Strangers - Hardcover

Brookner, Anita

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1905490429 ISBN 13: 9781905490424

Publisher: Fig Tree, 2009

Synopsis

Paul Sturgis is a retired banker manager who lives alone in a dark little flat. He walks alone and dines alone, seeking out and taking pleasure in small exchanges with strangers: the cheerful Australian girl who cuts his hair, the lady at the drycleaners. His only relative, and only acquaintance, is a widowed cousin by marriage - herself a virtual stranger - to whom he pays ritualistic visits on a Sunday afternoon. Trying to make sense of his current solitary state, and fearing that his destiny may be to die among strangers, Sturgis trawls through memories of his failed relationships and finds himself longing for companionship, or at the very least a conversation.

But then a chance encounter with a stranger - a recently divorced and demanding younger woman - shakes up his routine and when an old girlfriend appears on the scene, Sturgis is forced to make a decision about how (and with whom) he wants to spend the rest of his days...

About this title

Review:

"With such prudence and steely humor ... Brookner creates an affecting and unexpectedly dynamic portrait of an ordinary man in extremis." --"The Washington Post Book World
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"The beauty and precision of Anita Brookner's writing is rightly praised each time she publishes a novel, but what is less often remarked on is her daring.... A novel of sober brilliance." --"The Times "(London)
"Brookner faithfully presents the elderly person's dilemma: trying to figure out what to do with your old age.... Her astringent sense of humor, often unappreciated, is slyly evident." --"The Wall Street Journal "
"[Brookner's] subject is the best one: the definition of human nature.... In Brookner's hands, in her descriptions so vivid and exact, it can be exhilarating." --"The Independent "(London)
"Brookner ... can't write a paragraph that doesn't engage your mind or tug at your heart.... Lovely." --"San Francisco Chronicle "
"Characteristically Brooknerian: at once tense and highly controlled, and distinctly comic." --"The Boston Globe "
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"Anita Brookner, the most intelligent of observers, a Barbra Pym with sinew, brings such refined intellect, candor and irony to her intense tales of small lives that once you read her work and grasp her intent, she becomes a valued constant." --"The Irish Times "
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"There's something undeniably fascinating about [Brookner's] protagonists." --"Los Angeles Times "
"Shares keen insights on the emotional toll of a painful past." --"Entertainment Weekly "
"In the hands of a lesser novelist, [Brookner's] stories of human frailty would be depressing, but she manages to make them sparkle with life--and always with hope.... Absorbing." --"The Sunday Telegraph "(London)
"Marvelously atmospheric." --"Vogue"
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"[Brookner's] technique as a novelist is so sure and so quietly commanding that we forget the essential artifice, and as soon as we meet the inhabitants of her rooms we start to advise them on redecoration; to psychoanalyze them; to fantasize about introducing them to other Brookner characters, whom surely they have narrowly avoided bumping into at the Wallace Collection or the Royal Academy." --"The Guardian "(London)
"An elegant, heartfelt novel--seldom have the afflictions of old age had such an astute chronicler." --"Tatler "
"Every sentence that falls from Brookner's pen is beautifully curated and carefully weighted.... Handsomely, sighingly sad, ["Strangers"] is tackled with beauty and aplomb, resulting in a tender elegy of lament. --"The Scotsman "
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"With clarity and an elegant simplicity, Brookner exposes Paul's deepest yearnings and longings.... Intricate and nuanced, "Strangers "is about aging, loneliness, and acknowledging the past as Paul's fragility and silent tenacity are slowly exposed." --Curled Up With a Good Book
"A story about empowerment in making life choices, a lesson in breaking away from old habits to find the spirit that drives you and makes life worthwhile.... Extraordinary in how thoughtful it is and how truthful it feels.... "Strangers "flows with an easy formality that is a joy to experience in and of itself." --"Bookreporter "

Book Description:

The story of an ordinary man whose unexpected longings, doubts, and fears are universal ...

About this edition

• Publisher: Fig Tree
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 1905490429
• ISBN 13: 9781905490424
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 208