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47th out of 118 books
—
90 voters
Death of an Ordinary Man
by
Glen Duncan
With Death of an Ordinary Man, Glen Duncan continues his penetrating and innovative exploration of the supernatural with a novel that is far and away his most powerful and accomplished yet. Nathan Clark's gravestone offers a short and hopeful summary: At rest. But Nathan is not at rest, and knows he won't be until he finds out why he died. Privy now to the innermost though...more
Paperback, 304 pages
Published
November 30th 2004
by Grove Press, Black Cat
(first published 2004)
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Oct 05, 2007
Lori
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anyone whose interested in what could happen in the afterlife...
Shelves:
fricken-awesome,
fiction
I had finished I, Lucifer by this author prior to reading this novel, and I was facinated by his take on heaven, hell, the devil, and god.
Here, also, is an interesting take on what happens to a person after they die. The main character awoke to whiteness, nothingness, then suddenly found himself at his funeral, with no recollection of how or why he got there.
He spends the day around his family, being drawn into them like a moth to a light. He can see and hear thier thoughts, he is also drawn i...more
Here, also, is an interesting take on what happens to a person after they die. The main character awoke to whiteness, nothingness, then suddenly found himself at his funeral, with no recollection of how or why he got there.
He spends the day around his family, being drawn into them like a moth to a light. He can see and hear thier thoughts, he is also drawn i...more
The story follows a dead man as he hovers over his family & closest friend the day of his funeral & wake. The plot, such as it is, follows him as he tries to discover why he died. But it also follows him through time as this thoroughly devoted family man who dearly loves his wife & 3 kids reexperiences key moments in his life. The book has passages of amazing insight about family relationships. There's a brilliant chapter on his daughter's first sexual experience (it's not particular...more
Quite brilliant. Before Death of an Ordinary Man I’d read only one other book by Duncan, I, Lucifer, which I suppose was similar in its style and themes and so on. He has this amazing talent for describing an existence outside of the human experience. His imagery transcends the senses, and is something I think everyone needs to experience at least once.
But I think what struck me the most in this story was the characters and the depth to which we got to know them. The omniscient perspective of re...more
But I think what struck me the most in this story was the characters and the depth to which we got to know them. The omniscient perspective of re...more
A dead man observes his family at his own funeral and wake, looking for clues as to why he died. His recently departed stature gives him the ability to see but not be seen, as well as to hear some of the thoughts of his family. Their grief triggers memories of another death in the family, one that no one dealt with nearly as well they seem to be handling his passing. The presence of two people he doesn't recognize is what troubles him most, and until he finds the connection, he can't let himself...more
The best book I've read since college. The story is heartbreaking, but I couldn't tear myself away. It took a little while to really get into the author's voice, as the main character is just as clueless as the reader as to what's going on in the beginning. It's worth sticking it out and getting into.
Honestly, I thought this book sucked. 50 pages into it, I wasn't sure whether or not I'd bother finishing it. For some reason I kept reading, figuring it would get better. By a certain point, I still didn't care much for the story and disliked most all of the characters, yet I was far enough along in the book I thought "I might as well finish it now." I really didn't identify with any of the characters. I thought the whole stream-of-consciousness writing style very annoying -- especially conside...more
In spite of himself Nathan came out of suspension with a mixture of voyeuristic guilt and pride in her courage. This was beauty. He forgot everything else, even the pills on the desk. This was his daughter, in full flight. She was so like Cheryl, the way Cheryl used to be, the curiosity that wrecked and elevated her.
The story takes place on the day of Nathan's funeral. He finds himself drifting through the house, avoiding the lure of a room with a door and a white bed. which seem to be offering...more
The story takes place on the day of Nathan's funeral. He finds himself drifting through the house, avoiding the lure of a room with a door and a white bed. which seem to be offering...more
The supernatural parts aren't really supernatural enough, and the family drama parts are too overwrought. It bothers me when you can't tell whether the author or the narrator has a warped view of the world; it's like seeing "Inglorious Basterds" without knowing how WWII actually ended. The women in this novel are presented as mystic goddesses, all vastly superior to men but without man's humanity. It's a common problem with male authors, and it bothers me.
The criminal center of the novel is a h...more
The criminal center of the novel is a h...more
This is one of those books that clearly doesn't play by the "rules" promoted by most writing self-help books - which may explain why I enjoyed it so much.
The story unfolds very slowly. It's a bit like the movie Pulp Fiction in that it's not put together in the traditional beginning-middle-end structure that we all know so well. Even the prose, which reflects the garbled minds/emotions of the characters, follows the pattern set forth by the story structure. The entire book is designed to do one...more
The story unfolds very slowly. It's a bit like the movie Pulp Fiction in that it's not put together in the traditional beginning-middle-end structure that we all know so well. Even the prose, which reflects the garbled minds/emotions of the characters, follows the pattern set forth by the story structure. The entire book is designed to do one...more
It took me awhile to get sucked into this book... So long, in fact, that I nearly quit reading it. (sidebar: I am getting a lot better at quitting books that suck, rather than forcing myself to finish them. Well, maybe not getting better, but I am thinking about it. Strongly) I am glad that I did not quit, because it got a lot better. It is a pretty depressing book, with extremely dark subject matter. If you are a sensitive Sally, this is not the book for you. However, if you are not, you may re...more
Comparisons with Alice Sebold's better-known play on the same theme are unavoidable (so I won't avoid them), but Duncan's Death of an Ordinary Man is not afraid to go to places, dark places, that The Lovely Bones tends to (delicately, beautifully) swerve around. For that alone I prefer Duncan's effort.
Death of an Ordinary Man takes some getting used to (especially if you jump into it after having just read a James Frey novel); Duncan's style in this novel is ethereal, wispy, intangible and scatt...more
Death of an Ordinary Man takes some getting used to (especially if you jump into it after having just read a James Frey novel); Duncan's style in this novel is ethereal, wispy, intangible and scatt...more
Glen Duncan is the master of writing the nitty gritty of those thoughts which most of us are embarrassed to think, or even verbalise. This book puts us directly into the heads of every one of its characters (bar one, whom we never actually meet, but who casts a shadow into the story). It tells the story of Nathan, who is a ghost at his own funeral, dipping into and out of the minds of the attendees, his family, and into and out of their memories. There is a door with a scary attraction, and two...more
After reading this book I still don't know if I completely liked it. At times Duncan's writing really moved me, he is articulate, accurate and describes human interaction in a wonderful way. However at the same time, I had trouble connecting some of the characters which made it difficult to read at times.
As mentioned by some of the other reviewers, this book isn't for everyone and it does take some time to get used to Duncan's writing style.
Overall though, the good bits, outweighed the bad, and...more
As mentioned by some of the other reviewers, this book isn't for everyone and it does take some time to get used to Duncan's writing style.
Overall though, the good bits, outweighed the bad, and...more
My first Glen Duncan book was Weathercock which completely blew me away - that is the highly intelligent and sophisticated level of writing coupled with the dark and raw subject matter which I found highly intriguing. I've since read Love Remains and now Death of an Ordinary Man, both entertaining enough, but neither achieves the dizzying heights of brilliance of Weathercock. I'm hoping that with his new book, The Last Werewolf, Duncan achieves the literary heights (or delights) he did with Weat...more
A perplexing take on the experience of a soul coming to peace with their own death . . . and sharing, with the reader, a profound naivete about "what happens when we die" along with a puzzling naivete about the circumstances of their own death. The reader follows the narrator on a metaphysical tour of their funeral, complete with forays into the thoughts and emotions of their family and friends. You learn about the narrator's life through his family's thought and memories and his own interpretat...more
This book was OK. Yeah, just OK. It started out interestingly enough; a man realizes he's dead and viewing his family at his funeral. He can't remember how or why he died, but as he spends time with each of his immediate family members the pieces begin to fall into place. About 3/4 of the way through the story began to drag for me, which really took away from what could have been a great ending.
Often (too) complex (for its own good), often complex, often stirring and never boring, "Death of an Ordinary Man" in a way takes Alice Sebold's "The Lovely Bones" technique of having a dead person providing most of the narrative, and tweaking it up a notch. Glen Duncan makes the eponymous Ordinary Man try to figure out in his limbo/Purgatory state how he got there. Duncan's style takes some getting used to, and is not for everyone.
A ghost awakens at his own funeral and from here it's a mystery(as to his own death) slash an intricate exploration of relationships between family/best friend. I almost gave this four stars for Duncan's achingly honest emotional observations,but he seemed to struggle with what kind of novel he wanted Death Of An Ordinary Man to be. That said it's my 2nd good read by this this author.
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Duncan writes characters so raw, so relatable, that my skin tingles in recognition and I feel sick in the pit of my stomach with their pain. The man can turn a phrase so deftly that I find myself re-reading two times, then three, to fully absorb the beauty of his language. Like him much.
One of the saddest books I've read in recent years. Nathan's story is absolutely heartbreaking, as is that of his family, whose thoughts and feelings following Nathan's death make up most of the content.
I wouldn't count Death of an Ordinary Man among Duncan's best, simply because it doesn't have the almost conversational flow that make his other novels so easy to get caught up in, but it is brilliant nonetheless for its portrayal of a family with a tragic story, and their battle coping with the...more
I wouldn't count Death of an Ordinary Man among Duncan's best, simply because it doesn't have the almost conversational flow that make his other novels so easy to get caught up in, but it is brilliant nonetheless for its portrayal of a family with a tragic story, and their battle coping with the...more
After having read "I, Lucifer" and loving it, I wasn't really into this book. It wasn't bad, but I wouldn't jump at the chance to read it again right away. Very well written, and a great twist worked in there, but I prefer "I, Lucifer". Maybe I just went in with too high of expectations.
I picked this up at random, while browsing at the library. And it was really different and interesting. Had just finished "Her Fearful Symmetry", which I didn't much like, and this had a similar theme. But what a difference. The subject is grim, and it's sometimes hard to read, but well worth it.
the first duncan book I read and I picked it up because I liked the cover. The story herein is a very engrossing one. It also has one of my favorite all-time quoteable lines in it. Its premise is fantastic and I can only hope his next book is as good!
very, very good. real, as in thoughts feelings and emotions. tremendously vivid especially the part where he visits the site where his daughter was found. it made me feel like was there with him. boom! read this.
Wow. Very dark. Brutally honest. Covers many of the disturbing things that people can do to each other. At times I felt it was difficult to get through, but now that it's done, I keep thinking about it.
I could not read the whole thing. It's confusing and you keep waiting for something to happen and nothing does. For the first 60 pages, anyway. It's very rare for me to not finish a book.
Dark subject matter done well. Duncan is a keen observer and really knows people. An interesting technique for getting into the into the heads of all the characters while exploring some big questions. Heavy but not maudlin. One reviewer said negative things about the women being portrayed as goddesses. That's not how I saw them at all - they had a more open approach to life's possibilties than the dead guy and he seemed to admire that.
The idea of this book is fascinating....and it started off with the accurate amount of suspense. However, halfway through the plot drags and draaaaaggs. I couldn't finish it.
Interesting but muddled. I realize that was the point, but I found myself skimming some of the more rambling sections. Overall I liked it alright, though.
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Glen Duncan is a British author born in 1965 in Bolton, Lancashire, England to an Anglo-Indian family. He studied philosophy and literature at the universities of Lancaster and Exeter. In 1990 Duncan moved to London, where he worked as a bookseller for four years, writing in his spare time. In 1994 he visited India with his father (part roots odyssey, part research for a later work, The Bloodstone...more
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“She hated the predictability of herself, but knew life probably wouldn't be long enough for her to grow out of it.”
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“You have a good cry, lovey, you'll feel better afterwards. You did feel better afterwards, but as if you'd conned yourself, fobbed yourself off.”
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