C

(Paperback)

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Description

The author of 'one of the great English novels of the past ten years' moves to the next level, with a novel of thrilling action, imagination and ambition. Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. C follows the short, intense life of Serge Carrefax, a man who - as his name suggests - surges into the electric modernity of the early twentieth century, transfixed by the technologies that will obliterate him. Born to the sound of one of the very earliest experimental wireless stations, Serge finds himself steeped in a weird world of transmissions, whose very air seems filled with cryptic and poetic signals of all kinds. What follows is a stunning tour de force in which the eerily idyllic settings of pre-war Europe give way to the exhilarating flight-paths of the frontline aeroplane radio operator, then the prison camps of Germany, the drug-fuelled London of the roaring twenties and, finally, the ancient tombs of Egypt. Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.

Reviews

C inserts itself, slyly yet confidently, into the history of modernism. This is a genuinely exciting and spookily beautiful book, a new kind of joy -- Neel Mukherjee * The Times *
McCarthy is fast revealing himself as a master craftsman who is steering the contemporary novel towards exciting territories * Observer *
Skilfully realised, ambitious -- Christopher Taylor * Guardian *
An intelligent, ambitious book... A beautiful, accessible novel with a thrilling tale. This is one of the most brilliant books to have hit the shelves this year and McCarthy deserves high praise for an electric piece of writing which should be enjoyed as well as discussed -- Beth Jones * Sunday Telegraph *
C is formidably well assembled, and it is admirable for an unashamed literary ambition -- Peter Carty * Independent on Sunday *

Author Bio

Tom McCarthy is the author of Tintin and the Secret of Literature and four internationally celebrated novels- Remainder, Men in Space, C, which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the Walter Scott Prize, and Satin Island, which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the Goldsmiths Prize. In 2013 McCarthy was awarded the inaugural Windham-Campbell Literature Prize by Yale University. His creation, in 1999, of the International Necronautical Society has led to installations and exhibitions in galleries and museums around the world, from Tate Britain and the ICA in London to The Drawing Center in New York.