Darke
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4.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
This critically acclaimed debut novel offers “an original and bleakly funny portrait of grief” in the singular mind and solitary life of its protagonist (The Economist).
Shortlisted for The McKitterick Prize and The Author’s Club Best First Novel Award
Cranky and reclusive, ageing and widowed, Dr. James Darke has expelled himself from the world. He writes compulsively in his ‘coming of old age’ journal; he eats little, drinks and smokes a lot; he tries to console himself with the wisdom of the great thinkers and poets, yet finds nothing but disappointment. And yet, cracks of light start to appear in his carefully managed darkness: the tender, bruised filaments of love for his daughter and grandson.
With scalding prose, ruthless intelligence and an unforgettably vivid protagonist, Darke confronts some of humanity’s greatest and most uncomfortable questions about how we choose to live, and to die.
“A supreme example of a natural and skilled storyteller.”—Colm Toibin
“Surprising…with a warmth that is genuinely and unexpectedly moving.”—The Guardian, UK
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Gekoski's debut novel (following the literary history work Nabokov's Butterfly), about a professor isolating himself following his wife's death, begins enticingly but ultimately falters. James Darke, retired literature professor, looks back on his courtship with and marriage to his wife, Suzy; the birth of their daughter, Lucy, and the evolution of their relationship; and his vocation as a teacher. Darke has quarantined himself from the outside world in the wake of Suzy's death from cancer. His only meaningful encounters during this time are with Bronya, a maid hired to clean his home; these are entertaining, especially when Bronya shows a penchant for Dickens, one of Darke's favorites. Aside from his memories, the bulk of the novel comprises Darke's trenchant observations about life and death, education, analysis, and such pillars of literature as T.S. Eliot and William Butler Yeats. Though Darke's ruminations about literature, his sexual awakening, and how he coped with Suzy's suffering are high points, the book falters when Dark finally breaks his confinement to reconnect with Lucy and her son. Readers may also tire of his lengthy descriptions of his depression and his curmudgeonly view of life.
