Shriek: an absurd novel - Couverture souple

Cottone, Davide A.

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0992529336 ISBN 13 : 9780992529338

Editeur : P.I.E. Pty Ltd (P.I.E. Books), 2017

Synopsis

An anger tsunami often tosses and rolls the eccentric Aleph McNaught because he doesn’t have the means to compete or the gall to exploit others. Nor does he possess the nerve to take advantage of a situation, or the sense of self-worth to confront an adversary. When he has endured enough torment and can take no more, he changes up a gear from a scream to something turbocharged to vent his frustration and help alleviate the pain. Disenchanted and exhausted by a dysfunctional government, social rejection and the economy and religion encroaching on his personal life, Aleph proposes an absurd other-worldly alternative government that ‘offers nothing but keeps its promises’. He invites the reader to participate in this love affair with his beloved crippled country on the promise that it will linger longer than the usual tryst and can last forever if the reader dares commit to it. Author Uses Absurd Genre for Social Comment: Brisbane author Davide Cottone ventures into the absurd with 'Shriek' and puts readers into the shoes of the 21st century 'idiot savant' - McNaught - confronting a maelstrom of social, political, economic, technological and religious upheaval. The historical fiction novelist, poet and playwright chose the absurd genre to, in his words, “deliver a manifesto for a new world order”. “I found a possible answer to the state of the world dilemma as I became immersed in the work of proponents of existentialism and nihilism in philosophy, and surrealism in art.” “Albee, Beckett, Camus, Kafka, Sartre, Heller, Ionesco and Pinter in literature, and Breton, and especially Dali in art coalesced as a Freudian tapestry called ‘absurdism’.” The main character, Aleph McNaught, is at a crossroads in what he sees as a meaningless life. Abused as a child, he turns to drugs and ends up locked up in an asylum before launching into a new and wild life populated by a host of multiple personalities. Rejected in love, his only weapons against a society gone mad are his irrational thought patterns, absurd actions, and his projected versions of his own psyche. McNaught, as narrator, takes the reader on a psychotic ride into his crazy headspace while commenting on the state of a fictitious society.

A propos du livre

À propos de l'auteur

Davide A Cottone, as an historical fiction writer, playwright and poet, delves deeply into firsthand experiences as he witnesses them unravelling in the world around him. With his forty years' experience as a teacher in Australia, Papua New Guinea, Shanghai and Hong Kong and formal qualifications of an MA in applied linguistics, Davide has the skills as well as the stories which are all based on real life experiences. He has published four full length novels, five musicals, four plays and two collections of his poetry. After his enormous success with his historical fiction novel, canecutter, where Davide captured the migrant experience of new Australians in the sugarcane fields between 1924 and 1985, the author insisted another historical fiction was the best way to get across his message on the tragedy of war in his next novel, Vietnam ... Viet-Bloody-Nam. Mr Cottone believes that when it comes to authors selecting subject matter to write about, it's 'the chatter' that matters. Writers must stay tuned in to the chatter and when something important comes up it's time to get the written word out there. In his latest book, Shriek: an absurd novel, Mr Cottone has seized upon the individual and often collective dilemma of a sense of powerlessness in the global socio-political, economic and technological headspace. He sees powerlessness as a human frailty that the powerful exploit. This trauma becomes host to autism spectrum disorders characterised by a sense of meaninglessness and worthlessness which are the seeds to self-harm and suicide. His genre of choice has now turned to absurdism which allows individuals to interpret the powerlessness phenomenon according to their own idiosyncratic life experiences. This helps give their own lives meaning and makes life worth living.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: P.I.E. Pty Ltd (P.I.E. Books)
• Date d'édition: 2017
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0992529336
• ISBN 13: 9780992529338
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 226
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible