Berlin Embassy - Couverture souple

Russell, William

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 1904027148 ISBN 13 : 9781904027140

Editeur : Elliott & Thompson Limited, 2005

Synopsis

Published under a pseudonym, A E Ellis, and appearing in 1958 to considerable acclaim, The Rack is a novel about the ordeal of being deathly ill. A young English student, Paul, is sent to a Swiss sanatorium just after the end of the second world war. At a time when effective medication for tuberculosis was unknown, Paul undergoes an unimaginable regime of regimented medical intervention, both physical and mental. His fellow patients fare no better. Yet, as the poet Edwin Muir wrote in his original review in the Observer: 'The Rack does not deal obviously with disease and suffering; it describes, sometimes very amusingly, the life of the sanatorium: the sardonic professional kindness of the doctors, liable suddenly to break under pressure, the badness of the food, the endless pre-occupation of the patients with their symptoms, and the sexual promiscuity...Behind the book one has the impression of an unusual and powerful mind.' Graham Greene considered it a masterpiece; the Times Literary Supplement believed 'the book exercises a complete fascination...a deeply impressive performance', and Time and Tide hailed The Rack as '...terrific. To read it is itself an experience.' Penelope Mortimer wrote: 'It is often glibly said that a work of art is an experience - The Rack is one of the rare instances of this actually being so. It is a book which must, inevitably, have a permanent effect on the reader. In this case the usual terms of praise become almost meaningless. So powerful is Mr Ellis's inspiration, so driven by the urgent necessity of expression, that one is not so much conscious of having read a account of an ordeal as of having lived through two years of unbearable physical and mental agony - and survived.' Long out of print, the original Heinemann and Penguin editions cut out some 60,000 words of the author's original text. Elliott & Thompson's Gold Edition will restore the complete text to provide today's reader with a chance to discover the definitive edition of one of the great English novels of the last century.

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur

First published in 1941 to considerable acclaim, Berlin Embassy is the classic account of the last days of peace in Europe, and has been out-of-print for almost fifty years. William Russell was a young American diplomat working at the US Embassy, in Hermann Goering Strasses, during the grim days of 1939. He had studied in Germany, prior to becoming part of America's diplomatic mission, which placed him in a position to gain unheard of access to remote areas—both physically and ideologically—of German society during one of the most momentous times in world history. Russell does not miss any opportunity to capitalize on this unique position as he gives a totally absorbing account of both the horror and farce which so often defines such epic times. This quite remarkable account is sure to find a whole new readership.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Elliott & Thompson Limited
• Date d'édition: 2005
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 1904027148
• ISBN 13: 9781904027140
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 240
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible