Second Skin
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Book Overview
Skipper, an ex-World War II naval Lieutenant and the narrator of Second Skin , interweaves past and present--what he refers to as his naked history--in a series of episodes that tell the story of a volatile life marked by pitiful losses, as well as a more elusive, overwhelming, joy. The past: the suicides of his father, wife and daughter, the murder of his son-in-law, a brutal rape, and subsequent mutiny at sea. The present: caring for his granddaughter on a northern island where he works as an artificial inseminator of cows, and attempts to reclaim the innocence with which he faced the tragedies of his earlier life. Combining unflinching descriptions of suffering with his sense of beauty, Hawkes is a master of nimble and sensuous prose who makes the awful and mundane fantastic, and occasionally makes the fantastic surreal.
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:0811200671
ISBN13:9780811200677
Release Date:January 1964
Publisher:New Directions Publishing Corporation
Length:210 Pages
Weight:0.52 lbs.
Dimensions:0.6" x 5.3" x 8.0"
Customer Reviews
1 rating
More than skin deep
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 24 years ago
Second Skin is a lyrical, difficult but ultimately rewarding novel. It focuses on Skipper, the narrator, who simply tries to survive a series of life tragedies ranging from being the victim of a mutiny to losing his wife and daughter to suicide.To say these things is not to give away the plot. Because Skipper does not tell his story in a linear fashion, we know what will happen from the beginning. The pleasure is in listening to the narrative voice tell his "naked history" (as Skipper calls it).John Hawkes is an under-appreciated writer and a brilliant prose stylists. For anyone who loves to read beautiful sentences, this book is highly recommended.
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