Lanark: A Life in Four Books (Canongate Classics) (Paperback)

~ (Author), Janice Galloway (Introduction)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

From its first publication in 1981, Lanark was hailed as a masterpiece and it has come to be widely regarded as the most remarkable and influential Scottish novel of the second half of the twentieth century. A work of extraordinary imagination and wide-ranging concerns, its playful narrative conveys at its core a profound message, both personal and political, about humankind's inability to love, and yet our compulsion to go on trying. With its echoes of Dante, Blake, Joyce, Kafka, and Lewis Carroll, Lanark has been published all over the world and to unanimous acclaim. This edition marks the novel's return to its original publisher and features a superb new introduction by the award-winning novelist Janice Galloway, and the author's Tailpiece, a fascinating addendum to the novel. "It was time Scotland produced a shattering work of fiction in the modern idiom. This is it." -- Anthony Burgess "Alasdair Gray is one of the most important living writers in English." -- Stephen Bernstein, The New York Times Book Review "Remarkable ... Lanark is a work of loving and vivid imagination, yielding copious riches." -- William Boyd, The Times Literary Supplement (London) "Undoubtedly the best work of fiction written by a Scottish author for decades." -- Time Out (London) "A quite extraordinary achievement, the most remarkable thing in Scottish fiction for a very long time." -- The Scotsman

Product Details

• Paperback: 560 pages
• Publisher: Canongate U.S. (September 16, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1841951838
• ISBN-13: 978-1841951836
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #998,599 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Daunting to be the first, January 11, 2003

By	R. Morell "Frostwolf" (Albany, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I don't know if no one has reviewed this tome for fear of where angels tread lightly or what, but I have to say something about this amazing book, if for no other reason than to start a dialogue.

I first heard of this book from a Village Voice article about the republication of "Lanark" in a four-volume set. The structure of this edition is that it begins with Book 3, followed by the Prologue, Book 1, Book 2, and Book 4 is divided by an Epilogue that takes place 4 chapters from the end. This convoluted structure actually makes the book rather fascinating, in that Gray has said that he wishes for the book to be remembered in a certain order, which is why he put "Book 3" first. This edition also features artworks by the artist at the front of each Book, and the Epilogue features some interesting typesetting.

For readers of science fiction, this book will offer an interesting challenge, for books 1 and 2 are more a coming-of-age of the artist sort of affair. Books 3 and 4 center around the Lanark character, who is called Thaw in 1 and 2. The Thaw books reminded me many times of Maugham and Joyce, while 3 and 4 seemed positively Dickian. (Not to be confused with Dickensian, which slant-applies, if at all.) There's a lot of ferocious literariness going on in this book, yet there's all sorts of humor. And also a slice of life in a city I know absolutely nothing about. The depictions and commentary on Glasgow reveal a lot about the self-consciousness of 2nd-tier and below cities--the cities that are not New York, London, Florence, Paris, Moscow, etc.

I found this a wise book, filled with difficult ideas and a morose feel for the future of mankind and the difficulties of being a solitary individual in the anomie-infested modern civilization. Book 4 I think is a fascinating attempt to turn Hobbes's Leviathan into a sentient being, as viewed by the hapless adventures of the eponymous hero. I will be thinking about this book for a long time.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A True Modern Classic, July 2, 2006

By	Nick (Switzerland) - See all my reviews

"Lanark" was first published in 1981, but its author spent 20 years writing it. And it's indeed a massive piece. The whole book is divided into four books (starting with book 3). I think it's one serious classic novel, sadly not as famous as it ought to be; but this here review will change that for the best. Of course.

This novel is a bit of two stories in one. There's a "surreal" story and a more autobiographical "realist" story. If I was to go into details, this would quickly become very complicated. It's not exactly an easy read, but it's worth it. I don't even know how I am going to say anything about it without going crazy...

The story begins in a world which at first seems fairly common, but quickly turns into something you're not familiar with. I won't say more on that, but it's a kind of hell, or afterlife of some sort. Within that frame, the second story occurs (or the first, since book 1 and 2 are the "realist" story and book 3 and 4 are the surreal world). The order of the books is: 3,1,2 and 4. I'm sure this sounds messy as hell but I promise it makes much more sense when you are into the book.

Book 1 and 2 are very much autobiographical of Gray's life, though not an actual biography. In short, Duncan Thaw (the main character) is a young boy living in Glasgow and we follow him throughout his (short) life, and then in the afterlife world, hence the subtitle of the book "a life in four books." Duncan is a very talented boy and grows up to be an art student (Gray worked as an art teacher for a long time, and is a great painter himself, he did all the illustrations found in Lanark). I can't say enough those two books, I think I prefer them over the surreal ones but they're not quite comparable.

As to book 3 and 4, I'll give you a tiny taste of it with the following stuff: the story begins in the city of Unthank, and it's a bit of an urban hell where the sun shines for a few minutes each day. That's where Lanark is, and he has no memories of his past. He wants sunshine and love. In that world, people "disappear," and that won't make sense till you're further into the novel. But I'll tell you what, people get strange diseases in this world, and these diseases reflect the problem with them. Eventually everyones is... can I even say that without sounding completely weird... everyone is swallowed by giant mouths into the "institute," which is a place much like hell, only it's an hospital where these people, who have "disappeared," are treated. I won't say more because it's important that you find out for yourself (and anyway summing this stuff up is just like talking about an acid trip).

Gray is a really brilliant writer and his books 1 and 2 are stuff to be worshipped. Maybe I'll post selected bits later on in this thread. I really recommend this for anyone interested in something that will surely be looked upon as one of the best novels ever written in the universe (no less). It's already a big classic in contemporary literature, but my guess is it won't cease to grow.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A bleak yet compelling vision of survival, February 9, 2003

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

First published in 1981 and set in the dystopic cities of Unthank and Glasgow, Lanark: A Life In Four Books by Alasdair Gray is an emotional and starkly brilliant saga about the struggle to love despite contradictions and vices in human nature that attack bonds of care or trust. A bleak yet compelling vision of survival and the endless search for something more in life, Lanark consists of parallel tales of an eponymous hero living in a bizarre city of the future called Unthank, and Duncan Thaw, a young Glaswegian of the twentieth century. This edition of Lanark is enhanced with a new foreword by novelist Janice Galloway and includes Alasdair Gray's "Tailpiece" which serves as an unusual addendum to this surreal and highly recommended novel.