Andrew Crumey Bücher

Gleich drei fesselnde Geschichten verbindet Andrew Crumeys verschachtelte Collage aus Geschichte, Philosophie und Farce. Dem Ratschlag seiner den Büchern abgeneigten Haushälterin folgend, wendet sich der 86-jährige Mr. Mee, schrulliger Privatgelehrter, dem alles Geschlechtliche und Technische fremd ist, dem Internet zu. Er ist auf der Suche nach Rosiers Enzyklopädie, einem verschollenen Buch, das die Philosophie eines alternativen Universums vorschlägt. Verblüfft stößt Mr. Mee auf eine Bildschirmnackte, die das gesuchte Buch liest. Die Haushälterin verlässt ihn, dafür gewinnt der Wissensfreund die junge Biologin Catriona zu Hilfe, die viel von Computern, Pasta und stimulierender Massage versteht. Gerissener ist der in seine Studentin Luisa verliebte Literaturdozent Petrie. Der Spezialist für Rousseau und Proust und spürt zwei historischen Figuren namens Ferrand und Minard nach. Die dritte Geschichte führt ins Frankreich des 18. Jahrhunderts, wo die zwei Kopisten in den Besitz von Rosiers Enzyklopädie gelangen und mit ebenso viel Eifer wie Einfalt einen seltsamen Mord aufzuklären versuchen, der sie in die Umgebung Rousseaus bringt, wo sie für Spitzel gehalten werden.

Vor zweihundert Jahren versuchte ein Prinz, auf ganz ausgefallene Weise Unsterblichkeit zu erlangen. Er schlug keine siegreichen Schlachten, sondern beauftragte Architekten, Kartographen, Philologen und andere Spezialisten, eine imaginäre perfekte Stadt zu entwerfen, die aus einem Museum und einer Bibliothek bestehen sollte, in der das gesamte Wissen der Menschheit vereinigt sei. Ein schwieriges Unterfangen. Die Schöpfer der Stadt verlieren sich in ihrem eigenen Werk, können Realität und Fiktion nicht mehr auseinander halten. Auch der Leser wird in das Verwirrspiel hineingezogen und muß am Ende die Aufdeckung eines grausigen Geheimnisses miterleben.

"A wonderfully diverting and stimulating entertainment. Cunningly structured and as satisfying as an intricate piece of clockwork, it plays with narrative, revels in ideas and succeeds in being both fey and sharp, detached and compassionate. At a time when fiction gives all to the tired virtual realities of sex and violence, internets, Agas and middle-class Angst, it is a brilliant reminder of the power of the imagination to surprise, delight and open windows." David Coward in The Times Literary Supplement "Crumey does produce excellent post-modernist novels, each as concentric and cunning as the others. This is a triptych starting with D'Alembert penning his imagined memoirs. The literary equivalent of an Escher, the story has no identifiable end or beginning. Clever, entertaining, engaging"

Andrew Crumey's novels are renowned for their unique blend of science, history, philosophy and humour. Now he brings the same insight and originality to this story cycle whose title offers an ironic twist on the ancient doctrine of connectedness, the great chain of being. Here we find a blind man contemplating the light of an atom bomb, a musician disturbed by a conspiracy of radio waves, a visitor to Moscow caught up in a comic case of mistaken identity, a woman on a Greek island trying to become a different person. We range across time, from the Renaissance to a globally-warmed future, across light-years in search of hallucinogenic space-plankton, and into magical worlds of talking insects and bottled fire. Fans of Crumey's acclaimed novels will occasionally spot hints of themes and figures that have recurred throughout his fiction; readers new to his work will delight in finding subtle links within the pieces. Are they all part of some larger untold story? We have nothing to lose but the chains of our imagination: what lies beyond is a great change of being.

"First published in 2004 by Picador"--Title page verso.

Intertwining music, history, politics, and philosophy, this multi-layered classic unfolds over fifty years, presenting a gripping intellectual mystery. The author, acclaimed for six previous novels translated into 13 languages, delivers a thought-provoking narrative that promises to engage readers on multiple levels.

A bold and exuberant tale of childhood, space travel and telepathyRobbie Coyle is an imaginative kid. He wants so badly to become Scotland's first cosmonaut that he tries to teach himself Russian and trains for space exploration in the cupboard under the sink. But the place to which his fantasies later take him is far from the safety of his suburban childhood. In a communist state, in a closed, bleak town, the mysterious Red Star heralds his discovery of cruelty and of love, and the possibility that the most passionate of dreams may only be a chimera . . . 'Sputnik Caledonia should leave you breathless with admiration. A quantum leap forward for the Scottish novel' Scotland on Sunday 'A brio of a book . . . One for the boys, big and little - and for those of us who wonder just what does go on inside a boy's head' Spectator 'Andrew Crumey has fused a thrilling personal narrative with quantum mechanics in a way that somehow looks easy . . . Never has astrophysics seemed so touching and funny' Daily Telegraph 'There are echoes here of Alasdair Gray's Lanark; echoes of Jonathan Coe's What a Carve Up! . . . A real haunting triumph' Observer