The Book of Strange New Things - Couverture souple

Faber, Michel

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 1782114076 ISBN 13 : 9781782114079

Editeur : Canongate Books Ltd, 2014

Synopsis

'I am with you always, even unto the end of the world...' Peter Leigh is a missionary called to go on the journey of a lifetime. Leaving behind his beloved wife, Bea, he boards a flight for a remote and unfamiliar land, a place where the locals are hungry for the teachings of the Bible - his 'book of strange new things'. It is a quest that will challenge Peter's beliefs, his understanding of the limits of the human body and, most of all, his love for Bea. The Book of Strange New Things is a wildly original tale of adventure, faith and the ties that might hold two people together when they are worlds apart. This momentous novel, Faber's first since The Crimson Petal and the White, sees him at his expectation-defying best.

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur

A monumental, genre-defying novel that David Mitchell calls "Michel Faber’s second masterpiece," The Book of Strange New Things is a masterwork from a writer in full command of his many talents.

It begins with Peter, a devoted man of faith, as he is called to the mission of a lifetime, one that takes him galaxies away from his wife, Bea. Peter becomes immersed in the mysteries of an astonishing new environment, overseen by an enigmatic corporation known only as USIC.   His work introduces him to a seemingly friendly native population struggling with a dangerous illness and hungry for Peter’s teachings—his Bible is their “book of strange new things.” But Peter is rattled when Bea’s letters from home become increasingly desperate: typhoons and earthquakes are devastating whole countries, and governments are crumbling.  Bea’s faith, once the guiding light of their lives, begins to falter.  

Suddenly, a separation measured by an otherworldly distance, and defined both by one newly discovered world and another in a state of collapse, is threatened by an ever-widening gulf that is much less quantifiable.  While Peter is reconciling the needs of his congregation with the desires of his strange employer, Bea is struggling for survival.  Their trials lay bare a profound meditation on faith, love tested beyond endurance, and our responsibility to those closest to us.

Marked by the same bravura storytelling and precise language that made The Crimson Petal and the White such an international success, The Book of Strange New Things is extraordinary, mesmerizing, and replete with emotional complexity and genuine pathos.

From the Hardcover edition.

Revue de presse

Michel Faber's second masterpiece, quite different to The Crimson Petal and The White but every bit as luminescent and memorable. It is a portrait of a living, breathing relationship, frayed by distance. It is an enquiry into the mountains faith can move and the mountains faith can't move. It is maniacally gripping. I didn't so much read The Book of Strange New Things as inhabit it (DAVID MITCHELL)

I can't remember being so continually and unfailingly surprised by any book for a long time, and part of the surprise is the tenderness and delicacy with which he shows an emotional relationship developing in one direction while withering in another. I found it completely compelling and believable, and admired it enormously (PHILIP PULLMAN)

Weird and disturbing, like any work of genius, this novel haunted me for the seven nights I spent reading it, and haunts me still. A story of faith that will mesmerize believers and non-believers alike, a story of love in the face of the Apocalypse, a story of humanity set in an alien world -The Book of Strange New Things is desperately beautiful, sad, and unforgettable. (DAVID BENIOFF, author of City of Thieves and co-creator HBO series, Game of Thrones)

This is a man who could give Conrad a run at writing the perfect sentence (Guardian)

Faber writes some of the most ravishingly beautiful prose of any young writer (Scotland on Sunday)

You are unlikely to regret a single hour/day/month spent in Faber's diverting, exuberant and intelligent company (Financial Times)

Faber is the master of the spine-tingling page-turner, while creating a wholly believable universe (Dazed and Confused) --David Mitchell

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: Canongate Books Ltd
• Date d'édition: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1782114076
• ISBN 13: 9781782114079
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 592