
Michel Faber (born 13 April 1960) is a Dutch writer of English-language fiction. Faber was born in The Hague, The Netherlands. He and his parents emigrated to Australia in 1967. He attended primary and secondary school in the Melbourne suburbs of Boronia and Bayswater, then attended the University of Melbourne, studying Dutch, philosophy, rhetoric, English language (a course involving translation and criticism of Anglo-Saxon and Middle English texts) and English literature. He graduated in 1980. He worked as a cleaner and at various other casual jobs, before training as a nurse at Marrickville and Western Suburbs hospitals in Sydney. He nursed until the mid-1990s. In 1993 he, his second wife and family emigrated to Scotland, where they still reside.
Peter Leigh, pastor crestin, este trimis intr-o calatorie extraordinara, o misiune umanitara neobisnuita in spatiul extraterestru, care il va purta la ani-lumina de sotia sa, Beatrice. Pe masura ce Peter se implica tot mai mult in propovaduirea invataturilor Bibliei, pe care noii sai enoriasi o numesc Cartea Lucrurilor Noi si Ciudate, de acasa vin vesti taifunuri si cutremure devasteaza tari intregi, guvernele se destrama unul dupa altul, iar credinta lui Beatrice incepe sa se clatine. Romanul lui Michel Faber este o meditatie profunda asupra credintei, a iubirii incercate dincolo de limite si a responsabilitatii noastre fata de cei apropiati. „Portretul unor personaje care traiesc si vibreaza sub ochii nostri si a caror relatie se erodeaza la distanta. Absolut fascinanta.“ - David Mitchell „De mult n-am mai fost atat de constant si de autentic surprins de vreo carte. Mi se pare profund verosimila si convingatoare si o admir enorm.“ - Philip Pullman „Cartea Lucrurilor Noi si Ciudate pune, in esenta, o singura pe cine – sau ce – iubesti si ce esti sau nu esti dispus sa faci pentru iubire. Rezultatul e un roman minunat si uluitor.“ - Yann Martel
Sugar, 19, prostitute in Victorian London, yearns for a better life. From brutal brothel-keeper Mrs Castaway, she ascends in society. Affections of self-involved perfume magnate William Rackham soon smells like love. Her social rise attracts preening socialites, drunken journalists, untrustworthy servants, vile guttersnipes, and whores of all kinds.
Isserley picks up hitchhikers with big muscles. She, herself, is tiny—like a kid peering up over the steering wheel. She has a remarkable face and wears the thickest corrective lenses anyone has ever seen. Her posture is suggestive of some spinal problem. Her breasts are perfect; perhaps implants. She is strangely erotic yet somehow grotesque, vulnerable yet threatening. Her hitchhikers are a mixed bunch of men—trailer trash and travelling postgrads, thugs and philosophers. But Isserley is only interested in whether they have families and whether they have muscles. Then, it's only a question of how long she can endure her pain—physical and spiritual—and their conversation. Michel Faber's work has been described as a combination of Roald Dahl and Franz Kafka, as Somerset Maugham shacking up with Ian McEwan. At once humane and horrifying, Under the Skin takes us on a heart-thumping ride through dangerous territory—our own moral instincts and the boundaries of compassion.
A stunning modern-day Dickensian fable and a celebration of friendship and bravery for freethinkers everywhere.It all starts on the morning the letter D disappears from language. First, it vanishes from Dhikilo’s parents’ conversation at breakfast, then from the road signs outside and from her school dinners. Soon the local dentist and the neighbor’s dalmatian are missing, and even the Donkey Derby has been called off.Though she doesn’t know why, Dhikilo is summoned to the home of her old history teacher Professor Dodderfield and his faithful Labrador, Nelly Robinson. And this is where our story begins.Set between England and the wintry land of Liminus, a world enslaved by the monstrous Gamp and populated by fearsome, enchanting creatures, D (A Tale of Two Worlds) is told with simple beauty and warmth. Its celebration of moral courage and freethinking is a powerful reminder of our human capacity for strength, hope and justice.
Enjoy more Sugar. Join Clara at the rat pit. Relax with Mr Bodley as he is lulled to sleep by Mrs Tremain and her girls. Find out what became of Sophie.Michel Faber revisits the world of his bestselling novel The Crimson Petal and the White, conjuring tantalising glimpses of its characters, their lives before we first met them and their intriguing futures. You'll be desperate for more by the time you reluctantly re-emerge into the twenty-first century.
Theo Griepenkerl is a modest academic with an Olympian ego. When he visits a looted museum in Iraq, looking for treasures he can ship back to Canada, he finds nine papyrus scrolls that have lain hidden for two thousand years. Once translated from Aramaic, these prove to be a fifth Gospel, written by an eye-witness of Jesus Christ's last days. But when Theo decides to share this sensational discovery with the world, he fails to imagine the impact the new Gospel will have on Christians, Arabs, homicidal maniacs and Amazon customers. Like Prometheus's gift of fire, it has incendiary consequences.The Fire Gospel is an enthralling novel about the power of words to resonate across centuries, and inspire and disrupt in equal measure. Wickedly provocative, hilarious and shocking by turns, it is a revelatory piece of storytelling. "From the Hardcover edition."
Sian, tired of nightmares in which she meets a grisly end, decides she needs to get out more, so she joins an archaeological dig at Whitby Abbey. What she finds is a mystery involving a long-hidden murder, a man with big hands, a fragile manuscript in a bottle, and a rather attractive dog called Hadrian. Faber's dazzling novella takes us up the 199 steps in Whitby that link the 21st century with the ruins of the past. Equal and indissoluble parts thriller, romance, historical/ghost story and meditation on the nature of sincerity, this is an ingenious literary page-turner. Atmospheric photographs complement the text beautifully. This book, like Henry James's The Turn of the Screw, deploys a masterful sense of ambiguity, outstanding narrative power, works on many levels and, as always with Faber's writing, is elegant, thought-provoking, distinctive and compelling.
One of the most original and daring writers in English letters, Michel Faber shows his incredible mastery of wildly diverse literary forms with this, his long-awaited second collection of stories. Faber’ s characters in these 17 fictions are often dislocated— fragile beings confronting moments of fracture— in worlds that are both real and surreal. From the achingly sad lives of “ The Safehouse” to the moments of exquisite happiness in “ Vanilla-right Like Eminem” to the futuristic savagery of “ The Fahrenheit Twins,” these are fearless stories that crack our humanity wide open. With his brilliant characterization and pitch-perfect prose, Michel Faber has produced a short story collection that will seal his reputation as one of our most arresting and gifted writers.
Michel Faber's short stories are markedly diverse-the voice of each is so distinct that the book reads like an anthology of different writers. But Faber's radically inventive style fastens all fifteen stories into a compelling collection deserving of the high praise it garnered in the United Kingdom. One surreal story, "Fish," projects a futuristic world populated with fish swimming in the air. As sharks hover in abandoned corners and human zealots of the Church of the Armageddon loose their fanaticism on the innocent, it's a mother's full-time job to protect her young daughter. The title story, " Some Rain Must Fall, " tells of a substitute schoolteacher called on in a crisis, and as she encourages her pupils to express their feelings, we learn the source of the class's a devastating act that resonates with contemporary America. As Garth Morris wrote in the Mail on Sunday (London), "these are well-crafted pieces of quiet forlorn intensity in a very real world."
How can you say goodbye to the love of your life?In Undying Michel Faber honours the memory of his wife, who died after a six-year battle with cancer. Bright, tragic, candid and true, these poems are an exceptional chronicle of what it means to find the love of your life. And what it is like to have to say goodbye.All I can do, in what remains of my brief time,is mention, to whoever cares to listen,that a woman once existed, who was kindand beautiful and brave, and I will not forgethow the world was altered, beyond recognition,when we met.
With his elegant prose, distinctive imagination, and deep empathy, the bestselling author of The Crimson Petal and the White once again dazzles us in three novellas. "The Courage Consort" tells of an a capella vocal ensemble sequestered in a Belgian chateau to rehearse a monstrously complicated new piece. But competing artistic temperaments and sexual needs create as much discordance as the avant garde music. In "The Hundred and Ninety-Nine Steps," a lonely woman joins an archaeological dig at Whitby Abbey and unearths a mystery involving a long-hidden murder. In "The Fahrenheit Twins," strange children, identical in all but gender and left alone at the icy zenith of the world by their anthropologist parents, create their own ritual civilization.In each of these novellas, Michel Faber creates a unique, self-contained world, where the perennial human drama plays out in all its passion and ambiguity.
"I'm not here to change your mind about Dusty Springfield or Shostakovich or Tupac Shakur or synthpop. I'm here to change your mind about your mind." There are countless books on music with much analysis given to musicians, bands, eras and/or genres. But rarely does a book delve into what's going on inside us when we listen.Michel Faber explores two big how do we listen to music and why do we listen to music? To answer these questions, he considers a range of factors, which includes age, illness, the notion of "cool," commerce, the dichotomy between "good" and "bad" taste and much more. From the award-winning author of The Crimson Petal and the White and Under the Skin, this idiosyncratic and philosophical book reflects Michel Faber's lifelong obsession with music of all kinds. Listen will change your relationship with the heard world.
M ichel Faber is not only a master storyteller but a daring innovator as well. Here are the pitch-perfect prose, indelible characterizations, and deep empathy for which he has been highly acclaimed. Here also is a satirical streak that depicts individuals at uncanny and all-too-familiar turning points in their lives. The alienated find sanctuary in ÒThe Safehouse,Ó their histories and diagnoses written like endless ads on their T-shirts. In ÒAndy Comes Back,Ó a man awakens after a five-year coma, only to flee his home. In ÒThe Eyes of the Soul,Ó perpetual televised beauty replaces the derelict view from a suburban picture window. In ÒFinesse,Ó a dictator holds his surgeon’s family hostage to the outcome of a risky operation. These sixteen stories move from unspeakable sadness through moments of exquisitely distilled happiness.
The Courage Consort, possibly the seventh best-known a cappella vocal ensemble in Britain, are given two weeks in a Belgian chateau to rehearse their latest commission, the monstrously complicated Partitum Mutante. But can the piece be performed? Does it matter that its composer is a maniac best known for attacking his wife with a stiletto shoe at the baggage reclaim of Milan airport? Can the five members of the Consort endure their own sexual tensions and wildly differing temperaments? And what is the inhuman voice that calls out to them from the woods at night? The esoteric world of avant-garde classical music is the unlikely setting for a story of rare power - perhaps the most moving Michel Faber has yet written.
Sian, troubled by dark dreams and seeking distraction, joins an archaeological dig at Whitby Abbey. The abbey's one hundred and ninety-nine steps link the twenty-first century with the ruins of the past and Sian is swept into a mystery involving a long-hidden murder, a fragile manuscript in a bottle and a cast of most peculiar characters. Equal parts historical thriller, romance and ghost story, this is an ingenious literary page-turner and is completely unforgettable. THIS EDITION ALSO FEATURES MICHEL FABER'S NOVELLA THE COURAGE CONSORT
Plusieurs mois ont passé depuis le jour où William Rackham a franchi la porte de la chambre de Sugar. Il délaisse un peu sa maîtresse, qui s'est mis en tête de l'espionner pour mieux connaître sa vie. Elle fait ainsi la connaissance d'Agnes, la femme neurasthénique de William qui la prend pour son ange gardien..."Ah, la concubine! Tu te crois bénie par la chance, hein?""Au-delà d'un sens inouï du romanesque, Michel Faber ne tombe à aucun moment dans l'académisme ou le pastiche. S'il ne nie pas les classiques, il a la modernité dans la peau."Lire
Dans les bas-fonds de Londres, à la fin du XIXe siècle, les hommes ne jurent que par Sugar, une prostituée sulfureuse et cultivée. William Rackham, riche héritier, en tombe éperdument amoureux et décide de l'entretenir. Sugar est sauvée de la misère, et bien décidée à ne plus y retourner. Mais face à la médiocrité d'une petite-bourgeoisie moralisante, parviendront-ils à braver les interdits? «Oui, il a décidé elle est la plus belle chose qu'il ait jamais vue.» «La Rose pourpre et le Lys est une magistrale bacchanale, un roman qui réinvente le XIXe siècle avec les mots du XXIe, à la proue de la nouvelle garde de la littérature britannique.» L'Express
Sbírka pěti žánrově i tematicky různorodých povídek významného anglofonního autora.Původní soubor pěti nových i starších nevydaných povídek, sestavený pro české vydání péčí Městské knihovny v Praze, představuje pestrý žánrový průřez povídkovou tvorbou Michela Fabera. Titulní povídka vypráví o ženě, která chce účelovým sňatkem uniknout z postkomunistické reality východního bloku. Ve druhé se autor vydal ještě dále na východ a zužitkoval své zážitky z návštěvy Číny v roce 2011. Dále tu čtenář najde povídku s fantaskní, téměř hororovou zápletkou, svérázné zamyšlení nad sledováním lidí pomocí záznamové techniky a v závěru osobitě pojatou erotickou povídku.
Kiedy w 2002 roku Michel Faber wydal Szkarlatny platek i bialy obszerna powiesc nasladujaca dziela wiktorianskie - czytelnicy i krytycy literaccy wpadli w zachwyt. Ksiazka blyskawicznie stala sie bestsellerem na calym swiecie, równiez w Polsce przez wiele tygodni utrzymywala sie na listach najchetniej kupowanych tytulów. Autor otrzymal setki goracych prósb o kontynuacje opowiesci. Jablko jest jego odpowiedzia na te prosby. W Szkarlatnym platku Faber skoncentrowal sie na losach atrakcyjnej ulicznicy Sugar oraz jej zwiazku z Williamem Rackhamem nieudolnym spadkobierca rodzinnej fabryki perfum. Jablko to zbiór siedmiu opowiadan, w których glówne role graja bohaterowie pojawiajacy sie w powiesci. Poznajemy dalsze historie prostytutek z domu pani Castaway, obserwujemy poczynania Rackhama w drugim malzenstwie, dowiadujemy sie wiecej o Sugar. Podobnie jak Szkarlatny platek, opowiadania napisane sa jezykiem zywym, pelnym aluzji literackich, skrza sie inteligentnym poczuciem humoru i oczarowuja znakomicie zarysowanym tlem historycznym. Kazda z opowiesci jest jednoczesnie osobnym tekstem, sprawiajacym przyjemnosc równiez tym, którzy Szkarlatnego platka nie znaja.
Testo originale a fronte.I racconti di Natale in Silver Street, uno dei quali, Una torma di donne dai cappelli enormi, in marcia, qui proponiamo, hanno una storia abbastanza curiosa: narrano episodi tutti riferibili al Petalo cremisi e il bianco, con gli stessi personaggi del romanzo, ma in tempi o precedenti o successivi rispetto all’arco temporale della storia.E un altro dato curioso è che il libro è uscito in prima mondiale in italiano (2005), e solo l’anno dopo in inglese, col titolo The apple.L’io narrante di Una torma… è il figlio di Sophie, a sua volta figlia di William Rackham, il piuttosto bieco amante della prostituta Sugar: una storia d’amore che è appunto al centro del romanzo.Ormai novantenne, l’uomo rievoca un episodio della sua infanzia, risalente al 1908, quando la madre, suffragetta e bisessuale, conduceva a Londra un allegro ménage col marito pittore e la bella amica Primrose.Durante una grande manifestazione per il voto alle donne, Sophie improvvisamente prende una carrozza pubblica e trascina il figlio in un lontano quartiere alla ricerca di una casa che per lei significa evidentemente qualcosa, di cui il bambino è totalmente all’oscuro.L’indagine dura qualche tempo, finché il figlio, stanchissimo, chiede con insistenza alla madre di tornare a casa; e i due torneranno infine su un fiammante taxi a motore, passato di lì per caso.Chi si aspettasse da questo racconto una risposta anche parziale ai molti interrogativi lasciati aperti dal romanzo, rimarrebbe certamente deluso.Ma sarebbe invece pienamente soddisfatto chiunque avesse voglia di abbandonarsi alla straordinaria capacità di finzione di Faber, che fa nascere il suo io narrante lo stesso giorno della morte della regina Vittoria, e che quindi allo scenario vittoriano del Petalo fa seguire con fedeltà iperrealistica quello edoardiano del racconto, facendo vivere come in diretta ambienti, personaggi e situazioni di un secolo fa.“Il giorno della marcia… Vi dirò, è un po’ come per le Olimpiadi del 1948. Provi un enorme senso di responsabilità a ricordare tutto fin nei minimi particolari, perché eri presente, e quello era un momento chiave nella Storia. Ma, per me, la marcia è stata solo uno dei tanti momenti chiave nella storia della nostra famiglia… nella storia di me e mia madre.”“The day of the march… You know, it’s a bit like the 1948 Olympics. One feels a tremendous responsibility to recall everything in detail, because one was there, and it was a key moment in History. But for me, themarch was only one of many key moments in the history of our family – in the history of my mother and me.”
Since his first published collection of short stories nearly two decades ago, Michel Faber has written with unrivaled honesty and tireless imagination. Though he has had a number of editors over the years, the primary editor of all his work, until now, has been Michel's wife, Eva. It was she who encouraged him to continually commit his talents to writing fiction, and gave him feedback and insight on his daily progress. Anyone who has Michel's fiction owes her a lot. It is now a year since Eva died. This volume of poems is a small memorial to her life and a companion piece to the final novel that she lived to see Michel complete, The Book of Strange New Things. It is a novel that asks whether and how love can survive distance. These poems are a kind of answer.500 copies of this limited edition have been published.
Michel Faber (Under the Skin) stuurt ons vanuit Schotland een nieuw gedicht dat hij speciaal voor #VIRALEN geschreven heeft. Verder bieden we onze lezers korte verhalen van Annelies Verbeke en Thomas Heerma van Voss, aanstekelijke poëzie van Jens Meijen en Dimitri Verhulst en een reportage van Jaap Robben vanuit Duitsland over de bevrijding door de ogen van een 96-jarige Wehrmacht soldaat.
Eine aufschlussreiche und wunderbar humorvolle Erkundung darüber, wie und warum wir Musik hören, vom preisgekrönten britischen Bestsellerautor Michel Faber»Dieses Buch will dir nicht das vermitteln, was dir andere Musikbücher vermitteln. Es wird dir nicht dabei helfen, mit deinen Lieblingskünstler*innen und -genres eine noch tiefere Beziehung einzugehen […] Dafür wirst du aber vielleicht besser verstehen, warum du liebst, was du liebst – und eine plausible Erklärung dafür bekommen, dass du andere Musik aus ganzem Herzen hasst.«Es gibt unzählige Bücher uber Musik, in denen Musiker*innen, Bands, Epochen und Genres ausfuhrlich analysiert werden. Aber selten beschaftigt sich ein Buch damit, was in uns vorgeht, wenn wir Musik hören. Michel Faber erforscht zwei große wie wir Musik hören und warum wir Musik hören. Um diese Fragen zu erörtern, berücksichtigt er Themen wie Biologie, Alter, Krankheiten, »Coolness«, kommerzielle Hintergrunde, die Dichotomie zwischen »gutem« und »schlechtem« Geschmack und findet durch Interviews mit Musikerinnen und Musikern allerhand überraschende Antworten.Dieses erhellende Buch des preisgekrönten Romanautors spiegelt Michel Fabers lebenslange Besessenheit für Musik jeglicher Art wider. Hör zu! wird Ihre Beziehung zur gehörten Welt verändern.
I en bulet rød Toyota kører Isserly omkring i det skotske højland på udkig efter velproportionerede hankønsvæsner.Der er noget bizart og dybt foruroligende på færde i denne Michel Fabers debutroman. Hvem er denne kvinde, Isserly, med ben som en attenårig og hænder som var hun fyrre? Hvorfor har hun store ar i ansigtet og så enormt tykke brilleglas? Hvad er det med dem, der arbejder på nabogården? Hvorfor er de alle bange for denne Amlis Wess?Inderst inde - du har aldrig læst noget lignende!
Ter gelegenheid van de jaarwisseling 2003-2004 voor vrienden en relaties van Uitgeverij Podium. Oplage 500 genummerde exemplaren.
by Michel Faber
Michel Faber Collection 2 Books Bundle With Gift Journal includes titles in this collection :- The Book of Strange New Things, Under The Skin. Description:- Under The Skin Isserley spends most of her time driving. But why is she so interested in picking up hitchhikers? And why are they always male, well-built and alone? The Book of Strange New Things Peter Leigh is a missionary called to go on the journey of a lifetime. Leaving behind his beloved wife, Bea, Peter sets out on a quest to take the word of God to the farthest corners of the galaxy. His mission will challenge everything - his faith, his endurance and the love that can hold two people together, even when they are worlds apart.