The Jim Crace Thread

I tried Being Dead. Couldn't get into it. In fact, it made me want to throw up. I've never read about a violent death in such detail.

Someday I'd like to try The Devil's Larder ("All great meals, it has been said, lead to discussions of either sex or death").

Gift of Stones is a fine book, read it more than a decade ago but can still recall it's simple beauty

The Devil's Larder was the first of his I read, after spotting a blurb in Gastronomica or something. Intriguing bits, funny bits, horrifying bits. Well-crafted and made me want to read others, so I read Being Dead and Quarantine (more of the same sorts of bits) and I bought others when I came across them, remaindered or used (Continent, Gift of Stones), that are still to be read. The premise of his newest one (Genesis) sounds really unappealing though I'll probably read it eventually. He's a very even writer (from the 3 I've read) and tells an excellent story.

I quite liked Being Dead. It wasn't anything to write home about but I remember being into it enough that I read it in one afternoon. I liked how the more obvious narrative of the murder was displaced by the not so obvious narrative of the decomposing bodies.

I keep meaning to pick up more of his books. Thanks for reminding me.