100,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock πŸ‡³πŸ‡Ώ

Thanks for supporting our 100% NZ-owned independent bookstore ❀️ Overnight NZ-wide Delivery πŸš€

Lanark

A Life in Four Books
Series: Canons
4.1 goodreads logo

Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.

Check link for latest rating.
( 7,797 ratings, 767 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Lanark by Alasdair Gray is a surreal blend of fantasy and realism that follows the lives of two characters, Lanark and Duncan Thaw, navigating alternate realities and a dystopian world. The narrative intricately weaves themes of identity, politics, and alienation, exploring personal and existential crises. Through its inventive and multi-layered storytelling, the book challenges conventional narrative structures.
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$4600

International Supplier

This title is in-stock with overseas suppliers. While it is not available locally, we fly books in weekly from the US and UK to our Auckland warehouse for immediate dispatch.

AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 2-3 weeks

Found a better price? Request a price match

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?

You might enjoy this book if you appreciate uniquely structured narratives and vivid characters. Blending elements of realism with dystopian fantasy, it offers a thought-provoking exploration of identity, society, and personal struggle. Fans of intricate storytelling and philosophical themes will likely find it a captivating read.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

This cornerstone epic is now available as a beautiful Canon with an introduction by William Boyd.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

'Probably the greatest novel of the century' Observer

Lanark, a modern vision of hell, is set in the disintegrating cities of Unthank and Glasgow, and tells the interwoven stories of Lanark and Duncan Thaw. A work of extraordinary imagination and wide range, its playful narrative techniques convey a profound message, both personal and political, about humankind's inability to love, and yet our compulsion to go on trying.

First published in 1981, Lanark immediately established Gray as one of Britain's leading writers.

Series: Canons

View all
  • Bird by Bird
    Bird by Bird is not just a guide to writing; it's a deeply moving, insightful journey through the mind and spirit of a writer. Anne Lamott, acclaimed novelist and memoirist, shares her wealth of experience in this witty, honest, and profoundly down-to-earth book. A compendium of advice, anecdotes, and encouragement, it has remained a timeless resource for writers and aspiring...
    Paperback
    $2500
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Garden of Evening Mists
    The Garden of Evening Mists is the international bestseller shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, and the winner of both the Man Asian Literary Prize and the Walter Scott Prize. Teoh Yun Ling was seventeen years old when she first heard about Aritomo and the garden. But a war would come to Malaya, and a decade would pass before she...
    Paperback
    $2600
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Gift
    The Gift by Lewis Hyde is a profound exploration of the role of creativity in a world increasingly dominated by money and materialism. At its core, this modern masterpiece delves into the very nature of a "gift" and examines how it can inspire and transform our lives, art, and culture. Hyde weaves together insights from literature, anthropology, and psychology to...
    Paperback
    $3000
    Elsewhere:
    $3299
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Trip to Echo Spring
    Why did numerous celebrated authors become entwined with the grip of alcoholism? In The Trip to Echo Spring, Olivia Laing weaves an evocative journey across America, probing the intricate interplay between creativity and alcohol through the intertwined lives and works of six literary giants: F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Tennessee Williams, John Berryman, John Cheever, and Raymond Carver. Laing embarks...
    Paperback
    $2500
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Outrun
    The Outrun by Amy Liptrot is a deeply moving memoir that beautifully narrates the journey of a woman seeking redemption and recovery amidst the rugged, untamed landscapes of the Orkney Islands. After a harrowing decade-long struggle with alcohol addiction, thirty-year-old Amy returns to her childhood home in Orkney, seeking solace and healing. In this hauntingly honest account, she immerses herself...
    Paperback
    $2799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Hope In The Dark
    Hope In The Dark by Rebecca Solnit is an inspiring exploration of the power of hope amidst the turbulence of contemporary life. In a world often overshadowed by political unrest, environmental challenges, and social inequalities, Solnit presents a compelling argument for maintaining optimism. Through vivid storytelling and profound insight, she unveils the latent potential of social and political movements, illustrating...
    Paperback
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The First Bad Man
    The First Bad Man is a Guardian literary highlight and a Huffington Post 'One to Watch'. 'Astounding', says Lena Dunham, creator of Girls and author of Not That Kind of Girl. The First Bad Man brings together all of Miranda July's talents. It's a book that must be read and purchased in duplicateβ€”one for you, one for a friend. Don't...
    Paperback
    $2600
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • To the River
    Over sixty years after Virginia Woolf's tragic drowning in the River Ouse, Olivia Laing embarks on a journey that intertwines the natural world with poignant reflections on life and literature. In To the River, Laing sets out to walk along the banks of this historic river, tracing its path from its source to the sea. This journey is not just...
    Paperback
    $2799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Under The Skin
    With an introduction by David Mitchell. Isserley spends most of her time driving. But why is she so interested in picking up hitchhikers? And why are they always male, well-built, and alone? An utterly unpredictable and macabre mystery, Under the Skin is a genre-defying masterpiece.
    Paperback
    $2600
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    Backorder
    Ships mid August
  • My Father's Notebook
    When he was a boy, Aga Akbar, the illegitimate, deaf-mute son of a Persian nobleman, travelled with his uncle to a cave on nearby Saffron Mountain. Once there, he was to transcribe a cuneiform inscription over three thousand years old. Decades later, his son, Ishmael - a political dissident in exile - attempts to translate a notebook filled with a...
    Paperback
    $2600
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Abundance
    Annie Dillard has spent a lifetime examining the world around her with eyes wide open, drinking in all things intensely and relentlessly. Whether observing a sublime lunar eclipse or a moth consumed in a candle flame, the trembling of lily pads on a pond or hundreds of red-winged blackbirds taking flight, Dillard's awe at the fragility of the natural world...
    Paperback
    $2600
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Black Lamb and Grey Falcon
    Black Lamb and Grey Falcon by Rebecca West is an extraordinary blend of travel memoir and historical analysis, undertaken during a six-week journey through Yugoslavia in 1937. Spanning over 1,000 pages, this epic work offers a detailed exploration of the landscapes, cultures, and political tensions of a region on the precipice of war. West meticulously documents her travels while engaging...
    Paperback
    $5500
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today

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?

Lanark by Alasdair Gray is highly praised as a groundbreaking work in Scottish literature, often hailed as marking a new era. Critics admire its blend of surrealism and realism, comparing its imaginative scope to the works of Salvador Dali and Jonathon Swift. It is described as a masterpiece of vivid imagination and political satire, altering the literary landscape and significantly expanding the possibilities of fiction.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781782117148

Publisher: Canongate Books

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 01 September 2016

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Canongate Canons

Edition: Main - Canons Edition Re-Issue

Contributors:

  • Introduction by William Boyd

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 32.0mm

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 427g

Pages: 592

About the Author

Since 1981, when Lanark was published by Canongate, Alasdair Gray has published twenty books, most of them novels and short stories. In his own words, 'Alasdair Gray is a fat, spectacled, balding, increasingly old Glaswegian pedestrian who has mainly lived by writing and designing books, most of them fiction.'

Also by Alasdair Gray

View all
  • Poor Things
    WINNER OF FOUR ACADEMY AWARDS, FIVE BAFTAS, and TWO GOLDEN GLOBES. STARRING EMMA STONE, FROM THE DIRECTOR OF THE FAVOURITE Winner of the Whitbread Novel Award and the Guardian Fiction Prize A life without freedom to choose is not worth having. Godwin Baxter's scientific ambition to create the perfect companion is realised when he finds the drowned body of the...
    Paperback
    $2499
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Lanark
    40th anniversary edition Probably the greatest novel of the century - Observer Lanark, a modern vision of hell set in the disintegrating cities of Unthank and Glasgow, tells the interwoven stories of Lanark and Duncan Thaw. A work of extraordinary imagination, its playful narrative conveys a profound message, both personal and political, about humankind's inability to love, and yet our...
    Hardback
    $5500
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Dante's Divine Trilogy
    In this masterful retelling of one of the greatest works of world literature, Alasdair Grayβ€”in his last workβ€”offers an original translation in prosaic English rhyme. Lyrical and modern, this complete edition brings all three parts of Dante's epic journey through Hell and Purgatory and on to Paradise together in a single volume for the first time. When referencing the book’s...
    Paperback
    $3600
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • PARADISE
    Dante, now guided by Beatrice, faces the final third of his epic journey through the wheels of divine justice. Yet as he passes through the spheres of Heaven, he struggles with his faith, striving to understand the scales of good and evil that determine the fate of a human soul. The final book from Alasdair Gray, Paradise is a fitting...
    Hardback
    $3400
    Elsewhere:
    $3699
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Poor Things [Movie Tie-In]
    NOW THE OSCAR-WINNING MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING EMMA STONE, RAMY YOUSSEF, MARK RUFFALO, AND WILLEM DAFOE, DIRECTED BY YORGOS LANTHIMOS. "Witty and delightfully written" (New York Times Book Review), Alasdair Gray's Poor Things echoes Mary Shelley's Frankenstein in this novel of a young woman freeing herself from the confines of the suffocating Victorian society she was created to serve. Winner...
    Paperback
    $5100
    Available
    Ships in 2-3 weeks
  • Every Short Story by Alasdair Gray 1951-2012
    The first sixteen tales in this collection were published by Canongate in 1983 with the title Unlikely Stories, Mostly. This collection also has fifty-seven tales from later books, plus sixteen new ones published together for the first time. This last section, Tales Droll and Plausible, shows that Gray's recent twenty-first-century fiction is as uncomfortably funny and up to date as...
    Paperback
    Sold Out
  • 1982, Janine
    Jock McLeish, failed husband, lover and businessman, is alone in a hotel room, drinking whisky, fantasising about sex and contemplating suicide. As he tries to distance himself from reality, his lonely, alcohol-fuelled fantasies are interrupted by a flood of memories, reminding him of his own shortcomings. An unforgettably imaginative book, deeply experimental in its form and charged with a dark...
    Paperback
    Sold Out

More from General Fiction

View all
  • The Wedding People
    'BEST READ OF THE YEAR SO FAR' THE TIMES 'BOOKS AS FUN AS THIS ONE ARE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN' GUARDIAN Phoebe Stone arrives at a grand beachside hotel in Rhode Island wearing her best dress and least comfortable shoes. Immediately she is mistaken for one of the wedding people β€” but she's actually the only guest at the Cornwall...
    Paperback
    $2399
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    (3)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Throne of Glass Box Set (Paperback)
    Enter the realm. Unleash the darkness. Live the legend. Discover the worldwide phenomenon of the #1 New York Times-bestselling Throne of Glass series in this gorgeous 8-book box set! In a land without magic, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She has no love for the vicious king who rules from his throne of glass, but she has not...
    Set
    $12400
    Elsewhere:
    $15500
    (6)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Goal
    Welcome to Briar U!Get ready for your newest obsession . . . Discover the addictive world of the Off-Campus series from The Queen of Hockey Romance, Elle Kennedy!Read The Goal now for the perfect forced proximity romance! She's good at achieving her goals . . . College senior Sabrina James has her whole future planned out: graduate from college, kick...
    Paperback
    $2499
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Red Rising
    The first book in the incredible New York Times bestselling series Darrow is a Helldiver, toiling beneath the surface of Mars. As a member of the Red caste, he performs grueling labor in the belief that his sacrifice will enable future generations to one day inhabit the surface of the Red Planet. The Reds are humankind's lowest caste, living in...
    Paperback
    $2200
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Score
    Welcome to Briar U! Get ready for your newest obsession... Discover the addictive world of the Off-Campus series from The Queen of Hockey Romance, Elle Kennedy! Read The Score now for the perfect friends with benefits romance! He knows how to score, on and off the ice... Allie Hayes is in crisis mode. With graduation looming, she still doesn't have...
    Paperback
    $2499
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    The Ballad of Falling Dragons [Special Deluxe edition]
    The No.1 Sunday Times bestselling sensation When the Moon Hatched continues with the second book in The Moonfall Series, The Ballad of Falling Dragons… Raeve’s thirst for vengeance continues to burn, as does her love for Kaan Vaegor – a staunch beacon from a past she’s yet to face. With Rekk’s blood still fresh on her hands, she learns the...
    Hardback
    $5999
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Theo of Golden
    THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING PHENOMENON'For anything to be truly good, there must be love in it. Nothing is what it's supposed to be if love is not at the core.' One morning, a stranger arrives in the town of Golden. No one knows who he is or where he came from…His name is Theo and he's arrived there by chance –...
    Paperback
    $2899
    Elsewhere:
    $3499
    (5)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Yesteryear
    A BOLD AND BITING SATIRE. WILL HAVE YOU GASPING TO THE FINAL PAGE β€” Nita Prose WICKEDLY FUNNY, BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN AND FRIGHTENINGLY PERCEPTIVE β€” Abigail Dean INVENTIVE, ADDICTIVE, A WILD RIDE β€” Ashley Audrain SHOT THROUGH WITH HUMOUR AND LACED WITH DARKNESS β€” Clare Mackintosh The Stepford Wives meets The Handmaid's Tale β€” Hannah Deitch My name was Natalie Heller...
    Paperback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $3699
    (2)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Golden Son
    ENDER'S GAME meets THE HUNGER GAMES in this, the second in an extraordinary trilogy from an incredible new voice.'I'm still playing games. This is just the deadliest yet.' Darrow is a rebel forged by tragedy. For years he and his fellow Reds worked the mines, toiling to make the surface of Mars inhabitable. They were, they believed, mankind's last hope....
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Voracious
    From USA Today bestselling author and TikTok sensation comes the gripping, steamy dark romance series that everyone is talking about!'Filled with TENSION, HEARTBREAK and ELECTRIC CHEMISTRY. This one will tear your heart right out of your chest before tossing it back in and sewing you up' No. 1 New York Times bestselling author Brynne Weaver'Leigh Rivers is THE QUEEN OF...
    Paperback
    $2200
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Mistake
    Welcome to Briar U! Get ready for your newest obsession . . . Discover the addictive world of the Off-Campus series from The Queen of Hockey Romance, Elle Kennedy! Read The Mistake now for the perfect second chance romance! He's a player in more ways than one . . . College junior John Logan can get any girl he wants....
    Paperback
    $2499
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Project Hail Mary
    Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, the SUNDAY TIMES and NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of The Martian, offers a gripping new adventure in hard science fiction. With endorsement from notable figures such as Barack Obama and a slew of five-star reviews, this novel promises a thrilling and intellectually stimulating journey. Ryland Grace, a lone astronaut, finds himself on a...
    Paperback
    $2399
    Elsewhere:
    $2400
    (4)
    In Stock
    Ships today

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.