“In ‘The Book of Records,’ Madeleine Thien revisits themes of coercion, betrayal, and guilt that made her Booker Prize–shortlisted ‘Do Not Say We Have Nothing’ so powerful. This is a more abstract work, though its highly intellectual nature is counterpointed by riveting scenes of terror and flight. Enriching and rewarding.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“With her imagined worlds, incandescent prose and malleable sense of time and history, Thien strikes worthy comparisons to Italo Calvino, Walter Benjamin, Gaston Bachelard and Ali Smith’s seasonal quartet. This staggering novel blurs the line between fact and fiction to underscore the importance of storytelling itself, as a practice of endurance, and resistance.” — The New York Times
A decade after her landmark publication Do Not Say We Have Nothing won the Governor General’s Award and captured the hearts of readers across the world, Madeleine Thien returns to us with a sublime new offering.
The Book of Records opens inside “The Sea,” a mysterious building that escapes notions of time and space. The Sea is home to migrants and voyagers, whose stories collide across the past and the future.
In this building, young Lina, who has recently fled her homeland, grows up caring for her ailing father.
Tasked with building a life for herself inside this place, Lina finds comfort in the intellectual questions of life and in conversation with her neighbours. Bento, a 17th-century Jewish scholar; Blucher, a 1930s philosopher fleeing Nazi persecution; and Jupiter, a poet of Tang Dynasty China, are sources of comfort to Lina as she navigates the difficult questions of a troubled world. When her father reveals his own role in their family’s tragic past, her conversations with these three help her to understand how the personal is created by the political, and how both love and betrayal have shaped her life.
A novel for the ages, The Book of Records is both timely and timeless in the way only one writer could achieve. Exploring the contemporary issues of exiles and refugees across the world, Thien never loses sight of the young, questioning girl at the heart of this story. A modern classic in the making, this is Thien at her most sublime and engaging.
‘The Book of Records’ is now in bookstores and available in all formats. Learn more here.
Read more: Books
This article is part of a Tyee Presents initiative. Tyee Presents is the special sponsored content section within The Tyee where we highlight contests, events and other initiatives that are put on either by us or by our select partners. The Tyee does not and cannot vouch for or endorse products advertised on The Tyee. We choose our partners carefully and consciously, to fit with The Tyee’s reputation as B.C.’s Home for News, Culture and Solutions. Learn more about Tyee Presents.
Tyee Commenting Guidelines
Comments that violate guidelines risk being deleted, and violations may result in a temporary or permanent user ban. Maintain the spirit of good conversation to stay in the discussion and be patient with moderators. Comments are reviewed regularly but not in real time.
Do:
Do not: