The Calligrapher

by Edward Docx

Book Overview

This beguiling novel is a provocative romantic comedy centered on a young London calligrapher named Jasper, who is an engaging, intelligent serial seducer and a breaker of hearts. But when he meets... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0618343970
• ISBN13: 9780618343973
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Length: 360 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

"diabolically satisfying"

This is one of the most cleverly written books of the last decade. The jaded reader may disparage this novel as "lad lit" in all its vainglory. Thankfully, Edward Docx weaves a remarkably funny tale of a rougue, learning his lessons the hard way, with the love sonnets of John Donne. The most brilliant aspect is exposing the modern reader to Donne's humorous and often, odd exposition of Love. It was a pleasure to read Donne again in this context. I couldn't agree more with the Publisher's Weekly review.

This guy can write!

Sometimes when I finish a book that has been particularly engrossing and rewarding, I feel a deep void. I don't want it to end, ever. I could roll along, lost in the wit and harmony of the writing, the plot, the thinking going on. The Calligrapher was just such a book: witty, elegant in its description of the thoughtful outsider who poses as a trendy insider, archaic yet modern, the man/woman obsessed with sex who falls in love, the ambiguity of love, sex, the possibility of a developing relationship. I keep thinking about the characters. I laughed, sometimes out loud, I empathized, I felt a kindred soul in the mix even though I'm a female. Jasper, a man, was the narrator but I connected--I like to cook, choose fine wines, look at great art, travel, enjoy my friends, and learn about life, too--and it's all much more fun when infused with good company and great sex. John Donne knew all about these things and wrote about them, eloquently. But life is a puzzle. So is Donne's poetry. And The Calligrapher falls right in line. Things haven't changed much in the intervening centuries. The basics are still the same and able to turn, upside-down, inside-out, on a dime, depending on the perspective. A page turner, The Calligrapher is extremely well written with very funny observations about the way we live today and think about love, art and relationships. I was reminded of Nick Hornsby--the writing was quick, irreverent, sociological in its focus on one quirky individual. So much of the time, the world does seem totally run by our perceptions of who and what are sexy. And such superficiality (or are these reallly deep, necessary feelings?)can often get turned inside out in a hurry. Great reflection, indeed illustration, of the multiple levels of Donne's insights, poetry and the complexity of life itself. I loved this book. Docx can write! I can't wait for more.

Jasper Is Quite a Character

There is no secret here: fundamentally, this book is a Master's thesis on John Donne disguised as a novel. As we read the Songs & Sonnets that head each chapter (and are often interspersed) and we listen to Jasper's speech in the final chapter we fully realize this--something we should have known all along. Still, it's a very good disguise.What ultimately makes this novel so successful is the character of Jasper, through whom we see the story unfold. He is the calligrapher of the title, a man currently making his living copying out a selection of Donne's poetry for a rich patron to give as a gift to his girlfriend. He is also an incredibly smooth womanizer whose thoughts on the subject of how to deal with women are vivid and honest. Jasper is one of the most alive characters I have read in awhile.In my mind, Jasper is at his best in the opening chapters of the book when he is unrepentant in his dealings with women. However, he only loses a bit when he encounters Madeline and we realize love is going to change this man. And we realize where this story is ultimately going: payback. Jasper is going to learn lessons about his dissolute life the hard way. Still, Jasper is so engaging as he goes through his trials that I kept reading and didn't even have to stifle a groan as the "secrets" were revealed in the book's final chapters. And what serious reader would regret spending some time learning about calligraphy and John Donne in the process of being told such a story?Mr. Docx has written an excellent first novel and shown that he possesses the skills to become a major talent. If Jasper, Madeline, Lucy, Will and Jasper's grandmother are any indication, his ability to create character is better than most. I am interested to see who peoples his next creation.

My book of the year

I have read a handful of books that have made me literally laugh out loud on a packed train. This ranks amongst them but, unlike the others, this novel plucks the strings of so many other emotions.Docx has packed his first work with so much passion and feeling yet, somehow squeezed in there with his dark, intense description of the earnest seductor, is the most entertaining analysis of the male's perspective of the fairer sex: the real stuff. All this is interwoven with a beautiful introduction - to those who haven't met him already - to John Donne, a love ripped British poet.The story itself is compelling and moving. A must read and a great novel to discuss with your friends. Girls, learn the real REAL side of men.

a passionate, delightful exploration of writing and art

The conflict between the classic and the contemporary has long raged among literati; rarely is it resolved so eloquently as in "The Calligrapher", which combines the love poems of John Donne with Docx's modern characters and plot. Jasper, a present-day British calligrapher and womanizer, is transcribing Donne's poems for a client. His adventures with the women in his life, particularly his love affair with the beautiful and devastatingly casual Madeleine, parallel his work on the poems. Docx writes an absorbing plot, and the interplay between the narrative and the poems is well-constructed. However, the most enjoyable component of the books is Jasper's thoughts on love, poetry, calligraphy, and contemporary society. "The Calligrapher" is an intensely modern book: clearly turn-of-the-21st-century, post-9/11, post-Fight-Club. Docx is not afraid to tie his book to a particular cultural locale (in time, place, and class), and his references work marvelously well, making the book feel sassy, immediate, and shockingly intelligent.