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Loading... Shipwreckby Louis Begley
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A mesmerizing novel of deception and betrayal from the acclaimed author of Wartime Lies and About Schmidt.John North, a prize-winning American writer, is suddenly beset by dark suspicions about the real value of his work. Over endless hours and bottles of whiskey consumed in a mysterious café called L'Entre Deux Mondes, he recounts, in counterpoint to his doubts, the one story he has never told before, perhaps the only important one he will ever tell. North's chosen interlocutor-who could be his doppelgänger-is transfixed by the revelations and becomes the narrator of North's tale. North has always been faithful to his wife, Lydia, but when one of his novels achieves a special success, he allows himself a dalliance with Léa, a starstruck young journalist. Coolly planning to make sure that his life with Lydia will not be disturbed, North is taken off guard when Léa becomes obsessed with him and he with her elaborate erotic games. As the hypnotic and serpentine confession unfurls, we gradually discover the extraordinary lengths to which North has gone to indulge a powerful desire for self-destruction. Shipwreck is a daring parable of the contradictory impulses that can rend a single soul-narcissism and self-loathing, refinement and lust. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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For one, i found the story that forms the framework, i.e. the two men in a bar, lacking credibility. It doesn't tell enough to make me believe the listener is a real person. I get the feeling it just serves to make the ending more dramatic.
Secondly, the actual story is not original at all. Just another tale of an affair gone wrong. On top of that the young woman he falls in love with is depicted as crazy. Crazy, in the sense of trying to threaten him to talk to his wife, lying to achieve something and then suddenly telling the truth, and stalking him to his holiday home. But it never becomes clear why she does it and so the character gets annoying.
In short: I wasn't impressed.