A Sabbatical in Leipzig: Shortlisted for the 2021 Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Profile Books Ltd
Published:24th Nov '22
Should be back in stock very soon
'A book such as W. G. Sebald might have written, had be been an Irish engineer' Vona Groarke'Duncan brings a new way of seeing to the world of prose' Irish Times Michael has been away from Ireland for most of his life and lives alone in Bilbao after the death of Catherine, his girlfriend. Each day he listens to two versions of the same piece of music before walking the same route to visit Richard Serra's enormous installation, The Matter of Time, in the Guggenheim. As he walks, his thoughts circle around the five-year period of mental agitation spent in Leipzig with Catherine. This 'sabbatical', caused by the stress of his job and the suicide of a former colleague, splits his career as an engineer into two distinct parts. Intensely realistic, mapped out like Michael's intricate drawings, this is a novel of precision and beguiling intelligence.
He brings a mixture of the exact and the visionary . . . an original voice, a writer who has come to recreate the world on his own terms. * Colm Toibin *
One of the most important, original and intriguing writers working now -- Niamh Campbell , author of We Were Happy
A book such as W.G. Sebald might have written, had he been an Irish Engineer. A quietly compelling novel from a writer of real daring and poise -- Vona Groarke, author of Other People's Houses
Haunting and devastating * Dublin Review of Books *
Duncan has a sensibility and a course of investigation utterly his own -- Rob Doyle , author of Threshold
Duncan brings a new way of seeing to the world of prose * Irish Times *
Its plainspoken, obsessive commitment to life as an engineering project makes no attempt to bring the reader into a blunt-edged or humanist vision of engineer-as-symbol. It's far, far more intelligent than that. * Niamh Campbell *
Delightfully weird ... conjuring a deep and strange sense of stillness * Sunday Times *
Highly satisfying to read * Buzz Magazine *
ISBN: 9781788169707
Dimensions: 196mm x 128mm x 16mm
Weight: 160g
192 pages
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