About this item
Highlights
- An elegant and haunting dystopian novel about a group of individuals gathered to relearn how to navigate the world after a mysterious illness strips them of their memories Nestled in an idyllic locale beside the sea, The Center is a place of rehabilitation and rebuilding.
- About the Author: Matt Greene is a novelist and essayist.
- 176 Pages
- Fiction + Literature Genres, Dystopian
Description
About the Book
"An elegant and haunting dystopian novel about a group of individuals gathered to relearn how to navigate the world after a mysterious illness strips them of their memories Nestled in an idyllic locale beside the sea, The Center is a place of rehabilitation and rebuilding. Students arrive nameless, their memories and sense of identity wiped by a strange illness. Each day, they attend classes that will help them relearn the right ways to speak and live; they practice the roles they'll assume once they've graduated and returned to society. In their free time, they negotiate a burgeoning social hierarchy and watch old DVDs together; stories of characters whose names they adopt: Maria, Chandler, Chino, Gunther . . . But as shards of memories-of pets, lovers, errands, and beloved music-begin to threaten the strict curriculum of The Center, some students start to question the definitions given to them, and explore the ways in which they might define themselves. A stunning, intimately told story about what makes us who we are, The Definitions examines the limits of language, the power of human connection, and the ways the human spirit can flourish even under the most oppressive conditions"-- Provided by publisher.Book Synopsis
An elegant and haunting dystopian novel about a group of individuals gathered to relearn how to navigate the world after a mysterious illness strips them of their memories
Nestled in an idyllic locale beside the sea, The Center is a place of rehabilitation and rebuilding. Students arrive nameless, their memories and sense of identity wiped by a strange illness. Each day, they attend classes that will help them relearn the right ways to speak and live; they practice the roles they'll assume once they've graduated and returned to society. In their free time, they negotiate a burgeoning social hierarchy and watch old DVDs together; stories of characters whose names they adopt: Maria, Chandler, Chino, Gunther . . . But as shards of memories--of pets, lovers, errands, and beloved music--begin to threaten the strict curriculum of The Center, some students start to question the definitions given to them, and explore the ways in which they might define themselves. A stunning, intimately told story about what makes us who we are, The Definitions examines the limits of language, the power of human connection, and the ways the human spirit can flourish even under the most oppressive conditions.Review Quotes
"A thrilling novel that asks profound questions about love and language, selfhood and memory. One of those books that you want to read again as soon as you've finished, it consoles even as it frightens, appalls even as it reveals how much we have to treasure. It has earned its place on my shelf of favorite science fiction, alongside Ishiguro, Ravn, Butler, and Chiang."
--Louisa Hall, author of Speak and Reproduction
"An unnerving story of our ominous present era huddled in a cloak of post-apocalyptic speculation, Matt Greene's The Definitions digs--and digs hard--into the nature of language, of reality, of what we can and must not believe about what we're told about ourselves and our world. It's harrowingly well constructed, revealing its secrets in a series of icy, controlled detonations, and thoroughly earns the sense of heartbreak I'm sure you'll feel at its finale. As I was reading I thought I detected glimpses of Ray Bradbury, of H. G. Wells and George Orwell, even of Lewis Carroll, but The Definitions is very much its own creature, and I am in awe of Greene's taut, shiversome eloquence."
--Benjamin Dreyer, New York Times bestselling author of Dreyer's English
--Maria Semple, New York Times bestselling author of Where'd You Go, Bernadette? "A coming-of-age story of some brilliance . . . I laughed heartily, sobbed unexpectedly, and significantly improved my grammar."
--Nathan Filer, author of the Costa Book Award winner The Shock of the Fall "One of the bravest novels I've read in a very long time. Matt Greene lets the reader become detective, and clue by clue we uncover not only the truth of Alex's world, but the deepest truths of what it means to love and lose."
--Carol Rifka Brunt, author of Tell the Wolves I'm Home "Ostrich has given me the most enjoyable reading experience I've had all year and has one of the funniest and most engaging young narrators I've had the pleasure of reading. Matt Greene is seriously funny and in Ostrich proves comedy can be the finest of arts."
--Matt Haig, author of The Midnight Library
About the Author
Matt Greene is a novelist and essayist. His first novel, Ostrich, published in 2013, won a Betty Trask Award and was a Daily Telegraph book of the year. His memoir, Jew(ish) was published in 2020. He lives in London with his partner and two sons.