If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things

by Jon McGregor

Book Overview

In this Booker Prize-nominated "dream of a novel," ordinary middle-class lives converge and collide one summer day in England (The Times).

In delicate, intricately observed close-up, this novel makes us privy to the private lives of residents of a quiet street over the course of a single day.

If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things explores the hopes, fears, and unspoken despairs of a diverse community: a single father...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0618344586
• ISBN13: 9780618344581
• Release Date: November 2003
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Length: 275 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.4"
• Age Range: 14 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 9 and higher

Customer Reviews

Remarkable

right from the begining, the text is more poem then prose. this is a really well written book, and it draws you right in from the begining - a description of the "song of the city" that you can hear if you just listen to the little sounds going on. very entrancing. in general, there is great attention to detail, which makes one feel as if they are part of the book, the plot, as if on IS the character described. an extraordinary look at how an ordinary day can cary so many remarkable moments. very beautiful.

If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things

Written in a very unique style, poetry even, the story revolves around the lives of people living in the same community, alternating between characters and personalities, thoughts and emotions. Although, many of the characters remain nameless and only receive descriptions as their identifying qualities, it only adds to the immense feel and power of the writing. It is so interesting getting to know each individual character, especially the one who collects things, takes pictures. At times, it is hard to know when events are occuring, and this can become confusing; but it doesn't take anything away. And even though the entire premise is about everyday happenings and feelings, the writing never becomes tired or boring, even up to the end. There isn't much I can say about the book; I don't have the right words. Just read it. Extremely beautiful and insightful tale of life. Wonderful writing.

Remarkable

When I, a nonwriter, read a book, one of the mental games I play is to ask myself if I would be proud to have written it. The answer with this book is that no one but Jon McGregor could have written this spectacular work. It feels more like poetry than prose, more like dream than reality. McGregor's characters have no names. They are like neighbors that you see in passing and may remember something about, some more than others, but never really know. While the Remarkable Thing referred to in the title at first appears to be an accident witnessed by these characters, it soon becomes apparent that there are many things of which nobody speaks--love, death, fear, grief. This failure to tell the things that matter to the people that matter leaves everyone bereft. Only at the end does the protagonist start to speak and to listen, and the book ends on a note of hope. McGregor uses repetitive thems in his imagery, including fire and water, birds, mirrors, and the mirror images that are twins. In particular, he focuses on the twins to represent continuity and hope. There are scenes that have the surreal feeling of dreamscapes--flowers growing in a burned-out townhouse, people racing down the street in office chairs. This is a book to read for the sheer joy of the language, the structure, and the poetry. It is truly a remarkable thing.

Remarkable indeed!

This amazing, beautifully crafted first novel chronicles one day in the life of a British neighborhood, interspersed with segments that flash forward in the life of one of its residents. McGregor builds a complex portrait out of details, and it wasn't until I finished reading that I realized we never learn most of their names! One of my favorite books of 2003.

A Master of Observation, A Gem Of A Book

What a simple, beautiful book. The most unique aspect of this story is the split narrative the author uses. The bulk of the book is spent in various flats on a suburban street in London. Over the course of one day we're let into the minds of the various tenents, their hopes, their fears, and their desires, as the narrative steams like a freight train to a tragedy that we know has happened at the start of the book, but don't know what it is until the end. The other narrative is told first person by a girl who was living there when the tragic event occurs, and the action shifts focus between past and present. It's interesting to read that some of the other reviewers read the book in one sitting or close to it, because that's essentially what I did as well. The book demands a certain amount of attention from the reader because the author has dispensed with names and obvious physical discriptions for characters unless it holds relevence to what's going on with them emotionally.Consequently characters are referred to as: 'The young man in room 18'. or. 'the boy in room 17', but surprisingly this device only adds to the potency of the writing and made for me a more moving reading experience.