Turbulence (Vintage International) - Softcover

Foden, Giles

Softcover

ISBN 10: 030747626X ISBN 13: 9780307476265

Publisher: Vintage, 2011

Synopsis

Giles Foden, the prizewinning author of The Last King of Scotland, delivers a mesmerizing blend of fact and fiction in this novel about how human beings deal with uncertainty.

Five days before D-day, a team of Allied scientists is charged with making an accurate weather forecast for the landings. Henry Meadows--a young math prodigy from the Met Office--is sent to Scotland to uncover Wallace Ryman's revolutionary system for understanding turbulence, one of the last great mysteries of modern physics. But Ryman is a reclusive pacifist who stubbornly refuses to divulge his secrets, and when Henry meets Gill--Ryman's beautiful wife--events, like the weather, begin to spiral out of control.

About this title

Review:

"Masterful. . . . Rivetingly beautiful. . . . There is undoubted brilliance in Turbulence wonderful writing, a flawless period atmosphere . . . and finely drawn characters. . . . One of the most utterly convincing historical novels I've read in some time."
--Kevin O'Kelly, Boston Globe

"An artfully well-orchestrated novel about the strange poetry of science."
--The Sunday Times (London)

"Each flick of the page . . . suggests the tick of a countdown. The book surges toward its end with enough surprises to grip Foden's readers--and remind them that a life's highest points are never quite as forecast."
--The New York Times Books Review

"Turbulence is a novel about redemption and overcoming one's own horrific mistakes. . . . A novel of vivid telling and often wondrous images . . . that stays with you, and sinks in deeper than you'd imagine."
--Dallas Morning News

"Characteristically ambitious. . . . Unique. . . . A sideways glance into one of the 20th century's major historical events."
--Time Out New York

"Gripping. . . . Splendidly tense. . . . Foden's conspicuously thorough research, the lovely African flashbacks and the many meteorological references all come together dynamically. . . . Ryman is a moody, spellbinding figure, with mystical obsessions--not unlike the central character in John Fowles' The Magus."
--Los Angeles Times

"Foden's most compelling and affecting novel since his debut, combining fascinating research with a high narrative tension. . . . In everything except its titular concern, Turbulence is a smooth and stable progression in an intriguing literary career."
--The Guardian (London)

"Absorbing, elegant and thoughtful. . . . Turbulence shines."
--Glen Weldon, Books We Like (NPR.org)

"Fascinating. . . . Foden offers some unforgettable scenes."
--Richmond Times Dispatch

"Terrific. . . . A love story, a science send up, and an accurate rendition of how the Normandy landings succeeded. . . . The superior novelist who can warn us of an emotional tempest today and a hurricane of anxiety next week--all by way of describing turbulence in a more limited context--is one to heed."
--The Buffalo News

"Foden is a subtle and careful observer."
--Winston-Salem Journal

"Giles Foden handles his material with the cool brilliance one would expect from the author of The Last King Of Scotland. . . . The writing is so good that you don't doubt for a moment that what has been described did happen."
--The Observer (London)

"A page-turner that challenges the reader with ideas on every turn. . . . A gripping literary novel. . . . [Foden] has written another original and remarkable book."
--Scotland on Sunday

"Foden is a formidable storyteller. . . . [In Turbulence, ] it is the meticulous fusion of science and military history that dazzles, coming off like an exhilarating fusion of Richard Powers and John le Carré."
--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Book Description:

Turbulence, from Giles Foden - prize-winning author of The Last King of Scotland - is a gripping blend of fact and fiction in a novel about the D-Day landings.

About this edition

• Publisher: Vintage
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 030747626X
• ISBN 13: 9780307476265
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 336