The Eclipse of the Century

by Jan Mark

The Eclipse of the Century (Scholastic Press) Mark, Jan

Genres: Fiction, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Young Adult, British Literature, Childrens

448 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Janet Marjorie Mark (1943-2006) was a British children's author and two time winner of the Carnegie Medal. She also taught art and English in Gravesend, Kent, was part of the faculty of Education at Oxford Polytechnic in the early 1980s and was a tutor and mentor to other writers before her death from meningitis-related septicaemia.

Meet the author:

What is your favourite animal?
The noble rat

What is your favourite boy’s name?
George

What is your favourite girl’s name?
Marjorie

What is your favourite food?
Pickled herring

What is your favourite music?
Klezmer

What is your favourite hobby?
Listening to music

Reviews

[Roz Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quirky and unforgettable. A man has an accident and while unconscious has an out-of-body experience. When he recovers he sets out to find the place for real. Full of poetic imagination; the land he travels to could be an afterlife, but is not like any afterlife you have read about before. The characters he encounters draw him into a bizarre adventure. I'd say the novel is slow to get going, and with my writer hat on I'd say the early part could have been streamlined a lot. Jan Mark would probably tell me to write my books my way and let her write her books her way - but her way has many virtues. She has a quirky, distinctive voice capable of mystery, humour and poignance, and I will always keep a special place for this novel on my bookshelf.

[Robina Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

A superb and haunting book. The pace is deliberately slow – the sense is of a place where people wash up and wait – where nothing happens but something always seems on the verge of happening. Amazingly atmospheric – one of the best books I have ever read.

[parmjit · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a stunning book it has an ageless timeless quality a sort of laid back march into the end of the world feel and even at the end it leaves you with a bittersweet melancholy that is somehow satisfying

[Sofi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book that you will find nothing to compare with.

[M F]

I've read this book before, but it was a long time ago and I think a lot of the details were lost on me at that age. (Although it claims to be a children's book. I would probably disagree.) It's a weird one -- a sort of Night Vale-esque surreal desert town combined with fear about the millennium, which I barely remember but have heard about, and an odd collection of characters.

It's a little odd though, in that it doesn't end with a conclusion to the events you THINK are at the centre of it, and it's a weirdly sad but anticlimactic ending that at the same time seems fitting for a place like this one. Does Keith ever leave? Does he go home and say that the message he left which prompted all these doomsday cults was actually not meant to result in so much death? Or does he stay there forever -- and how does the town recover? We'll never know, because the book doesn't tell us that.

Emotionally it's a powerful ending (Kijé....), but it's also weirdly unsatisfying. The whole book has this off-kilter feel but at the same time it seems deliberate, so I wouldn't necessarily say that's a bad thing. Idk, it's weird. I like it but it's weird.

[Struan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Totally weird story line with barely any ending or closure. Still evoked a concept of time and exploration that really inspired me as a younger reader. Very mature ideas for a supposedly young book! Would recommend to anyone looking for something off the beaten path!

[Kit · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very strange story but well worth reading, very atmospheric with intreguing and engaging characters.

[Capn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Possibly the best book I've read on my GR unenforced-hiatus. It's weird. It's wild. It's gritty. It's YA without romance, and it deftly defies easy categorization (at least, it's eluded me). Walks that fine line of possibly sci-fi, but doesn't lose me in the process. It's also set in a fictional country bordering Uzbekistan and in striking distance of Tashkent. So if you're reading across the world and want something a little odd with some mystery and violence, then go and visit Qantoum.

(Are all of Jan Mark's books this good?! The way it unfolded...!). Loved it. Favourites shelf.

[Charles Kosina · Rating 2 out of 5]

About a quarter way through I almost gave up reading. It was just not getting anywhere. But I persevered to the end. And what a weird and violent end it was. It just got far too ridiculous with all the strange groups of people there and no real explanation of what they all wanted and lots of loose ends. Oh well, it occupied a few hours, but quite frankly not worth the effort.

[Misha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strange alien creatures. Even stranger humans. Extremely atmospheric take on the hysteria that surrounded the dawn of the new millennium. Ends rather abruptly, leaving more questions than answers.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many people purport to glimpse heaven during a near death experience for Keith Chapman it is Qantoum he sees. When he realises it is a real place he wants to know more and about the mysterious statement "Go now, we'll meet again … under the black sun, at the end of a thousand years".

My initial impressions after reading the first half of this book is that it would struggle to maintain the attention of many young adults at which this novel is aimed, it certainly struggled to maintain mine as an adult. It is original in its setting and storyline but the narrative is slow in getting going and there is a distinct lack of interaction with the characters initially. It seems to me that more should have been made of Keith's journey to Qantoum, he decision to go, persuading his family (who we don't meet at all) and his journey that all happened too quickly.

It did capture what I imagine it would be like to live in an isolated area with people who have been cut off from outside influences and as the modern world starts to intrude the clash of cultures. It is fascinating how much smaller the world is fast becoming - that the internet has changed our world whereas it would have taken months now it takes seconds for news to travel and for people to react to that news. One point It made that I found particularly interesting was how lying/deceiving someone even in a minor way and done without malice can have unforeseen consequences something Keith finds out the hard way.

Well over half way through I found myself drawn in more and more wanting to know about the Sturyat where they came from and where they were going and the mysteries that surround them and Qantoum and its people. But I fear that people who don't have my OCD tendencies of having to finish a book they start would have given up by this point, which is a shame. But I have to be honest that I was no clearer at the end than I was at the start. So if you are hoping for answers to your questions I'm afraid you will be disappointed.

[Imre Oks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! As it said on the blurb, this book really was a delightful read!After an unsure, uneasy start, new little interesting features pop up. Great amount of science fiction from 2 thirds in, right about my style!