'This life-stuffed novel is Aleksandar Hemon’s masterpiece' - David Mitchell, author of Cloud AtlasThe epic, cross-continental tale of a love so strong it conquers the Great War, revolution, and even death itself.As the Archduke Franz Ferdinand arrives in Sarajevo one June day in 1914, Rafael Pinto is busy crushing herbs and grinding tablets behind the counter at the pharmacy he inherited from his father. It’s not quite the life he had expected during his poetry-filled student days in libertine Vienna, but it’s nothing a dash of laudanum, a summer stroll and idle fantasies can’t put in perspective.And then the world explodes. In the trenches in Galicia, fantasies fall flat. Heroism gets a man killed quickly. War devours all that they have known, and the only thing Pinto has to live for are the attentions of Osman, a fellow soldier, a man of action to complement Pinto’s introspective, poetic soul; a charismatic storyteller and Pinto’s protector and lover.Together, Pinto and Osman will escape the trenches and find themselves entangled with spies and Bolsheviks. As they travel over mountains and across deserts, from one world to another, all the way to Shanghai, it is Pinto’s love for Osman that will truly survive.
CONTRIBUTORS: Aleksandar HemonEAN: 9780330515795COUNTRY: United KingdomPAGES: WEIGHT: 0 gHEIGHT: 197 cm
PUBLISHED BY: Pan MacmillanDATE PUBLISHED: CITY: GENRE: FICTION / Historical / General, FICTION / Historical / 20th Century / World War I, FICTION / Literary, HISTORY / Asia / China, HISTORY / Europe / EasternWIDTH: 130 cmSPINE:
Book Themes:
Modern and contemporary fiction: general and literary
A staggering work of beauty and brutality, A tour de force. Hemon has given us a story of love and war like no other, 'Alexsandar Hemon's new novel is immense. ... It contains almost as much as its title promises. By turns lyrical and sardonic, it is as emotionally compelling as it is clever. I'll be surprised if I enjoy a novel more this year.', A magnificent, ambitious masterpiece, A twisting, turning epic rooted in love in all its forms; an odyssey of statelessness; a haunted museum of history ranging from Sarajevo to Shanghai and Jerusalem . . . This life-stuffed novel is Aleksandar Hemon’s masterpiece
Aleksandar Hemon is the author of The Making of Zombie Wars; The Book of My Lives, which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award; The Lazarus Project, which was a finalist for the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award and a New York Times bestseller; and three books of short stories, including Nowhere Man, which was also a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. He was the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and a ‘Genius’ grant from the MacArthur Foundation.
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'This life-stuffed novel is Aleksandar Hemon’s masterpiece' - David Mitchell, author of Cloud AtlasThe epic, cross-continental tale of a love so strong it conquers the Great War, revolution, and even death itself.As the Archduke Franz Ferdinand arrives in Sarajevo one June day in 1914, Rafael Pinto is busy crushing herbs and grinding tablets behind the counter at the pharmacy he inherited from his father. It’s not quite the life he had expected during his poetry-filled student days in libertine Vienna, but it’s nothing a dash of laudanum, a summer stroll and idle fantasies can’t put in perspective.And then the world explodes. In the trenches in Galicia, fantasies fall flat. Heroism gets a man killed quickly. War devours all that they have known, and the only thing Pinto has to live for are the attentions of Osman, a fellow soldier, a man of action to complement Pinto’s introspective, poetic soul; a charismatic storyteller and Pinto’s protector and lover.Together, Pinto and Osman will escape the trenches and find themselves entangled with spies and Bolsheviks. As they travel over mountains and across deserts, from one world to another, all the way to Shanghai, it is Pinto’s love for Osman that will truly survive.
CONTRIBUTORS: Aleksandar HemonEAN: 9780330515795COUNTRY: United KingdomPAGES: WEIGHT: 0 gHEIGHT: 197 cm
PUBLISHED BY: Pan MacmillanDATE PUBLISHED: CITY: GENRE: FICTION / Historical / General, FICTION / Historical / 20th Century / World War I, FICTION / Literary, HISTORY / Asia / China, HISTORY / Europe / EasternWIDTH: 130 cmSPINE:
Book Themes:
Modern and contemporary fiction: general and literary
Aleksandar Hemon is the author of The Making of Zombie Wars; The Book of My Lives, which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award; The Lazarus Project, which was a finalist for the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award and a New York Times bestseller; and three books of short stories, including Nowhere Man, which was also a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. He was the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and a ‘Genius’ grant from the MacArthur Foundation.
The book has beautiful photographs of both the food and the landscape. The recipes are well written and explain what you need to do. It is also nice to have the letters to accompany the recipes.
A really fantastic look at South Africa through the eyes of three groups of South Africans. An easy , page turning novel by Lance Thorburn. Strongly recommended