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Beatrice and Virgil

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Beatrice and Virgil Cover

 

Staff Pick

Make no mistake, this is a novel about the Holocaust. But it's unlike any other, tackling the tenderness and the horror of human nature by focusing on animals. Henry is changed by the story of Beatrice the donkey and Virgil the howler monkey, and you will be, too.
Recommended by Kelly L., Powells.com

Wow — 9 years was certainly worth the wait!  Henry L'Hôte is a wildly successful novelist who is thwarted in his desire to publish his next novel. While taking a break from writing, he receives a mysterious package from a fan who sends part of a story, part of a play, and a note asking for his help. What follows could only happen in a Yann Martel novel; he makes the surreal and impossible seems normal and routine. A strange and  unsettling relationship develops between Henry-the-author, and Henry-the-taxidermist, from which the author is somehow unable to disengage. A unique and surprising story, Beatrice and Virgil will completely draw you in. This latest offering from Martel is a rare treat, a perfect allegory that unfolds effortlessly, while being both entertaining and deeply, profoundly, intensely meaningful. Fantastic!
Recommended by Dianah, Powell's City of Books

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Fate takes many forms...

When Henry receives a letter from an elderly taxidermist, it poses a puzzle that he cannot resist. As he is pulled further into the world of this strange and calculating man, Henry becomes increasingly involved with the lives of a donkey and a howler monkey — named Beatrice and Virgil — and the epic journey they undertake together.

With all the spirit and originality that made Life of Pi so beloved, this brilliant new novel takes the reader on a haunting odyssey. On the way Martel asks profound questions about life and art, truth and deception, responsibility and complicity.

Review:

"Megaselling Life of Pi author Martel addresses, in this clunky metanarrative, the violent legacy of the 20th century with an alter ego: Henry L'Hte, an author with a very Martel-like CV who, after a massively successful first novel, gives up writing. Henry and his wife, Sarah, move to a big city ('Perhaps it was New York. Perhaps it was Paris. Perhaps it was Berlin'), where Henry finds satisfying work in a chocolatera and acting in an amateur theater troupe. All is well until he receives a package containing a short story by Flaubert and an excerpt from an unknown play. His curiosity about the sender leads him to a taxidermist named Henry who insists that Henry-the-author help him write a play about a monkey and a donkey. Henry-the-author is at first intrigued by sweet Beatrice, the donkey, and Virgil, her monkey companion, but the animals' increasing peril draws Henry into the taxidermist's brutally absurd world. Martel's aims are ambitious, but the prose is amateur and the characters thin, the coy self-referentiality grates, and the fable at the center of the novel is unbearably self-conscious. When Martel (rather energetically) tries to tug our heartstrings, we're likely to feel more manipulated than moved." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Review:

"[A] fable-type story with iceberg-deep dimensions reaching far below the surface of its general premise....Ultimately, Henry finds redemption in terms of his fiction writing but not before facing a leviathan-size example of the human capacity for inflicting cruelty, assuaging guilt, and engaging in creative deception." Booklist (starred review)

Review:

"This novel just might be a masterpiece about the Holocaust....[S]omehow Martel brilliantly guides the reader from the too-sunny beginning into the terrifying darkness of the old man's shop and Europe's past. Everything comes into focus by the end, leaving the reader startled, astonished and moved." USA Today

Review:

"Readers familiar with Margaret Atwood, Mavis Gallant, Alice Munro, Michael Ondaatje and Carol Shields should learn to make room on the map of contemporary Canadian fiction for the formidable Yann Martel." Chicago Tribune

Review:

"Be assured that with this short, crisply written, many-layered book, Martel has once again demonstrated that nothing tells the truth like fiction." Cleveland Plain Dealer

Synopsis:

From the award-winning, bestselling author of Life of Pi comes a mesmerizing and brilliant exploration of the limitations of language in understanding and describing the horrors of the Holocaust.
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About the Author

The award-winning author of four previous books, the most recent of which is What Is Stephen Harper Reading?, Yann Martel was born in Spain in 1963. He studied philosophy at Trent University, worked at odd jobs — tree planter, dishwasher, security guard — and travelled widely before turning to writing. He was awarded the Journey Prize for the title story in "The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios." His second novel, Life of Pi, won the 2002 Man Booker, among other prizes.

Yann Martel lives in Saskatoon with the writer Alice Kuipers and their son.

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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 3 comments:
Magsie, January 28, 2011 (view all comments by Magsie)
This book was deeply affecting on so many levels. Out of all the wonderful & amazing novels I read during 2010, Beatrice & Virgil was the emotional standout.
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mebbott, January 12, 2011 (view all comments by mebbott)
Provocative and beautiful in its use of language and its confrontation of the question of the limits of language to describe an represent horrific acts. Stunning in its revelation of how the reader naturally adopts the viewpoint of the narrator.
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Craig Ensz, April 11, 2010 (view all comments by Craig Ensz)
Not a bad read for a reality masked in in a fable like story. Te odd world of the taxidermist and the language of Beatrice and Virgil isn't quite is entertaining but a little shallow in believability. It deals with the holocaust in a new and provocative way. An interesting way to relate one of the horrors of our time.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9781400069262
Subtitle:
A Novel
Author:
Martel, Yann
Publisher:
Spiegel & Grau
Subject:
Literary
Publication Date:
20100413
Binding:
Hardback
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Illustrations:
BLACK-and-WHITE ILLUSTRATION
Pages:
224
Dimensions:
8.1 x 5.4 x .91 in .8 lb
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Related Subjects

Fiction and Poetry » Literature » A to Z

Beatrice and Virgil Used Hardcover
0 stars - 0 reviews
$8.50 In Stock
Product details 224 pages Spiegel & Grau - English 9781400069262 Reviews:
"Staff Pick" by ,

Make no mistake, this is a novel about the Holocaust. But it's unlike any other, tackling the tenderness and the horror of human nature by focusing on animals. Henry is changed by the story of Beatrice the donkey and Virgil the howler monkey, and you will be, too.

by Kelly L.
"Staff Pick" by ,

Wow — 9 years was certainly worth the wait!  Henry L'Hôte is a wildly successful novelist who is thwarted in his desire to publish his next novel. While taking a break from writing, he receives a mysterious package from a fan who sends part of a story, part of a play, and a note asking for his help. What follows could only happen in a Yann Martel novel; he makes the surreal and impossible seems normal and routine. A strange and  unsettling relationship develops between Henry-the-author, and Henry-the-taxidermist, from which the author is somehow unable to disengage. A unique and surprising story, Beatrice and Virgil will completely draw you in. This latest offering from Martel is a rare treat, a perfect allegory that unfolds effortlessly, while being both entertaining and deeply, profoundly, intensely meaningful. Fantastic!

by Dianah
"Publishers Weekly Review" by , "Megaselling Life of Pi author Martel addresses, in this clunky metanarrative, the violent legacy of the 20th century with an alter ego: Henry L'Hte, an author with a very Martel-like CV who, after a massively successful first novel, gives up writing. Henry and his wife, Sarah, move to a big city ('Perhaps it was New York. Perhaps it was Paris. Perhaps it was Berlin'), where Henry finds satisfying work in a chocolatera and acting in an amateur theater troupe. All is well until he receives a package containing a short story by Flaubert and an excerpt from an unknown play. His curiosity about the sender leads him to a taxidermist named Henry who insists that Henry-the-author help him write a play about a monkey and a donkey. Henry-the-author is at first intrigued by sweet Beatrice, the donkey, and Virgil, her monkey companion, but the animals' increasing peril draws Henry into the taxidermist's brutally absurd world. Martel's aims are ambitious, but the prose is amateur and the characters thin, the coy self-referentiality grates, and the fable at the center of the novel is unbearably self-conscious. When Martel (rather energetically) tries to tug our heartstrings, we're likely to feel more manipulated than moved." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
"Review" by , "[A] fable-type story with iceberg-deep dimensions reaching far below the surface of its general premise....Ultimately, Henry finds redemption in terms of his fiction writing but not before facing a leviathan-size example of the human capacity for inflicting cruelty, assuaging guilt, and engaging in creative deception."
"Review" by , "This novel just might be a masterpiece about the Holocaust....[S]omehow Martel brilliantly guides the reader from the too-sunny beginning into the terrifying darkness of the old man's shop and Europe's past. Everything comes into focus by the end, leaving the reader startled, astonished and moved."
"Review" by , "Readers familiar with Margaret Atwood, Mavis Gallant, Alice Munro, Michael Ondaatje and Carol Shields should learn to make room on the map of contemporary Canadian fiction for the formidable Yann Martel."
"Review" by , "Be assured that with this short, crisply written, many-layered book, Martel has once again demonstrated that nothing tells the truth like fiction."
"Synopsis" by , From the award-winning, bestselling author of Life of Pi comes a mesmerizing and brilliant exploration of the limitations of language in understanding and describing the horrors of the Holocaust.
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