In this novel, home is elusive, safety is unlikely. The short novel deals with the experiences of poet joe jacobs, when his family vacation is interrupted by a fanatical reader. Jul 06, 2017 deborah levy discusses her novel swimming home with james naughtie and a group of readers. Deborah levy, quote from swimming home life is only worth living because we hope it will get better and well all get home safely.
The bestselling modern manifesto on the politics of womanhood from deborah levy, author of the booker prize finalists hot milk and swimming home. I wanted to say something about the themes and the symbols you refer to, but a mere fortnight or so after reading it i find that im struggling to recall it in enough detail to do so. Deborah levy is a british novelist, short story writer, playwright and poet, whose proficiency across multiple literary forms marks her out as one of the great contemporary literary figures. Penguin presents the audiobook edition of swimming home by deborah levy, read by sophie ward. Signin to download and listen to this audiobook today. Set in a summer villa, the story is tautly structured, taking place over a single week in which a group of beautiful, flawed tourists in the french riviera come loose at the seams. The first edition of the novel was published in october 6th 2011, and was written by deborah levy. Completed in 2008, it was initially rejected by many mainstream publishers because, in levys own words, they.
Read swimming home a novel by deborah levy available from rakuten kobo. Swimming home spins a richly plotted, darkly humorous, and disturbing tale of psychological unraveling reading deborah levy s swimming home is as unsettling as skating across a thinly frozen pond. W ith her first novel in 15 years, deborah levy has taken worn structures and made something strange and new. A poet, his wife, her daughter and their friends arrive at the french riviera. The familiar elements in swimming home are a middleclass holiday, two families. Get this book free when you sign up for a 30day trial. Born in 1959 in south africa, deborah levy has been based in the uk since her family emigrated there in 1968. Swimming home by deborah levy goodreads share book.
From the first brief chapters of deborah levy s spare, disturbing. Reading deborah levys swimming home is as unsettling as skating across a thinly frozen pond. Swimming home by deborah levy make literary productions, nfp. The prospect of a long hot summer stretches ahead of them. Written by deborah levy, tom mccarthy introduction, audiobook narrated by nicola barber. Swimming home, her first novel for over a decade, has prompted an unexpected degree of critical and commercial success. Sep 09, 2012 buy swimming home by deborah levy isbn. Sunday times deborah levy has made something strange and new. Readers will have to resist the temptation to hurry up in order to find out.
Swimming home is a subversive pageturner, a merciless gaze at the insidious harm that depression can have on apparently stable, wellturnedout people. Swimming home is definitely a work of literary fiction, as style and characterisations are more important than the plot. Swimming home has 5 available editions to buy at half price books marketplace. Our reward is the enjoyable, if unsettling, experience of being pitched into the deep waters of levy s wry, accomplished novel. Levys book was rejected many times before being picked up by a small independent publisher of literary fiction, andotherstories. Swimming home floats like a wasp, and stings like one too.
Levy is a stealthy storyteller, lulling us while busy scattering clues. Swimming home audiobook by deborah levy, tom mccarthy. Levy has been shortlisted for the man booker prize twice, for swimming home and hot milk. First, i would like to congratulate you on all your honors for swimming home. Deborah levy discusses her novel swimming home with james naughtie and a group of readers. Readers will have to resist the temptation to hurry up in order to find out what happens. Of course, these are characteristics of many postmodern novels. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grownup, the fright and sickness that humans and their. Witty and poignant, its pages melt away like an unsettling yet familiar dream. Naomi benaron, whose bellwether prize winning first novel, running the rift, is set during the rwandan genocide, chats with deborah levy about her latest novel, swimming home. Swimming home by deborah levy 2012, paperback for sale. Mar 05, 2019 deborah levys writing combines linguistic virtuosity, technical brilliance and a strong sense of what it means to be alive. Swimming home by levy, deborah and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. The wls book club meets once a month in a pub near shul to discuss a book with some connection to jewish culture or religion, however tenuous.
Swimming home was shortlisted for the man booker prize 2012 and is about a famous british poet on holiday. Our past meetings have included fiction and nonfiction, contemporary and classic books by british and international authors. West london synagogue book club london, united kingdom. Instead of being transported to nice, i was constantly analyzing the character development, word choice, and turn of phrase. Swimming home is a novel by british writer deborah levy, published on 10 september 2012. Swimming home spins a richly plotted, darkly humorous, and disturbing tale of psychological unraveling. Free download or read online swimming home pdf epub book.
The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 165 pages and is available in paperback format. Swimming home is told from multiple viewpoints and several generations. Books philip womack is gripped by deborah levy s swimming home, shortlisted for the 2012 man booker prize, an original take on the middleclass villa holiday novel swimming home by deborah levy. Deborah levys new book swimming home is constructed like a play with a central stage and a cast of characters, and it unfolds like a drama in hot short vignettes but it reads like a. From the first brief chapters of deborah levys spare, disturbing. In the spirit of enhancing a great read, we host an open book club that typically meets the last thursday of each month at 7.
Each one is fatally marked by their history, as each in their own way battles to construct a bearable life in a social world that offers little comfort or. We like to discuss books with you over the counter, but whats even better is when you all get together to rehash a good title. I abandoned swimming home about twothirds into reading it. She initially concentrated on writing for the theatre her plays were staged by the royal shakespeare company before focusing on prose fiction. None is prepared for the sight of a woman is it a bear.
The cost of living by deborah levy 06162020 the bestselling modern manifesto on the politics of womanhood from deborah levy, author of the booker prize finalists hot milk and swimming home. Philip womack is gripped by deborah levys swimming home, shortlisted for the 2012 man booker prize, an original take on the middleclass villa holiday novel. In true deborah levy style, this book is a devastating account of the relationships dividing and binding a commonplace collection of middle class londoners on holiday in the south of france. Swimming home by deborah levy farm lane books blog. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading swimming home. Swimming home book by deborah levy 5 available editions. The book is strikingly imagistic, and we were all agreed that it created rich pictures in the mind of the reader, but in her introduction clare said that she felt at too much of a distance from the. Swimming home reveals how the most devastating secrets are the ones we keep from ourselves.
Swimming home book jackson county library services. Deborah levys swimming home is not so much a book to be enjoyed, but one to be admired in an artistic sense swimming home synopsis as he arrives with his family at the villa in the hills above nice, joe sees a body in the swimming pool. Its a very hot milk was one of my favourite reads of last year, so i was beyond delighted to discover that i had on my bookshelves another levy novel and one that was nominated for the man booker prize, no less. Levys elegant language and subtle, uncanny plot are strictly adult fare. Intriguing cover, setting, a good read for summer pro.
A member of the critics circle and the authors club, suzi feay is a literary journalist and tv critic for the financial times. Swimming home represents a new direction for a major writer. Philadelphia city institute as he arrives with his family at the villa in the hills above nice, joe sees a body in the swimming pool. Swimming home deborah levy, 2011 bloomsbury usa 176 pp. Jul 06, 2018 the suburb of femininity is not a good place to live, deborah levy wrote. Everyday low prices on a huge range of new releases and classic fiction. Oct 17, 2012 the man bookershortlisted swimming home begins with the sight of a naked female swimmer who inveigles her way into the lives of a group of holiday guests at a french villa. You know you will fall through, tumbling into the deep, murky waters below the storys surface, but you are never sure exactly when or how. Deborah levy swimming home deborah levy discusses her man booker shortlisted novel swimming home with james naughtie. Mccarthy, tom int, isbn 162040169x, isbn 9781620401699, brand new, free shipping in the us a mysterious woman who suffers from mental illness suddenly appears at a vacation villa where two families are staying and her interactions with them reveal secret details about their past and tensions within their relationships with each other. Mcmillan palgraveselected for the 2012 man booker prize short list.
The suburb of femininity is not a good place to live, deborah levy wrote. Sep 20, 2012 but i am not sure that any of these quite capture deborah levy s imagination or explain swimming home, which at one point she sums up to me, perfectly, as a pageturner about sorrow. In this book, the wildness and the danger are all the more powerful for resting just beneath the surface. Librarything is a cataloging and social networking site for booklovers. Unfortunately instead of swimming home, this reader felt like she was swimming in. Readers will have to resist the temptation to hurry up in.
The main characters of this fiction, literary fiction story are. Swimming home spins a richly plotted, darkly humorous, and disturbing tale of psychological unraveling reading deborah levys swimming home is as unsettling as skating across a thinly frozen pond. She regularly broadcasts on literary issues and also teaches journalism for creative writing students at brunel university. Deborah levy frsl born 6 august 1959 is a british novelist, playwright and poet. Pdf swimming home book by deborah levy free download. I think i responded to this novel in a very similar way, kevin. Buy a cheap copy of swimming home book by deborah levy. Critical reception for the novel was generally favourable. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. When it comes to language, levy has an eye for the aesthetic. Our reward is the enjoyable, if unsettling, experience of being pitched into the deep waters of levys wry, accomplished novel. As a book on its own swimming home is quite dull, but if you take it as a reflection on the literature of the last hundred years, it is probably genius the thoughts of other bloggers. Reading deborah levy s swimming home is as unsettling as skating across a thinly frozen pond. As he arrives with his family at the villa in the hills above nice, joe sees a body in the swimming pool.
In levys swimming home, published in the united states in 2012, the disturbed kitty finch rides a pony onto the balcony of a restaurant, where she startles the patrons by feeding her mount. The new york times levy winds her characters up and watches them go, and they do as most humans do, which is to mess up in the face of desire. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Read the first chapter here and tell us what you think below. West london synagogue book club london, united kingdom meetup.
For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the authors best ideas. Aug 08, 2011 buy swimming home by deborah levy, tom mccarthy from amazons fiction books store. Deborah levys writing combines linguistic virtuosity, technical brilliance and a strong sense of what it means to be alive. We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the. At the centre is poet joejozef jacobs, whose sketchy, hidden history, as a jewish child.
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