooksusa
Condition: Used: Good
Comment: The book has been read but remains in clean condition. All pages are intact and the cover is intact. Some minor wear to the spine.

Sorry, there was a problem.

There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. Please try again.

Sorry, there was a problem.

List unavailable.
Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon
Flip to back Flip to front
Listen Playing... Paused   You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more
See all 2 images

Lanark (Canongate Classics Series (Separate Title Per Volume)) Paperback – May 31, 2007

by
Alasdair Gray (Author)
› Visit Amazon's Alasdair Gray Page
Find all the books, read about the author, and more.
See search results for this author
Are you an author? Learn about Author Central
Alasdair Gray (Author), William Boyd (Introduction)
4.3 out of 5 stars 16 customer reviews
See all 4 formats and editions Hide other formats and editions
Price
New from Used from
Kindle
"Please retry"
$10.51
— —
Hardcover
"Please retry"
—
$101.91 $36.99
Paperback
"Please retry"
$12.27
$8.28 $4.40
When I'm Gone
When I'm Gone by Emily Bleeker
Even the happiest marriages have their secrets. Learn more
$12.27 FREE Shipping on orders with at least $25 of books. Only 2 left in stock (more on the way). Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Frequently Bought Together

  • Lanark (Canongate Classics Series (Separate Title Per Volume))
  • +
  • Poor Things (British Literature)
Total price: $24.65
Buy the selected items together

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.
Back
  1. Poor Things (British Literature)
    Alasdair Gray
    4.7 out of 5 stars 12
    Paperback
    $12.38 Prime
  2. Perchance to Dream: Selected Stories
    Charles Beaumont
    4.6 out of 5 stars 12
    Paperback
    $11.40 Prime
  3. Songs of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe
    Thomas Ligotti
    4.8 out of 5 stars 23
    Paperback
    $10.11 Prime
  4. Slade House: A Novel
    David Mitchell
    4.0 out of 5 stars 295
    Hardcover
    $17.27 Prime
  5. 44 Scotland Street (44 Scotland Street Series, Book 1)
    Alexander McCall…
    3.9 out of 5 stars 310
    Paperback
    $12.89 Prime
  6. If on a Winter's Night a Traveler
    Italo Calvino
    4.0 out of 5 stars 254
    Paperback
    $9.34 Prime
Next
NO_CONTENT_IN_FEATURE
Image
Looking for the Audiobook Edition?
Tell us that you'd like this title to be produced as an audiobook, and we'll alert our colleagues at Audible.com. If you are the author or rights holder, let Audible help you produce the audiobook: Learn more at ACX.com.

Product Details

  • Series: Canongate Classics Series (Separate Title Per Volume)
  • Paperback: 573 pages
  • Publisher: Canongate UK (May 31, 2007)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1841959073
  • ISBN-13: 978-1841959078
  • Product Dimensions: 13 x 1 x 20 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #233,618 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsPretentious but Brilliant
By Jim on May 28, 2015
Format: Paperback
"Lanark" starts off with a young man arriving at a strange, other-worldly city by train. He does not remember why he came there, where he came from, or even his own name. He has few possessions, and his pockets are full of sand and sea shells. He takes the name Lanark after a poster he sees. His newly adopted city is a strange place. The sun never shines and no one seems to even remember it. People disappear without a trace on a regular basis. Many suffer from unnatural diseases, such as the appearance of mouths all over the body or the growth of dragon scales. But things get really odd when Lanark learns where it is that everyone is disappearing to. Is this Hell? Or is it just a nightmare version of Glasgow?

"Lanark" is both weird and epic. While not without its faults, it is a reading experience that isn't easily forgotten. It's unfortunate that it isn't more well known than it is.

When reading "Lanark" it is best to know that you're getting two very different novels for the price of one. Gray arranges his book in a strange way: it is divided into four books, numbered 3, 1, 2, and 4. There is also a prologue before book 1 and an epilogue a few chapters before the end, because "it is too important." The 3rd and 4th books are an epic dystopia, describing a civilization's descent into madness and self-consumption. Books 1 and 2 are a fairly straight-forward fictionalized autobiography of Gray's childhood and early adulthood as a neurotic young artist.

Most readers won't like "Lanark." Specifically, people who like "realist" autobiographical novels probably won't like books 3 and 4, and people who like dystopian fantasy probably will struggle through 1 and 2.Read more ›
Comment 3 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
5.0 out of 5 starsOne Man Against the Machine
By Jeremy Garber on February 5, 2015
Format: Paperback
A fascinating, experimental yet eminently readable, funny and serious, neo-Romantic novel about a guy at odds with the world(s) around him. Lanark is a self-aware novel in which the main character switches back and forth between an allegorical post-apocalyptic world and the grim landscape of industrial Scotland. The protagonist, a somewhat slothful wannabe artist, tries desperately to create epic works of art and to find True Romance, but lacks the willpower or compassion to do either. When he finds himself in the other world, he becomes a pawn of the military-industrial complex that is (literally!) eating its citizens and the planet alive in the search for growing profit. It is this social critique that, even forty years later, is the most pointed and poignant message of this novel - that the forces of greed and fear are rolling juggernauts that seek to control all of society just to add on a buck or two to their existing billions. The author is a keen enough writer to be completely aware of his preachy tendencies and even to mock them at the same time he speaks them - including an epilogue three chapters before the conclusion of the novel in which the protagonist meets the author himself and the author implies that all of literature has led up to the creation of this book! Sexy, funny, and importantly political, Lanark is worth the investment of time it takes to get what's going on in these several hundred pages. And more importantly, it will hopefully move its readers to be more successful in fighting the military capitalist juggernaut than its titular character.
Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
4.0 out of 5 starsRead it!
By bracdiver on June 5, 2015
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
A worthy read. A good sign is that I keep wandering back to it in my mind and making discoveries about what it meant to me. I happen to love Pynchon (he'd get a 5 star) so poor Alasdair gets a 4 star. Don't overlook this book, particularly if you like Pynchon.
Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
4.0 out of 5 starsGary's masterwork
By Phipedro on May 19, 2013
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
There's no-one quite like Alasdair Gray from the Blakean illustrations to the quirky stories. But even among his output, Lanark is special. An alternative SF history of Scotland and Glasgow in particular. I go back to it once a decade or so, and it's always worth it.
Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
4.0 out of 5 starsSurreal futurism and character study
By Sarah Hoit on August 11, 2015
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
A unique and surreal read, the range of stylistic devices and tones used added interesting layers to the work and often revel the hand of the writer. The main character (the eponymous Lanark) is well developed and complex, independent of his likability or relate-ability at different points in the book. The changing landscape in location, time period, and pacing keep the reader on unsure footing, awaiting the next oddity.
Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
4.0 out of 5 starsImpressive
By Norman W Ritchie on January 16, 2016
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
I read this when it first came out while I was a student and enjoyed it, but not as much as my gerbils who hollowed it out and lived in it for a while. Rereading it now, the writing still impresses, but it does rather disappear up its own rear towards the end.
Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
5.0 out of 5 starsA brilliant and original novel
By Pamela Scott on July 24, 2015
Format: Kindle Edition
Lanark is one of my favourite books of all time. I’d consider it to be Gray’s magnum opus. I love the way the novel is split into four segments and the story of Thaw and Lanark isn’t told in chronological order. This works really well. I enjoyed the Thaw sections the best. They seem to be based at least in part of Gray’s life and are really enjoyable. I liked Lanark’s sections better in the second time around. These are very different than Thaw’s sections and can be hard to adjust to for a first time reader. Lanark draws inspiration from the work of William Blake and Dante’s The Divine Comedy. I love Blake’s work. A colour illustrated copy of his Songs of Innocence and Experience is a treasured possession. I also love The Divine Comedy. I have a battered copy that I’ve read. Lanark is brilliant, original novel – of a very rare and wonderful kind. I gave Grey’s debut novel 4 stars the first time I read it but enjoyed it better the second time.
Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

Lanark (Canongate Classics Series (Separate Title Per Volume))
Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more
This item: Lanark (Canongate Classics Series (Separate Title Per Volume))
Set up a giveaway

There's a problem loading this menu right now.

Learn more about Amazon Prime.



Pages with Related Products. See and discover other items: solid shapes and flat shapes