International Dublin Literary Award
Wide Open
Set in a small seaside town, the novel traces odd, isolated residents whose lives reveal family collapse and social estrangement. It is an experimental book in which humor and unease coexist.
Work Information
The strange connections among people in a seaside town unravel through humor and unease.
Set in a British seaside town, this novel lets fragments of private lives intersect and misalign. Its bold scene shifts and tactile sense of language leave a strong impression.
Review Summaries
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Its eccentric character work and sharp observation are highly praised, while the deliberate looseness and uneasy atmosphere divide opinion. Many readers find its leaps and dislocations part of the appeal.
Book Information
- Publisher
- Faber & Faber
- Published
- 1998-08-01
- Pages
- 352 pages
- Language
- 英語
- ISBN-13
- 9780571193127
- ISBN-10
- 0571193129
- Price
- 1236 JPY
- Category
- 洋書/Literature & Fiction/Literary
A novel about stripping off layers of prejudice and lies, about the possibility of redemption, and laying bare the truth. It is also about coming to terms with the past, and about the fantasies people construct in order to protect their fragile inner selves.
Reviews
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This is my favourite of this author's books and she one of my favourite authors. Nicola Barker writes these idiosyncratic characters so effortlessly and the way she slams their lives into each other's is really exciting to read. The humour in this book is laugh-out-loud funny but this is the one of her novels that takes on a very black subject. And it does so in an intriguing way that will stay with you.
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"Bleak" seems to be this author's favourite adjective.The backdrop: a cold and desolate (well, "bleak" in fact) island with a nudist beach = unconvincing+icy. The only nudist visible is overweight but with an enormous sex = unappetizing. The beach towel is brown = eyesore!!! A boar farm conveys some fragrance to the story. As for the characters: who is who? A bunch of lunatics with no depth. Just wondering what the members of the literary jury had smoked before granting this author a literary prize.
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Bought as a present
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I came to this book knowing it had just won a big prize. I had also heard that Barker's characters were hard to like. Both points made me think I'd enjoy the book, that I would find it a pleasurable challenge. But I was disappointed. Yes, the characters are hard (replace that with impossible) to like - but so is the book. You don't care about the characters and you don't really want to know what happens to them. The only thing that can save a book in this situation is magically beautiful writing. But again Ms Barker doesn't deliver. She isn't a bad writer, but there's nothing exciting about her prose. It's rather bland and pedestrian. So what is there to recommend this book? Nothing, as far as I can see. It's no great experience at all.
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amazing characters from the margins of society portrayed with clarity and empathy. A book you cant put down.