The Alteration
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The Alteration
Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?
Hubert Anvil is a 10 year old boy blessed with the voice of an angel. The Church hierarchy decrees that Hubert should be turned into a castrato - an alteration that could bring Hubert fame and fortune, but would also cut him off from an adult world he is curious to discover.
A comic masterpiece by one of Britain's best-loved writers.
Of all the choristers at the Cathedral Basilica of St George, he is the angel—the one whose voice could only have been made in heaven. In every other respect, Hubert is utterly ordinary: a nice, rather timid ten-year-old boy.
The year is 1976, but by bold Amisian sleight-of-hand, the England of The Alteration has become a disconcerting, quasi-medieval land in the Age of Faith. And here a wickedly brilliant Swiftian satire takes shape. Its modest proposal? Well, it stands to reason that Hubert’s glorious voice must be preserved at all costs. So castration is clearly the only answer—
Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
Described as a "coruscating tour de force" by The Economist, Kingsley Amis is celebrated alongside comic greats such as P.G. Wodehouse and Evelyn Waugh by the Guardian. The Tablet highlights the novel's disorientating yet familiar alternate world, praising its sharp, Swiftian satire.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9780099461081
Publisher: Vintage Publishing
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 01 July 2004
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Vintage Classics
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 15.0mm
Width: 129.0mm
Height: 197.0mm
Weight: 173g
Pages: 240
About the Author
Kingsley Amis was born in south London in 1922 and was educated at the City of London School and St John's College, Oxford. After the publication of Lucky Jim in 1954, Kingsley Amis wrote over twenty novels, including The Alteration, winner of the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, The Old Devils, winner of the Booker Prize in 1986, and The Biographer's Moustache, which was to be his last book. He also wrote on politics, education, language, films, television, restaurants and drink. Kingsley Amis was awarded the CBE in 1981 and received a knighthood in 1990. He died in October 1995.
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