A Sweet Obscurity

A Sweet Obscurity

Author: Patrick Gale

Publisher: Open Road Media

Published: 2016-05-31

Total Pages: 370

ISBN-13: 1504036549

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A nine-year-old English girl must look after the dysfunctional adults in her life in this novel from the bestselling British author of Notes from an Exhibition Everyone needs Dido. All the adults in her life—grown-ups who act like children—depend on her for their happiness and stability. The nine-year-old orphan lives with her aunt Eliza, who adopted Dido when her mother died. A depressed musicologist unable to balance her brilliant academic career with motherhood, Eliza ruined her marriage with an illicit affair and is now paying the price. Her estranged husband, Giles, is an opera singer whose girlfriend, Julia, uncovers a shocking secret while concealing one of her own. As Dido shuttles between Eliza’s squalid flat and Giles’s elegant townhouse, she acts as both tactful diplomat and insightful analyst. Until something happens that powerfully impacts her young life. Narrated from the alternating viewpoints of Eliza, Giles, Julia, and Pearce, a Cornish cattle farmer who falls in love with Eliza, A Sweet Obscurity plays out like one of the Tudor madrigals at its heart: Each character is a counterpoint to another. And the theme running through their intersecting lives is Dido, who is supposed to save them all. But who will save Dido?


Book Synopsis A Sweet Obscurity by : Patrick Gale

Download or read book A Sweet Obscurity written by Patrick Gale and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2016-05-31 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A nine-year-old English girl must look after the dysfunctional adults in her life in this novel from the bestselling British author of Notes from an Exhibition Everyone needs Dido. All the adults in her life—grown-ups who act like children—depend on her for their happiness and stability. The nine-year-old orphan lives with her aunt Eliza, who adopted Dido when her mother died. A depressed musicologist unable to balance her brilliant academic career with motherhood, Eliza ruined her marriage with an illicit affair and is now paying the price. Her estranged husband, Giles, is an opera singer whose girlfriend, Julia, uncovers a shocking secret while concealing one of her own. As Dido shuttles between Eliza’s squalid flat and Giles’s elegant townhouse, she acts as both tactful diplomat and insightful analyst. Until something happens that powerfully impacts her young life. Narrated from the alternating viewpoints of Eliza, Giles, Julia, and Pearce, a Cornish cattle farmer who falls in love with Eliza, A Sweet Obscurity plays out like one of the Tudor madrigals at its heart: Each character is a counterpoint to another. And the theme running through their intersecting lives is Dido, who is supposed to save them all. But who will save Dido?

The Collected Novels Volume Two

The Collected Novels Volume Two

Author: Patrick Gale

Publisher: Open Road Media

Published: 2018-08-14

Total Pages: 539

ISBN-13: 150405542X

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Two family novels from an international bestselling British writer “with heart, soul, and a dark and a naughty wit” (The Observer). Armistead Maupin says of Patrick Gale: “Few writers have grasped the twisted dynamics of family the way Gale has. There’s really no one he can’t inhabit, understand, and forgive.” In both novels presented in this collection, Gale explores the complex dynamics of family with dead-on observation and generous compassion. A Sweet Obscurity: Dido, a nine-year-old orphan, lives with her aunt Eliza, who adopted the girl after her mother died. A depressed musicologist unable to balance her brilliant academic career with motherhood, Eliza ruined her marriage with an affair. Her estranged husband, Giles, is an opera singer whose girlfriend, Julia, uncovers a shocking secret while concealing one of her own. As Dido shuttles between Eliza’s squalid flat and Giles’s elegant townhouse, she acts as both tactful diplomat and insightful analyst to the adults who act like children. Until something happens that powerfully impacts her young life. “This is arguably Gale’s most questioning, troublesome work. It amuses, startles and occasionally bewilders. A Sweet Obscurity is worth every minute of your time.” —The Independent The Cat Sanctuary: Deborah Curtis’s husband, a diplomat in an African principality, was killed by a car bomb, and months later she is still recovering from the assassination. Her estranged sister Judith, an author who lives with her American lover, Joanna, in Cornwall, insists Deborah come to her farmhouse to grieve in peace. But unresolved wounds between the sisters bleed into the present, and a history of abuse comes to light. Forced to confront painful memories, the women’s secrets and lies collide in a shattering climax. “A dark tale of loss, sex and mistrust . . . A sensitive, thoughtful novel with a conclusion that is both unsettling and consistent.” —Time Out London


Book Synopsis The Collected Novels Volume Two by : Patrick Gale

Download or read book The Collected Novels Volume Two written by Patrick Gale and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2018-08-14 with total page 539 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Two family novels from an international bestselling British writer “with heart, soul, and a dark and a naughty wit” (The Observer). Armistead Maupin says of Patrick Gale: “Few writers have grasped the twisted dynamics of family the way Gale has. There’s really no one he can’t inhabit, understand, and forgive.” In both novels presented in this collection, Gale explores the complex dynamics of family with dead-on observation and generous compassion. A Sweet Obscurity: Dido, a nine-year-old orphan, lives with her aunt Eliza, who adopted the girl after her mother died. A depressed musicologist unable to balance her brilliant academic career with motherhood, Eliza ruined her marriage with an affair. Her estranged husband, Giles, is an opera singer whose girlfriend, Julia, uncovers a shocking secret while concealing one of her own. As Dido shuttles between Eliza’s squalid flat and Giles’s elegant townhouse, she acts as both tactful diplomat and insightful analyst to the adults who act like children. Until something happens that powerfully impacts her young life. “This is arguably Gale’s most questioning, troublesome work. It amuses, startles and occasionally bewilders. A Sweet Obscurity is worth every minute of your time.” —The Independent The Cat Sanctuary: Deborah Curtis’s husband, a diplomat in an African principality, was killed by a car bomb, and months later she is still recovering from the assassination. Her estranged sister Judith, an author who lives with her American lover, Joanna, in Cornwall, insists Deborah come to her farmhouse to grieve in peace. But unresolved wounds between the sisters bleed into the present, and a history of abuse comes to light. Forced to confront painful memories, the women’s secrets and lies collide in a shattering climax. “A dark tale of loss, sex and mistrust . . . A sensitive, thoughtful novel with a conclusion that is both unsettling and consistent.” —Time Out London

Memoirs of an Obscure Professor

Memoirs of an Obscure Professor

Author: Paul F. Boller

Publisher: Texas A&M University Press

Published: 2013-05-31

Total Pages: 294

ISBN-13: 0875655572

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During the heyday of McCarthyism, the Chicago Tribune, offended by something he had written, contemptuously dismissed Paul Boller as "an obscure professor" - he was then teaching at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. Some forty-five years later, reflecting on the incident, Boller wrote an essay on what it was like to be an obscure professor at one of America's less publicized campuses in a conservative community during the late 1950s and early 1960s. That essay became the foundation for this collection of autobiographical selections reflecting the interests and pursuits of a man who gained national recognition, both inside the academic community and beyond, but still values his obscurity. Whether it is a study of the much-maligned Calvin Coolidge or an account of his Navy service as a translator of Japanese during World War II, Boller brings to his writing a fresh approach and a lively and wry wit.


Book Synopsis Memoirs of an Obscure Professor by : Paul F. Boller

Download or read book Memoirs of an Obscure Professor written by Paul F. Boller and published by Texas A&M University Press. This book was released on 2013-05-31 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the heyday of McCarthyism, the Chicago Tribune, offended by something he had written, contemptuously dismissed Paul Boller as "an obscure professor" - he was then teaching at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. Some forty-five years later, reflecting on the incident, Boller wrote an essay on what it was like to be an obscure professor at one of America's less publicized campuses in a conservative community during the late 1950s and early 1960s. That essay became the foundation for this collection of autobiographical selections reflecting the interests and pursuits of a man who gained national recognition, both inside the academic community and beyond, but still values his obscurity. Whether it is a study of the much-maligned Calvin Coolidge or an account of his Navy service as a translator of Japanese during World War II, Boller brings to his writing a fresh approach and a lively and wry wit.

A Perfectly Good Man

A Perfectly Good Man

Author: Patrick Gale

Publisher: Open Road Media

Published: 2016-05-31

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 1504036522

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The bestselling British novel about love, marriage, family, secrets, and how the power of faith can transform lives even in the midst of inconsolable loss After being paralyzed in a rugby accident, twenty-year-old, wheelchair-bound Lenny Barnes feels he has nothing left to live for and is putting his affairs in order before committing suicide. As lively Mazey Day celebrations take place in the Cornish town of Penzance, Lenny summons a parish priest to his home. Father Barnaby Johnson is shocked to discover that he has been called in not to comfort but to deliver last rites. Lenny’s death will reverberate not only in Barnaby’s life but in the lives of his family and those around them, from Barnaby’s wife, Dorothy, to Modest Carlsson, a parishioner and former teacher whose affair with an underage student cost him his job, his marriage, and, quite possibly, his soul. Narrated in a nonlinear style from the characters’ shifting perspectives and ages, this spellbinding, exquisitely crafted novel exposes the fault lines in relationships as it limns the consequences of our actions. The novel that author Patrick Gale describes as “an echo chamber” to his international bestseller Notes from an Exhibition, A Perfectly Good Man reveals another family in crisis and asks what it truly means to be good. This Richard & Judy Book Club pick is a story of warmth, wisdom, and compassion on crises of faith, the power of prayer, morality, and what it means to be a parent.


Book Synopsis A Perfectly Good Man by : Patrick Gale

Download or read book A Perfectly Good Man written by Patrick Gale and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2016-05-31 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The bestselling British novel about love, marriage, family, secrets, and how the power of faith can transform lives even in the midst of inconsolable loss After being paralyzed in a rugby accident, twenty-year-old, wheelchair-bound Lenny Barnes feels he has nothing left to live for and is putting his affairs in order before committing suicide. As lively Mazey Day celebrations take place in the Cornish town of Penzance, Lenny summons a parish priest to his home. Father Barnaby Johnson is shocked to discover that he has been called in not to comfort but to deliver last rites. Lenny’s death will reverberate not only in Barnaby’s life but in the lives of his family and those around them, from Barnaby’s wife, Dorothy, to Modest Carlsson, a parishioner and former teacher whose affair with an underage student cost him his job, his marriage, and, quite possibly, his soul. Narrated in a nonlinear style from the characters’ shifting perspectives and ages, this spellbinding, exquisitely crafted novel exposes the fault lines in relationships as it limns the consequences of our actions. The novel that author Patrick Gale describes as “an echo chamber” to his international bestseller Notes from an Exhibition, A Perfectly Good Man reveals another family in crisis and asks what it truly means to be good. This Richard & Judy Book Club pick is a story of warmth, wisdom, and compassion on crises of faith, the power of prayer, morality, and what it means to be a parent.

The Sense of Mystery: Clarity and Obscurity in the Intellectual Life

The Sense of Mystery: Clarity and Obscurity in the Intellectual Life

Author: Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P.

Publisher: Emmaus Academic

Published: 2018-05-01

Total Pages: 346

ISBN-13: 1947792342

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The Sense of Mystery highlights what is clear and what retains the character of mystery in the traditional and Thomistic solution concerning the great problems pertaining to our knowledge in general, to our knowledge of God (whether naturally or supernaturally attained), and to questions pertaining to grace. St. Thomas has fear neither for logic nor for mystery. Indeed, logical lucidity leads him to see in nature those mysteries that speak in their own particular ways of the Creator. Likewise, this same lucidity aids him in putting into strong relief other secrets of a far superior order—those of grace and of the intimate life of God, which would remain unknown were it not for Divine Revelation.


Book Synopsis The Sense of Mystery: Clarity and Obscurity in the Intellectual Life by : Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P.

Download or read book The Sense of Mystery: Clarity and Obscurity in the Intellectual Life written by Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P. and published by Emmaus Academic. This book was released on 2018-05-01 with total page 346 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Sense of Mystery highlights what is clear and what retains the character of mystery in the traditional and Thomistic solution concerning the great problems pertaining to our knowledge in general, to our knowledge of God (whether naturally or supernaturally attained), and to questions pertaining to grace. St. Thomas has fear neither for logic nor for mystery. Indeed, logical lucidity leads him to see in nature those mysteries that speak in their own particular ways of the Creator. Likewise, this same lucidity aids him in putting into strong relief other secrets of a far superior order—those of grace and of the intimate life of God, which would remain unknown were it not for Divine Revelation.

The Bone People

The Bone People

Author: Keri Hulme

Publisher: LSU Press

Published: 2005-04-01

Total Pages: 476

ISBN-13: 9780807130728

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Integrating both Maori myth and New Zealand reality, The Bone People became the most successful novel in New Zealand publishing history when it appeared in 1984. Set on the South Island beaches of New Zealand, a harsh environment, the novel chronicles the complicated relationships between three emotional outcasts of mixed European and Maori heritage. Kerewin Holmes is a painter and a loner, convinced that "to care for anything is to invite disaster." Her isolation is disrupted one day when a six-year-old mute boy, Simon, breaks into her house. The sole survivor of a mysterious shipwreck, Simon has been adopted by a widower Maori factory worker, Joe Gillayley, who is both tender and horribly brutal toward the boy. Through shifting points of view, the novel reveals each character's thoughts and feelings as they struggle with the desire to connect and the fear of attachment. Compared to the works of James Joyce in its use of indigenous language and portrayal of consciousness, The Bone People captures the soul of New Zealand. After twenty years, it continues to astonish and enrich readers around the world.


Book Synopsis The Bone People by : Keri Hulme

Download or read book The Bone People written by Keri Hulme and published by LSU Press. This book was released on 2005-04-01 with total page 476 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Integrating both Maori myth and New Zealand reality, The Bone People became the most successful novel in New Zealand publishing history when it appeared in 1984. Set on the South Island beaches of New Zealand, a harsh environment, the novel chronicles the complicated relationships between three emotional outcasts of mixed European and Maori heritage. Kerewin Holmes is a painter and a loner, convinced that "to care for anything is to invite disaster." Her isolation is disrupted one day when a six-year-old mute boy, Simon, breaks into her house. The sole survivor of a mysterious shipwreck, Simon has been adopted by a widower Maori factory worker, Joe Gillayley, who is both tender and horribly brutal toward the boy. Through shifting points of view, the novel reveals each character's thoughts and feelings as they struggle with the desire to connect and the fear of attachment. Compared to the works of James Joyce in its use of indigenous language and portrayal of consciousness, The Bone People captures the soul of New Zealand. After twenty years, it continues to astonish and enrich readers around the world.

Rough Music

Rough Music

Author: Patrick Gale

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Published: 2010-01-27

Total Pages: 386

ISBN-13: 0307490319

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Beautifully written and deeply compassionate, Rough Music is a novel of one family at two defining points in time. Seamlessly alternating between the present day and a summer thirty years past, its twin stories unfold at a cottage along the eastern coast of England. Will Pagett receives an unexpected gift on his fortieth birthday, two weeks at a perfect beach house in Cornwall. Seeking some distance from the married man with whom he's having an affair, he invites his aging mother and father to share his holiday, knowing the sun and sea will be a welcome change for. But the cottage and the stretch of sand before it seem somehow familiar and memories of a summer long ago begin to surface. Thirty-two years earlier. A young married couple and their eight year-old son begin two idyllic weeks at a beach house in Cornwall. But the sudden arrival of unknown American relatives has devastating consequences, turning what was to be a moment of reconciliation into an act of betrayal that will cast a lengthy shadow. As Patrick Gale masterfully unspools these parallel stories, we see their subtle and surprising reflections in each other and discover how the forgotten dramas of childhood are reenacted throughout our lives. Deftly navigating the terrain between humor and tragedy, Patrick Gale has written an unforgettable novel about the lies that adults tell and the small acts of treason that children can commit. Rough Music gracefully illuminates the merciful tricks of memory and the courage with which we continue to assert our belief in love and happiness.


Book Synopsis Rough Music by : Patrick Gale

Download or read book Rough Music written by Patrick Gale and published by Ballantine Books. This book was released on 2010-01-27 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Beautifully written and deeply compassionate, Rough Music is a novel of one family at two defining points in time. Seamlessly alternating between the present day and a summer thirty years past, its twin stories unfold at a cottage along the eastern coast of England. Will Pagett receives an unexpected gift on his fortieth birthday, two weeks at a perfect beach house in Cornwall. Seeking some distance from the married man with whom he's having an affair, he invites his aging mother and father to share his holiday, knowing the sun and sea will be a welcome change for. But the cottage and the stretch of sand before it seem somehow familiar and memories of a summer long ago begin to surface. Thirty-two years earlier. A young married couple and their eight year-old son begin two idyllic weeks at a beach house in Cornwall. But the sudden arrival of unknown American relatives has devastating consequences, turning what was to be a moment of reconciliation into an act of betrayal that will cast a lengthy shadow. As Patrick Gale masterfully unspools these parallel stories, we see their subtle and surprising reflections in each other and discover how the forgotten dramas of childhood are reenacted throughout our lives. Deftly navigating the terrain between humor and tragedy, Patrick Gale has written an unforgettable novel about the lies that adults tell and the small acts of treason that children can commit. Rough Music gracefully illuminates the merciful tricks of memory and the courage with which we continue to assert our belief in love and happiness.

The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Author: John Koenig

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2021-11-16

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 1501153668

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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “It’s undeniably thrilling to find words for our strangest feelings…Koenig casts light into lonely corners of human experience…An enchanting book. “ —The Washington Post A truly original book in every sense of the word, The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows poetically defines emotions that we all feel but don’t have the words to express—until now. Have you ever wondered about the lives of each person you pass on the street, realizing that everyone is the main character in their own story, each living a life as vivid and complex as your own? That feeling has a name: “sonder.” Or maybe you’ve watched a thunderstorm roll in and felt a primal hunger for disaster, hoping it would shake up your life. That’s called “lachesism.” Or you were looking through old photos and felt a pang of nostalgia for a time you’ve never actually experienced. That’s “anemoia.” If you’ve never heard of these terms before, that’s because they didn’t exist until John Koenig set out to fill the gaps in our language of emotion. The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows “creates beautiful new words that we need but do not yet have,” says John Green, bestselling author of The Fault in Our Stars. By turns poignant, relatable, and mind-bending, the definitions include whimsical etymologies drawn from languages around the world, interspersed with otherworldly collages and lyrical essays that explore forgotten corners of the human condition—from “astrophe,” the longing to explore beyond the planet Earth, to “zenosyne,” the sense that time keeps getting faster. The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is for anyone who enjoys a shift in perspective, pondering the ineffable feelings that make up our lives. With a gorgeous package and beautiful illustrations throughout, this is the perfect gift for creatives, word nerds, and human beings everywhere.


Book Synopsis The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows by : John Koenig

Download or read book The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows written by John Koenig and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-11-16 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “It’s undeniably thrilling to find words for our strangest feelings…Koenig casts light into lonely corners of human experience…An enchanting book. “ —The Washington Post A truly original book in every sense of the word, The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows poetically defines emotions that we all feel but don’t have the words to express—until now. Have you ever wondered about the lives of each person you pass on the street, realizing that everyone is the main character in their own story, each living a life as vivid and complex as your own? That feeling has a name: “sonder.” Or maybe you’ve watched a thunderstorm roll in and felt a primal hunger for disaster, hoping it would shake up your life. That’s called “lachesism.” Or you were looking through old photos and felt a pang of nostalgia for a time you’ve never actually experienced. That’s “anemoia.” If you’ve never heard of these terms before, that’s because they didn’t exist until John Koenig set out to fill the gaps in our language of emotion. The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows “creates beautiful new words that we need but do not yet have,” says John Green, bestselling author of The Fault in Our Stars. By turns poignant, relatable, and mind-bending, the definitions include whimsical etymologies drawn from languages around the world, interspersed with otherworldly collages and lyrical essays that explore forgotten corners of the human condition—from “astrophe,” the longing to explore beyond the planet Earth, to “zenosyne,” the sense that time keeps getting faster. The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is for anyone who enjoys a shift in perspective, pondering the ineffable feelings that make up our lives. With a gorgeous package and beautiful illustrations throughout, this is the perfect gift for creatives, word nerds, and human beings everywhere.

A Poetry-book of Songs and Sonnets, Odes and Idylls

A Poetry-book of Songs and Sonnets, Odes and Idylls

Author: Edwards

Publisher:

Published: 1878

Total Pages: 426

ISBN-13:

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Book Synopsis A Poetry-book of Songs and Sonnets, Odes and Idylls by : Edwards

Download or read book A Poetry-book of Songs and Sonnets, Odes and Idylls written by Edwards and published by . This book was released on 1878 with total page 426 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

A Poetry-book of Elder Poets

A Poetry-book of Elder Poets

Author: Amelia Ann Blanford Edwards

Publisher:

Published: 1878

Total Pages: 340

ISBN-13:

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Book Synopsis A Poetry-book of Elder Poets by : Amelia Ann Blanford Edwards

Download or read book A Poetry-book of Elder Poets written by Amelia Ann Blanford Edwards and published by . This book was released on 1878 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: