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THE BONE CLOCKS: A Novel
by Mitchell, David
- New
- Hardcover
- Signed
- first
- Condition
- New/New
- ISBN 10
- 1400065674
- ISBN 13
- 9781400065677
- Seller
-
Los Angeles, California, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York, New York, U.S.A.: Random House, Inc., 2014. First U.S. Edition 1st Printing. Hardcover. New/New. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. Signed and dated "23rd Sept. 2014" by author directly on title page in black fountain ink. One summer's day in 1984, teenage runaway Holly Sykes encounters a strange woman who offers a small kindness in exchange for 'asylum'. Decades will pass before Holly understands what sort of asylum the woman was seeking.... THE BONE CLOCKS follows Holly's life: not so far out of the ordinary, yet punctuated by flashes of precognition, visits from people who emerge from thin air, and brief lapses in the laws of reality. THE BONE CLOCKS won the World Fantasy Award as Best Novel, and was nominated for The Man Booker Prize. Author also of GHOSTWRITTEN, NUMBER 9 DREAM, CLOUD ATLAS, BLACK SWAN GREEN, and THE THOUSAND AUTUMNS OF JACOB DE ZOET. THE BONE CLOCKS was longlisted for the 2014 Man Booker Prize. Pristine,, new, unread, first edition, first printing, opened only for signing, in new, mylar-protected dust jacket. [Not remainder-marked or price-clipped] *Packaged carefully and shipped in a box to ensure arrival in perfect condition. L162/L130/L123
Synopsis
DAVID MITCHELL is the award-winning and bestselling author of The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet , Black Swan Green , Cloud Atlas , Number9Dream and Ghostwritten . Twice shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, Mitchell was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by TIME magazine in 2007. With KA Yoshida, Mitchell co-translated from the Japanese the international bestselling memoir, The Reason I Jump . He lives in Ireland with his wife and 2 children.
Reviews
On Nov 11 2014, CloggieDownunder said:
The Bone Clocks is the sixth novel by British author, David Mitchell. After an argument with her mother and an upsetting encounter with her unfaithful boyfriend, fifteen-year-old Holly Sykes intends to get as far from Gravesend as possible. But Holly is no ordinary teen, and a chance meeting with a strange old woman on a jetty leads to a promise with repercussions many years later.
The story is split into six parts with different narrators: a rebellious teen; a self-centred, self-serving young man; a British journalist hooked on the excitement of the Middle East; an arrogant writer with a guilty secret; an Horologist in his fortieth life; and an elderly grandmother. The narratives of those whose lives intersect with Holly’s relate the major events of her life in a roundabout way while, at the same time, telling a thrilling tale of opposing forces and the inevitable battle that ensues.
The tale is told over some six decades and jumps from small town England to a Swiss ski resort, Iraq, Hay, Columbia, Western Australia, Shanghai, Iceland, New York, Canada and Ireland. Mitchell touches on a myriad of subjects: teen angst, infatuation and true love, career/family balance, literary critics and book fairs, the curse of privilege, socially conscious pop idols, the world’s reliance on technology and the pervasiveness of the internet.
His characters comment on: ageing (It’s not just that you get old and your kids leave; it’s that the world zooms away and leaves you hankering for whatever decade you felt most comfy in”); religion (“..if you could reason with religious people, there wouldn’t be any religious people” and “Prayer may be a placebo for the disease of helplessness, but placebos can make you feel better”); and technological advances (“Some magic is normality you’re not yet used to”).
He gives them words of wisdom (“People are icebergs, with just a bit you can see and loads you can’t” and “Mum said I’d learn betrayals came in various shapes and sizes, but to betray someone’s dream is the unforgiveable one”) and some lovely descriptive prose (“The English Channel’s biro-blue; the sky’s the blue of snooker-chalk.”)
His characters are appealing and readers may find themselves wondering for some time just whose intentions are pure and whose are not; some develop in depth and integrity as the story progresses. Holly is easy to admire, resourceful and engaging; her use of the rolling pin is definitely a laugh-out-loud moment.
This is a wonderfully crafted novel, with mysterious happenings building the intrigue until things begin to fall into place with the fifth narrative. Fans of Mitchell’s earlier novels will delight in (and quite probably be excited by) the connections (characters, locations, themes) with this one. Once again, Mitchell gives the reader a brilliant novel and it will be interesting to see what he does next.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Joe Staats, Bookseller (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 021120
- Title
- THE BONE CLOCKS: A Novel
- Author
- Mitchell, David
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- New New
- Jacket Condition
- New
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First U.S. Edition 1st Printing
- ISBN 10
- 1400065674
- ISBN 13
- 9781400065677
- Publisher
- Random House, Inc.
- Place of Publication
- New York, New York, U.S.A.
- Date Published
- 2014
- Pages
- 640
- Size
- 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾
- Product_type
- 2
Terms of Sale
Joe Staats, Bookseller
Books shipped in secure packaging via USPS Media Mail, Priority Mail or Global Priority Mail, upon receipt of payment, unless customer requests another method of delivery. Shipping is within 24 hrs. of receipt of payment for money orders, and after three business days for personal checks. All book jackets are protected in mylar covers from Brodart. Customers have three business days within which to contact us with complaints about merchandise by e-mail. Returns must be approved, in original packaging material, and in the same condition as when shipped. Because we make every effort to have the best possible merchandise in the best condition, to describe it accurately and to package it securely, we will in most cases accept approved returns. Approved returns will be cheerfully refunded, or credit given toward other books. Our aim is to please, and to earn your return business with superior service and prompt delivery.
About the Seller
Joe Staats, Bookseller
Biblio member since 2003
Los Angeles, California
About Joe Staats, Bookseller
Modern Literature, Mysteries, and More!
We specialize in collectible, contemporary signed first editions. First edition means the first printing. (Later printings of the first edition are typically not printed on acid-free paper, and should be avoided by collectors.) Signatures are obtained by us in person. Inscribed books sold by us may contain a line, a phrase, or a sketch that the author has chosen to add. Our signed books are not dedicated to anybody in particular (not to your grandmother, your Aunt Gladys, your ex-lover or your former cellmate), except in the rare case of a presentation copy from an author to a noteworthy person. All our books are hardcover, unless the book is an Advance Reading Copy, Uncorrected Proof, or PBO. You can expect that the books we send you will be as described, and in a physical condition worthy of the author’s having signed them. We do not sell remainder-marked books, signed or otherwise
We specialize in collectible, contemporary signed first editions. First edition means the first printing. (Later printings of the first edition are typically not printed on acid-free paper, and should be avoided by collectors.) Signatures are obtained by us in person. Inscribed books sold by us may contain a line, a phrase, or a sketch that the author has chosen to add. Our signed books are not dedicated to anybody in particular (not to your grandmother, your Aunt Gladys, your ex-lover or your former cellmate), except in the rare case of a presentation copy from an author to a noteworthy person. All our books are hardcover, unless the book is an Advance Reading Copy, Uncorrected Proof, or PBO. You can expect that the books we send you will be as described, and in a physical condition worthy of the author’s having signed them. We do not sell remainder-marked books, signed or otherwise
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Title Page
- A page at the front of a book which may contain the title of the book, any subtitles, the authors, contributors, editors, the...
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...