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Darke

Darke

by RickGekoski (Author)

  • Used

    Hardcover 2017

    $3.35
Synopsis

A TIMES BEST FICTION BOOK OF 2017 Dr James Darke has expelled himself from the world. He writes compulsively in his 'coming of old age' journal; he eats little, drinks and smokes a lot. Meditating on what he has lost - the loves of his life, both dead and alive - he tries to console himself with the wisdom of the great thinkers and poets, yet finds nothing but disappointment. But cracks of light appear in his carefully managed darkness; he begins to emerge from his self-imposed exile, drawn by the tender, bruised filaments of love for his daughter and grandson. Rich in ideas and feeling, Rick Gekoski's debut novel is provocative and timely. With scalding prose, ruthless intelligence and an unforgettably vivid protagonist, it faces some of the greatest, most uncomfortable questions about how we choose to live, and how to die.

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
 Pages: 240
 Edition: Main
 Publisher: Canongate Books
Published: 02 Feb 2017
ISBN 10: 1782119361
ISBN 13: 9781782119364

Media Reviews
Rick Gekoski's impressive debut novel . . . Darke is both a tender and hard-hitting examination of grief and the slow, singular healing process . . . A brilliantly vivid creation . . . life-affirming and life-shattering * * The Herald * *
Stuffed with more wisdom, bile, wit and tenderness than many writers create in a lifetime. In James Darke we have a hero as troubled and eternal as King Lear . . . And in Rick Gekoski we have a late-flowering genius of a novelist who proves it's never too late to start a glittering career in fiction * * The Times * *
Makes for dark, thrilling reading . . . In James Darke, Gekoski has created a powerful, raging voice * * Spectator * *
Debut delight . . . Just how this gleefully conjured misanthrope came to wall himself off from the world is the mystery at the heart of a singular first novel that evolves into a moving meditation on loss and redemption * * Mail on Sunday * *
An immensely enjoyable elegy . . . done with precision and patience -- Stuart Kelly * * The Scotsman * *
Surprising . . . with a warmth that is genuinely and unexpectedly moving * * Guardian * *
An original and bleakly funny portrait of grief * * Economist * *
A tale about a spiky and irresistibly funny retired teacher who incarcerates himself in his own house * * Sunday Times, top 50 page-turners * *
I was beguiled and charmed by the vivid personality being revealed. By that, and by the fact that I couldn't stop reading. Gekoski puts words together with a sure touch and deep craftsmanship -- PHILIP PULLMAN
A wondrous book with two fathers, Kingsley Amis and Dante -- SEBASTIAN BARRY
Author Bio
Rick Gekoski is a writer, rare-book dealer and academic. He has written several widely praised non-fiction books including Staying Up, Tolkien's Gown, Outside of a Dog and Lost, Stolen or Shredded. This is his first novel. In 2005 he was one of the judges for the Man Booker Prize, and was then Chair of the judges for the Man Booker International Prize 2011. He teaches creative non-fiction for the Arvon Foundation, and sits on their Development Board. In 2010 he was elected a Trustee of English PEN.