http://dreamersandco.com/2015/05/the-...Θυμάμαι είχα αγοράσει το βιβλίο The end of the alphabet σε ένα ισπανικό μπαζάρ βιβλίου πριν από μερικά χρόνια, με είχε κερδίσει το μικρό του μέγεθος αλλά και η πρωτότυπη πλοκή του. Ο συγγραφέας του βιβλίου, C.S. Richardson, χρησιμοποιεί σε αυτό το μικρό ανάγνωσμα με την πολύ ωραία του αισθητική που θυμίζει τα ημερολόγια της Moleskine, μια κλισέ κατάσταση κατά τα άλλα που προσπαθεί να διαφοροποιηθεί με έναν έξυπνο τρόπο.ΕΝΑΣ ΜΗΝΑΣ ΔΙΟΡΙΑ ΖΩΗΣΟ συγγραφέας δίνει στον 50χρονο ήρωά του, Ambrose Zephyr, ένα μήνα διορία ζωής. Ο Ambrose έχει μια πολύ επιτυχημένη καριέρα στον κόσμο της διαφήμισης, ενώ η γυναίκα του Zappora εργάζεται σε περιοδικό μόδας. Είναι δηλαδή ένα πετυχημένο ζευγάρι που με το που παντρεύτηκε αποφάσισε να μην κάνει παιδιά, η κοινή τους ζωή και η καριέρες τους ήταν αρκετές για την ευτυχία τους.ΕΝΑ ΙΔΙΟΜΟΡΦΟ ΤΑΞΙΔΙΟ Ambrose γνωρίζοντας τον λίγο χρόνο που του απομένει στη ζωή αποφασίζει να κάνει με τη γυναίκα του ένα μεγάλο ταξίδι… ξεκινώντας από το Α (Άμστερνταμ) και τελειώνοντας στο αγγλικό Ζ, αποδεικνύοντας την αγάπη του για το αλφάβητο. Αρχικά δεν αποκαλύπτει τον λόγο αλλά σίγουρα θέλει να κάνει τη γυναίκα του να αισθανθεί ότι πρόκειται για ένα πολύ ιδιαίτερο ταξίδι που θα τους μείνει αξέχαστο και ίσως να τους φέρει ακόμη πιο κοντά. Θα φθάσουν μέχρι το τέλος του αλφάβητου; Μπαίνω στον ρόλο του συγγραφέα και μου φαίνεται δύσκολο να αποδώσεις την πλοκή σου σε μόλις 119 μικρού μεγέθους σελίδες κάθε ένα κεφάλαιο του οποίου είναι και ένα γράμμα του αγγλικού αλφαβήτου, ένα διαφορετικό μέρος από το ταξίδι τους. Πώς μπορείς να κάνεις τον αναγνώστη να «κολλήσει με την ιστορία»; Το θεωρώ εξαιρετικά δύσκολο, ο τρόπος όμως που είναι γραμμένο σε κερδίσει.Το μόνο ξεκάθαρο στην πλοκή είναι ο ένας μήνας ζωής. Ποτέ δεν μαθαίνουμε ακριβώς από τι πάσχει ή αν έχει άλλα συμπτώματα. Αυτό που ενδιαφέρει τον συγγραφέα είναι το πώς επηρεάζεται το ζευγάρι από το νέο της ασθένειας αλλά και πώς αντιδρούν σε αυτό.ΖΤο παιχνίδι με τα γράμματα δεν έχει να κάνει μόνο με την αγάπη του Ambrose για το αλφάβητο αλλά και το πως καταλήγει στο αγγλικό Ζ που εκτός από το τελευταίο γράμμα του λατινικού αλφαβήτου είναι και το όνομα της γυναίκας του Zappora, η οποία προοδευτικά γίνεται και η κεντρική ηρωίδα της ιστορίας. Είναι σαν να της λέει μεταφορικά ότι καταλήγει σε αυτή.Συνέχεια στο >> http://dreamersandco.com/2015/05/the-...
Winner 2008 Commonwealth Writer Prize for Best First NovelI have read this book twice, each time in less than two hours; at 20K words this is probably more properly a novella, not a novel. But it’s a gem of a little book: C S Richardson’s tale is a tender and poignant portrayal of a couple very much in love, and how they differ in their reaction to inevitable loss. At about age fifty, Ambrose Zephyr is informed quite matter-of-factly, that he has thirty days “give or take” to live. His doctor speaks quite blithely: Something of a mystery [we never learn what he has:]. Fatal? Yes, quite; Yes, the doctor offered, unfair would be a very good word about now. [Quotation marks are not used in the story.:] Ambrose’s wife, Zappora Ashkanasi, known as Zipper, who had kept her last name “for the apparent reasons”, definitely believes it’s unfair, and can’t imagine life without Ambrose, the only man she has ever loved. Without adjustment. So when Ambrose decides they must take a whirlwind trip to all his favourite places, and to places he’s always wished to see, from A (Amsterdam) to Z (Zanzibar), the two – A.Z. and Z.A. – leave without informing friends or employers. (Childless, they have devoted themselves to one another and their careers.) Richardson zigzags between the present and the past as Ambrose and Zipper zip from place to place. But en route to Elba, Zipper wants to hop off the train at Paris. She’s not tired of Paris. They had met in Paris. Thus the Eiffel Tower substitutes for Elba. Zipper awakens slightly disoriented, then recalls where they are, and where Ambrose must be: on his stroll. And she knows, by the time she sets out, exactly where on his stroll he will be. When she gets there, she sits down beside him: You smell like cigarettes, she said. How was the walk? Ambrose lied. Lovely, he said. Zipper caught sight of his slowly trembling hands, the subtle curling and uncurling of fingers. How was your lie-in? he said. Feel better? Zipper lied.They miss connections to Haifa, and go on to Istanbul, where the “niceties” begin to disappear. Ambrose snaps at Zipper when she asks if there’s anything she can do. She wants to throw something at him when he wants to be left alone. Later, after emerging from a Turkish bath, Zipper’s exasperation with her husband’s “absence” reaches a peak. She pushes until he admits to being afraid, but so what? And, he adds, this isn’t happening to her. Zipper: You selfish, shitty bastard. This is happening to me.Ambrose: Really? In less than a month, you’ll still be alive.Zipper: Really. I can hardly wait. I leave the rest of this conversation for you; suffice it to say that that we are now not far from Home, and the end of our fable. It’s interesting: at first I thought the whole concept of the alphabet, from characters’ names, to the travel from A to Z, to the title (to say nothing of chapter titles!) was just a bit too much – until I discovered it was the editorial staff at Random House that came up with the title. The author’s working title was The Grand Tour of Ambrose Zephyr; had that been left intact, the ending would not have been as effective. Richardson wrote a good story, and the title makes it even better.
What do You think about The End Of The Alphabet (2007)?
I guess this book proves that no two people ever read the same book.I started reading this back in Feb. but after 3 or 4 pages, I'd have to lay it aside or fall asleep. I finally forced myself to finish it today.At 119 pages, this book shouldn't take more than a couple of hours to read, but it is so slow paced and boring and the characters are just so silly that I feel like it was a waste of paper to even print this rubbish.Also, this is the first book I've ever read where the main character is dying and I could have cared less and I would have helped him along if I could have, just so this horrible book would finally come to an end.
—Edwina Hall Callan
The End of the Alphabet is what I would call a huggable book.Ambrose Zephyr is a fifty year old, happily married Londoner. But then he is diagnosed with an unidentified terminal illness and given only a month to live.Ambrose that he must to seize the day. And so, accompanied by his wife Zappora Ashkenazi (also known as Zipper) he sets off on a journey round the world, visiting each city on his list in alphabetical order.Each stop evokes different memories, different emotions for Ambrose and Zipper. And each must learn to cope with Ambrose’s illness in their own way.The chapters grow shorter as time runs out, and events take an unexpected turn before a sudden conclusion that is, sadly, inevitable.Ambrose’s story is both quirky and charming. That together with the alphabetical conceit could have been too much, but it works because those elements are balanced with very real emotions.A wealth of tiny details, the little things that couples know about each other, bring Ambrose and Zipper. And all of the important things ring true.An ordinary couple made special by their love for each other. True magic!I was devastated for Zipper when she lost her husband, but I could smile too when I thought of her and Ambrose together.A bittersweet delight.
—Jane
I liked this book, I really did, but I think I would have liked it more if I had read it on a snowy day or lazy summer day with absolutely nothing else beckoning to me. It's a book that's meant to be considered. Considered more than savored because it's the gaps that are left for the reader to fill in-- the emotion, the space, the tumbling feelings that make this book so interesting and different from other quick reads. It won't take long to read the words on the pages, but it takes much longer to read all that is unwritten in this book. I hope to re-read in a cushioned moment.
—Kate
