A Revolution of the Sun

by Tim Pears

The breathtaking new novel from the great chronicler of our age.A Revolution of the Sun tells the story of one momentous year through the eyes of the people who lived it. It begins at the stroke of midnight on the first day of 1997. As the year turns, a group of disparate individuals from different backgrounds, from all corners of the country, embark on separate journeys which will converge over the course of the next twelve Rebecca, mother-to-be; Sam, amnesiac; Roderick, conservative MP; Jack, truck driver; Martha, cat burglar; Ben, hemiplegic child; Solo, his father. At the end of the year, their lives are irrevocably changed, some for better, some for worse. Ambitious, powerful, irresistible, A Revolution of the Sun is the work of a writer at the peak of his powers.From the Trade Paperback edition.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

448 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2000

About the author

Born in 1956, Tim Pears grew up in Devon and left school at sixteen. He worked in a wide variety of unskilled jobs: trainee welder, assistant librarian, trainee reporter, archaeological worker, fruit picker, nursing assistant in a psychiatric ward, groundsman in a hotel & caravan park, fencer, driver, sorter of mail, builder, painter & decorator, night porter, community video maker and art gallery manager in Devon, Wales, France, Norfolk and Oxford.

Always he was writing, and in time making short films. He took the Directing course at the National Film and Television School, graduating in the same month that his first novel, In the Place of Fallen Leaves, was published, in 1993.

Reviews

[Cecily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disparate, intriguing characters, with some history of each, culminating in their lives being gradually drawn together, even though (or because?) all are somewhat marginalised socially - albeit in very different ways. Knowing something of the denouement makes the plot rather contrived. The writing style is distinctly different from Fallen Leaves or Land of Plenty. Minor punctuation is sometimes omitted and it switches disconcertingly to the present tense for some passages. Worse, he uses the first person for only some bits of one character's story (which turn out to be diary entries). Also uses the word "insinuate" ludicrously and distractingly frequently, often in slightly non-standard ways! Very occasional dash of magical realism - just to confuse things.

Fascinating, despite the irritations, largely because of the insights into the hugely different worlds each protagonist comes from (in terms of family/relationships, class, wealth, work, education, (dis)ability/health and mental health, politics, race, drugs etc).

[Tina · Rating 1 out of 5]

I could not read it (and I really tried), couldn't find a storyline, too many characters, too much ulta-boring details.

[Geraldine Croft · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cross-eyed Devonian party girl living in Brixton, a hen-pecked HGV driver from Birmingham, a would-be Cornish wrestler turned cat burglar of no fixed abode, a single father to a disabled son trapped in Crapton Towers in the wastelands of Manchester, an amnesiac who wakes up every morning not knowing who or where he is and a Bradford spinster who works in an animal sanctuary shop.

Bizarre coincidences, tragic events and the Department of Organology throw this motley crew together, changing their lives irrevocably for better or worse through a revolution of the sun.

A huge cast of supporting characters play their part in keeping the wheels turning and the descriptions of their personas and day-to-day lives are welcomingly funny compared to the predominantly sad, dark and disturbing pasts and presents of the protagonists.

Although imagined, this novel does contain scenes that are both distressing and thought-provoking especially concerning animal testing and beyond.

Complex and clever, it isn’t the easiest of reads but well worth reading and, apart from the seriously scientific sections that went right over my head, kept me hooked from start to finish.

What a difference a year makes.

[Andrew Cox · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overly long & the plot didn't really stick together. Too many characters & how they managed to end up connecting was not always clear. Perhaps overly ambitious. I like the way Pears writes & there were some lovely passages but all a bit too convoluted & far too long. With there being so many characters it was difficult to really get to know them. Had its moments but I was pleased to get to the end of it.

[Judith Yeabsley · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author appears to use obscure language to prove his intelligence. Good characters and some interesting stories, but I lost the will to live half way through. Too much and too little happening at the same time. I got right into a character's back history and then suddenly we jumped to the present for a different character and their story. A ruthless editor could have transformed this into a masterpiece!

[DR PETER COWLING · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cracking read. Lots of characters and points of view at the start - but they all come together very satisfyingly at the end.

An excellent example of many points of view made to cohere - and also a rollicking good read. A bit of a parable against the risks of... but that would be saying too much -you'll need to read a good way in to find out what...

[Dorothy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strange book. I found it very disturbing. Not really bed time reading

[Ian Mapp · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book that appears to have slipped under the radar of the book reading public. Only a handful of reviews here and an equal number of Amazon.co.uk - where the rating system shows each of the five stars equally represented.

Its a shame I have little to compare my experience with.... although I enjoyed it, ultimately, I am left wondering what it was all about.

There's no doubt that Tim Pears can write. The prose here is superb, laugh out loud sentences, well contrived set pieces and a burning intelligence is obvious from the get go. I put him up there with the great british writers that I love - Faulks, McEwan, Boyd. There's also a hint of the less celebrated Joseph Connolly in the characterisation and humour.

As you can guess from the title, the story is told over the course of a year - 1997. Its told from a huge list of characters - from Conservative PMs, to cat burglars, to sink estate escapees and a man suffering from amnesia. Individually, the stories are good and the characters are that well defined that its not too hard to keep on top of them, despite a near 500 page length.

What I was hoping for and didn't actually get happen, was how all these lifes were going to interact or quite what the story was hoping to tell. The book built and built but ultimately just ran a disjointed course. Which is a shame - it was very nearly a five starrer.

I will move on to more of his work, having only previously read Blenheim Orchard (also 4 star). Think it could be A Land of Plenty next time.

[Laura Alderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's hard to say what I thought of this book. A huge amount of characters and a lot of plot changes and twists. No sooner had you got your head round a group of characters, when the narrative changed. Some of the story lines intrigued me; some repulsed me. At times very funny with some cracking dialogue and lines, but it took a long time for the plot to get going. When it did, I was hooked. However, the ending did annoy me and lowered my rating from 4 to 3 stars. It was almost as if Tim Pears, having created this incredibly complex plot, didn't quite know how to end his novel and it felt as if he wasn't sure what to do with his characters.

[Alison]

12 months in the lives of large cast starting separately but converging, (some minor, some major). it's about living together or apart and with and without the past. some loose ends, much sadness, other positive outcomes, ends with a long labour and birth- a bold vision. some digressions v boring. Pears paints on broad canvas with strong rounded people

[Fiona Frew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took a few chapters to develop, kept wondering what the point was. Then I was griped and thoroughly enjoyed it. Massive amount of characters, all very well constructed and real. Great book for a lazy Sunday.

[Marloes · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's about being different, about real life.
spoiler: The ending was bizar.