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What a Carve Up!

By Jonathan Coe

(141)

| Paperback | 9780141033297

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Book Description

It is the 1980s and the Winshaw family are getting richer and crueller by the year. Newspaper-columnist Hilary gets thousands for telling it like it isn't; Henry's turning hospitals into car parks; Roddy's selling art in return for sex; down on the farm Dorothy's squeezing every last pound from her Continue

It is the 1980s and the Winshaw family are getting richer and crueller by the year. Newspaper-columnist Hilary gets thousands for telling it like it isn't; Henry's turning hospitals into car parks; Roddy's selling art in return for sex; down on the farm Dorothy's squeezing every last pound from her livestock; Thomas is making a killing on the stock exchange; and Mark is seliing arms to dictators. But once their hapless biographer Michael Owen starts investigating the family's trail of greed, corruption and immoral doings, the time grows ripe for the Winshaws tor eceive their comeuppance..

Critics

  • Theydunnit

    Gothic horror tale, detective mystery, autobiography, political history: Jonathan Coe’s appealingly ambitious new novel involves a promiscuous intermingling of literary genres, as a potted social history of Thatcherism is tucked inside some meta-text ... (read full critics)

    lrb published on Fri, 3 Sep 2010

10 Reviews

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  • In the first part I got the impression that Coe's beating about the bush and I didn't understand what kind of book was going to turn out: pure fiction? fake biography? crime story?
    then it drifted towards crime and mistery and it all made sense (and eventually all the ends met).
    Not to be read on bi ... (continue)

    In the first part I got the impression that Coe's beating about the bush and I didn't understand what kind of book was going to turn out: pure fiction? fake biography? crime story?
    then it drifted towards crime and mistery and it all made sense (and eventually all the ends met).
    Not to be read on bite otherwise the interesting narrative structure is spoilt.
    At the end not as grippable and convincing as the Rotter's Club

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    Ciski72 said on Mar 26, 2012 | Add your feedback

  • What a Carve Up! was my first Jonathan Coe, and it was his breakthrough book. A curious, mad story, based on a dreadful sub-Carry On film, Coe uses the movie plot as a springboard for a satire on the State Of England from World War II to Gulf War I.

    Coe is an immensely likeable author and (which a ... (continue)

    What a Carve Up! was my first Jonathan Coe, and it was his breakthrough book. A curious, mad story, based on a dreadful sub-Carry On film, Coe uses the movie plot as a springboard for a satire on the State Of England from World War II to Gulf War I.

    Coe is an immensely likeable author and (which always works for me) a Powell/Pressburger buff. Each novel creates a new, oblique viewpoint on the world of by-passes, confused marriages and post-industrial uncertainty. Judging from my choice of bookmark, I first read What a Carve Up! on a flight from Columbus OH to Chicago Midway.

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    Philip Downer said on Jun 30, 2011 | Add your feedback

  • I usually wait till the end to rate a book. Except I'm really enjoying this one. At the beginning it was a little hard to follow: so much shifting from one character to the other, from one decade to another; but it all ties in.

    And now I can't wait to finish the grand finale in the mystery mansi ... (continue)

    I usually wait till the end to rate a book. Except I'm really enjoying this one. At the beginning it was a little hard to follow: so much shifting from one character to the other, from one decade to another; but it all ties in.

    And now I can't wait to finish the grand finale in the mystery mansion.

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    fran_ces said on Dec 4, 2009 | Add your feedback

  • What a great book!

    The italian translation of this novel was my first encounter with Jonathan Coe, many years ago. Now that I have red the original version, I confirm my opinion: this is definetily my favourite Coe's book.

    A mix of stories and history, a clear picture of what the "Thatcher's UK" really was. Fin ... (continue)

    The italian translation of this novel was my first encounter with Jonathan Coe, many years ago. Now that I have red the original version, I confirm my opinion: this is definetily my favourite Coe's book.

    A mix of stories and history, a clear picture of what the "Thatcher's UK" really was. Finally, is not common to find a book with so many pages that have a wonderful escalation in the very last part.

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    danigranata said on Sep 12, 2009 | 1 feedback

  • Intricate, as all Coe's books. Interesting, moving, shocking.Oddly funny. Maybe a bit too Britain centred for non British readers.

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    Sabi said on Jan 16, 2009 | Add your feedback

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