River

"Esther Kinsky’s novel outshines everything that has recently been published in the German language with patient stamina. It is full of culture without being erudite, it is full of knowledge without being smart-aleck. River is a democratic book, witty, wise & touchingly beautiful." — Katharina Teutsch, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung“The form of River mirrors its content; its consciousness flows with a sense that, like water to the sea, it will one day lose itself.” — Times Literary Supplement“A beautiful exploration of memory’s unbreakable bonds with its natural surroundings.” — Culture Trip"This book is a sensation of language." — Susanne Mayer, Die Zeit"No matter whether Kinsky describes things, foreign people, or landscapes, the surplus love she has at her disposal becomes visible in the sensitive prose in which she sees the world." — Hans-Peter Kunisch, Süddeutsche Zeitung"Brought to life by language that is both precise & multi-layered, River is a magnificent book on the disappearance of landscape." — Le Monde"The woman who has fled her own hinterland for the ragged fringe of London discovers a dreamlike city of melancholy magic." — The Economist“Esther Kinsky’s unnamed narrator observes & remembers, piling up beautiful, silt-like layers of description & memory until it becomes difficult to know which is which . . . This is a book to relish.” — The Guardian°°° A woman moves to a London suburb near the River Lea, without knowing quite why or for how long. Over a series of long, solitary walks she reminisces about the rivers she has encountered during her life, from the Rhine, her childhood river, to the Saint Lawrence, & a stream in Tel Aviv. Filled with poignancy and poetic observation, River is an ode to nature, edgelands, & the transience of all things human.°°° Esther Kinsky grew up by the river Rhine & lived in London for twelve years. She is the author of 3 volumes of poetry & 2 novels, including River... After many years I had excised myself from the life I had led in town, just as one might cut a figure out of a landscape or group photo. Abashed by the harm I had wreaked on the picture left behind, and unsure where the cut-out might end up next, I lived a provisional existence. I did so in a place where I knew none of my neighbours, where the street names, views, smells and faces were all unfamiliar to me, in a cheaply appointed flat where I would be able to lay my life aside.' In River , a woman moves to a London suburb for reasons that are unclear. She takes long, solitary walks by the River Lea, observing and describing her surroundings and the unusual characters she encounters. Over the course of these wanderings she amasses a collection of found objects and photographs and is drawn into reminiscences of the different rivers which haunted the various stages of her life, from the Rhine, where she grew up, to the Saint Lawrence, the Hooghly, and the banks of the Oder.... Number of Words in Auth: 2 Formats : EPUB Number of Formats : 1 Has Cover : Yes All Identifiers : isbn:9781910695302 Single Author : Esther Kinsky Original Source : MIRC Files_New_Vortex_01_21 Sorted Author by LN, FN: Esther Kinsky Title Length : 005 Title Parm D : River Title Parm F : River Num of Aut : 1 Title Parm B : ( Record ID : 5323 Uncomma Author : Esther Kinsky Title Parm A : River 'After many years I had excised myself from the life I had led in town, just as one might cut a figure out of a landscape or group photo. Abashed by the harm I had wreaked on the picture left behind, and unsure where the cut-out might end up next, I lived a provisional existence. I did so in a place where I knew none of my neighbours, where the street names, views, smells and faces were all unfamiliar to me, in a cheaply appointed flat where I would be able to lay my life aside for a while.' In River, a woman moves to a London suburb for reasons that are unclear. She takes long, solitary walks by the River Lea, observing and describing her surroundings and the unusual characters she encounters. Over the course of these wanderings she amasses a collection of found objects and photographs and is drawn into reminiscences of the different rivers which haunted the various stages of her life, from the Rhine, where she grew up, to the Saint Lawrence, the Hooghly, and the banks of the Oder. Written in language that is as precise as it is limpid, River is a remarkable novel, full of poignant images and poetic observations, an ode to nature, edgelands, and the transience of all things human.