Awakening after a decade of unconsciousness, former Tiananmen Square protester Dai Wei learns that his mother had sold one of his kidneys to finance his care, and that the China he knew has undergone radical change.
Despite his overwhelming fear of interacting with people, Christopher, a mathematically-gifted, autistic fifteen-year-old boy, decides to investigate the murder of a neighbor's dog and uncovers secret information about his mother.
Set against the backdrop of a lush and exotic Greece, The Names is considered the book which began to drive "sharply upward the size of his readership" (Los Angeles Times Book Review). Among the cast of DeLillo's bizarre yet fully realized characters in The Names are Kathryn, the narrator's estranged wife; their son, the six-year-old novelist; Owen, the scientist; and the neurotic narrator obsessed with his own neuroses. A thriller, a mystery, and still a moving examination of family, loss, and the amorphous and magical potential of language itself, The Names stands with any of DeLillo's more recent and highly acclaimed works. "The Names not only accurately reflects a portion of our contemporary world but, more importantly, an original world of its own is created."--Chicago Sun-Times"DeLillo sifts experience through simultaneous grids of science and poetry, analysis and clear sight, to make a high-wire prose that is voluptuously stark."--Village Voice Literary Supplement"DeLillo verbally examines every state of consciousness from eroticism to tourism, from the idea of America as conceived by the rest of the world, to the idea of the rest of the world as conceived by America, from mysticism to fanaticism."--New York Times
At fifty-seven, George is settling down to a comfortable retirement, building a shed in his garden, reading historical novels, listening to a bit of light jazz. Then Katie, his tempestuous daughter, announces that she is getting remarried, to Ray. Her family is not pleased - as her brother Jamie observes, Ray has 'strangler's hands'. Katie can't decide if she loves Ray, or loves the way he cares for her son Jacob, and her mother Jean is a bit put out by the way the wedding planning gets in the way of her affair with one of her husband's former colleagues. And the tidy and pleasant life Jamie has created crumbles when he fails to invite his lover, Tony, to the dreaded nuptials. Unnoticed in the uproar, George discovers a sinister lesion on his hip, and quietly begins to lose his mind.
‘If you liked Rachel Joyce's The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, you'll like this’ Metro‘Will generate the same feel-good word of mouth as last year’s bestseller, The Rosie Project’ Sydney Morning HeraldMillie Bird is seven-years-old. On a shopping trip with her mum, Millie is left alone beneath the Ginormous Women’s underwear rack in a department store. Her mum never returns.Agatha Pantha is eighty-two and hasn’t left home since her husband died. Instead, she fills the silence by yelling at passers-by, watching loud static on TV, and maintaining a strict daily schedule. Until the day Agatha spies a little girl across the street.Karl the Touch Typist is eighty-seven and in a nursing home. He remembers how he once typed love letters with his fingers on to his wife’s skin. Now widowed, he knows that somehow he must find a way for life to begin again. In a moment of clarity, he escapes.Together, Millie, Agatha and Karl set out to find Millie’s mum. And along the way, they will discover that the young can be wise, that old age is not the same as death, and that breaking the rules once in a while might just be the key to a happy life.
When the beautiful Chisako and her lover are found murdered in a park, members of the small Ontario community must finally acknowledge certain inescapable truths. Set in the 1970s, The Electrical Field reaches deep into the past to explore the dire legacy of the internment of Japanese-Canadians during the war.
Don DeLillo, known for his expansive novels, shifts focus in this work to explore the depths of a single life and death. The story centers on Lauren Hartke, who shares a seemingly ordinary breakfast with her husband, Rey, before his tragic suicide. This opening sequence intricately captures Lauren's consciousness as she engages in mundane tasks. Following Rey's death, Lauren returns to their summer rental, where she discovers an enigmatic young man living in a spare room. His presence is elusive, and he begins to echo Rey's voice, replaying conversations from before the suicide. This raises questions about whether Rey has been reincarnated or if the young man is merely mimicking what he overheard. DeLillo refrains from providing clear answers, allowing Lauren to navigate her grief and confusion while reflecting on the intersection of life and death. Though some of his rhetoric may stray into abstraction, the emotional core remains poignant. The narrative delves into the complexities of love and loss, revealing how the abrupt absence of a loved one can lead to profound self-reflection. This work, while shorter than his usual fare, demonstrates DeLillo's willingness to explore personal trauma, proving that depth can be just as impactful as breadth.
Her favourite tales are those that conjure ancient worlds - of angry gods and heroic mortals, one of whom will some day come to her rescue.Soon, she will forget where the page ends and her mind begins. 'A full-throttle blast of storytelling mastery' Max Porter
George Hall 57 is ready to retire, enjoy freedom to be alone. But he runs into a spot of bother - a skin lesion - must be cancer. Daughter Katie wants second husband, inappropriate Ray. Wife Jean is too busy carrying on with George's ex-colleague to plan a wedding. Son Jamie fails to invite his lover Tony. Meanwhile George goes quietly mad.
Een onopvallende Engelsman besluit wat meer allure aan zijn leven te geven door de oprichting van een riddergenootschap.
