
The World
John Kearns(Author)
iUniverse (Publisher)
Published on 6. May 2003
Book
Paperback/Softback
164 pages
978-0-595-27662-2 (ISBN)
Description
"Why didn't they know? ... He could see the darkness of their souls, the void that drove them to huddle together at all times ... He saw the souls, too, of all the other swim clubs that he had joined or visited over the years, clubs filled with equal measures of hypocrisy, deceit, and meanness, each one seeming to its members, as primitive societies did to theirs, to be all that there is, the whole world."
Saturated with what he has learned of Classics and history, a 16-year-old boy reflects upon the flow of recent events in his own history: his discovering his Irish heritage, his loss of a job, his receiving an Artistic vocation, his traumatic experiences of unrequited love. These events become psychic cataclysms that destroy his traditional worldview and force him to create a new one. They also teach him what it means to become an Artist and a man.
Exploiting imagery ranging from Greek mythology to video games and employing conventional and experimental techniques, The World is a passionate, multi-layered, poetic depiction of an artistic soul's maturation. Twenty years in the writing, The World is a work that should be read again and again.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 9 mm
Weight
248 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-595-27662-2 (9780595276622)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
John Kearns is the author of the short-story collection, "Dreams and Dull Realities" and the novel, "The World" and playwright of dramas including "Boann and the Well of Wisdom" and "In the Wilderness." John's fiction has appeared in publications such as "The Medulla Review" and "The Irish Echo." His poems have appeared in journals including the "Grey Sparrow Journal" and "The Razor's Wine." His essay "Bronx Thunder to Riverside Angels" is included in Colin Broderick's "Writing Irish of New York." John has a Masters Degree in Irish Literature from the Catholic University of America. He lives in New York City.