The Gift of Stones - Softcover

Crace, Jim

3.83

999 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0330453327 ISBN 13: 9780330453325

Publisher: Picador, 2008

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'The intense story of the pre-historical moment when stone yielded to bronze . . . Crace is a virtuoso' Frank Kermode, New York Times A coastal community live prosperously crafting fine stone tools. But their proud insularity is breached by raiders, and in the violence a boy loses his arm. Useless as a knapper, he finds a role as the village storyteller, roaming far and returning home with fantastically embellished tales. When the arrival of a new metal threatens all their livelihoods, his fearless imagination becomes a lifesaving gift. 'His style is as simple as it is beautiful . . . Crace reveals the dignity in human labour and the power of the passing of time' Herald 'A deceptively simple book that explores profound ideas with a rare delicacy of touch' Los Angeles Times 'Bewitching . . . brings a lost world to life and imbues it with a sense of wonder' Sunday Times

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About the Author:

Jim Crace is the author of Continent, The Gift of Stones, and Arcadia. He has won the Whitbread First Novel Prize, the David Higham Prize, and the Guardian Fiction Award. He lives in Birmingham, England.

From Library Journal:

If Crace's name is not yet familiar to American readers, it soon should be. This 42-year-old Englishman's second work continues in the imaginative and almost poetic vein of his Continent ( LJ 3/1/87). Once again he creates a world, in this case a Stone Age village, seemingly distant from our own and yet so like it as to be almost frightening. It is a world confronting change brought on by the advent of bronze, a technological development not unlike the coming of the computer. The villagers, once secure and flourishing, suddenly find their craft--and themselves--obsolete. As the fabulist tale unwinds, Crace looks into the role of the artist in society--here, a storyteller--considering both the impact and limits of imagination in guiding us toward new horizons. A marvelous literary effort; highly recommended.
- David W. Henderson, Eckerd Coll. Lib., St. Petersburg, Fla.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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