Forest Dark: Nicole Krauss - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1408871793 ISBN 13: 9781408871799

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Synopsis

From the bestselling, twice Orange Prize-shortlisted, National Book Award-nominated author comes a vibrant tale of transformation: of a man in his later years and a woman novelist, each drawn to the Levant on a journey of self-discovery

Jules Epstein has vanished from the world. He leaves no trace but a rundown flat patrolled by a solitary cockroach, and a monogrammed briefcase abandoned in the desert.

To Epstein's mystified family, the disappearance of a man whose drive and avidity have been a force to be reckoned with for sixty-eight years marks the conclusion of a gradual fading. This transformation began in the wake of Epstein's parents' deaths, and continued with his divorce after more than thirty-five years of marriage, his retirement from a New York legal firm, and the rapid shedding of possessions he'd spent a lifetime accumulating. With the last of his wealth and a nebulous plan, he departs for the Tel Aviv Hilton.

Meanwhile, a novelist leaves her husband and children behind in Brooklyn and checks into the same hotel, hoping that the view of the pool she used to swim in on childhood holidays will unlock her writer's block. But when a man claiming to be a retired professor of literature recruits her for a project involving Kafka, she is drawn into a mystery that will take her on a metaphysical journey and change her in ways she could never have imagined.

Bursting with life and humour, this is a profound, mesmerising, achingly beautiful novel of metamorphosis and self-realisation - of looking beyond all that is visible towards the infinite.

About this title

Review

"Exquisite...I am full of admiration."--Philip Roth

"A brilliant novel. I am full of admiration."--Philip Roth

-A brilliant novel. I am full of admiration.---Philip Roth

"Krauss's elegant, provocative, and mesmerizing novel is her best yet. Rich in profound insights and emotional resonance...Vivid, intelligent, and often humorous, this novel is a fascinating tour de force."--Publishers Weekly (starred review and boxed)

"Entrancing and mysterious...Krauss reflects with singing emotion and sagacity on Jewish history; war; the ancient, plundered forests of the Middle East; and the paradoxes of being. A resounding look at the enigmas of the self and the persistence of the past." --Booklist (starred review)

"Wildly imaginative, darkly humorous and deeply personal, this novel seems to question the very nature of time and space. Krauss commands our attention, and serious readers will applaud."--Library Journal (starred review)

"Krauss, as ever, writes beautifully about complex themes, and she has a keen eye for the way Israel's culture, slower but more alert to violence, requires its American characters to reboot their perceptions..."--Kirkus Reviews

"Strange and beguiling...a mystery that operates on grounds simultaneously literary and existential...metaphysical and emphatically realistic...It's a perfectly Kafkaesque vision, almost uncanny enough to be sublime."--Ruth Franklin, Harper's Magazine

"Illuminating...[Forest Dark] builds to a powerful emotional crescendo and an ending that feels revelatory. Haunting and reflective, poetic and wise, this is another masterful work from one of America's best writers."--BookPage

"Krauss expertly intertwines musings on theology and the life of Franz Kafka in this beautifully written follow-up to the National Book Award finalist The Great House."--Buzzfeed

Book Description

From the bestselling, twice Orange Prize-shortlisted, National Book Award-nominated author comes a vibrant tale of transformation: of a man in his later years and a woman novelist, each drawn to the Levant on a journey of self-discovery

About this edition

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
• ISBN 10: 1408871793
• ISBN 13: 9781408871799
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304