The Porcupine - (Vintage International) by Julian Barnes (Paperback)

About the Book

The author of Talking It Over trains his laser-bright intelligence and phosphorescent prose on the ambiguities raised by the collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe. "His literary energy and daring are nearly unparalleled among contemporary English novelists".--New Republic.

Book Synopsis

The bestselling, Booker Prize-winning author of The Sense of an Ending trains his laser-bright prose on the collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe.

Stoyo Petkanov, the deposed Party leader, is placed on trial for crimes that range from corruption to political murder. Petkanov's guilt--and the righteousness of his opponents--would seem to be self-evident. But, as brilliantly imagined by Barnes, the trial of this cunning and unrepentant dictator illuminates the shadowy frontier between the rusted myths of the Communist past and a capitalist future in which everything is up for grabs.

Review Quotes

"Wonderfully agile ... the provocations are as numerous as the title indicates.... [Barnes] is witty and telling and may not be outracing events by a great deal." --Los Angeles Times

"Barnes's novels have a mesmeric charm and an air of dangerous simplicity.... [He is] an exceptionally accomplished and ingenious stylist." --The New York Review of Books

"Gripping ... Barnes relates this compelling story with his usual narrative brio, sketching his characters with the broad, colorful strokes of a mythic allegory." --The New York Times

"The Porcupine is a work of power.... Barnes has woven a rich tapestry of life in a post-communist country.... [He] provides a shock befitting a master storyteller and irony worthy of a philosopher." --Chicago Tribune

"Barnes is a fluent novelist, clever and richly inventive.... The Porcupine could hardly be more up to date." --Vanity Fair

"With the artful framework of testimony, internal monologue and chorus, Barnes's imagery is spare but vivid.... The central characters ... are cunningly defined by their ambiguities.... [He is] brilliant." --San Francisco Chronicle

"One of England's most interesting and provocative novelists ... Barnes ... display[s] a remarkable versatility, a dashing wit, and a sense of irony that keeps his wonderfully idiosyncratic creations under tight control." --New Republic

"Absolutely brilliant and full of amazing possibilities." --Dallas Morning News

"Barnes is a dazzling mind in mercurial flight." --Philadelphia Inquirer

About the Author

Born in Leicester in 1946, Julian Barnes is the author of nine novels, a book of stories, and a collection of essays. He has won both the Prix Médicis and the Prix Fémina, and in 1988 was made a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He lives in London.