Carry Me Down - Hardcover

Hyland, M. J.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1841957402 ISBN 13: 9781841957401

Publisher: Canongate U.S., 2006

Synopsis

Carry Me Down is an engrossing story that at its heart examines an adolescent’s difficulties navigating the world. John Egan is a misfit — a twelve-year-old in the body of a grown man with the voice of a giant — who diligently keeps track of the lies large and small that are told to him. John’s been able to detect lies for as long as he can remember; it’s a source of power but also great consternation for someone so young. With an obsession for the Guinness Book of World Records, a keenly inquisitive mind, and a kind of faith, John remains hopeful despite the unfavorable cards life deals him. John is like a tuning fork, sensitive to the vibrations within himself and the trouble that this creates for him and his family, and when his sanity reaches near collapse, a frightening family catastrophe threatens to destroy them. Carry Me Down is a restrained, emotionally taut, and sometimes oddly funny portrait whose drama drives toward, but narrowly averts, an unthinkable disaster.

About this title

About the Author:

M. J. HYLAND was born in London in 1968 to Irish parents and spent her early childhood in Dublin. She studied law and English at the University of Melbourne and worked for several years as a lawyer. Her first novel, How the Light Gets In, was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book (Eurasia Region) and for The Age Book of the Year in Australia and, in 2004, she was named Young Australian Writer of the Year.How the Light Gets In also took third place in the 2004 Barnes & Noble Discover Award for fiction. M. J. Hyland lives in London, England.

From Publishers Weekly:

Starred Review. A spare, piercing testimony to the bewilderment and resiliency of youth, Hyland's second novel (following How the Light Gets In) filters the adult world through the distressed lens of adolescence, which makes every change look like a test of survival. John Egan is an extremely tall 11-year-old boy living in the small town of Gorey, Ireland, with the moody triumvirate of his mother, father and grandmother. As he faces the trials of home and school life, John feels he has no place in the world, and his frustration fuels odd obsessions: with the Guinness Book of World Records, with physical human contact and with his "gift" for detecting lies. His parents, already sorting through their own uneasy relationship, puzzle over their only son with doctors and teachers, pushing John to a moment of crisis, which may prove his undoing. John's voice is singular and powerful throughout: "I wait anxiously for my turn, thinking that he'll soon discover me and know that I'm different. I've already decided that I'll tell him about my gift." By the subtle, satisfying dénouement, one is rooting for John's place in the Guinness book and saving a space for him among the year's memorable characters. (Mar.)
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About this edition

• Publisher: Canongate U.S.
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 1841957402
• ISBN 13: 9781841957401
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 192