Explore our new BookBrowse Community Forum!

Excerpt from The Valley of Unknowing by Philip Sington, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

Summary |  Excerpt |  Reviews |  Beyond the Book |  Readalikes |  Genres & Themes |  Author Bio

The Valley of Unknowing by Philip Sington

The Valley of Unknowing

by Philip Sington
  • BookBrowse Review:
  • Critics' Consensus:
  • First Published:
  • Dec 3, 2012, 304 pages
  • Rate this book

  • Buy This Book

About this Book

Print Excerpt


I pointed at the bulky wallet between his thighs. 'That?'

Schilling pushed it further under the table. 'Yes. It's a novel. It's . . . well, I don't want to influence you. It's important you have an open mind.'

A novel. So that was it: nothing threatening or sinister – boring most likely, but no worse than that. 'What's it about?' 'The future. At least, it's set in the future. A future. The whole thing has a mythic quality.'

The last mythic novel I had tackled had been written by the leading literary grande dame of our little republic: an ancient Greek legend revisited from a Marxist-feminist perspective. I hoped it wasn't one of those.

'You think I'll like it?'

'I won't predict your reaction, although . . .' Schilling checked himself. 'Let's just say, you're uniquely qualified to appraise it. I mean that literally. I'm very anxious to know what you think.'

I wasn't a critic, at least not the kind whose name appears in newspapers and literary journals. My views on contemporary literature were given sparingly and always off the record. But it was hard not to be touched by Schilling's faith. He had never given up the hope that I would one day write something as heartfelt and successful as The Orphans of Neustadt; that the old creative force still dwelt within me, waiting only for the appropriate socio-intellectual conditions to burst forth.

'So who's it by, then?'

Schilling looked cagey.

'Wait a minute.' An idea had occurred to me, one which, for some reason, I found comic. 'It's you, isn't it? This is your book.'

'What's so funny about that?'

I must have laughed, which was not polite.

'Nothing,' I said. 'I'm surprised, that's all. You never said anything about . . .'

Schilling leaned closer. 'It's not my book, all right? I haven't written a book. For God's sake, what would I write about? What do I know?' Melted ice cream was running over his knuckles. He cursed, switching the cone from one hand to the other.

'I didn't mean . . .'

'It doesn't matter. Look, if you're too busy . . .'

But I wasn't too busy. I hadn't been too busy in years. We both knew that very well.

I was still feeling guilty about my hurtful outburst when we left Tutti Frutti and hurried back towards Ferdinandsplatz. By this time it was raining in earnest and soon Schilling was sneezing. His raincoat was old and leaked at the seams. After use it left him looking as though he suffered from a terrible sweating problem, with wet patches under his arms and down his back.

'I meant to tell you,' I said, as we ducked into a doorway. 'I bought this new raincoat at the Intershop. A good one, English. Then I got it home and found it didn't fit. Would you believe it? Too narrow at the shoulders. You can have it, if you like. It'd fit you much better than me.'

If Schilling wasn't convinced by my story, it wasn't for lack of effort on my part. After I had extemporised upon the difficulties involved in obtaining a refund he said, 'I could certainly do with a new one. How much would you . . . ?'

'Don't be silly,' I said. 'I'll be glad to give it a good home.' It was time to go. I held out my hand for the manuscript. Schilling began extracting it from the document wallet, then changed his mind and gave me the whole thing.

A tram pulled up at a nearby stop, passengers spewing out as if under pressure. I shook my friend's hand and jumped aboard.

Reprinted from The Valley of Unknowing by Philip Sington. Copyright (c) 2012 by Philip Sington. With the permission of the publisher, W.W. Norton & Company. All rights reserved.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Beyond the Book:
  Socialist Realism

Top Picks

  • Book Jacket: Graveyard Shift
    Graveyard Shift
    by M. L. Rio
    Following the success of her debut novel, If We Were Villains, M. L. Rio's latest book is the quasi-...
  • Book Jacket: The Sisters K
    The Sisters K
    by Maureen Sun
    The Kim sisters—Minah, Sarah, and Esther—have just learned their father is dying of ...
  • Book Jacket: Linguaphile
    Linguaphile
    by Julie Sedivy
    From an infant's first attempts to connect with the world around them to the final words shared with...
  • Book Jacket
    The Rest of You
    by Maame Blue
    At the start of Maame Blue's The Rest of You, Whitney Appiah, a Ghanaian Londoner, is ringing in her...

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    Pony Confidential
    by Christina Lynch

    In this whimsical mystery, a grumpy pony must clear his beloved human's name from a murder accusation.

Who Said...

Finishing second in the Olympics gets you silver. Finishing second in politics gets you oblivion.

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

F the M

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.