The Celibate, The - Couverture souple

Arditti, Michael

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 185619406X ISBN 13 : 9781856194068

Editeur : Sinclair-Stevenson Ltd, 1994

Synopsis

A young ordinand arrives in London where he finds outcasts, rent boys, fundamentalists, sado-masochists and AIDS. In mounting despair he begins a journey through the underbelly of Victorian society and the Great Plague. As past and present come full circle, he understands the meaning of Passion.

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur

The story of a young man with a mind full of God but a heart closed to love. After a nervous collapse while serving at the altar, his college principal sends him on a placement to London where he enters an unfamiliar world of outcasts, down-and-outs, rent boys, religious fundamentalists and people with AIDS. In increasing despair, he embarks on a journey through the world of Jack the Ripper, the devastation of the Great Plague and the mysteries of his own family. As the past and present come full-circle, he finally understands the true meaning of Passion. This is an intelligent and emotive novel, potent with atmosphere and rich in ideas and insights. It employs a unique fictional structure which integrates the contemporary and the historical, the personal and the theological, the comic and the polemic in a revelatory way. On its initial publication, it was hailed as the debut of a major literary talent.

'An exceptional book: at its core it combines the sexual with the spiritual.' - Sunday Times
'The author's anger, conviction and sharp observation hold the reader's attention throughout. An exciting debut.' - The Times
'An ambitious first novel, which traces the liberation of a human soul through a gradual revelation of the meaning of passion and the Passion.' - Independent on Sunday
'It is unusual to find an English first novel of such unflinching moral seriousness...a varied and involving read.' - Times Literary Supplement
'A bold and multi-layered first novel, and one which negotiates a remarkably taut high-wire between frailty and ardour.' - City Limits
'A powerful and moving first novel.' - Independent

Biographie de l'auteur

Michael Arditti was born in Cheshire and educated at Jesus College, Cambridge. He began his literary career writing plays, of which several were produced on the stage and the radio. He has written theatre criticism for The Times, The Sunday Times, Daily Mail and Sunday Express, and was, for many years, a regular reviewer for the Evening Standard. He currently reviews books for several papers and is a regular broadcaster on the BBC. His novel Easter, published in 2000, won the first Waterstone's Mardi Gras Award and was shortlisted for the Creative Freedom Award. Unity (2005) was shortlisted for the 2006 Wingate / Jewish Quarterly Literary Prize.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Sinclair-Stevenson Ltd
• Date d'édition: 1994
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 185619406X
• ISBN 13: 9781856194068
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 352
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible