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Amazon Best Books of the Month, July 2012: Disowned by his family due to an ill-advised kiss, Tristan Sadler enlists in the English army, hoping to prove himself on the battlefield but instead finding an unlikely lover. What begins as a slow-building World War I period piece (“Steady on, old chap”) grows deeper, more curious, and uneasy as it progresses--and midway through this sad and beautiful story, you realize you’re in the hands of a quiet master. Piling questions atop half-truths, John Boyne (The Boy in the Striped Pajamas) has crafted a taut and tragic tale of love and war, with a kick-in-the-gut ending. The scenes in the trenches--“beneath the ground like cadavers"--are horrifying. So is the macho intolerance and fear of anyone who dares question the moral imperative of the terrible war, the alleged cowards and so-called “feather men.” --Neal Thompson
Guest Review by John Irving
I became an admirer of John Boyne’s writing with his first novel, The Thief of Time.
His latest, The Absolutist, is a novel of immeasurable sadness, in a league with Graham Greene's The End of the Affair and a no less masterful handling of the first-person narrative voice than Michael Ondaatje's The Cat's Table.
Boyne is very, very good at portraying the destructive power of a painfully kept secret —not to mention the damage done by the self-recriminations (and other condemnations) that are released when that secret is revealed.
The Absolutist is one of those great stories that is not what it first seems, though what the story appears to be is a powerful enough premise to begin any novel: a young soldier, returning from World War One, is traveling from London to Norwich to deliver some letters to the grieving sister of a fallen comrade.
We presume that the worst of what has happened is what we already know or have imagined of those trenches in northern France. (Boyne is also very, very good at historical fiction; The Absolutist begins in September 1919.) But the young soldier, who is twenty-one, has something to confess; this is a forbidden love story, a gay love story, but one with a terrible twist.
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. The dazzling new novel from the bestselling author of The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas.September 1919- Twenty-year-old Tristan Sadler takes a train from London to Norwich to deliver a clutch of letters to Marian Bancroft. Tristan fought alongside Marian's brother Will during the Great War. They trained together. They fought together.But in 1917, Will laid down his guns on the battlefield and declared himself a conscientious objector, an act which has brought shame and dishonour on the Bancroft family.The letters, however, are not the real reason for Tristan's visit. He holds a secret deep within him. One that he is desperate to unburden himself of to Marian, if he can only find the courage. Whatever happens, this meeting will change his life - forever. September 1919: Twenty-year-old Tristan Sadler takes a train from London to Norwich to deliver a clutch of letters to Marian Bancroft. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9780552775403
Book Description Condition: New. pp. 432. Seller Inventory # 11241651
Book Description paperback. Condition: New. Language: ENG. Seller Inventory # 9780552775403
Book Description Soft Cover. Condition: new. Seller Inventory # 9780552775403
Book Description Condition: New. September 1919: Twenty-years-old Tristan Sadler takes a train from London to Norwich to deliver a clutch of letters to Marian Bancroft. The letters, however, are not the real reason for Tristan's visit. He holds a secret deep within him. Num Pages: 432 pages. BIC Classification: FA. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 143 x 198 x 30. Weight in Grams: 300. 2012. paperback. . . . . Books ship from the US and Ireland. Seller Inventory # 9780552775403
Book Description Paperback. Condition: New. BRAND NEW ** SUPER FAST SHIPPING FROM UK WAREHOUSE ** 30 DAY MONEY BACK GUARANTEE. Seller Inventory # 9780552775403-GDR
Book Description Condition: New. September 1919: Twenty-years-old Tristan Sadler takes a train from London to Norwich to deliver a clutch of letters to Marian Bancroft. The letters, however, are not the real reason for Tristan's visit. He holds a secret deep within him. Num Pages: 432 pages. BIC Classification: FA. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 143 x 198 x 30. Weight in Grams: 300. 2012. paperback. . . . . Seller Inventory # 9780552775403
Book Description Paperback. Condition: Brand New. 432 pages. 7.80x5.00x1.06 inches. In Stock. Seller Inventory # __0552775401
Book Description Paperback / softback. Condition: New. New copy - Usually dispatched within 4 working days. September 1919: Twenty-year-old Tristan Sadler takes a train from London to Norwich to deliver a clutch of letters to Marian Bancroft. Tristan fought alongside Marian's brother Will during the Great War. One that he is desperate to unburden himself of to Marian, if he can only find the courage. Seller Inventory # B9780552775403