Title : An Act of Love - James Meek - book
Summary :
1919. Siberia. At the end of an incredible landscape, along the Trans-Siberian Railway, a small town occupied by Czech soldiers awaits attack by the Bolsheviks. The entire town, strangely childless, belongs to a religious sect led by Balashov, the barber. Samarin arrives. He emerges from the forest and tells of escaping from a penal colony near the Arctic Circle and being pursued by a cannibal. Anna Petrovna, a seductive young widow, takes an interest in this newcomer. A local shaman is found dead, and suspicion, fear, and madness descend upon the town. The Czech captain, who wants to build a kingdom for himself in this frozen corner of the world, appoints a tribunal to judge Samarin and confronts Mutz, the lieutenant full of humanity and common sense. The Reds arrive. The underlying theme of the entire novel is found in the title. The four main characters agree that love exists; what they disagree on is what it can be. Balashov and Samarin believe that beyond individual love there is love of God and love of others, of the homeland, the origin of religious and political fanaticism. The act of loving others is literally an act of cannibalism. For Samarin, it is an act of love from one dying generation to the next, which should be happier. This way of seeing a cruel act as an act of love is the expression of all idealistic extremism. With characters of exceptional intensity and grandeur, all the charm of the great Russian novels is combined with the storytelling talent and liveliness of a modern thriller. A bestseller in Great Britain and the United States, this novel has been translated into 27 languages. The film adaptation rights were purchased by Johnny Depp (Infinitum films). “Spellbinding. [.] Truly a great book.” Irvine Welsh, The Guardian “The best and most original book I have read in years.” Louis de Bernières James Meek was born in London in 1962 and grew up in Dundee. A journalist and senior reporter since 1985, he lived in Russia from 1991 to 1999. He currently lives in London and contributes to the Guardian, the London Review of Books, and Granta. In 2004, his reporting on Iraq and Guantanamo received major international awards. He is the author of two other novels and short story collections.
EAN: 9782864246077
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