A Guide to Berlin
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Vintage Publishing
Published:14th Jan '16
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
Five visitors to Berlin find their friendship shattered by a sudden act of violence
‘A Guide to Berlin’ is the name of a short story written by Vladimir Nabokov in 1925, when he was a young man of 26, living in Berlin.
A group of six international travellers, two Italians, two Japanese, an American and an Australian, meet in empty apartments in Berlin to share stories and memories.
LONGLISTED FOR THE 2016 STELLA PRIZE
We travel to find ourselves; to run away from ourselves.
‘A Guide to Berlin’ is the name of a short story written by Vladimir Nabokov in 1925, when he was a young man of 26, living in Berlin.
A group of six international travellers, two Italians, two Japanese, an American and an Australian, meet in empty apartments in Berlin to share stories and memories. Each is enthralled in some way by the work of Vladimir Nabokov, and each is finding their way in deep winter in a haunted city. A moment of devastating violence shatters the group, and changes the direction of everyone’s story.
Brave and brilliant, A Guide to Berlin traces the strength and fragility of our connections through biographies and secrets.
Brimming with rich descriptions… The dark, haunted cityscape of Berlin’s winter is beautifully captured… Jones explores her power as a writer, finding fresh and illuminating ways to describe things… A powerful exploration of biography, memory and meaning. * Daily Telegraph *
Jones’ sensitivity to the vibrancy of things demonstrates a Nabokovian vividness. -- Sam Kitchener * Independent *
A thoughtful study of the machinations of memory. -- Lucy Scholes * Observer *
An ode to detail… A meditation on memory, travel and grief, on self-fashioning and onliterary friendship. * The Times Literary Supplement *
I’ve always felt that Gail Jones is yet to receive the recognition she deserves. This is her sixth
novel and it is, I believe, a masterpiece. It is a beautifully constructed novel that builds slowly
to its horrific and violent conclusion
Brave and brilliant, A Guide to Berlin traces the strength and fragility of our connections through biographies and secrets. * Reading Matters *
A whimsical, writerly premise that in lesser hands might have been strained, but is brought to life with wit and without self-indulgence. A Guide to Berlin is a tense, elegant and compassionate exploration of memory, humanity and salvation sought in literature. Threads unspool slowly with every precisely weighted word, and the relationships between these relative strangers are compelling and fraught -- Elke Power
Gail Jones' latest novel is a brave and brilliant testament to Vladimir Nabokov and his short story 'A Guide to Berlin'
* Better Read than Dead *A cool, cerebral and intriguing exploration of the impact of past events and of the slenderthreads that bind us * Booktopia Buzz *
Powerful novel. -- Cassie Davies * Sunday Telegraph *
- Long-listed for The Stella Prize 2016 (UK)
ISBN: 9781846559976
Dimensions: 234mm x 153mm x 20mm
Weight: 357g
272 pages