BEFORE I FORGET [Signed by the author]

André Brink

ISBN 10: 0436205378 / ISBN 13: 9780436205378

Published by Secker & Warburg, London, 2004

About this Item

First impression of the true first edition, with the full number-string sequence including the no. "1" printed on the publisher's copyright page, as called for: 2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1. ***SIGNED by the author in black biro-pen on the half-title-page. ***Near fine in burgundy cloth-covered boards with gilt titles to spine. Dark blue front and rear free endpaper and pastedowns. Pages clean. Spine tight. ***In a near fine sepia-illustrated dustwrapper that has not been price-clipped, showing original publisher's price of £17.99. No tears. No fading. Dustwrapper clean and bright. ***244mm x 160mm. 311 pages plus acknowledgments to rear. ***'Chris Minnaar is a writer; a distinguished South African writer, an old writer, a writer who has lost whatever gift he had for writing. It is on New Year's Eve, courtesy of his stalled car, that he meets Rachel, a young sculptress and a good samaritan who becomes the great love of his life, a love greater for being unfulfilled. ***Having believed that his remaining function should be to comfort his mother, more than a century old but now inclined to talk with alarming frankness about her life, he finds himself captivated by Rachel and drawn into a close friendship with her photographer husband George. As these bonds develop Chris must reconcile himself to an unaccustomed type of intimacy but one that inevitably threatens this precarious triangular relationship. ***Woven through this is the story of his life and of a lifetimes' loving. For he has known many women in his time. Brief affairs, extended affairs, a marriage; intensely carnal encounters and tender attachments; women who leave him unexpectedly, those whose leaving is agonisingly protracted, and those, perhaps the greater number, who never really go at all. From Daphne, the troubled dancer, to Bonnie, his authoritarian father's secretary, and Grethe, who arranges for her man lovers to meet at a party in her absence, these women define and inform his life. ***As it becomes clear that this book is the final writing act of Chris's creative life so we understand that the recollection of these many loves is an attempt to bring order to an otherwise chaotic existence. Erotic, searingly honest, elegiac and profoundly moving, Before I Forget is the history of a life set against the history of a nation and the history of a transforming love.' ***'Peter Carey, Garcia Marquez, Solzhenitsyn: André Brink must be considered with that class of writer'. (Quote from inside front and rear of dustwrapper blurb). ***First impression of the true first edition complete in its original dustwrapper signed by the author in bright clean collectable condition. ***First impression of the true first edition, complete in its original dustwrapper, signed by the author, in bright clean collectable condition. ***For all our books, postage is charged at cost, allowing for packaging: any shipping rates indicated on ABE are an average only: we will reduce the P & P charge where appropriate - please contact us for postal rates for heavier books and sets etc.

Seller Inventory # 6173

Bibliographic Details

• Title: BEFORE I FORGET [Signed by the author]
• Publisher: Secker & Warburg, London
• Publication Date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0436205378
• ISBN 13: 9780436205378
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First Edition
• Printing: First Impression
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine
• Signed: Signed and Inscribed by Author
• Seller catalogs:
  • Signed & Limited Editions
  • Literature
  • First Editions

About this title

Synopsis

From a world-class writer – a remarkable new novel about love in all its forms.

Chris Minaar is a distinguished South African writer; an old writer, a writer who has lost whatever gift he had for writing. It is on New Year’s Eve, courtesy of his stalled car, that he meets Rachel, a young sculptress, who becomes the great love of his life, a love greater for being unfulfilled.

Having believed that his remaining function should be to comfort his mother, more than a century old now, he finds himself captivated by Rachel and drawn into a close friendship with her photographer husband George, a friendship that inevitably threatens this precarious triangular relationship.

Woven through this is the story of his life and of a lifetime of loving many women including brief affairs, extended affairs, a marriage; intensely carnal encounters and tender attachments. From Daphne, the troubled dancer, to Bonnie, his authoritarian father’s secretary, and Grethe, who arranges for her many lovers to meet at a party in her absence, these women define and inform his life.

As it becomes clear that this book is the final writing act of Chris’s creative life, so we understand that the recollection of these many loves is an attempt to bring order to an otherwise chaotic existence. Erotic, searingly honest, elegiac and profoundly moving, Before I Forget is the history of a life set against the history of a nation, and the history of a transforming love.

About the Author

André Brink has won South Africa’s most important literary prize, the CAN Award, three times and has twice been shortlisted for the Booker Prize. André Brink is Professor of English at the University of Cape Town.