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107th out of 163 books
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37 voters
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The Summer of Katya
by
Trevanian
In the quiet Basque countryside in 1914, Jean-Marc Montjean, a handsome young doctor, is bewitched by the seductive, beautiful Katya. He is driven to know everything about her. He is devastated by the unspeakable secret horror buried in her past.
"A most exquisite, elegant, ingenious thriller." -- The New York Daily News
"A tour de force . . . A story that explores meticulou...more
"A most exquisite, elegant, ingenious thriller." -- The New York Daily News
"A tour de force . . . A story that explores meticulou...more
Paperback, 288 pages
Published
June 28th 2005
by Three Rivers Press
(first published January 1st 1998)
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As formative as Shibumi (and Trevanian) have been for me, I realized just a few days ago that I hadn't read another Trevanian novel and set about changing that. Out of sheer randomness, I chose The Summer of Katya -- and was not disappointed at all.
Having been away from Trevanian's writing for so long, it was brisk and rewarding to find again his incisive, edgy, but always well-crafted writing. I had trouble putting the book down, and the equivalent of 288 pages on my Kindle melted aw...more
Having been away from Trevanian's writing for so long, it was brisk and rewarding to find again his incisive, edgy, but always well-crafted writing. I had trouble putting the book down, and the equivalent of 288 pages on my Kindle melted aw...more
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I thoroughly enjoy my french-word-a-day.typepad.com site. Blogger Kristin Espinasse mentioned The Summer of Katya as a good read, I trust her judgement so I ordered it through my library's interlibrary loan program. The book came in today, I picked it up late afternoon and read it in one setting. Difficult to put down, the novel was chillingly haunting - psychological thriller comes to mind, with the rather unanticipated nightmare of an ending. The glimpse into the Basque culture during a fe...more
Trevanian was, according to his Wikipedia entry, so diverse a writer that some thought the name was "a collective pen name for a group of writers working together" (although to me his prose is always recognizable). His first two books, The Eiger Sanction and The Loo Sanction were delicious spoofs, over-the-top send-ups of the already over-the-top action/adventure/spy novel popularized by Ian Fleming with his Bond series. With his third novel, The Main he abruptly changed tone and color...more
A wonderfully written book. Trevanian’s narration of the story as it unfolds leaves the reader in suspense and anxious to find out what the Treville’s secret is about. His vocabulary and use of words is outstanding. The writing and point of view of the characters is like no other books that I have ever read. Very well written indeed.
Jean-Marc Monjean, a recently medical school graduate takes a position as a doctor’s assistant in a small French Basque village of Sallies. The ti...more
Jean-Marc Monjean, a recently medical school graduate takes a position as a doctor’s assistant in a small French Basque village of Sallies. The ti...more
This book attracted me because of how precisely Trevaynian handles the relationship between Katya and her foolish young lover Jean-Marc. He is all emotion and hope, living for his first love, and she is vivacious but essentially cold; an unattainable joy. Much like Great Expectations, the theme might be that you start with an expectation that love conquers all, but end up learning that such romantics get flattened by the steamroller of feminine calculation.
As for plot, Jean-Marc bou...more
As for plot, Jean-Marc bou...more
Not typical Trevanian action/ adventure.
But brilliant writing. Beautiful evocation of the Basque people and country- supplementing Shibumi in this respect.
But brilliant writing. Beautiful evocation of the Basque people and country- supplementing Shibumi in this respect.
Trevanian has a unique and quiet way of describing everything in such detail, and yet uses as few words as possible to make the description come alive. While THE SUMMER OF KATYA is beautifully written, the plot of this one falls short. In fact, it was his grasp of language - the pre WWI romance genre style - that kept me turning the pages.
I've read a couple others by Trevanian and have been sucked in and completely floored; this one wasn't as gripping as I was hopping it would be, ...more
I've read a couple others by Trevanian and have been sucked in and completely floored; this one wasn't as gripping as I was hopping it would be, ...more
Trevanian'la tanışma kitabımdı bu kitap ve çok etkilenmiştim herşeyinden.Karakterleri,üslubu,betimlemeleri,varlığa ve doğallığa dair saptamalarıyla sizi çok oyalayacak ve üzerinde çok düşüneceğiniz bir kitap.En azından böyle yaptım ben.Kitapta hemen hemen her bölümde altı çizili yerler ve kahve lekeleri kapladı :)
Ve o finali, Montjean'ın kitabın başında bahsettiği gibi ruhunuzun boşalmış gibi hissedeceğinize eminim.Daha fazla spoiler yok,bu kitabı mutlaka okuyun :)
Ve o finali, Montjean'ın kitabın başında bahsettiği gibi ruhunuzun boşalmış gibi hissedeceğinize eminim.Daha fazla spoiler yok,bu kitabı mutlaka okuyun :)
I enjoyed this book 25 years or so ago and found the copy in my attic. I remembered how much I liked it but could not recall the details - more an indictment of my memory than of the book. Trevanian weaves a great psychological thriller/love story set in the French Basque country on the eve of world war 1. It's a great book - I especially enjoyed the sequence at the Basque fete...wonder why?! Can't wait to go back and read Trevanian's Shibumi
Another of my favorite books. This one and Richard Adams, `The Girl in A Swing', I always think of together because they are both such beautiful and such sad love stories. I first read The Summer of Katya when I was 21 and, like Shibumi, I fell in love with the book on a first read. I've read it plenty of times since then and I just appreciate it more and more. So vivid you feel as though you lived through it yourself. Magnificent work.
Don't know where I came upon the book, but decided to read it because of my Paris trip. It is set in the basque countryside in the early 1990's. The narrator ( a local doctor) falls in love with the the sister of one of his patients. Once I got into this book I couldn't put it down. Part love story, thriller, mystery.
Worth reading. Never heard of trevanian, but it seems everyone else has. Now I know who he is.
Worth reading. Never heard of trevanian, but it seems everyone else has. Now I know who he is.
I was in desperate need of a beach-worthy page-turner that didn't make my brain feel all sleazy, and along came The Summer of Katya. Although the first two chapters didn't show much promise, the plot then began to move swiftly and decisively towards its deliciously pathological conclusion, buffeted by laugh-out-loud witty dialogue and expert suspense-building narrative. Escape literature that may boost your IQ a millipoint.
it was really hard to put down...very engaging. the story is told in a really user friendly voice and carries the reader along really well. the first few pages are alittle rough, but youre rewarded with the witticisms in the characters' conversations and the depth of the story.
A simple story of a family in the Basque region, a young doctor who treats Katya and falls madly in love with her, the sadness that erupts and leaves you feeling limp. The utter helplessness that you feel at the twisted ending. This is an unforgettable book.
This books is beautifully constructed. Another treatise on things not being what they seem with a bit of social history thrown into the mix. I loved Shibumi and this is equally elegant, though it could not be more different in subject matter.
I found this book through a search for Basque fiction. It's amazing. Truly spellbinding. Very unusual and only marginally about Basque culture, but the characters are unforgettable. It led me to add two other Trevanian novels to my kindle.
Really enjoyed this and surprised that it isn't better known as I'd never heard of it before. Very well written and enjoyable read with a brilliant twist in the end.
Stephen
Stephen
Read this book 15 years ago and want to reread.can't find this in the bookstore.flawlessly literate.Shoulder blade becomes clavicle.A doctors vocabulary
A little dull and perhaps boring at the beginning. However the end is shocking. Once again cleverly charming basque dialogues win our hearts.
Nothing like the other two novels I read by Trevanian. Not very entertaining; the story kind of rambles.
W rating : C
Saw where it was going. But all in all a worthwhile read. Not like the other Trevanian books.
Saw where it was going. But all in all a worthwhile read. Not like the other Trevanian books.
Surely the best book from Trevanian, impactating on my mind to this day and I'm probably not alone.
Very well written book, with lots of psychological suspense.
Amazing. Couldn't put it down. Read it in one evening.
One of my all time favourites. Trevanian at his best
One of my top ten favourite books in the 1980s
One of favorite books I read this year.
Elizabeth
added it
Quite an enjoyable, complete story
A spare Gothic novel set in the Basque country. What more could you want?
Spectacular!
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"Trevanian" was the pen name of American author Dr. Rodney William Whitaker (12 June 1931-14 Dec 2005). He wrote in a wide variety of genres, achieved best-seller status, and published under several names, of which the best known was Trevanian. From 1972 to 1983, five of his novels sold more than a million copies each. He was described as "the only writer of airport paperbacks to be...more
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“Ripe for romance? Is that not only the self-conscious and sensitive young man's way of saying he was heavy with passion? Is not, perhaps, romance only the fiction by means of which the tender-minded negotiate their lust?”
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