Spotlight of The Absolutist by John Boyne

 

PHOTO SOURCE:
TYPORAMA
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THE ABSOLUTIST

JOHN BOYNE

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ALL INFORMATION IN THIS POST IS COURTESY OF ZOE MILLER | PUBLICITY ASSISTANT | OTHER PRESS

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THE ABSOLUTIST: A Novel
 By John Boyne
Other Press Paperback Reprint • ISBN: 978-163542-166-8
On-Sale Date: April 6, 2021 • Price: $16.99 

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PRAISE FOR THE ABSOLUTIST:

“A fable about forbidden love in the first world war…effortlessly readable.”—The Guardian 

“A relentlessly tragic yet beautifully crafted novel.”—Publishers Weekly 

“A wonderfully crafted tragedy that will stay with the reader for days.”—Daily Beast, ‘Hot Read’ Pick

“What begins as a slow-building World War I period piece…grows deeper, more curious, and uneasy as it progresses—and midway through this sad and beautiful story, you realize you’re in the hands of a quiet master…a taut and tragic tale of love and war, with a kick-in-the-gut ending.”—Amazon, ‘Best Books of the Month’ Pick

“An outstanding, thought-provoking look at the passionate choices we make, and how we react to life-changing situations. Much recommended for all readers, five full stars out of five.”—Yahoo, ‘Editor’s Pick of the Month’

“This is a different kind of journey into the darkness of war, told by a gifted, powerful novelist, and the result is a book with an often staggering emotional punch.”—BookPage

“This is a highly layered tale, nuanced and complex. Its telling, with much dialogue, seems a throwback to James, Forster, even Ford Madox Ford, but its modernisms belong to McEwan and Bainbridge. Beautifully crafted and wrought, The Absolutist is a story to be savored.”—Shelf Awareness for Readers

 “A slim, tightly wound novel of love and disaster.”—The Millions

“Boyne applies his prodigious storytelling skills to the war in The Absolutist, a sad, moving novel of morality adrift in a cataclysm…reminiscent of Ian McEwan’s Atonement.”—Globe and Mail

“Poetic, passionate, and poignant, The Absolutist is about self-discovery, friendship, and how far bravery can take us.”—Interview Magazine

“John Boyne…guides us through the realm of history and makes the journey substantial, poignant, real. He is one of the great craftsmen in contemporary literature.”—Colum McCann, author of Let the Great World Spin and Apeirogon

“Political, personal, powerful…a fiercely interrogative novel that asks not just what it means to be a man but also what it means to be a human being in the extreme circumstances of war.”—Irish Times

“The Absolutist is a really enjoyable, if rather sad, read, full of historical and human interest.”—Sunday Independent

“Powerful, poignant, and beautifully written. This will become a classic war novel.”—The Bookseller

“[In] Boyne’s fiction, there’s a sense that people are fundamentally the sum of their traumas…Boyne’s narrative grip is strong.”—Literary Review

​​​“An unforgettable story that transcends genres.”—Huntington News
 
“A riveting look into what drives the relationships we have in spite of the world around us.”—Seattle Gay News
 
“This is great modern literature with fantastic artistic appeal and superb writing, a story of duty, honor, love, high passion, and integrity.”—Bookreporter.com

“For me, the world totally ceased to exist while I was reading The Absolutist…If you plan on reading just one book this winter, this should be it.”—Washington Blade

“Let me try to explain how much I loved The Absolutist. I loved it for its grainy black-and-white-movie feel, like an old British film from the ‘40s. I loved that author John Boyle teased out just enough information throughout this book to make me think I’d figured out what had happened to Tristan and Will (I didn’t!). I loved the mixture of horrific brutality and insanely beautiful prose. And I loved the ending, which made me gasp, gasp, and gasp again.”—Terri Schlichenmeyer, Bookworm Sez

“Writing of this sensitivity and simply verbal beauty is rare. Boyne is rapidly becoming one of the great writers of the century.”—Literary Aficionado
  
“Beautifully nuanced and perfectly controlled…An outstanding read, very highly recommended.”—Historical Novels Review

“Powerful and moving….The Absolutist needs to be read, for society always needs to be reminded that war and civilization are mutually exclusive, and that if we still have war, then we’re not yet civilized.”—The Coffin Factory

“Extraordinary...The narrative is by turns surprising and tragic in equal measure while its troubling conclusion will stay with readers long after they've closed the book.”—Carlo Gebler, author of The Dead Eight

“John Boyne has vividly recreated a vanished era that turns out to be not so different from our own. A poetic and page-turning evocation of live and love.”—William J. Mann, author of The Men From The Boys and Object of Desire

“A gripping, superbly plotted novel…For all its spellbinding narrative momentum, The Absolutist is, in the end, a sober meditation on the heartbreak that ensues when people and principles collide.”—Paul Russell, author of The Unreal Life of Sergey Nabakov

“A poignant portrayal of WWI through the eyes of Tristan Sadler. Boyne gives an intimate look at Tristan's vulnerability and the effect the war has on his relationships. A fascinating tale of war's brutality as one man experiences it. A great story!”—Stephanie Crowe, Owner of Page & Palette

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ABOUT THE ABSOLUTIST:

It is September 1919, and twenty-one-year-old Tristan Sadler takes a train from London to Norwich to deliver a package of letters to the sister of Will Bancroft, the man he fought alongside during the Great War.

But the letters are not the real reason for Tristan’s visit. He can no longer keep a secret and has finally found the courage to unburden himself of it. As he recounts the horrific details of what to him became a senseless war, he also speaks of his friendship with Will–from their first meeting on the training grounds at Aldershot to their farewell in the trenches of northern France. The intensity of their bond brought Tristan happiness and self-discovery as well as confusion and unbearable pain.

THE ABSOLUTIST is a masterful, unforgettable tale of passion, jealousy, heroism, and betrayal set in one of the most gruesome trenches of France during World War I. This novel will keep readers on the edge of their seats until its most extraordinary and unexpected conclusion, and will stay with them long after they’ve turned the last page. I hope you will consider THE ABSOLUTIST for interview, review, or feature coverage this spring.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Photo Credit:  Richard Gilligan

 

John Boyne was born in Ireland in 1971. He is the author of eleven novels for adults, five for younger readers and a collection of short stories. His 2006 novel The Boy in the Striped Pajamas sold 9 million copies worldwide and has been adapted for cinema, theatre, ballet and opera. John has won three Irish Book Awards and many other international literary awards and his novels are published in over 50 languages. He lives in Dublin.