Where Nights Are Longest: Travels by Car Through Western Russia (Traveler) by Colin Thubron |
by Colin Thubron
|
by Colin Thubron
|
DVD ~ Colin Firth
|
by Timothy Keller
|
See buying choices for this item to see if it's one of the millions that are eligible for Amazon Prime.
|
Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
A man in prison; a seedy circus; a beautiful star of the big top who transcends the mere spangles of her act; a girl who dabbles in stained glass--these figures would seem to endow Thubron's ( The Hills of Adonis ) second novel with a surrealistic surface and a compelling psychological undercurrent. And for the first third of the book, the pages do turn quickly, as prisoner and protagonist Mark artfully tells us (or does not tell us) why he is in the pen. What is the tragic accident to which he obliquely and repeatedly refers? Why do most people react to him with horror and yet with sympathy? The implied answers are tucked mysteriously into the novel's intriguing interstices. All too soon, though, the plot loosens: instead of continuing to narrate with Mark's voice, Thubron begins inserting weaker narratives told from the points of view of secondary and sometimes minor characters. Most of these are never fully realized, so that even a climactic act of euthanasia seems but a plot device, distancing Mark rather than revealing him. By the time this odd and promising story ends, readers may well feel set adrift.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
At the beginning of this novel Mark is entering prison for a one-year term. Through a series of nostalgic vignettes, we learn what his life was like before his prison term and, ultimately, that he has been imprisoned for the mercy killing of his lover Clara, a circus acrobat who had been left paralyzed from the neck down after an accident. This novel is about Mark's struggle to find himself through Clara, a kind of second coming-of-age, while trying not to hurt Katherine, the other woman in his life. Despite their circumstances, Clara's vitality and strength are far more captivating than Katherine's safe, somewhat dowdy existence; the reader knows early on that Katherine doesn't stand much of a chance. Unfortunately, these colorful circumstances don't add up to much; the writing is often droll and pedantic, and very little sympathy can be mustered for Mark, who tends to lapse into painful platitude whenever describing his relationship to Katherine or Clara.
- Jessica Grim, Univ. of California Lib. at Berkeley
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
See all Editorial Reviews
A man in prison; a seedy circus; a beautiful star of the big top who transcends the mere spangles of her act; a girl who dabbles in stained glass--these figures would seem to endow Thubron's ( The Hills of Adonis ) second novel with a surrealistic surface and a compelling psychological undercurrent. And for the first third of the book, the pages do turn quickly, as prisoner and protagonist Mark artfully tells us (or does not tell us) why he is in the pen. What is the tragic accident to which he obliquely and repeatedly refers? Why do most people react to him with horror and yet with sympathy? The implied answers are tucked mysteriously into the novel's intriguing interstices. All too soon, though, the plot loosens: instead of continuing to narrate with Mark's voice, Thubron begins inserting weaker narratives told from the points of view of secondary and sometimes minor characters. Most of these are never fully realized, so that even a climactic act of euthanasia seems but a plot device, distancing Mark rather than revealing him. By the time this odd and promising story ends, readers may well feel set adrift.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
At the beginning of this novel Mark is entering prison for a one-year term. Through a series of nostalgic vignettes, we learn what his life was like before his prison term and, ultimately, that he has been imprisoned for the mercy killing of his lover Clara, a circus acrobat who had been left paralyzed from the neck down after an accident. This novel is about Mark's struggle to find himself through Clara, a kind of second coming-of-age, while trying not to hurt Katherine, the other woman in his life. Despite their circumstances, Clara's vitality and strength are far more captivating than Katherine's safe, somewhat dowdy existence; the reader knows early on that Katherine doesn't stand much of a chance. Unfortunately, these colorful circumstances don't add up to much; the writing is often droll and pedantic, and very little sympathy can be mustered for Mark, who tends to lapse into painful platitude whenever describing his relationship to Katherine or Clara.
- Jessica Grim, Univ. of California Lib. at Berkeley
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
See all Editorial Reviews
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Look Inside This Book
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Help others find this product — tag it for Amazon search
No one has tagged this product for Amazon search yet. Why not be the first to suggest a search for which it should appear?
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Reviews
There are no customer reviews yet. Create your own review
| |||
Video reviews
|
 |
Customer Discussions
Beta (What's this?)
New! See all customer communities, and bookmark your communities to keep track of them.
Product Information from the Amapedia Community
Beta (What's this?)Be the first person to add an article about this item at Amapedia.com.
› See featured Amapedia.com articles
Listmania!
So You'd Like to...
Look for Similar Items by Category
The New Braun bodycruZer |
Summer Reading for Kids & Teens |
Transition Through Seasons |
||||||||
|
Your Recent History
(What's this?)|
You have no recently viewed items or searches.
After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in. Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session. |
Continue shopping: Top Sellers
| ||||
| ||
| ||
| ||
| ||
| ||
