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Loading... Schopenhauer's Telescope (2003)by Gerard Donovan
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. This novel merits more than one reading and needs to be taken with an open mind. It actually needs to be read as play, where the initial chit chat leads to clues and climaxes to a shattering conclusion. The first hundred pages are difficult. The second hundred pages confusing. The last hundred fascinating. Exposed are the conflicts of self-interest, survival, love, war, judgment and truth. Schopenhauer's telescope is all about gaining perspective - but how can we have this when we are caught in the action? By confusing the good and the bad, Donovan leads us to reflect on our motivations and on our values. ( ) no reviews | add a review
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In an unnamed European village, in the middle of a civil war, one man digs while another watches over him. Gradually, they begin to talk. Over the course of the afternoon, as the snow falls and truck-loads of villagers are corralled in the next field, we discover why they are there - not just who they are and how specific, sinister events in their country have led them to be separated by a deepening grave, but why the history of civilization is inseparable from the history of mass violence. Beautifully written, with a poet's eye for detail coupled with a chilling narrative drive, Gerard Donovan's first novel has been compared with Franz Kafka and Bernhard Schlink. SCHOPENHAUER'S TELESCOPE is current in the best sense - not merely about Bosnia or Kosovo, but in attempting to make art out of brutal life. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.914Literature English English fiction Modern Period 1901-1999 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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