That They May Face the Rising Sun - SIGNED

John McGahern (1934-2006)

ISBN 10: 0571212166 / ISBN 13: 9780571212163

Published by Faber and Faber, London, 2001

About this Item

Proof Copy. 8vo. 298pp. Pictorial wraps. Printed date to copyright page predates by a year that of the published book. Published by Knopf in the U.S. under the title By the Lake. Signed by Author to title-page. Scarce in proof state. Winner of the 2003 Irish Fiction Award (formerly the Hughes & Hughes Award). Shortlisted for the 2003 International Dublin Literary Award. McGahern's acclaimed final novel - his first for twelve years - depicts a year in the life of a close-knit community centred 'round a lake in rural Ireland. In an RTÉ radio interview in the year of publication the writer claimed that "the ordinary fascinates me" and "the ordinary is the most precious thing in life". "[A]rguably the most important Irish novelist since Samuel Beckett." -The Guardian.

Seller Inventory # HL5 YC3

Bibliographic Details

• Title: That They May Face the Rising Sun - SIGNED
• Publisher: Faber and Faber, London
• Publication Date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0571212166
• ISBN 13: 9780571212163
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: As new
• Dust Jacket Condition: No jacket
• Weight: 380 grams
• Signed: signed

About this title

Synopsis

From the very opening pages, we see many memorable characters as they move about the Ruttledges, who have come from London home to Ireland in search of a different life. There is John Quinn, who will stop at nothing to ensure a flow of women; Johnny, who left for England twenty years before in pursuit of love; and Jimmy Joe McKiernan, head of the IRA, both auctioneer and undertaker. The gentle Jamesie and his wife Mary embody the spirit of the place. They have never left the lake but know everything that ever stirred or moved there. The drama of a year in the lives of these and many other characters unfolds through the action, the rituals of work, religious observances and play. With deceptive simplicity, by the novel's close we feel that we have been introduced to a complete representation of existence. An enclosed world has been transformed into an Everywhere.

About the Author

John McGahern is the author of five highly acclaimed novels and four collections of short stories, and has been the recipient of many awards and honours including the Society of Authors, the American-Irish Award, the Prix Etrangere Ecureuil and the Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. Amongst Women, winner of both the GPA and the Irish Times' Award, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and made into a four-part BBC television series.