Books
by Jim Crace
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Being Dead |
An unlikely love-story intertwines with a hymn to the zoological facts of death in natural surroundings. Yes, it's odd; but, written with a kind of precise and delicate affection, it ends up as an unexpectedly optimistic account of redemption and reconciliation between humans and with nature. And you want to know what happens next. The squeamish should resist the temptation to skip - overcoming revulsion is part of the point.
(Annabel Bedini - bwl 5 October 2000) |
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Harvest |
Crace back on track after the disappointing All that Follows? Here we are once again in an undated distant past, with a village threatened by the twin blows of the planned imposition of sheep farming and the arrival of strangers, unwisely punished by the villagers. What happens to the villagers when their timeless tradition with its hard-won equilibrium can't stand up against the double attack of change and revenge? Dark, brilliant and in Crace's gorgeous prose.
(Annabel Bedini - bwl 69 Summer 2013) |
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Quarantine |
Another extraordinary book by this most original writer. Four salvation-seekers, an evil merchant and a young Jesus find themselves together in the wilderness. This is a rich and subtle parable with layers of meaning to be mulled over, written with deep insight and affection and a kind of poetic grace.
(Annabel Bedini - bwl 9 June 2001) |
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Signals of Distress |
Am I alone in recommending Crace - too quirky? Well, here's another! In 1836 an American ship runs aground in a winter storm. The fishing village of Wherrytown finds itself playing host to the sailors, their run-away slave, their cargo of cows, and another misfit - well-meaning Aymer Smith, hopelessly out of his depth trying to make amends for injustice and find a wife. An inspired comedy of the consequences of upset equilibria, told with quietly startling poetry.
(Annabel Bedini - bwl 58 Autumn 2010) |
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