The first edition of the novel was published in october 6th 2011, and was written by deborah levy. You know you will fall through, tumbling into the deep, murky waters below the storys surface, but you are never sure exactly when or how. The main characters of this fiction, literary fiction story are. The short novel deals with the experiences of poet joe jacobs, when his family vacation is interrupted by a fanatical reader. Our reward is the enjoyable, if unsettling, experience of being pitched into the deep waters of levy s wry, accomplished novel.
From the first brief chapters of deborah levys spare, disturbing and frequently funny novel. A working autobiography, the man who saw everything, things i dont want to know, black vodka. Not only is the novel an exploration of a seemingly failing marriage. Witty and poignant, its pages melt away like an unsettling yet familiar dream. In this novel, home is elusive, safety is unlikely, and the reader closes the book both satisfied and unnerved. When it comes to language, levy has an eye for the aesthetic. This extract is from deborah levys novel swimming home, published by and. But i am not sure that any of these quite capture deborah levy s imagination or explain swimming home, which at one point she sums up to me, perfectly, as. Swimming home is a subversive pageturner, a merciless gaze at the insidiuos harm that depression can have on. Sunday times deborah levy has made something strange and new. Add to this a writing style that is dreamy and trancelike, and swimming home feels a bit like that warped picture you get when you open your eyes underwater and look up at the world. First, i would like to congratulate you on all your honors for swimming home. Philip womack is gripped by deborah levy s swimming home, shortlisted for the 2012 man booker prize, an original take on the middleclass villa holiday novel. Soon after, her early novels were reissued by penguin books.
A poet, his wife, her daughter and their friends arrive at the french riviera. None is prepared for the sight of a woman is it a bear. Yet, for me, everyone was in a bad position, i was uncomfortable with how confused and mentally challenged. One day a woman, kitty finch, emerges naked from the swimming pool and becomes the force field shaping the couples actions and those of the few secondary. Critical reception for the novel was generally favourable. Swimming home represents a new direction for a major writer. It was the first deborah levy book i ever read and still remains my favourite of hers. Her more recent fiction has included the bookershortlisted novels swimming. Read swimming home online, read in mobile or kindle. This book is brand new international softcover edition delivered within 712 working days via upsuspsdhl and fedex. Pdf swimming home book by deborah levy free download.
Precise, concise, decisive sentences trap the reader. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading swimming home. Swimming home is a novel by british writer deborah levy, published on 10 september 2012. Buy swimming home by deborah levy online at alibris. Abigail deutsch, tls deborah levy has made something strange and new spiky and unsettling. Swimming home is a subversive pageturner, a merciless gaze at t. In this book, the wildness and the danger are all the more powerful for resting just beneath the surface. Both profound and thrilling, deborah levy explores what it means to be alive and how the most devastating secrets are the ones we keep from ourselves. Swimming home quotes showing 126 of 26 she was not a poet. She initially concentrated on writing for the theatre her plays were staged by the royal shakespeare company before focusing on prose fiction. Penguin presents the audiobook edition of swimming home by deborah levy, read by sophie ward.
A conversation with deborah levy wiley online library. Profound and thrilling, swimming home reveals how the most devastating secrets are. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. In swimming home, home is elusive, safety is unlikely, and the reader closes the book both satisfied and unnerved.
The short novel deals with the experiences of poet joe jacobs. Swimming home is an excellent book, and i am thankful the booker judges brought it to my attention. I could definitely appreciate that parts of it were beautifully written and the premise, that two couples rent a villa in france and decide to take in a stranger who happens to be in the pool upon their arrival, interesting. Download read swimming home 2011 by deborah levy in. For those readers who havent read the books, swimming home is set in the summer of 1994 in southern france. Instead of being transported to nice, i was constantly analyzing the character development, word choice, and turn of phrase. Swimming home by deborah levy, first edition abebooks. Download swimming home ebook free in pdf and epub format. Like as much as i try to make the past keep still and mind its manners, it moves and murmurs with me through every day. Swimming home, her first novel for over a decade, has prompted an. Nina could see from where she was standing that it was a woman swimming. John self, the guardian swimming home is as sharp as a wasp sting. Deborah levy s writing combines linguistic virtuosity, technical brilliance and a strong sense of what it means to be alive. Naomi benaron, whose bellwether prize winning first novel, running the rift, is set during the rwandan genocide, chats with deborah levy about her latest novel, swimming home.
The pervading scent of menace in this novel is overpowering and disquieting. Swimming home by deborah levy and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. They take a look around to find a body in the swimming pool. The book is strikingly imagistic, and we were all agreed that it created rich pictures in the mind of the reader, but in her introduction clare said that she felt at too much of a distance from the. If it had been a strategic move by deborah levy to publish the novel in this way, she was rewarded beyond measure. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 165 pages and is available in paperback format. Ultimately i found this book to be overly depressing. Its july 1994 and joe jacobs has arrived in france with his family. Swimming home by deborah levy goodreads share book. Download pdf swimming home free online new books in.
Free download or read online swimming home pdf epub book. In this novel, home is elusive, safety is unlikely, and the reader closes the book. Swimming home by deborah levy make literary productions. Swimming home by deborah levy, first edition abebooks passion for books. Swimming home by levy, deborah and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Ten stories, billy and girl, the unloved, beautiful mutants, an amorous discourse in the suburbs of hell. Unfortunately instead of swimming home, this reader felt like she was swimming in. Born in 1959 in south africa, deborah levy has been based in the uk.
Swimming home pdf, epub active 2 years, 7 months ago. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Taking place over a single week, swimming home reveals how a group of beautiful, flawed tourists in the french riviera come loose at the seams. Both profound and thrilling, deborah levy explores what it. Swimming home spins a richly plotted, darkly humorous, and disturbing tale of psychological unraveling reading deborah levy s swimming home is as unsettling as skating across a thinly frozen pond. Deborah levy frsl born 6 august 1959 is a british novelist, playwright and poet. Deborah levy books author download ebooks pdf, mobi, epub. The prospect of a long hot summer stretches ahead of them.
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