The Optimists - Softcover

Miller, Andrew

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0340825138 ISBN 13: 9780340825136

Publisher: Sceptre, 2006

Synopsis

The exceptional and powerful novel from the Booker-shortlisted author of Oxygen
In a world where people slaughter the innocent without mercy or retribution, how can we have faith in humanity, or the future?
Clem Glass, a photojournalist, returns from Africa to London convinced he knows the answer - mankind is fundamentally wicked and there is no hope for us. Yet when his sister falls ill and he takes her back to the West Country of their childhood, he cannot ignore the decency, joys and small kindnesses of those around him, or the pulse of goodness in his own heart. Until news comes that offers Clem the chance to confront the author of his nightmares.

About this title

From the Back Cover

"Subtle, beautifully written . . . Miller's prose brings grace and lucidity to what is dark and baffling in Clem's predicament, the predicament of a caring man in an uncaring universe."--The Boston Globe
Clem is a successful photojournalist, firm in the belief that photographs could capture truth and beauty. Until he goes to Africa and witnesses the aftermath of a genocidal massacre. He returns to London with his faith in human nature shattered and his life derailed. Nothing--work, love, sex--can rouse his interest and no other outlook can restore his faith. The one person Clem is able to connect with is his sister, who has made her own sudden retreat from reality into the shadows of mental illness, and he finds some peace nursing her back to health in rural Somerset. Then news arrives that offers him the chance to confront the source of his nightmares.

This is a masterfully rendered novel that explores the perilously thin line between self-delusion and optimism.  Andrew Miller's first novel, Ingenious Pain, won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the International IMPAC Award. He was short-listed for the Booker Prize and the Whitbread Award for his novel Oxygen. He lives in Brighton, England.

From the Inside Flap

Clem Glass was a successful photojournalist, firm in the belief that photographs could capture truth and beauty. Until he went to Africa and witnessed the aftermath of a genocidal massacre.
Clem returns to London with his faith in human nature shattered and his life derailed. Nothing-work, love, sex- can rouse his interest and no other outlook can restore his faith. The one person Clem is able to connect with is his sister, who has made her own sudden retreat from reality into the shadows of mental illness, and he finds some peace nursing her back to health in rural Somerset. Then news arrives that offers him the chance to confront the source of his nightmares.

From the celebrated author of Ingenious Pain and Oxygen, this is a masterfully rendered novel that explores the perilously thin line between self-delusion and optimism.

Edition details

• Publisher: Sceptre
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0340825138
• ISBN 13: 9780340825136
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320