The Patrick Melrose Novels

Absolutely stunning, talking about the edition & not about the book here, it’s gorgeous, no bents & dents, comes in a bubble wrap package and there was no damage at all! Print price is ₹999 and I got it for around 600 so try & get it around that price!

As the critics suggests, the prose is rich and it is literary content. The ride with protagonist is emotional, scary, disgusting and funny. Maybe seeing a lot of characters being judged make us less judgemental, in a way.

These books, to me, were mostly about pain. I am not one to choose books with unhappy subject matter, and I have great trouble with books in which the protagonist is unlikeable, but I was persuaded to give these a try by several friends and I am ever grateful, because one of the great pleasures of reading is when the writing is so excellent that the reader is transported - no, fully immersed in - another world.That most certainly happened with these books. One must be prepared to read about gritty lives, in which unspeakable things happen. Read about Edward St. Aubyn to understand the author better BEFORE embarking on this journey, and how the book is semi-autobiographical. One can't be in a delicate state of mind when reading these. That said, there were a couple of episodes in the final book of the trilogy that made me laugh so hard I cried.The writing is absolutely exquisite and that was the greatest joy derived from reading these books.

St Aubyn is a highly self-conscious Stylist and one can read his acidulous prose with a degree of pleasure increased by the thought that few contemporary writers can match him in that department. I thought the opening volume (Never Mind) by far the best of the four, since here the warm novelistic imagination triumphs over the penchant for mordant wit. Nevertheless, despite Zadie Smith's enthusiastic introduction, the remainder of the quartet increasingly fails to hold the reader's imagination, one cannot be interested in Melrose's tedious NY drug-taking and the figures back in England are hardly more than lay-props. If one must read serial novels about the upper class, Anthony Powell's Dance to the Music of Time is a better investment of one's time.

最近ドラマ化もされ話題のパトリックメルローズのオーディオ版です。イギリス英語に浸りたかったのと、カンバーバッチが好きなので買ってしまいました。速さは普通です。イギリス英語独特の響きがあり、耐性がない人にとってはかなり早く聞こえてしまうかも。個人的にはイギリス英語の発音、テキパキとした印象のある音が好きなのでその点満足です。評価ですが、残念なことにCD[全17枚]にシミ？みたいなものがあって1トラックしか聞けませんでした。その為星一つです。ちゃんと聞けるものを発送して欲しいです。返金より、ちゃんとモノを送るようお願いしています。只今、出品者の方に連絡中ですので、返事が戻り次第、またレビュー書きます。

A moving exploration of Patrick Melrose's life from childhood to middle age. It's a book that explores some big themes including addiction, abuse and personal freedom. Well written and insightful with a good dose of humour and wit.

How I wish I could use the English language like Edward St. Aubyn! As one who has spent countless hours writing and rewriting scenes in order to attract and hold the attention of readers, I can say St. Aubyn is not only a master but a grand master of the craft. The story itself, of Patrick Melrose and his dysfunctional family, is unrelentingly dark and savage. Every character is so fully formed and perfectly brought to life you feel you would know them if you happen to see them at a party, and when you saw them you would want to slap them silly for their cruel and boorish behavior. They are all profoundly flawed and brutal to themselves, each other, and the world at large and seem to feel that everybody else is just like them. I've read that the story is to some degree autobiographical, and if so I feel sorry for the author. Sexual abuse, drug addiction, alcoholism, rampant marital infidelity, fraud of every kind at every level, lying, deceit; yet there are flashes of humanity. Patrick kicks the drugs, then (as though it's not a drug) the alcohol, and he loves his two sons, and after a fashion even loves his hateful mother who looked away, or was too blind to see, when Patrick's father raped him, then wasted his inheritance on a scoundrel. Patrick's wife is almost too devoted a mother, but the children are the better for it. They are delightful as pictured so far, but I have not yet read the final book in the series so I don't know how they turn out. I just downloaded it and can't wait to find that out and see how Patrick copes with life from where we left him and the family at the end of Mother's Milk. So, while the story is gripping and laden with emotional barbs that won't let loose, the even greater attraction, for me, was his endlessly inventive way with the language. I urge you to take advantage of Amazon's "Look Inside" feature and check out that aspect of the book. If you're as fascinated with words and their usage as I am, you'll be hooked too.