We acknowledge and remind and warn you that they may, in fact, be entirely unrepresentative of the actual reviews by any other measure. The complete review 's Review:. Dining on Stones is yet another Iain Sinclair fiction rooted firmly and obviously in fact and autobiography.
Dining on stones, or, The middle ground - Iain Sinclair - Google Книги
The alter-ego narrator here is Andrew Norton -- himself doubled, as one of the main plot-lines to the extent that there's any plot in the book is that the real Norton finds that a fake Norton, sporting the same name and all, is publishing work based on his own research and experiences. The second Norton is like a shadow of the first, close but ungraspable; there's always, of course, also the suspicion that he's merely the face in the mirror that always looks just a bit like a stranger, the part of himself Norton isn't entirely comfortable with.
This novel is presented in three separate books, each with a faux-cover, author always Norton , title, and publisher printed on it. The publishers represent, out of order, three of Sinclair's own major stations. First is "Granita Books" -- i. Granta, where Sinclair made his real breakthrough, and who published many of his books. This first of the three books is titled: Estuary Lives , the Norton-equivalent of Sinclair's own Downriver -- though this book wasn't, in fact, first printed by Granta.
The second book is presented as published by Penguin imprint Hamish Hamilton, Sinclair's current publisher and the actual publishers of Dining on Stones , while the third is attributed to Albion Village Press, where much of Sinclair's early work appeared essentially self-published. In Dining on Stones Norton is not quite on the run, but he's unsettled.
I can't even tell you what the story was about I don't remember anything happening except the narrator wandering around talking about a book he wrote God awful I don't remember anything happening except the narrator wandering around talking about a book he wrote or didn't write or was about to write.
I have no idea what makes this a candidate for 1, Books to Read Before you Die. I suspect the person who nominated it is friends with the author. I gave this one up about halfway through. Apr 08, laut rated it did not like it Shelves: I mostly found myself skimming this book, rather than really paying proper attention to it.
It definitely seemed like yet another book on the list where the author was more interested in being clever than crafting an actually readable book. Not my thing at all.. May 17, Kate S rated it really liked it Shelves: This was a strange journey.
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But I found myself enjoying it and regretting having to put it down. Definitely more style than substance, but engaging nonetheless. I wish I knew more about the physical space London occupies and some of the history regarding this , but the ideas were understood regardless.
I registered a book at BookCrossing. Oct 04, Sharlene rated it it was ok.
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I'm not entirely sure what to make of it. It was interesting and the writing was pretty brilliant, but I just couldn't sustain the interest. Jun 29, Jonathan rated it liked it. It is forever associated for me with sharing a train compartment with three strangers, on the way to Stockholm from Ostersund.
I guess the book was okay. Nov 22, Duane Sobczak rated it did not like it. I guess this guy isn't my cup of tea. Pretty simple review actually. This book was a terrible disjointed mess. Aug 17, Roisin rated it liked it.
Dining on Stones
This book contains familiar themes involving a journey to the coast, which a writer takes in search of a package in the ownership of a woman, where music, the criminal underworld, dangerous places and hidden gems merge. Is the book that he trying to locate his writing or someone else's? You may join his journey, but might feel a bit disappointed. This book had some interesting journeys and places that may resonate, but not enough to keep the reader hooked in parts.
He has written better books. B This book contains familiar themes involving a journey to the coast, which a writer takes in search of a package in the ownership of a woman, where music, the criminal underworld, dangerous places and hidden gems merge.
Review: Fiction: Dining on Stones by Iain Sinclair
Best to start with something else by him, 'Lights Out For Territory' instead. Jan 16, Sashinka rated it it was ok Shelves: I didn't enjoy this. It rambled along without a clear plot, without full character development and with only place as it's holding point. Which I didn't enjoy as it kept jumping from one part of the east end to the other within a paragraph.
The East End isn't so small that you can get from Aldgate to Barking in 5 minutes. Not even on the tube, but certainly not on foot. Not something I'd recommend to others. Sep 13, Deanne rated it did not like it Shelves: When I started reading the book I recognised the building Sinclair talks about. I used to live in Hastings and walked past the apartment block which from the sea looks like a cruise liner.
- CLASSICAL SHEET MUSIC - A Little Night Music - Allegro - W.A. MOZART - Solo Piano (French Edition).
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- Certas Incertezas (Portuguese Edition).
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- Baltiques (French Edition)!
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However after this I rapidly grew bored, didn't really like any of the characters and was relieved when I read the last page. To live here for more than a few weeks is to be caught in a s time-trap where all the prejudices, loyalties, hatreds, myths and desires of immediate post-second world war England constantly recycle themselves. As sentiment and pastiche replace London's original identity to facilitate the appetites of heritage investors, it is to these museums of our deepest social history that Sinclair is drawn, his non-fiction and fiction offering an existential black-and-white version of Ackroyd's Technicolor or Ballard's glamorous geometries.
Where Ballard looks at the motorways as aesthetic markers of our group pathology, Sinclair peers under them, investigates the margins, wondering where the exits lead and who is buried in the founda tions. Ballard takes the fastest route to Super-Cannes and the middle-class nightmare; Sinclair checks out B-roads winding down to abandoned Butlin's holiday camps, undemolished tank-traps, Edwardian fun-palaces and concrete sea-forts.
He samples the pulp fiction, old movies, forgotten TV series which created lower-middle-class fantasies; treads forgotten promenades and bleak beaches psychically mined against foreign invasion. If you enjoyed London Orbital, Sinclair's last non-fiction, you'll find the transition seamless. It's fair to say that Sinclair is pretty free of plot, though not story.