The Illusion of Separateness: A Novel
(Adobe EPUB eBook, Kindle Book, OverDrive Read)
"The uncanny beauty of Van Booy's prose, and his ability to knife straight to the depths of a character's heart, fill a reader with wonder." — San Francisco Chronicle
Award-winning author Simon Van Booy tells a harrowing and enchanting story of how one man's act of mercy during World War II changed the lives of strangers, and how they each discover the astonishing truth of their connection.
The characters in Van Booy's The Illusion of Separateness discover at their darkest moments of fear and isolation that they are not alone, that they were never alone, that every human being is a link in a chain we cannot see. This gripping novel—inspired by true events—tells the interwoven stories of a deformed German infantryman; a lonely British film director; a young, blind museum curator; two Jewish American newlyweds separated by war; and a caretaker at a retirement home for actors in Santa Monica. They move through the same world but fail to perceive their connections until, through seemingly random acts of selflessness, a veil is lifted to reveal the vital parts they have played in one another's lives, and the illusion of their separateness.
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Simon Van Booy. (2013). The Illusion of Separateness: A Novel. HarperCollins.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)Simon Van Booy. 2013. The Illusion of Separateness: A Novel. HarperCollins.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)Simon Van Booy, The Illusion of Separateness: A Novel. HarperCollins, 2013.
MLA Citation (style guide)Simon Van Booy. The Illusion of Separateness: A Novel. HarperCollins, 2013.
| Library | Owned | Available |
|---|---|---|
| Shared Digital Collection | 1 | 1 |
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Simon Van Booy is the author of two novels and two collections of short stories, including The Secret Lives of People in Love and Love Begins in Winter, which won the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award. He is the editor of three philosophy books and has written for The New York Times, The Guardian, NPR, and the BBC. His work has been translated into fourteen languages. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and daughter.
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"The uncanny beauty of Van Booy's prose, and his ability to knife straight to the depths of a character's heart, fill a reader with wonder." — San Francisco Chronicle
Award-winning author Simon Van Booy tells a harrowing and enchanting story of how one man's act of mercy during World War II changed the lives of strangers, and how they each discover the astonishing truth of their connection.
The characters in Van Booy's The Illusion of Separateness discover at their darkest moments of fear and isolation that they are not alone, that they were never alone, that every human being is a link in a chain we cannot see. This gripping novel—inspired by true events—tells the interwoven stories of a deformed German infantryman; a lonely British film director; a young, blind museum curator; two Jewish American newlyweds separated by war; and a caretaker at a retirement home for actors in Santa Monica. They move through the same world but fail to perceive their connections until, through seemingly random acts of selflessness, a veil is lifted to reveal the vital parts they have played in one another's lives, and the illusion of their separateness.
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"The uncanny beauty of Van Booy's prose, and his ability to knife straight to the depths of a character's heart, fill a reader with wonder....There are so many wonderful sentences in this book, a reviewer groans for want of room to list them." — San Francisco Chronicle
"Masterful prose....From minimalistic sentences he wrings out maximum impact, stripping away artifice and elaboration in favor of stark, emotional clarity and honesty." — Boston Globe
"His writing is consciously poetic and at times aphoristic, and he deftly portrays his characters' raw emotions." — Wall Street Journal
"Van Booy writes like Hemingway but with more heart. It's a gorgeous story about people whose lives are connected all because of a baby who is saved during World War II. Warning: don't read this in public, or you might sob in front of strangers." — New Hampshire Public Radio
"World War II flashbacks, random acts of kindness, and the amazing thing that happens when seemingly disparate story lines come full circle." — Daily Candy
"Using restraint and a subtle dose of foreshadowing, Van Booy expertly entangles these disparate lives; but it's what he leaves out that captures the imagination. Full of clever staccato sentences bookended by snippets of inner monologue — obvious, but ripe with meaning, the writing is what makes this remarkable book soar." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"A spare, elliptical story of human connection, framed by the horror of World War II....The story snaps together beautifully. A brilliant if elusive novel that shows how a single act can echo through time." — Library Journal
"This short and deceptively simple novel, which affords the pleasure of discovering its well-wrought patterns, is likely to grow in stature as it lingers in memory." — Booklist
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Starred review from May 20, 2013
The latest addition to Van Booy’s eclectic literary repertoire is a fractured but fine-tuned narrative revealed through the sum of its pieced-together parts. The story is based on actual events and told from the perspective of six distantly related characters in alternating chapters stretching from New York in 1939 to France throughout WWII, and to East Sussex, England, and Los Angeles, Calif., both in 2010; it quietly unfolds around a multigenerational family ravaged by war, loss, and regret. Mr. Hugo is a disfigured Nazi soldier atoning for his crimes; Martin is a French caretaker at a retirement home for aging starlets; Amelia is a blind 20-something searching for love while setting up programs for the sightless at New York’s Museum of Modern Art; and John survived the crash of his B-24 plane over Nazi-occupied France to join the French resistance. Using restraint and a subtle dose of foreshadowing, Van Booy (Everything Beautiful Began After) expertly entangles these disparate lives; but it’s what he leaves out that captures the imagination. Full of clever staccato sentences (“Most nights, he watches television. Then he falls asleep and the television watches him”) bookended by snippets of inner monologue—obvious, but ripe with meaning (“We all have different lives... but in the end probably feel the same things, and regret the fear we thought might somehow sustain us”), the writing is what makes this remarkable book soar. Agent: Carrie Kania, Conville & Walsh Literary Agency (U.K.)
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February 1, 2013
I found Van Booy's award-winning Everything Beautiful Began After particularly memorable; colleague Annalisa Pesek reports that his stories are to die for; and the heightened moral atmosphere afforded by the World War II setting is a definite eye-catcher. So I'm excited about this work, featuring a host of telling characters--e.g., a deformed German infantryman, Jewish American newlyweds divided by war--who are linked by one man's moment of mercy.
Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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"The uncanny beauty of Van Booy's prose, and his ability to knife straight to the depths of a character's heart, fill a reader with wonder." — San Francisco Chronicle
Award-winning author Simon Van Booy tells a harrowing and enchanting story of how one man's act of mercy during World War II changed the lives of strangers, and how they each discover the astonishing truth of their connection.
The characters in Van Booy's The Illusion of Separateness discover at their darkest moments of fear and isolation that they are not alone, that they were never alone, that every human being is a link in a chain we cannot see. This gripping novel—inspired by true events—tells the interwoven stories of a deformed German infantryman; a lonely British film director; a young, blind museum curator; two Jewish American newlyweds separated by war; and a caretaker at a retirement home for actors in Santa Monica. They move through the...
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