Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
4th out of 154 books
—
36 voters
Pure
Deep in the heart of Paris, its oldest cemetery is, by 1785, overflowing, tainting the very breath of those who live nearby. Into their midst comes Jean-Baptiste Baratte, a young, provincial engineer charged by the king with demolishing it.
At first Baratte sees this as a chance to clear the burden of history, a fitting task for a modern man of reason. But before long, he b...more
At first Baratte sees this as a chance to clear the burden of history, a fitting task for a modern man of reason. But before long, he b...more
Hardcover, 346 pages
Published
January 5th 2012
by Sceptre
(first published October 1st 2011)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
3,000)
I ended up feeling a bit let down by Pure. Miller is a luscious writer -- never a word wrong as he sketches a 1785 Paris that is about to boil over (but hasn't yet). He achieves a masterful balance between enough historical detail so that you can see, taste, and (unfortunately) smell the book's setting without ever seeming didactic or overly lecturing (ahem, Amitav Ghosh -- who I read simultaneously with this). Indeed, the prose is so graceful that the whole book has a sensuous feel despite the...more
19 likes · like · see review
view 2 comments
Feb 14, 2013
Mark
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
anyone with a taste for skulls
Recommended to Mark by:
Poole bookclub God bless 'em
Shelves:
bookclub-reads,
historical-fiction
But what is the significance of the elephant; I don't understand about the elephant.
At one point, one of the characters says 'That is a metaphor', another responds 'A metaphor? Where did you go to school ?'
And the first speaker answers 'Nogent-le-Rotrou'.
This little dialogue sums up part of my difficulties with this book. Firstly Andrew Miller absolutely crams this novel to the brim with metaphor. Secondly some of the dialogue seems too anachronistic and thirdly , and this is obviously my probl...more
At one point, one of the characters says 'That is a metaphor', another responds 'A metaphor? Where did you go to school ?'
And the first speaker answers 'Nogent-le-Rotrou'.
This little dialogue sums up part of my difficulties with this book. Firstly Andrew Miller absolutely crams this novel to the brim with metaphor. Secondly some of the dialogue seems too anachronistic and thirdly , and this is obviously my probl...more
15 likes · like · see review
The stink of the Innocents is permeating the soil, the water, and the air of Paris. The rotting remains of the overstuffed cemetery of les Innocents are leaching into the food and even the very skin and breath of the living inhabitants of the surrounding city. The vast yard of bones and soupy remains is eroding into their cellars. So the King's minister has hired on an engineer from Normandy to put together a crew that will dig up and relocate the corpses to the Catacombs, then destroy the cemet...more
11 likes · like · see review
It was the subject matter that attracted me to this book, as it seemed so unusual, based on an actual event, the clearing of Les Innocents graveyard in Paris which had become what we would refer to nowadays as a health hazard.
This gruesome task is undertaken by a young engineer who is commissioned to complete the task in a year.
What follows is the dark but compelling story of how this work was done, and it's effects on those involved.
There are many unusual and interesting characters, suicide, ra...more
This gruesome task is undertaken by a young engineer who is commissioned to complete the task in a year.
What follows is the dark but compelling story of how this work was done, and it's effects on those involved.
There are many unusual and interesting characters, suicide, ra...more
6 likes · like · see review
I enjoyed this book, but was left a little unsatisfied. I love the way Miller writes, and this is a soft touch on the pre-revolutionary Paris, only tangentially touching on the politics - I wanted it to be more grisly and gruesome, considering Baratte is tasked with moving the contents of the cemetery of les Innocents, which at the time was overflowing into people's cellars. I wanted more politics and more of an insight into the perspectives at Versailles and those of the common people. I wanted...more
7 likes · like · see review
Pure, Andrew Miller’s sixth novel, takes place in 1785, in Paris, as Normandy engineer Jean-Baptiste Baratte is summoned to the Palace of Versailles. There, Baratte, who is a graduate of the Ecole Royale des Ponts et Chaussées, is commissioned by the State to demolish the ancient cemetery beneath the church of “Les Innocents” in central Paris, and dispose of the thousands of bodies buried there.
The cemetery is far too close to the famous markets of Les Halles. The many bodies, whose fat refuses...more
The cemetery is far too close to the famous markets of Les Halles. The many bodies, whose fat refuses...more
21 likes · like · see review
Perhaps a little too 'literary' for my tastes, I didn't ever feel truly engaged throughout my entire reading of Pure.
I didn't feel that the reader was given enough of a chance to get to know the characters, and the Heloise was the only one I felt was given enough back story to really have true motivations which allowed my to understand her actions. The other personalities seem to just have things happen to them, and do things just because it will serve some purpose to move the plot along, rathe...more
I didn't feel that the reader was given enough of a chance to get to know the characters, and the Heloise was the only one I felt was given enough back story to really have true motivations which allowed my to understand her actions. The other personalities seem to just have things happen to them, and do things just because it will serve some purpose to move the plot along, rathe...more
2.5*, but I've rounded it down this time because it was probably closer to 2 than 3 for me. Although I do now feel a little mean for this...
This is another book I'm reading for my book club, and in all honesty one I didn't really want to. I (generally) know what I'm going to like, and historical fiction is not it. Especially when it is centred around a graveyard being dug up. Decomposing bodies...not my idea of a great read. So, I went in with quite low expectations and not expecting to enjoy it...more
This is another book I'm reading for my book club, and in all honesty one I didn't really want to. I (generally) know what I'm going to like, and historical fiction is not it. Especially when it is centred around a graveyard being dug up. Decomposing bodies...not my idea of a great read. So, I went in with quite low expectations and not expecting to enjoy it...more
Pure was loaned to me by a colleague, who promised that the book was beautifully written. I can’t argue with that, it certainly is. It’s almost poetic in it’s form, and the author has a really good way with words and the descriptive nature of the writing is sublime.
I found it a bit of an unusual novel, for the first 100 pages or so, it felt like not a lot happened, and the story ambled along following Jean Baptiste, the young engineer, as he was tasked with the unenviable task of moving the ceme...more
I found it a bit of an unusual novel, for the first 100 pages or so, it felt like not a lot happened, and the story ambled along following Jean Baptiste, the young engineer, as he was tasked with the unenviable task of moving the ceme...more
Paris, 1785. The cemetery Des Innocents is a ghastly place full of foul odours and too many buried dead on top of each other. The cemetery taints the surrounding area and all those that live around it. Monsieur Lafosse hires the young engineer, Jean-Baptiste Baratte who comes from the small town of Belleme in Normandy to devise a grand scheme to dig and remove all of the bodies and the abandoned church so that the cemetery Des Innocents can be paved over to become another fashionable Parisian Sq...more
I really enjoyed this book. The author created a vulnerable protagonist who succeeds against the opposition and distractions. I found the relentless progress through careful and difficult work inspiring. The engineer grows through the pages and the quality of writing and detailed observation of his inner struggle endeared him to me. Many of us scratch fearfully at closed doors. I was reminded of Camus, both in theme of freedom through action and love, and through the use of extended allegory.
6 likes · like · see review
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
2 likes · like · see review
I was enchanted by this book at the beginning. It is beautifully written and immediately creates a world that is both haunting and convincing.
In pre-revolutionary France, a young engineer from the provinces, eager to impress, is given the task of clearing a cemetery in the centre of Paris. The engineer’s work throws him into a world of colourful characters – a woman who exchanges sexual favours for books, a gang of foundlings turned agitators, a priest sent mad by torture. The engineer has to g...more
In pre-revolutionary France, a young engineer from the provinces, eager to impress, is given the task of clearing a cemetery in the centre of Paris. The engineer’s work throws him into a world of colourful characters – a woman who exchanges sexual favours for books, a gang of foundlings turned agitators, a priest sent mad by torture. The engineer has to g...more
This was an interesting book and I have to say that I really enjoyed it.
The book follows the life of Jean-Baptiste Baratte, a young engineer who has been tossed into the job of fixing up a parisian cemetery. Having previously worked within the mines, he is well equipped to handle the physical strain of his toil. However, it is the emotional side of the job which eventually starts to the wear on him. He is given the task of transporting the thousands of decomposing bodies of Les Innocents Cemete...more
The book follows the life of Jean-Baptiste Baratte, a young engineer who has been tossed into the job of fixing up a parisian cemetery. Having previously worked within the mines, he is well equipped to handle the physical strain of his toil. However, it is the emotional side of the job which eventually starts to the wear on him. He is given the task of transporting the thousands of decomposing bodies of Les Innocents Cemete...more
PURE. (2011). Andrew Miller. *****.
This is the first novel by this author that I have read – but certainly not the last. This particular book won the prestigious Costa Award for Best Novel in 2011 – beating out a serious host of contenders. It is an historical novel set in the turbulent days of the late 18th century in France. A young, recently graduated engineer, Jean-Baptiste Baratte, is given a strange assignment: he is to drain and excavate the huge gravesite in the center of Paris known as...more
This is the first novel by this author that I have read – but certainly not the last. This particular book won the prestigious Costa Award for Best Novel in 2011 – beating out a serious host of contenders. It is an historical novel set in the turbulent days of the late 18th century in France. A young, recently graduated engineer, Jean-Baptiste Baratte, is given a strange assignment: he is to drain and excavate the huge gravesite in the center of Paris known as...more
1 like · like · see review
I hadn't read Andrew Miller before and from the start I felt I was in the hands of a very good writer. the book is incredibly atmospheric as he draws characters in pre revolutionary Paris. the stage is set for the sweeping in of enlightenment thought, with the destruction of the old cemetery.
for my taste I would have liked more of the political context to be made clearer, just because it's such a fascinating time. I enjoyed the references to "men of the future" and casual references to "guillot...more
for my taste I would have liked more of the political context to be made clearer, just because it's such a fascinating time. I enjoyed the references to "men of the future" and casual references to "guillot...more
I normally avoid historical novels, but Pure by Andrew Miller had won the 2011 Costa Book of the Year, so when it was chosen for my Book Club, I thought it might have something. Little did I expect to find a novel as good as anything I have read over the last few years. It follows the story of a young engineer Jean-Baptsite Barrate as, in 1785, he is engaged by the minister to clear the overflowing and rancid cemetery of les Innocents in the heart of Paris. The book's descriptions of the localit...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Set in Paris in 1785, Pure tells the story of Jean-Baptiste Baratte, a young engineer tasked with the destruction of the cemetery of Les Innocents. This ancient graveyard has become so overloaded with human remains that the stench of putrefaction is poisoning the air of the capital. Indeed, within a short time of his arrival the stench has permeated Baratte's person so entirely that when he returns to visit his family in the Normandy countryside they cannot fail to notice it.
The cleansing of th...more
The cleansing of th...more
This is a beautifully written but harrowing account of the clearing of an ancient and over-crowded graveyard situated in the centre of Paris, just at the time when the city was beginning to ferment with revolution. The consequences of the past are horribly present, both in terms of past injustices endured by the people, and the all-pervading smell of the dead which creeps into everything in the vicinity.
The title of the book is wonderfully ironic; grit, grime, ordure, decay, filth and degenerati...more
The title of the book is wonderfully ironic; grit, grime, ordure, decay, filth and degenerati...more
Pure is the story of a young French engineer, Jean-Baptiste Baratte, who is tasked with removing the famous Parisien cemetery of les Innocents. The cemetery had been swallowing the corpses of Paris for centuries and, although closed for some years, had continued to cast its shadow over the area, polluting the air and the people. It had to go. Legends of creatures stalking the charnels surround the cemetery but as a modern, educated man and a disciple of Voltaire, Baratte sets no stock in them an...more
Jean-Baptiste Baratte is a modern man, well-versed in Voltaire and ready to leave his peasant upbringing behind. Eager to display his engineering talents, he meets the minister at Versailles to receive his first significant appointment. Confident, composed, although a bit cocky, he really can’t foresee any challenge his enlightened education can’t overcome.
But, all his plans of illustrious success are somewhat hampered by the assignment he receives, one that is couched in a veiled threat. His j...more
But, all his plans of illustrious success are somewhat hampered by the assignment he receives, one that is couched in a veiled threat. His j...more
3 likes · like · see review
Having purchased this novel based entirely on the cover, on the basis that it looked sufficiently interesting for a long train journey I had ahead, I am pleased to say that the content certainly lived up to the cover. Being a fan of historical fiction I was not disappointed by the vivid depiction of 18 th century Paris portrayed in this interesting novel.
People and places are carefully portrayed. Miller does this with sufficient detail and time to ensure a real sense of his vision while also a...more
Quoting Amazon: Jean-Baptiste Baratte, an engineer of modest origin, arrives in the city in 1785, charged by the King’s minister with emptying the overflowing cemetery of Les Innocents, a ancient site whose stench is poisoning the neighborhood’s air and water and leaving a vile taste in its inhabitants’ food. At first the ambitious Baratte sees his work as a chance to clear the burden of history, a fitting task for a modern man of reason. But before long he begins to suspect that the destruction...more
I was intrigued by the topic of this book and I picked it up even though I had never read anything by Andrew Miller before. Only afterwards did I realise the link between the enterprise described in this novel and the Catacombs in Paris.
Jean-Baptiste Baratte is a young provincial engineer who is summoned to Versailles in 1785: he is thus given the job of dismantling an old cemetery in the centre of Paris, les Innocents, which has become overcrowded and threatens the health of people living in th...more
Jean-Baptiste Baratte is a young provincial engineer who is summoned to Versailles in 1785: he is thus given the job of dismantling an old cemetery in the centre of Paris, les Innocents, which has become overcrowded and threatens the health of people living in th...more
I wouldn’t have chosen this from the shelf. The premise is not something I thought I’d enjoy and I don’t often seek out historical fiction. But a friend passed it on, saying how much she’d loved it. It won the 2011 Costa Novel Award. So I gave it a try. The cover says ‘Dazzling’, Irresistibly compelling’, ‘Gripping’ and ‘Superb’. And it is.
It also beautifully written. Jean-Baptiste Baratte is summoned from the quiet town of Bellême to Paris, to complete a rather unusual task. He is to clear the...more
It also beautifully written. Jean-Baptiste Baratte is summoned from the quiet town of Bellême to Paris, to complete a rather unusual task. He is to clear the...more
1785, and the French state is rotten, putrefying. Jean-Baptiste Baratte, a young engineer, is summoned to a decaying Versailles to be given a task by a government minister, the clearance of the cemetery of les Innocents by Les Halles in Paris, which is full to overflowing and filling its surrounds with stench and disease. Apparently there is an elephant somewhere in Versailles.
The elephant is the impending French Revolution, whose presence looms over this book whilst only ever being acknowledged...more
The elephant is the impending French Revolution, whose presence looms over this book whilst only ever being acknowledged...more
Pure by Andrew Miller is set in pre-revolutionary Paris, and deals with the demolition of the Cemetery of les Innocents, a place filled to overflowing with the remains of countless generations of Parisians, rich and poor. The cemetery has been closed to new interments but retains its priest, an organist and a verger. However, it has become an offense and health hazard to the surrounding area. The Minister commissions a young engineer from the country, Jean-Baptiste Baratte, to undertake the demo...more
Andrew Miller's 'Pure' has a feel of 18th/19th c. French literature but with a very modern flair to the writing style. I wanted to criticize it for not delving far enough into the events of the Revolution or at least its build-up, but essentially this was a book about people - so of course I loved it. Very little is telegraphed to the reader about what will happen next and it lurches from one apparent catastrophe to the next, while performing the improbable feat of making all this seem entirely...more
Set in the years just preceding the French Revolution. Pure is a story about a young Engineer Jean –Baptiste given the unenviable task of clearing the overrun, collapsing and foul smelling cemetery of l'Innocents and demolishing the adjacent church. This clearance is an historical fact with the bones being stored in the Catacombs of Paris.
This is not just an historical account of the cemetery clearing; it also alludes to the underlying of chaos and decay of the traditional way of life and the ne...more
This is not just an historical account of the cemetery clearing; it also alludes to the underlying of chaos and decay of the traditional way of life and the ne...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What does the ending mean?!!! (spoiler alert) | 7 | 133 | Jan 17, 2013 08:24pm | |
| The Readers: Book #8; Pure by Andrew Miller | 7 | 31 | Jul 27, 2012 03:04am |
Andrew Miller was born in Bristol in 1960. He has lived in Spain, Japan, Ireland and France, and currently lives in Somerset. His first novel, INGENIOUS PAIN, was published by Sceptre in 1997 and won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction, the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and the Grinzane Cavour prize in Italy. His second novel, CASANOVA, was published in 1998, followed by OX...more
More about Andrew Miller...
Share This Book
3 trivia questions
More quizzes & trivia...
“First ambitions are best. We are less brave later.”
—
10 people liked it
“Like everyone else in the house, she suffers from dreams.”
—
4 people liked it
More quotes…
