Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #32727 in Books
• Published on: 2007-07-06
• Binding: Hardcover
• 523 pages

Review
Engrossing ...Docx's story has a pleasing vitality, and the strands of it set in St Petersburg are particularly compelling. This is a solid novel. --Daily Telegraph

Edward Docx may well be remembered for creating the Anglo-Russian family Novel.... I was genuinely amazed by the detail of Docx's St Petersburg its streets, canals, yards and back-street life. He does not just provide a realistic description of the city, but also allows the reader to experience it, with all its beauty and cruelty, similar to the style of Dostoevsky. All of Docx's St. Petersburg characters are believable, as are Gabriel's friends and acquaintances. --The Financial Times Magazine

Not since What a Carve Up! has there been such an absorbing indictment of the family. --Independent on Sunday

The Guardian
'Docx's ability to evoke the atmosphere of a city is almost
Dikensian...his talent for narrative is very fine indeed.'

The Guardian
'Doxc can place you within each heart-stopping moment, speed up
and slow down time from one sentence to the next.'

Customer Reviews

Utter drivel
This is the worst book that I have wasted eyesight on in some time. I couldn't even it, it was so bad. It is poorly written, depressing and quite uninteresting to boot. I had hopes also of hearing about St Petersburg from what I read in other reviews but unless you are planning to visit sewers and hovels full of smackheads, this probably won't suit you either. Don't bother!

Did we read the same book?
I obviously read a completely different version from the other reviewers! I found the writing style childish, with no change in voice between the characters.

A long-listing for the Booker was more than this deserved.

Am I the only one who thinks the writing often slips?
There is no doubt that Docx is inventive and imaginative. But I have cringed several times at his use of excessive metaphor and dripping language. Not enough to put the book down, but enough to wonder if this wonderkind has staying power. Measured against Peter Carey and Amitav Ghosh, to name only two more gifted authors, Docx falls short.