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Book Reviewed by:An utter astonishment that captures an era through one life celebrated internationally - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; and another entirely forgotten - George Edalji.
From one of England's most esteemed novelists, an utter astonishment that
captures an era through one life celebrated internationally and another entirely
forgotten.
In the vast expanse of late-Victorian Britain, two boys come to life: George,
the son of a Midlands vicar, and Arthur, in shabby genteel Edinburgh, both of
them feeling at once near to and impossibly distant from the beating heart of
Empire. One falls prey to a series of pranks en route to a legal vocation, while
the other studies medicine before discovering a different calling entirely, and
it is years before their destinies are entwined in a mesmerizing alliance. We
follow each through outrageous accusation and unrivaled success, through faith
and perseverance and dogged self-recrimination, whether in the dock awaiting
complete disgrace or at the height of fame while desperately in love with a
woman not his wife, and gradually realize that George is half-Indian and that
Arthur becomes the creator of the world's most famous detective. Ranging from
London clubs to teeming prisons, from a lost century to the modern age, this
novel is a panoramic revelation of things we thought we knew or else had no clue
of, as well as a gripping exploration of what goals drive us toward whatever
lies in wait–an experience resounding with issues, no less relevant today, of
crime and spirituality; of identity and nationality; of what we think, what we
believe and what we can prove.
Intriguing, relentless and, most of all, moving, Arthur & George richly
extends the reach and achievement of a novelist described by the Philadelphia
Inquirer as "a dazzling mind in mercurial flight."
For an unbeatable historical mystery, look no further than Arthur & George; and it should go without saying that this is a must read for Sherlock Holmes fans who are interested in the man behind the books...continued
Full Review
(357 words)
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(Reviewed by BookBrowse Review Team).
About the author: Julian Barnes was born in Leicester,
England, in 1946, Over the past 30 years he has written novels,
non-fiction, short stories and two series (one in his own name and one as Dan
Kavanagh). He has won a number of literary prizes and has been nominated
for the Booker Prize three times. In France, he is the only writer to have won
both the Prix Médicis and the Prix Fémina, and in 2004 he became a Commandeur
de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
Partial bibliography (novels & collections)
Metroland (1980)
Before She Met Me (1982)
Flaubert's Parrot (1984)
Staring At the Sun (1986)
A History of the World In 10 1/2 Chapters (1989)
The Porcupine (1992)
Cross Channel: Stories ...
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Use what talents you possess: The woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best
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