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A carregar... Number 11 (2015)por Jonathan Coe
A carregar...
Adira ao LibraryThing para descobrir se irá gostar deste livro. Ainda não há conversas na Discussão sobre este livro. This novel picks up the theme of old British horror films that Jonathan Coe first dealt with in What a Carve-Up, but it's primarily a state-of-England novel, like most of his recent books. At the heart of it seems to be the divide between the rich and poor in 21st century England and the whole ”chav” phenomenon, the contempt that rich people, at least in the newspapers, seem to have for the poor. And, of course, he has fun with this whole idea by introducing a character who turns out to be that straw-figure so beloved of angry right-wing columnists, the black lesbian with an artificial leg. Coe also digs into the way we have in modern society of reducing everything to a monetary equivalent, from the quality-of-life improvement expected from a course of medical treatment to the boost in tourism that an intriguing archeological discovery might bring. Another theme that runs through the book is the ineffectiveness of political humour. Coe notes repeatedly how making jokes about politicians, or more general satire about the evils of society, has become something which just operates as a mechanism for diffusing our anger — or guilt — and never seems to have any actual effect on the way politics works. This is set against the way right-wing columnists, who are really not so very different from the stand-up comedians, do seem to be able to stir up actual political change with their variety of rant, but Coe doesn’t big very deeply into this distinction. There's all sorts of other stuff, though. There's an Etonian who's having lessons in arrogance-control in order to get through his Oxford admissions process, there's a professional dog walker who makes more money than some of her rich clients, there’s a billionaire’s-wife who wants to turn her London villa into an underground skyscraper, there’s a policeman who is more interested in publicity than justice and actively seeks out reasons to arrest celebrities. And, as a bonus, we get some giant spiders and a Loch Ness monster. What more could you ask for? It's a slightly disjointed story, but very engaging and with a lot of resonance for anybody who's got any experience of Britain in the 21st century, which is what Coe is particularly good at. This book is a sequel – sort of – to Coe’s 1994 novel ‘What a Carve Up!’ I didn’t realize this until after I had started reading it, but it became very clear that you did not need to read the earlier book to enjoy this one (there are some big spoilers for the end of ‘What a Carve Up!’ though, so you might want to bear that in mind). This is less a straightforward novel and more of a series of novellas which are all connected by one or both of two schoolgirl friends, Rachel and Alison. It loosely follows them from childhood to around the age of 20 and they appear as main characters in some sections, and on the periphery in others. Each part of the book centres on the inequality and vacuousness of many parts of Britain in the 21st century. People who are struggling to make ends meet going to prison on a trumped up charge of benefits fraud while multi-millionaires cheat the system on a far greater scale by avoiding paying as much tax as they can (just about) legally get away with; millions watching reality tv which in truth is anything BUT reality; generic stand up comedians making generic stand up comedy about easy targets…the list goes on. This is actually the first book I’ve read by Jonathan Coe, and I found it thoroughly enjoyable and one of those books that I actually looked forward to picking up. My favourite section – albeit also the saddest section for me – was Val’s story. Val is Alison’s mother, who had a one-hit wonder decades earlier and is always trying to recapture her former brief glory. Without giving too much away, this part illustrates perfectly why I neither trust nor enjoy reality television, where humiliation is shown as entertainment and heroes and villains are pre-determined by the program makers. The only niggle I had about this book was the very bizarre ending, which seemed out of kilter with the rest of the book. I’m not sure what Coe was going for here and maybe I missed something, but somehow that part just didn’t work for me. It didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the rest of the book though and I will definitely be looking out for more by Jonathan Coe. What Jonathan Coe has done here is in some ways, break new ground. Similar to an episodic TV show, he introduces you to characters, weaving them in and out of 'chapter/episodes' that in some ways read like short stories. In one chapter he introduces us to a "Holmes" element adding more spice to the mix. Then he surprises the reader by adding a dab of fantasy/horror within the context. His style is remarkable as is the creativity used in casting the spell. Bravo Jonathan...well done! Numero 11 più che un vero e proprio sequel de La Famiglia Winshaw rappresenta una concatenazione di vicende avvenute tra gli anni 2003 e 2015 in Inghilterra tessuta secondo la tradizione simil-calviniana del capolavoro di Jonathan Coe. Il libro presenta vari riferimenti a La Famiglia Winshaw, tuttavia non è necessario aver letto quest'ultimo per comprendere gli eventi narrati, anche se è comunque consigliabile. Numero 11 è scritto in maniera impeccabile, si legge in un batter d'occhio e presenta una serie di tematiche politico-sociali già sviluppate in altri romanzi di Coe quali La Pioggia Prima che Cada, Circolo Chiuso e La Casa del Sonno. È capace di essere comico e dissacrante in alcuni punti, malinconico e amareggiato in altri, il tutto immerso in un'atmosfera da thriller con ampi riferimenti cinematografici (come ogni romanzo di Coe che si rispetti). Merito in particolare di questo ultimo romanzo è riuscire a descrivere in maniera molto fedele, verosimile e toccante il modo in cui l'uomo degli anni 2010 vive, come i social e i reality show sono entrati nelle nostre vite e come possono avere voce in capitolo sulle nostre ambizioni e sui nostri sogni. Dopo l'insipido e semi-deludente Expo 58, Numero 11 rappresenta un ritorno in grande stile, un libro da togliere il fiato e intriso di emozioni intense, in cui potranno immedesimarsi coloro che non hanno saputo ancora adattarsi alla società tecnologica – da una parte – e alla negazione del welfare – dall'altra –, ma che porteranno a riflettere persino il più conforme degli uomini del XXI secolo. sem críticas | adicionar uma crítica
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"Jonathan Coe finally provides a sequel to The Winshaw Legacy, the 1995 novel that introduced American readers to one of Britain's most exciting new writers -- an acerbic, hilariously dark, and unflinching portrait of modern society. In Number 11, Coe has filled his intricate plot with a truly Dickensian cast of characters. The novel opens in the early aughts with two ten-year-old girls, Alison and Rachel, and their frightening encounter with the "Mad Bird Woman," a mysterious figure who lives down the road. As the narrative progresses through time, the novel broadens in scope toward other people who are somehow connected to the two girls. We follow the trials and tribulations of Alison's mother, a has-been singer, as she competes on TV's reality hit I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here! Rachel's university mentor confronts her late husband's disastrously obsessive search for an untraceable German film he saw as a child. A young police constable investigates the seemingly accidental and unrelated deaths of two stand-up comedians. And when Rachel becomes a nanny for ludicrously wealthy family, she discovers a dark and terrifying secret lying beneath their immense mansion in London's most staggeringly expensive neighborhood. Combining psychological insight, social commentary, vicious satire, and even surrealist horror, this highly accomplished work holds a revealing and disquieting mirror up to the world we live in today"-- Não foram encontradas descrições de bibliotecas. |
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Google Books — A carregar... GénerosSistema Decimal de Melvil (DDC)823.92Literature English & Old English literatures English fiction Modern Period 2000-Classificação da Biblioteca do Congresso dos EUA (LCC)AvaliaçãoMédia:
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Sometimes it was written very humorously, which made the whole thing worth reading. ( )