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A review by briandice
Continent by Jim Crace
5.0
This is how treasure is unearthed.
I'm in Florida visiting family. I find a used book store in Fort Myers; a shotgun unit in a dilapidated strip mall wedged between a nail salon and a failing pizzaria. The store is mostly pulp romance paperbacks, but there is a slim selection of "Fiction" (apparently a catch-all for everything not romance) - a single shelf where used books are stacked horizontally to economize space. There's a Barth book I don't have wedged in the middle of a stack; my clumsiness retrieving it causes a cascade of books to hit the floor. One of these is a small book that lands face down - my eyes are drawn to a quote on the book's back by author John Hawkes: "Stunning, powerful and original." I also see Whitbread Prize. I don't read further; it comes along with the Barth.
And the book is a winner. I can't/won't say a thing about its subject matter - that is part of the beauty of the experience - the reader should be allowed to witness the excitement of understanding as the seven tales unfold. The writing is stunning (tip o' the hat, Hawkes) but I was equally impressed by the subject matter, Crace disproving the adage that there is nothing new under the sun.
If you read this, please do yourself the favor of not reading the book blurb (or anything on GR about the book) - open to the first page and be reminded anew the power and excitement of unearthing BURIED treasures.
I'm in Florida visiting family. I find a used book store in Fort Myers; a shotgun unit in a dilapidated strip mall wedged between a nail salon and a failing pizzaria. The store is mostly pulp romance paperbacks, but there is a slim selection of "Fiction" (apparently a catch-all for everything not romance) - a single shelf where used books are stacked horizontally to economize space. There's a Barth book I don't have wedged in the middle of a stack; my clumsiness retrieving it causes a cascade of books to hit the floor. One of these is a small book that lands face down - my eyes are drawn to a quote on the book's back by author John Hawkes: "Stunning, powerful and original." I also see Whitbread Prize. I don't read further; it comes along with the Barth.
And the book is a winner. I can't/won't say a thing about its subject matter - that is part of the beauty of the experience - the reader should be allowed to witness the excitement of understanding as the seven tales unfold. The writing is stunning (tip o' the hat, Hawkes) but I was equally impressed by the subject matter, Crace disproving the adage that there is nothing new under the sun.
If you read this, please do yourself the favor of not reading the book blurb (or anything on GR about the book) - open to the first page and be reminded anew the power and excitement of unearthing BURIED treasures.