The Zone of Interest - Hardcover

Amis, Martin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0385353499 ISBN 13: 9780385353496

Publisher: Alfred a Knopf Inc, 2014

Synopsis

"Once upon a time there was a king, and the king commissioned his favorite wizard to create a magic mirror. This mirror didn t show you your reflection. It showed you your soul it showed you who you really were."
"The wizard couldn t look at it without turning away. The king couldn t look at it. The courtiers couldn t look at it. A chestful of treasure was offered to anyone who could look at it for sixty seconds without turning away. And no one could."
""
"The Zone of Interest "is a love story with a violently unromantic setting. Can love survive the mirror? Can we even meet each other s eye, after we have seen who we really are?
Powered by both wit and compassion, and in characteristically vivid prose, Martin Amis s unforgettable new novel excavates the depths and contradictions of the human soul."

About this title

Review:

""The Zone of Interest" is a tour de force of sheer verbal virtuosity, and a brilliant, celestially upsetting novel inspired by no less than a profound moral curiosity about human beings. It's stunning." --Richard Ford
"Simply put, a masterpiece. . . Profound, powerful and morally urgent. . . a benchmark for what serious literature can achieve." --Anthony Marra, "San Francisco Chronicle"
" "
"Elegant and subtle. . . an intriguing, sophisticated effort to understand the daily culture of genocide." --Lydia Millet, "Los Angeles Times
"
"[A] pulverizing novel about identity and humanity. . . in equal measure funny and crushing, with emphasis on how chaos and mass psychosis act on the souls living through it." --Connie Ogle, "The Miami Herald"
"It felt as though I had touched a third rail, so powerful and electric is the experience of reading [a] book that may stand for years as the triumph of his career." --Alan Cheuse, NPR
"Amis took on the Holocaust obliquely in "Time's Arrow. "Here he goes at it straight, and the result is...an absolute soul-crusher of a book [and] brilliant." --"Publishers Weekly," starred review
"An important memorial...mesmerizing, terrifying and, at times, funny. . . . If the evil of Nazi Germany, even if only for a moment, can wrench a restrained smile from the reader, it has permeated time, and might already have found a new logic for showing its face." --Sarah Pines, "Jewish Journal"
"How to write fiction about the Holocaust that reveals in new and significant ways its systematic horror and impossible legacy? Amis accomplished this feat in "Time's Arrow, "and now this brainy, intrepid, worldly, and virtuosic writer does it again in his fourteenth novel by ushering us into the poisoned minds of characters trapped in the death-spiral of the Final Solution. . . . An audaciously satiric and brilliantly realized tale about personal angst and mass psychosis, and the immolation of self and soul." --Donna Seaman, "Booklist "(starred review)
"Essential reading. . . A haunting indictment of the people who willingly bought the party line of racial purity and ethnic cleansing, this novel is as audacious as it is chilling." --Barbara Love, "Library Journal "(starred review)
"Brawny and urgent, it's unmistakably Amis. . . an indelible and unsentimental exploration of the depths of the human soul." --"Kirkus "(starred review)
Acclaim from the United Kingdom:
"It is a work of artistic courage, chilling comedy and incontestable moral seriousness." --Rebecca Abrams, "Financial Times
"
"The best thing [Amis] has written since "London Fields. "The book's postwar coda is enormously moving, the sections describing the 'silent boys' of Chelmno almost unreadably sad, the figure of Szmul brilliantly rendered--at once admirable and horrifying in his desperate drive to survive. . . . This is a novel that will endure." --Alex Preston, "The Guardian"
"Exceptionally brave...an extended rumination, a nightmare.... It's exciting; it's alive; it's more than slightly mad. As the title suggests, it's dreadfully interesting." --Theo Tait, "The Sunday Times"
"A brutish comedy, an occult tale of jealousy and revenge, a farce of thwarted will and missed cues. . . He has created a fictional artifice that allows us to see the outline of that which is beyond words." --Alex Clark, "The Guardian"
"Auschwitz was, in the most essential sense, 'unspeakable'. It's thus something only creative writing can speak about. If you're Amis, that is. . . . The most daring novelist of our time." --John Sutherland, "The Times
"
""The Zone of Interest" may be his greatest book; it is that good. . . . It is inventive, awful, testing and, like Picasso's Guernica, incongruously beautiful. Would that Primo Levi were around to read it." --Alan Taylor, "Herald Scotland"
"Nasty, timely, as good as anything Amis has written since "London Fields. . . . "He has done his subject justice." --"The Spectator"
"Surely his masterpiece. . . Intelligent, terrifying and comic. . . Amis has tackled the biggest questions with imagination and intelligence, and the ultimate strength of this masterly novel is that he knows, and shows, that although there is no answer to the questions Auschwitz poses, we must never stop asking them. Read it, ponder it--revel in it indeed--then read it again." --Alan Massie, "Scotsman
"
"Brilliant: a technical and aesthetic tour de force that takes us inside the minds of the Germans who managed Auschwitz." --Bryan Appleyard, "Sunday Times"
"Highly cerebral and innovative, and also human, humane--even humbling--this is a brave, inquiring work from a literary maverick whose biggest problem as an artist has been his rampaging talent. He has certainly harnessed it here." --Eileen Battersby, "The Irish Times"
" "
"The novel poses the question that will forever haunt the 20th century: how did the most cultivated nation the Earth had ever seen give way to such infamy, 'such wild disgrace'? . . . Amid the horror of the so-called 'selections' and 'aktions', amid the relentless grind of the Nazi killing machines, humanity somehow survives, and so does comedy." --Anthony Quinn, "Mail on Sunday
"
"There are never stereotypes, no identikits, no stasis. . . The past, it reminds us, is never over. One-sided fights form part of today's continuous present. Look around you. "The Zone of Interest" exposes the soul of that operation. It is, by a distance, one of Amis's finest books." --"Scotland on Sunday
"
"Heartbreaking. . . He writes superbly but with an unusual modesty. . . He lets his story speak for itself and the result is the best Amis novel in two decades." --Jake Kerridge, "Sunday Express
"
"It is energetic, deeply researched, it is bracingly cruel. . . It makes the reader squirm and resist and finally laugh. . . A superb novel, an important one. . . Where was the career-crowning work that might finally win this author his Booker? Seriously, look no further." --Tom Lamont, "GQ "(U.K.)

"The Zone of Interest" is a tour de force of sheerverbal virtuosity, and a brilliant, celestially upsetting novel inspired by no less than a profound moral curiosity about human beings. It's stunning. Richard Ford
Simply put, a masterpiece. . . Profound, powerful and morally urgent. . . a benchmark for what serious literature can achieve. Anthony Marra, "San Francisco Chronicle"
""
Elegant and subtle. . . an intriguing, sophisticated effort to understand the daily culture of genocide. Lydia Millet, "Los Angeles Times
"
[A] pulverizing novel about identity and humanity. . . in equal measure funny and crushing, with emphasis on how chaos and mass psychosis act on the souls living through it. Connie Ogle, "The Miami Herald"
It felt as though I had touched a third rail, so powerful and electric is the experience of reading [a] book that may stand for years as the triumph of his career. Alan Cheuse, NPR
Amis took on the Holocaust obliquely in "Time s Arrow. "Here he goes at it straight, and the result is...an absolute soul-crusher of a book [and] brilliant. "Publishers Weekly," starred review
An important memorial...mesmerizing, terrifying and, at times, funny. . . .If the evil of Nazi Germany, even if only for a moment, can wrench a restrained smile from the reader, it has permeated time, and might already have found a new logic for showing its face. Sarah Pines, "Jewish Journal"
How to write fiction about the Holocaust that reveals in new and significant ways its systematic horror and impossible legacy? Amis accomplished this feat in "Time s Arrow, "and now this brainy, intrepid, worldly, and virtuosic writer does it again in his fourteenth novel by ushering us into the poisoned minds of characters trapped in the death-spiral of the Final Solution. . . . An audaciously satiric and brilliantly realized tale about personal angst and mass psychosis, and the immolation of self and soul. Donna Seaman, "Booklist "(starred review)
Essential reading. . . A haunting indictment of the people who willingly bought the party line of racial purity and ethnic cleansing, this novel is as audacious as it is chilling. Barbara Love, "Library Journal "(starred review)
Brawny and urgent, it s unmistakably Amis. . . an indelible and unsentimental exploration of the depths of the human soul. "Kirkus "(starred review)
Acclaim from the United Kingdom:
It is a work of artistic courage, chilling comedy and incontestable moral seriousness. Rebecca Abrams, "Financial Times
"
The best thing [Amis] has written since "London Fields. "The book s postwar coda is enormously moving, the sections describing the silent boys of Chelmno almost unreadably sad, the figure of Szmul brilliantly rendered at once admirable and horrifying in his desperate drive to survive. . . . This is a novel that will endure. Alex Preston, "The Guardian"
Exceptionally brave...an extended rumination, a nightmare.... It's exciting; it's alive; it's more than slightly mad. As the title suggests, it's dreadfully interesting. Theo Tait, "The Sunday Times"
A brutish comedy, an occult tale of jealousy and revenge, a farce of thwarted will and missed cues. . . He has created a fictional artifice that allows us to see the outline of that which is beyond words. Alex Clark, "The Guardian"
Auschwitz was, in the most essential sense, unspeakable . It s thus something only creative writing can speak about. If you re Amis, that is. . . . The most daring novelist of our time. John Sutherland, "The Times
"
"The Zone of Interest" may be his greatest book; it is that good. . . . It is inventive, awful, testing and, like Picasso s Guernica, incongruously beautiful. Would that Primo Levi were around to read it. Alan Taylor, "Herald Scotland"
Nasty, timely, as good as anything Amis has written since"London Fields. . . . "He has done his subject justice. "The Spectator"
Surely his masterpiece. . . Intelligent, terrifying and comic. . . Amis has tackled the biggest questions with imagination and intelligence, and the ultimate strength of this masterly novel is that he knows, and shows, that although there is no answer to the questions Auschwitz poses, we must never stop asking them. Read it, ponder it revel in it indeed then read it again. Alan Massie, "Scotsman
"
Brilliant: a technical and aesthetictour de forcethat takes us inside the minds of the Germans who managed Auschwitz. Bryan Appleyard, "Sunday Times"
Highly cerebral and innovative, and also human, humane even humbling this is a brave, inquiring work from a literary maverick whose biggest problem as an artist has been his rampaging talent. He has certainly harnessed it here. Eileen Battersby, "The Irish Times"
""
The novel poses the question that will forever haunt the 20th century: how did the most cultivated nation the Earth had ever seen give way to such infamy, such wild disgrace ? . . . Amid the horror of the so-called selections and aktions, amid the relentless grind of the Nazi killing machines, humanity somehow survives, and so does comedy. Anthony Quinn, "Mail on Sunday
"
There are never stereotypes, no identikits, no stasis. . . The past, it reminds us, is never over. One-sided fights form part of today s continuous present. Look around you. "The Zone of Interest" exposes the soul of that operation. It is, by a distance, one of Amis s finest books. "Scotland on Sunday
"
Heartbreaking. . . He writes superbly but with an unusual modesty. . . He lets his story speak for itself and the result is the best Amis novel in two decades. Jake Kerridge, "Sunday Express
"
It is energetic, deeply researched, it is bracingly cruel. . . It makes the reader squirm and resist and finally laugh. . . A superb novel, an important one. . . Where was the career-crowning work that might finally win this author his Booker? Seriously, look no further. Tom Lamont, "GQ"(U.K.)"

Book Description:

The new novel from Martin Amis

Shortlisted for the 2015 Walter Scott Prize

About this edition

• Publisher: Alfred a Knopf Inc
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0385353499
• ISBN 13: 9780385353496
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 306