Thru

Christine Brooke-Rose’s 1975 novel Thru stands as one of the quintessential texts of postmodernism, both in its incomparable metatextual complexity and its reputation for conceptual excess. Fleeing from a collapsing marriage, illness and a dismissive literary establishment, Brooke-Rose left Britain to undertake a lecturing position at the University of Paris VIII, Vincennes, a hotbed of post-May ’68 student insurrection. Militantly a-political, Brooke-Rose remained detached from the situation, writing Thru as a satire of poststructuralist theory, until, in 1974, her own position was threatened by political machinations. The resulting disillusionment makes its way into the final text of Thru which, in turn, spells the end of her fiction writing career for nine years. A novel not only resonant in terms of Brooke-Rose’s works, but for postmodernism in general. 'If we are ever to experience in English the serious practice of narrative as the French have developed it we shall have to attend to Christine Brookes -Rose. Incidentally the word 'serious' doesn't rule out the word 'funny'. Thru is both.' Frank Kermode. A text that, in a narrative sense, 'destroys itself as it goes along', this pastiche of academia from the Oxford educated, University of Paris - Vincennes lecturer is both unique and ahead of its time. Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. First Edition. Scarce First Edition with unclipped dust jacket designed by Peter Bate, in very good condition. Inscription of previous owner on FEP, protected in archival mylar cover.…