Beatrice and Virgil
A Novel
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
BONUS: This edition contains a Beatrice and Virgil discussion guide.
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.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Megaselling Life of Pi author Martel addresses, in this clunky metanarrative, the violent legacy of the 20th century with an alter ego: Henry L'H te, 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 chocolater a 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.
Customer Reviews
Okay
Great book but the ending was very disapointing. No matter how strange it got, I couldnt seem to put it down!
Shocking and Masterful
Shocking and masterful. A griping allegory of the Holocaust that leaves you stunned and puzzled. Yann uses a multitude of literary devices to personify suffering in a masterful way. The depth of emotion this story evokes, especially the prompts with “Games for Gustave” at the end is both harrowing and solid ground for philosophical discussion.