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Sto caricando le informazioni... The Paperchasedi Marcel Theroux
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Iscriviti per consentire a LibraryThing di scoprire se ti piacerà questo libro. Attualmente non vi sono conversazioni su questo libro. I stumbled across this in a charity shop, and having been impressed by the last Theroux novel I read, Strange Bodies, I bought it. It’s not science fiction in the slightest, more of a family drama slash mystery. The narrator is a UK-based American, who is surprised to discover he’s been left his uncle’s house on a New England island in a will. The uncle was a celebrated writer, who faded away and became a recluse. The narrator leaves his job at the BBC and goes to live in the house – it’s a condition of the will: he only gets to keep it if he lives in it. And something about the papers left by his uncle, and the stories, and histories, of his neighbours, persuades the narrator there is a deeper story here – a mytsery about his uncle’s death, or his life. From a variety of unrelated facts, and assorted residents of the island, and friends of the late uncle, the narrator figures out the secret at the heart of the family. The problem is the prose, and the narrator, is so laid-back the revelation doesn’t really have the impact it should. True, it’s not especially earth-shattering, and very personal, but it’s the point of the novel so I’d expected something with more consequence. There’s a nicely digressive tone to the narrative, and the characters are well-drawn (and mostly likeable), but I polished this off about as quickly as I would a commericial crime novel and I had expected more of it. ( ) A short novel which plays with memory and identity, this crept up on me and stuck around for longer than I would have guessed from the first few pages. The narrator inherits the home of his long-forgotten uncle, and finds surprises about his family and himself... So far, so ordinary? The writer elevates the material by keeping most of the secrets safe, and just pulling back enough curtain to allow us th make our own minds up. More a puzzle than a mystery, then, and very good because of it. Damien March, a bored BBC journalist on the night shift, suddenly inherits a house on an island off the coast of Cape Cod from his long-lost uncle Patrick. There is a condition, however - he must preserve the house exactly as it is. Given that his uncle was somewhat eccentric, and the house is littered with bric-a-brac (e.g. a collection of ice-cream scoops), this is not as easy as it sounds. In trying to settle into the house, Damien comes across letters and old manuscripts that reveal more about his uncle than he perhaps wanted to know. One of the stories is about Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock's little-known brother, carrying out a vigilante-style murder of a man who is abusing his deaf wife and children. When he meets a deaf woman on the island whose abusive husband died in mysterious circumstances, he begins to wonder if the story is more than just fiction. I enjoyed the exploration of Patrick's stories and what they revealed about his life, whether literally or in the subtext: "As I surrendered to the story, I had the odd feeling that I was entering my uncle's dream life." I also liked that the unexpected conclusion was hinted at through Patrick's fiction, some of which is reproduced in the middle of the book. "Paperchase" is an appropriate title, because Damien does come to know his uncle, and in the process to understand more about his family and himself, almost entirely through the paper that Patrick has left behind. Patrick had cut himself off from the family and the rest of the world for many years, so the stories were all that was left. This was a quick read, and a surprisingly rewarding one. I say "surprisingly" because in the early parts of the book I was not really impressed - I didn't care about the characters, and the writing was not lively enough to sustain my interest. But it grew on me as the action shifted to the island and the story of Mycroft Holmes, and the ending was handled really well. So by the end, I had a really positive view of the book. Itdidn't sear itself into my memory as great books do, but it was certainly a worthwhile and ultimately thought-provoking read. nessuna recensione | aggiungi una recensione
Premi e riconoscimenti
Damien March hasn't thought of his eccentric uncle, Patrick, for almost twenty years, so he is shocked to learn that he has inherited his ramshackle house on Ionia, an isolated island off the coast of Cape Cod. But his new future means moving circuitously into his family's past; rummaging through his uncle's possessions, he finds letters and writings that provide scattered clues to Patrick's solitary life. And when he discovers a fragment of an unpublished novel, The Confessions of Mycroft Holmes, which seems to hold a sinister meaning, the stakes in the chase become dramatically higher. Perceptively written with an engaging wit. Non sono state trovate descrizioni di biblioteche |
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Google Books — Sto caricando le informazioni... GeneriSistema Decimale Melvil (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999Classificazione LCVotoMedia:
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