Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1891 in Books
• Published on: 2008-01-01
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Sunday Telegraph, Katie Owen
'Slouka has been compared with Sebald, Ondaatje and Kundera - and not without reason'

Sunday Times
`A haunting and cleverly constructed narrative'

Publishing News
'The Visible World has the intensity of a thriller combined with exquisite and moving literary prose'

Customer Reviews

Unmissable
I simply cannot understand the negative reviews here, unless they have been written by youngsters who are not yet sophisticated enough to appreciate it. This is an absolutely magnificent book that works on several levels. Unlike many novels today, it is beautifully written but is also incredibly easy to read and tells a gripping and tragic story. The first part is a memoir with the narrator telling of his childhood growing up in the USA as the child of immigrants who have not told him everything about their past. As an adult he travels to Prague and discovers some of the facts for himself. The third part is an imagining - if you like - of what his parents' story was.

Unlike some other reviewers, the fact that this was a Richard & Judy choice might actually have put me off if I had not read The Conjuror's Bird, one of their previous choices and also a brilliant book.
If you like The Visible World I would suggest you read The Lost by Daniel Mendelsohn. It is non fiction but the two have a lot in common.

Moments of beauty
A man looks back at the lives of his parents and the events in the second world war that brought them together. A beautifully composed narrative at its best when describing the natural surroundings in which the events of the story take place. The tenderness and understanding of the writing is beautiful and evocative, the characterisation is detailed and sensitive. It's a book which needs to be read more than once, one which needs to be read and read again to allow the details to sink in. Yet, even so, I felt that it didn't quiet work, that I never felt close enough to any of the characters to really share their experience. Maybe it is because the writer does not really evoke the terror of the Nazi occupation of Prague. Maybe it is because the inital sections of the book seem fragmented and disjointed, never really allowing the plot to take shape.

The Visible World
Very disappointing. Nothing happens and it's an extremely boring read. I'm sure it was therapeutic for Mark Slouka to write this book but if you're looking for an interesting read - look elsewhere.