Infinite Ground
Published on 4. August 2016
Book
Hardback
272 pages
978-1-78239-947-6 (ISBN)
Description
Weird, wonderful, totally indefinable... If not the Booker, then surely the Goldsmiths beckons - Justine Jordan, Guardian
Stunning - a totally original, surreal mystery shot through with hints of the best of Cesar Aira, Vladimir Nabokov, Angela Carter, and Julio Cortazar. Smart, clever, and honest. I doubt you've read anything quite like it. - Jeff VanderMeer
A luminous debut novel of modern alienation, of the sinister beauty of the human body and of the enduring splendour of the natural world.
During a sweltering South American summer, a family convenes for dinner at a restaurant. Midway through the meal, Carlos disappears. An experienced, semi-retired inspector takes the case, but what should be a routine investigation becomes something strange, intangible, even sinister. The corporation for which Carlos worked seems to serve no purpose; the staff talk of their missing colleague's alarming, shifting physical symptoms; a forensic scientist uncovers evidence of curious abnormalities in the thriving microorganisms that shared Carlos's body. As the inspector relives and retraces the missing man's footsteps, the trail leads him away from the city sprawl and deep into the country's rainforest interior, where he encounters both horror and wonder.
Stunning - a totally original, surreal mystery shot through with hints of the best of Cesar Aira, Vladimir Nabokov, Angela Carter, and Julio Cortazar. Smart, clever, and honest. I doubt you've read anything quite like it. - Jeff VanderMeer
A luminous debut novel of modern alienation, of the sinister beauty of the human body and of the enduring splendour of the natural world.
During a sweltering South American summer, a family convenes for dinner at a restaurant. Midway through the meal, Carlos disappears. An experienced, semi-retired inspector takes the case, but what should be a routine investigation becomes something strange, intangible, even sinister. The corporation for which Carlos worked seems to serve no purpose; the staff talk of their missing colleague's alarming, shifting physical symptoms; a forensic scientist uncovers evidence of curious abnormalities in the thriving microorganisms that shared Carlos's body. As the inspector relives and retraces the missing man's footsteps, the trail leads him away from the city sprawl and deep into the country's rainforest interior, where he encounters both horror and wonder.
Reviews / Votes
Stunning - a totally original, surreal mystery shot through with hints of the best of Cesar Aira, Vladimir Nabokov, Angela Carter, and Julio Cortazar. Smart, clever, and honest. I doubt you've read anything quite like it. -- Jeff VanderMeer, author of The Southern Reach trilogy Weird, wonderful, totally indefinable... If not the Booker, then surely the Goldsmiths beckons -- Justine Jordan * Guardian * An electrifying piece of work: strange, terrifying, riveting, and written with scintillating intelligence. In its thinking about the porosity between the human and the non-human, it stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Ballard, Lem, VanderMeer, Tom McCarthy." -- Neel Mukherjee, author of The Lives of Others This is the work of a most singular and inventive mind, matched by writing with real flair and clarity. It is a book alive with ideas and cock-eyed intelligence, brimming with passages of genuine brilliance. Infinite Ground does that magical thing that only the very best novels do: it makes you see the world afresh. Dazzling stuff. -- Graeme Macrae Burnet, author of His Bloody Project Strange, haunting, dislocating -- Ian Rankin, author of the Rebus series Brimming with strong, startling ideas... A curious and often remarkable book * Literary Review * An accomplished debut. It takes risks and challenges the narrative form. A brave new voice - Martin MacInnes is a writer to look out for. -- Jenni Fagan, author of The Sunlight Pilgrims A novel of intelligence, grace, cunning and warped imagination, one that melds and sometimes clashes styles and influences to create something original and unsettling. It is a bravura performance, and one that announces Martin MacInnes as one of our most exciting new voices -- Stuart Evers, author of Your Father Sends his Love Labyrinthine, beautifully written and teeming with ideas about fiction and reality that linger long in the mind... A frighteningly good debut novel -- Lee Rourke, author of Vulgar Things An impressive and finely textured debut... This is fiction as a metaphorical labyrinth of the mind -- Edward Docx * Guardian * A talent of the first rank... We want to be informed and entertained, I might also say, provoked and enlarged, and Martin MacInnes delivers on all fronts with writing of genuine bravura and originality -- Christopher Potter, author of How to Make a Human Being Strange, cerebral, incredibly assured -- Malcolm Forbes * The National *More details
Edition
Main
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Dimensions
Height: 215 mm
Width: 155 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
413 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78239-947-6 (9781782399476)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Martin MacInnes was born in Inverness in 1983. He has an MA from the University of York, has read at international science and literature festivals, and is the winner of a Scottish Book Trust New Writers Award and the 2014 Manchester Fiction Prize. He lives in Edinburgh.