- Gebundene Ausgabe: 368 Seiten
- Verlag: Henry Holt & Company (Juni 2002)
- Sprache: Englisch
- ISBN-10: 0805069046
- ISBN-13: 978-0805069044
- Größe und/oder Gewicht: 24,1 x 16,3 x 3,1 cm
- Amazon Bestseller-Rang: Nr. 2.204.098 in Englische Bücher (Siehe Top 100 in Englische Bücher)
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Produktbeschreibungen
Kurzbeschreibung
A sexy, hilarious novel of wayward young expatriates -- and the difference between doing good and feeling good.
In 1990, a young man named Gurney abandons his newborn daughter in an Iowa delivery room and escapes into Krakow, Poland, where it seems as if everyone is hunting for the next new thing. Upon this seductive frontier, Gurney devotes himself to a life of irresponsibility. Already ensconced in Poland is Gurney's cousin Jane, a master manipulator who occupies the center of Krakow's spiderweb of sexual and political intrigue. As Jane and Gurney's relationship swerves thrillingly closer to the incestuous, Gurney crosses paths -- and often swords -- with Krakow's gallery of rogues and innocents. Among them are Wanda, Jane's virginal yet rebellious roommate, who harbors for Gurney a not-so-secret crush; Dick Chestnutt, a sodden American expatriate; Jackie Witherspoon, an ambitious young scholar of uncertain sexuality and allegiance; and Zbigniew Zamoyski, Wanda's father, a former Communist aristocrat who decides that the fun, and Gurney, must be stopped.
Seamlessly juxtaposing totalitarianism and freedom, the political and the personal, John Beckman has created a magical world. Evocative and suberbly crafted, The Winter Zoo marks the debut of a young writer of enormous talent and promise.
In 1990, a young man named Gurney abandons his newborn daughter in an Iowa delivery room and escapes into Krakow, Poland, where it seems as if everyone is hunting for the next new thing. Upon this seductive frontier, Gurney devotes himself to a life of irresponsibility. Already ensconced in Poland is Gurney's cousin Jane, a master manipulator who occupies the center of Krakow's spiderweb of sexual and political intrigue. As Jane and Gurney's relationship swerves thrillingly closer to the incestuous, Gurney crosses paths -- and often swords -- with Krakow's gallery of rogues and innocents. Among them are Wanda, Jane's virginal yet rebellious roommate, who harbors for Gurney a not-so-secret crush; Dick Chestnutt, a sodden American expatriate; Jackie Witherspoon, an ambitious young scholar of uncertain sexuality and allegiance; and Zbigniew Zamoyski, Wanda's father, a former Communist aristocrat who decides that the fun, and Gurney, must be stopped.
Seamlessly juxtaposing totalitarianism and freedom, the political and the personal, John Beckman has created a magical world. Evocative and suberbly crafted, The Winter Zoo marks the debut of a young writer of enormous talent and promise.
Über den Autor
John Beckman, a native Iowan, was born in 1967. He has taught literature at universities in Poland, France, and California and is currently an assistant professor of English at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. This is his first novel.
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15 von 18 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich
I'm sorry, but WHAT?
20. November 2002
Format:Gebundene Ausgabe
First things first. This is an amazingly well-written book with an impressive cast of characters. I was also pleasantly surprised by Beckman's fair depiction of Poland and its people--he resisted the obvious temptation to be condescending. On the other hand... While the first 150 pages were gripping, the ending was simply ludicrous and made me lose a lot of respect for the novel. (Apparently, if you can't figure out what to do with your characters, you just throw them into a couple of orgies? Right, whatever.) A lot of the sex scenes in the book felt gratuitous to me, and I'm not the kind of guy who minds sex scenes in books at all. There are also plot holes you could fly a plane through. Oh, and Beckman's Polish (and this is a minor gripe) is very erratic--there are tons of misspelled words and inappropriate verbiage. This won't bother most people but if you happen to speak Polish, it will drive you crazy. In the end, however, all that is forgivable. It is the plot that ruins The Winter Zoo. And given the author's natural gift for hypnotic, poetic language, that's a shame.
9 von 11 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich
Sweet Sweet Jane
27. Juni 2002
Format:Gebundene Ausgabe
Not since Henry Miller's 40 page letter --to a woman he never met --have I been so seduced by an epistolary musing. A breathless jaunt through the dirty snows of Poland complete with young bohemians, incestuous affairs, illicit gaming halls, earth-worm soup and damn good writing, Beckman's extraordinary Winter Zoo is a necessary elixir for anyone who's secretly harbored an expatriate yearning. Pour yourself a tall glass of absinthe and enjoy.
5 von 6 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich
Group sex in Poland!
29. Juli 2005
Format:Gebundene Ausgabe|Von Amazon bestätigter Kauf
The idea of casting Poland as a land in the grip of a sexual free-for-all at the end of Cold War is pretty funny to anyone who's ever spent time there. A giant pansexual Christmas orgy, complete with underage boys and girls, at a big hotel in the middle of Krakow, advertised all over town on handbills? Can you say "police with machine guns breaking it up?" Beckman's take on things kinda reminds me of the old German stereotype of the sexually-wild Slav (similar to racist American stereotype of oversexed blacks.) There's very little basis in reality here. Certainly, Germans on average give it up easier than the super-Catholic Poles.
Of course, this being a novel, Beckman isn't necessarily required to portray Poland accurately. I think he is required to create interesting characters rather than the wearisome cartoon characters he comes up with: the sexy young Polish teenager; her sexy mom; the big, credulous Iowan galoot; said Iowan's sexily satanic cousin, etc.
Just about everyone in the novel enthusiastically engages in (large) group sex (except for the villain, a tortured ex-commie official tormented by his sexual needs, blah blah.) I tried to determine if there was some complex symbology at work. Nah, I think the author likes writing group sex scenes. If you like reading such scenes, this might be the book for you. Otherwise, probably not.
Of course, this being a novel, Beckman isn't necessarily required to portray Poland accurately. I think he is required to create interesting characters rather than the wearisome cartoon characters he comes up with: the sexy young Polish teenager; her sexy mom; the big, credulous Iowan galoot; said Iowan's sexily satanic cousin, etc.
Just about everyone in the novel enthusiastically engages in (large) group sex (except for the villain, a tortured ex-commie official tormented by his sexual needs, blah blah.) I tried to determine if there was some complex symbology at work. Nah, I think the author likes writing group sex scenes. If you like reading such scenes, this might be the book for you. Otherwise, probably not.
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