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More copies of this ISBN:This title in other formats:Gould's Book of Fish: A Novel in 12 Fishby Richard Flanagan
Staff Pick
It doesn't really have that much to do with fish. They're just an excuse for William Gould to tell his life story as an inmate in a penal colony on Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania). Shocking in its brutality and touching in its humanity, this is an ambitious and cleverly crafted novel. Flanagan's virtuoso skills weave a complex tale, demonstrating that rare ability to not only tell a story, but also to explore the creation and reading of narratives.
It doesn't really have that much to do with fish. They're just an excuse for William Gould to tell his life story as an inmate in a penal colony on Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania). Shocking in its brutality and touching in its humanity, this is an ambitious and cleverly crafted novel. Flanagan's virtuoso skills weave a complex tale, demonstrating that rare ability to not only tell a story, but also to explore the creation and reading of narratives. Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:Published in hardcover to outstanding acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic, and winner of the prestigious Commonwealth Writers Prize, Gould's Book of Fish is a marvelously imagined epic of nineteenth-century Australia — a world of convicts and colonists, thieves and catamites, whose bloody history is recorded in a very unusual taxonomy of fish. Widely hailed as a masterpiece and a work of genius, it stands out as one of the best novels of recent years. Billy Gould was a forger and thief sentenced to life imprisonment in a penal colony in Van Diemen's Land — now Tasmania. After six months he escaped and boarded a whaler for the Americas, but before long his adventures landed him back in prison. The prison doctor Lempriere utilizes Gould's painting talents to create an illustrated taxonomy of the country's exotic sea creatures, which Lempriere madly believes will assure his place in history and the Royal Society. Lost and re-created, destroyed and hidden, Gould's book finally resurfaces in the present day littered with scrawls recording his unutterably strange life — part freewheeling picaresque, part tragicomedy — and that of his country, a penal colony, settlement, and magical space populated by generals, visionaries, and madmen. Gould's Book of Fish is a tour de force that questions the reliability of history and science, and the substance of artistic creation. Review:"Richard Flanagan has written a book that's THIS BIG, surely the slipperiest, most outrageous novel of the year. Who else would dare start with a 40-page preface that describes the story we're about to read as wondrous, luminous, and captivating?...The story Gould tells of the land way down under is absolutely captivating. But be forewarned, it's also scatological and shockingly violent ? a cringing nightmare inversion of the elegant British society that constructed this place....The current is dangerously strong here, but the water is irresistible, and once again Flanagan is a death-defying guide." Ron Charles, The Christian Science Monitor (read the entire CSM review) Review:"Flanagan's masterful balancing act between what we endure and where we prevail ricochets page-to-page at breakneck read with passion and compassion, from the rhapsodic to Rabelaisian." Gordon Hauptfleisch, San Diego Union-Tribune Review:"Remarkable...A serene, chilling vision of human life as comparable to the life of fish, 'swimming in vast coldness, alone.'" The New Yorker Review:"A work of significant genius...terrifying, exhilarating, and amazingly beautiful." E. William Smethurst, Jr., Chicago Tribune Review:"A whiff of magical realism and a generous abundance of expressionistic hyperbole create the uniquely suprareal texture of this wonderful third novel from the prizewinning Australian author....Fascinating work, and very much Flanagan's best yet." Kirkus Reviews Review:"[G]orgeously written....Readers will be...entranced with this richly detailed work that calls attention to a major new talent." Brendan Dowling, Booklist (starred review) Review:"Gould's Book of Fish...is ...by turns bawdy and pensive, moving and abrasive, visionary and squalid, apocalyptic and confessional." Chris Lehmann, The Washington Post Book World Review:"Flanagan's darkly humorous tale is impressive in its ability to cross seamlessly the borders between the realistic and fantastic and carries a wonderful sense of drama and satisfying closure. The unique story is accompanied by the book's novel packaging." Library Journal Review:"Carefully crafted and allusive, this blazing portrait of Australia's colonial past will surely spread Flanagan's reputation among American readers." Publishers Weekly Review:"[A] huge, phantasmagorical work that combines magical realism, Joycean language and Melvillian intonations...and turns out to be as inventive and visionary in its reimagination of history as [Toni] Morrison's masterwork, Beloved." Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times Synopsis:Published in hardcover to outstanding acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic, and winner of the prestigious Commonwealth Writers Prize, Gould's Book of Fish is a marvelously imagined epic of nineteenth-century Australia — a world of convicts and colonists, thieves and catamites, whose bloody history is recorded in a very unusual taxonomy of fish. Widely hailed as a masterpiece and a work of genius, it stands out as one of the best novels of recent years. Billy Gould was a forger and thief sentenced to life imprisonment in a penal colony in Van Diemen's Land — now Tasmania. After six months he escaped and boarded a whaler for the Americas, but before long his adventures landed him back in prison. The prison doctor Lempriere utilizes Gould's painting talents to create an illustrated taxonomy of the country's exotic sea creatures, which Lempriere madly believes will assure his place in history and the Royal Society. Lost and re-created, destroyed and hidden, Gould's book finally resurfaces in the present day littered with scrawls recording his unutterably strange life — part freewheeling picaresque, part tragicomedy — and that of his country, a penal colony, settlement, and magical space populated by generals, visionaries, and madmen. Gould's Book of Fish is a tour de force that questions the reliability of history and science, and the substance of artistic creation. Michiko Kakutani of The New York Times called it "a huge, phantasmagorical work ... as inventive and visionary in its reimagination of history as [Toni] Morrison's masterwork, Beloved." "Gould's Book of Fish ...is ... by turns bawdy and pensive, moving and abrasive, visionary and squalid, apocalyptic and confessional." — Chris Lehmann, The Washington Post Book World "Flanagan's masterful balancing act between what we endure and where we prevail ricochets page-to-page at breakneck read with passion and compassion, from the rhapsodic to Rabelaisian." — Gordon Hauptfleisch, San Diego Union-Tribune "Remarkable ... A serene, chilling vision of human life as comparable to the life of fish, 'swimming in vast coldness, alone.'" — The New Yorker "A work of significant genius ... terrifying, exhilarating, and amazingly beautiful." — E. William Smethurst, Jr., Chicago Tribune "Flanagan ... leaps beyond his country's history toward the biggest questions that love and language can pose." — Ron Charles, The Christian Science Monitor What Our Readers Are SayingAdd a comment for a chance to win!
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