Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
NYRB Classics (2016), 224 pages
Description
"Back is the story of Charlie Summer, who is back from the war and a POW camp having lost the woman he loved, Rose, to illness before he left and his leg to fighting. In other words, Charlie has very little to come back to, only memories, and on top of that he has been deeply traumatized by his experience of war. Rose's father introduces him to another young woman, Nancy, and Charlie becomes convinced that she is in fact Rose and pursues her. Back is at once a Shakespearean comedy of mistaken identities, a voyage into the world of madness, and a celebration of the improbable healing powers of love"--
User reviews
LibraryThing member motleystu
Wonderful, strange, innovative book. The last page is one of the most affecting things I've read for a long time. How did people survive surviving a war for existence itself? i know that 50s britain was a bit buttoned-up, but my God, how did people get through the 40s even remotely mentally intact?
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makes me want to watch that ken loach (is it?) film about the founding of the NHS. gravity's rainbow seems to me another novel that captures the non-russian/non-german experience of living under such assault. Show Less
LibraryThing member barringer
In this tender, true, beautifully written book, people try to free themselves from their memories and get back to living. Charley, just back from a German prison camp and a war that took one of his legs, must now come to terms with the death of his lover, who died while he was in prison.
Never
Never
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sentimental and sometimes comic, this book was remarkably good. Show Less
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1946
Physical description
224 p.; 8 inches
ISBN
1681370107 / 9781681370101