Tim Parks Boeken

This collection of 13 essays looks for philosophical inspiration in the quotidian.

Sex is forbidden at the Dasgupta Institute, the Buddhist retreat where Beth Marriot has taken refuge. Beth has been working as a server in the kitchen, assisting the clients while also practicing meditation to calm her demons. Like the clients who pay to be there, the servers must observe the rules, and silence and separation of the sexes are chief among them. But Beth is at a crossroads in her life. She came here torn between two lovers, estranged from her parents, and overwhelmed with guilt at possibly having caused a man’s death. Conflicted and wandering, she finds a forbidden diary in the men’s dorm and cannot keep away from it—or the man who wrote it. At the same time, desiring to achieve the inner peace that Buddhist practice promises, she yearns to follow the example set by the slim, silent, white-clad teacher Mi Nu—and may be yearning for something more. Funny and poignant, swiftly paced and completely engaging, Sex Is Forbidden is an entertaining novel about two profoundly different attitudes to life, and Beth is a character to be savored.

Is Italy A United Country, Or A Loose Affiliation Of Warring States? Is Italian Football A Sport, Or An Ill-Disguised Protraction Of Ancient Enmities? After Twenty Years In The Bel Paese, Tim Parks Goes On The Road To Follow The Fortunes Of Hellas Verona Football Club, To Pay A Different Kind Of Visit To Some Of The World'S Most Beautiful Cities, And To Get A Fresh Take On The Conundrum That Is National Character. From Udine To Catania, From The San Siro To The Olimpico, This Is A Highly Personal Account Of One Man'S Relationship With A Country, Its People And Its National Sport. A Book That Combines The Tension Of Cliff-Hanging Narrative With The Pleasures Of Travel Writing, And The Stimulation Of A Profound Analysis Of One Country'S Mad, Mad Way Of Keeping Itself Entertained.

Morris Duckworth, an English teacher in Verona, grapples with his envy and disdain for his wealthy students while living in poverty. His petty thefts escalate into grand larceny as he seeks revenge on the privileged class. When a beautiful heiress falls for him, he sees a chance for a better life, but her mother's disapproval leads him to devise a daring plan: he persuades the heiress to elope with him and then plans to ransom her back to her family, intertwining romance and crime in his quest for upward mobility.

LITERARY ESSAYS. An acclaimed author of novels and short stories, Tim Parks - who was described in a recent review as "one of the best living writers of English" - has delighted audiences around the world with his finely observed writings on all aspects of Italian life and customs. This volume contains a selection of his best essays on the literature of his adopted country.From Boccaccio and Machiavelli through to Moravia and Tabucchi, from the Stil Novo to Divisionism, across centuries of history and intellectual movements, these essays will give English readers, and lovers of the Bel Paese and its culture, the lay of the literary land of Italy.

Based on Machiavelli's own first-hand experience as an emissary of the Florentine Republic to the courts of Europe, 'The Prince' analyses the usually violent ways by which men seize, retain and lose political power.

Exploring the nuances of Italian parenthood, the narrative delves into the challenges and joys of raising Italian-born children while navigating local culture. Parks captures the essence of family life through vivid observations at home, school, and church, blending humor with moments of despair. His experiences reveal the complexities of adapting to a new society, emphasizing the Italian philosophy that all days blend together. Through his keen insights, Parks offers a charming and relatable portrayal of expatriate life in Italy.

'For some time now, I have been plagued, perhaps blessed, by dreams of rivers and seas, dreams of water.'Just days after Albert James writes these lines to his son John, in London, he is dead. Abandoning a pretty girlfriend and the lab where he is completing his PhD, John flies to Delhi to join his mother in mourning. A brilliant and controversial anthropologist, the nature of Albert James's research, and the circumstances of his death, are far from clear. On top of this, John must confront his mother's coolness, and the strangeness of the cremation ceremony that she has organised for his father. No sooner is the body consigned to the flames than a journalist arrives, determined to write a biography of the dead man. The widow will have nothing to do with the project, yet seems incapable of keeping away from the journalist.In Tim Parks's masterly new novel, India, with its vast strangeness, the density and intensity of its street life, its indifference to all distinctions between the religious and the secular, is a constant source of distraction to these westerners in search of clarity and identity. To John, the enigma of his father's dreams of rivers and seas appears to be one with the greater mystery of the country.

Already a highly successful lawyer, Daniel Savage has just been promoted to the position of Crown Court judge--though jealous colleagues whisper that his promotion might be due to the fact that he is black. He decides that it's finally time to settle down, forswear philandering, and rededicate himself to his family. His teenage children require a father's attention, and his career demands responsible behavior. But this supposed pillar of society has been leading a double life for far too long. Just when he seems to have it all--success, money, a wonderful family--everything is about to fall apart. On the eve of a shocking murder trial, a young woman from his past--who holds an explosive secret that could threaten both his family and his career--begins making mysterious phone calls to his house. As lives and lies tangle inside his courtroom, Judge Savage finds his own existence spiraling downward into violence, blackmail, deception, and confusion that will keep readers guessing to the last page.