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Wide Open | |
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Wide Open | |
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First published by Faber and Faber, 1998 August 1. Faber and Faber paperback published 1999.
Nicola Barker's work has attracted a fair amount of praise from the critics, and she has collected both prizes and very respectable sales. Unfortunately, I am not particularly keen on her books. While she has undoubted talent as a writer, and a considerable intelligence, I cannot engage sufficiently with her characters and their situations. According to Barker: "Everyone says my characters are weird, but to me they seem normal. . . . The world now is all about being normal, fitting in, so I like my characters not to be like that, yet to be loveable as well."
Thus, in Wide Open, there is a collection of not-normal characters. Misfits, if you prefer. They include a disturbed adolescent, several mildly or moderately disturbed adults, and a seriously disturbed adult. None of whom I found "lovable". Those without disturbances tend to have only walk-on parts, highlighting the abnormality of the leading members of the cast. Whether they are realistic or not, I cannot say, but I did find aspects of character and interactions difficult to accept. The locations, mainly on the Isle of Sheppey, are well-defined. Much of the action takes place on and near a "nudist" beach. Some of the lead characters use it nude, others don't, as you can read for yourself in the extracts.
If I was rating this book purely from personal prejudice, I would give it only one star, not two, as I can't say I enjoyed it that much. But that would be to ignore the very different views of the critics and the book-buying public. Also, aspects of body-image are amongst issues addressed by Barker. Within that context, both social nudity and attitudes to it are seen - reasonably - from several points of view. Therefore, I think it is worth keeping an eye out for this book. It is in print, and available from Amazon
An edited version of this review appeared in the 2005 April issue of H&E Naturist magazine.
| Nudity | Naturist nudity | A good read? |
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Last updated 2004 May 8.
Images Copyright © various authors, photographers, graphic artists, illustrators and publishers,
author quotations copyright © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2000/2003
Other content Copyright © author Tim Forcer
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