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Ballardian re-enactments
Author: Tim Chapman • Dec 15th, 2005 •Category: Ballardosphere, medical procedure, urban decay
An excerpt from Peter Carty’s Ballard-referencing review of an interesting-sounding novel…
“An Everyman’s life history doomed to repeat itself as farce”
Remainder, By Tom McCarthy
Published: 12 December 2005
“Re-enactment has been a feature in recent art, most famously in Jeremy Deller’s reprise of the Orgreave battle between striking miners and police. It is a art practice that readily invokes issues of trauma, nihilism and death. In fiction, it has been most prominent in the work of JG Ballard. As well as Ballard, McCarthy also draws upon influences including Huysmans, Bataille and Freud. Above all, his novel deals with the difficulty of
relocating authenticity in everyday life.
…
McCarthy’s prose is precise and unpretentious. His anti-hero is a sympathetic Everyman, and it is difficult to resist the dominion of his obsession. It has to be said that the title is not a positive portent for future sales, and Remainder might amount to no more than a cult. This would be unfortunate, because its minatory brilliance calls for classic status.”
METRONOME PRESS, £6. ORDER (FREE P&P) ON 0870 079 8897
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Just to let you know that although the Metronome edition is now out of print, Alma Books has now republished and it is available in all UK bookshops and on Amazon.