Being Dead

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Being Dead
BeingDead.jpg
First edition
Author Jim Crace
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Publisher Viking Press
Publication date
1999
Media typePrint (Hardback & Paperback)
ISBN 0-14-023975-8
OCLC 43338733

Being Dead is a novel by the English writer Jim Crace, published in 1999. [1] [2]

Contents

Its principal characters are married zoologists Joseph and Celice and their daughter Syl. The story tells of how Joseph and Celice, on a day trip to the dunes where they met as students, are murdered by an opportunistic thief. Their bodies lie undiscovered for several days, during the course of which their estranged daughter is made aware of their disappearance and, eventually, discovery. The novel dwells heavily on the themes of bodily decomposition and filial bereavement.

Critical reception

The novel was highly praised upon publication and won the 2000 National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction. The New York Times selected it as an Editor's Choice of the Year.

The Washington Post called Crace "an extravagantly gifted writer" and praised his book as "a rare interleaving of writerly panache and common human feeling." [3]

Film

The film version, directed by John Meyers, stars Linus Roache, Kathryn Erbe, Gavin Peretti, and Elizabeth Marvel. [4]

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References

  1. "Dune". archive.nytimes.com.
  2. Birch, Carol (18 September 1999). "Quivering" via www.theguardian.com.
  3. Crowley, John (28 May 2000). "Wandering Minstrel" via www.washingtonpost.com.
  4. "Being Dead". Being Dead.