The Giant, O'Brien
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- Synopsis
- [from front inside dust jacket flap:] "The year is 1782; the place, London: center of science and commerce, home to the newly rich and magnet to the desperately poor. Among whom is the Irish Giant, O'Brien, a freak of nature, a man of song and story who places his faith in old myths, in fairies, miracles, and the little people. He has come to exhibit himself, to amaze all London with his great size. He has, he soon finds, come to die. The Giant's polar opposite and deadly opponent is a once-poor Scot who has become a society doctor. A famed anatomist and the employer of a legion of "resurrection men"--grave robbers who supply him with the specimens he must have to pursue his science--John Hunter knows the Giant is dying, and he lusts after his remains. He must have the corpse: his science demands it. Coin is offered. The Giant refuses: he will be properly buried, he will assume his throne in heaven. But money changes hands as friends are bribed and suborned. The Giant sickens, dies. Today his bones are on view to any curious stranger who passes through the Hunterian Museum in London's Royal College of Surgeons. Science has won. In this eagerly awaited new novel, Hilary Mantel tells of the fated convergence of two worlds: Ireland and England, poetry and materialism. As belief wrestles knowledge and science wrestles song, so The Giant, O'Brien calls to us from a fork in the road. It is a tale of its time, a timeless tale."
- Copyright:
- 1998
Book Details
- Book Quality:
- Excellent
- Book Size:
- 192 Pages
- ISBN-13:
- 9780805044287
- Publisher:
- Henry Holt & Company
- Date of Addition:
- 07/24/14
- Copyrighted By:
- Hilary Mantel
- Adult content:
- No
- Language:
- English
- Has Image Descriptions:
- No
- Categories:
- History, Literature and Fiction
- Submitted By:
- Evan Reese
- Proofread By:
- Lissi
- Usage Restrictions:
- This is a copyrighted book.