David Park

A POIGNANT STORY OF LOVE AND REGRET, FROM A MASTER OF CONTEMPORARY IRISH FICTION * 'David Park is one of Ireland's great novelists.' Roddy Doyle, author of The Commitments * For fans of Sebastian Faulks, Donal Ryan and Anne Tyler comes this beautiful novel following two troubled men, separated by nearly a century, bound by the ghosts of their past When George Allenby is put in charge of building a lake in the grounds of an imposing Irish manor house, he intends to do the job as swiftly as possible and return to Belfast. Allenby is still wrestling with his time as an officer during the First World War, burdened by the many things he could have done differently. Almost a century later, Alex and Ellie are preparing for their wedding, sparing no expense to hire a venue overlooking the very lake Allenby built all those years ago. Like Allenby before him, Alex is haunted by decisions he made in the past. Now, with the wedding drawing ever closer, he is at a crossroads. Telling the truth might free him from his guilt; it might also take away everything he cares about, including Ellie. In this masterful portrait of love and betrayal, David Park reveals the many ways the past seeps into the present: destructive, formidable, but also hopeful, in the moments of fragile beauty that remain.

A POIGNANT STORY OF LOVE AND REGRET, FROM A MASTER OF CONTEMPORARY IRISH FICTION * 'David Park is one of Ireland's great novelists.' Roddy Doyle, author of The Commitments * For fans of Sebastian Faulks, Donal Ryan and Anne Tyler comes this beautiful novel following two troubled men, separated by nearly a century, bound by the ghosts of their past When George Allenby is put in charge of building a lake in the grounds of an imposing Irish manor house, he intends to do the job as swiftly as possible and return to Belfast. Allenby is still wrestling with his time as an officer during the First World War, burdened by the many things he could have done differently. Almost a century later, Alex and Ellie are preparing for their wedding, sparing no expense to hire a venue overlooking the very lake Allenby built all those years ago. Like Allenby before him, Alex is haunted by decisions he made in the past. Now, with the wedding drawing ever closer, he is at a crossroads. Telling the truth might free him from his guilt; it might also take away everything he cares about, including Ellie. In this masterful portrait of love and betrayal, David Park reveals the many ways the past seeps into the present: destructive, formidable, but also hopeful, in the moments of fragile beauty that remain.

“Et kompakt vidunder” Daily Mail “En imponerende bedrift” Irish Examiner "Betagende, modig, spændende" Guardian“Sjældent kan man kalde en bog perfekt, men dette er det tætteste, jeg er kommet i meget lang tid” Sunday Indpendent Som han nu sidder i pensionistlivets kystby, befinder Michael sig langt fra sin barndom under Midtvestens uendelige himmel og fra udstationeringen i det krigsplagede Vietnam. Men da han modtager en pakke med et brev og en DVD, bringes minderne om den sidste hektiske tid i Vietnam op til overfladen, og han begiver sig af sted på en rejse dybt ind i nutidens amerikanske ørkenlandskab. David Parks nyeste roman er en præcis og foruroligende lignelse om skyld, soning og forløsning. Om et menneske der forsøger at betragte sig selv som et uvæsentligt tandhjul i maskinen. Men hvem er det? Af samme forfatter: Det lange løb (2021) Under fremmed himmel (2019) Poeternes hustruer (2017) Hun som sluger solen (2016) Sandhedskommissæren (2014)

'I loved this book' Daily MailStrangers come together to run. Angela and Brendan are racing towards a wedding day that is increasingly tainted by doubts. Yana runs to free herself from the darkness of the past and to remember her missing brother. Cathy thinks about the secret she has been unable to share. Running takes Maurice past his daughter’s house, the place he is not allowed to enter.Over the nine weeks unexpected friendships are forged, challenges faced and by the time of their final run together all will grasp a new commitment to life itself.

Having survived a brutal childhood in the heart of Belfast, Martin has built a life that he never imagined, and always fears he does not deserve. He has a devoted wife, a son and a daughter whose academic success is launching her out of her proud father's orbit. Returning home one night to find police cars waiting, he thinks his sins have finally caught up with him, but instead the news is wholly unexpected; a senseless and devastating tragedy. And in the face of the trauma, which tears his fragile family apart, Martin finds that the violence of his past has not gone but is merely dormant; its call must be answered.

Belfast, 1963: unprecedented snowfall smothers and muffles the city and its inhabitants. In a house with windows flung defiantly open, a wife dies before her husband can make his confession. Elsewhere, an old woman searches desperately for a wedding dress in her dream of love. And in the very heart of the city, the purity of snow is tainted by the murder of a girl and as one man begins to unravel the dark secrets of the city, he knows he is in a race against time to find the murderer before the snow melts. With insight and compassion David Park peers into the souls of these ordinary people battling their secrets and desires.

Henry Stanfield, the newly arrived Truth Commissioner, is troubled by his estrangement from his daughter, and struggling with the consequences of his infidelities. Francis Gilroy, veteran Republican and recently appointed government minister, risks losing what feels tantalisingly close to his grasp. In America, Danny and his partner plan for the arrival of their first child, happily oblivious to what is about to pull him back to Belfast and rupture the life they have started together. Retired detective James Fenton, on his way to an orphanage in Romania with a van full of supplies, will soon be forced to confront what he has come to think of as his betrayal, years before, of a teenage boy. In a society trying to heal the scars of the past with the salve of truth and reconciliation, these four men's lives become linked in a way they could never have imagined.

The Grand Contraption tells the story of humanity's attempts through 4,000 years of written history to make sense of the world in its cosmic totality, to understand its physical nature, and to know its real and imagined inhabitants. No other book has provided as coherent, compelling, and learned a narrative on this subject of subjects. David Park takes us on an incredible journey that illuminates the multitude of elaborate "contraptions" by which humans in the Western world have imagined the earth they inhabit--and what lies beyond. Intertwining history, religion, philosophy, literature, and the physical sciences, this eminently readable book is, ultimately, about the "grand contraption" we've constructed through the ages in an effort to understand and identify with the universe. According to Park, people long ago conceived of our world as a great rock slab inhabited by gods, devils, and people and crowned by stars. Thinkers imagined ether to fill the empty space, and in the comforting certainty of celestial movement they discerned numbers, and in numbers, order. Separate sections of the book tell the fascinating stories of measuring and mapping the Earth and Heavens, and later, the scientific exploration of the universe. The journey reveals many common threads stretching from ancient Mesopotamians and Greeks to peoples of today. For example, humans have tended to imagine Earth and Sky as living creatures. Not true, say science-savvy moderns. But truth isn't always the point. The point, says Park, is that Earth is indeed the fragile bubble we surmise, and we must treat it with the reverence it deserves.

A self-contained first course in quantum mechanics for upper-level undergraduates and graduate students, this two-part treatment proceeds from basic theory to selected applications.Slightly corrected republication of the third edition, published by McGraw-Hill, Inc., New York, 1992.

A man is shot dead before the eyes of his young son as they work together in the fields near their home - another victim of the violence in Northern Ireland. In the city, a confused and frightened old man grieves for his own loss and for the shattered world around him. When the young boy's mother moves them both from their country home to Belfast, the old man's life becomes entwined with that of the boy. Fascinated by the silent child, the old man believes he has at last found the instrument of healing.

ORANGES FROM SPAIN is a collection of stories about of the trials of growing up in a community where tension, confusion and violence hold sway. Here, among other tales, a youthful seaside romance crosses the religious divide, a gang take turns at the wheel of a stolen car, and an exceptional student stirs the resentment of her troubled teacher. Set in Northern Ireland against the background of the troubles, these vignettes capture the spirit of adolescence in difficult times.

The Description for this book, The How and the Why, will be forthcoming.

”I enhver henseende mindeværdig” Irish Times, Books of the Year “En overvældende skat” RTÉ Culture Ellie har forelsket sig i Herregården som den perfekte ramme om sit bryllup, Alex er glad, bare hun er glad – selv om han ikke helt forstår, hvorfor der skal gøres så stort og stressende et nummer ud af ‘det perfekte bryllup’. De er sent ude med at booke og må nøjes med det nyistandsatte bådehus, der rummer sin egen sælsomme historie om herskab og tjenestefolk, ulykkelig kærlighed og barnedrab. Spøgelsesbryllup er en roman i to tidsspor om klasseforskel, gamle og nye penge, kærlighed og den svære bestræbelse på at være et ordentligt menneske. David Park (f. 1953) er nordirer og debuterede som forfatter i 1990. Den tidlige del af forfatterskabet har urolighederne i Nordirland som tematisk tyngdepunkt, herunder navnlig spørgsmål om heling af fortidens sår, mens de nyere romaner også kredser om fx forældreskab, klasseskel og humanisme. Alle værker undersøger på forskellig vis, hvordan mennesker kan leve videre og handle trods tung politisk eller social bagage. Spøgelsesbryllup er hans syvende roman i dansk oversættelse.

'It is seldom that one can say a book is perfect, but this is as close as I've seen in a very long time' SUNDAY INDEPENDENT'A bold and unsettling parable about guilt, atonement and redemption' IRISH TIMESMichael has travelled a long way from his boyhood under the endless skies of the Midwest. His retirement is peaceful, if solitary. But one day there is a visitation: a mysterious car on the seafront, and a package delivered. From its contents, Michael understands that he has been commissioned to undertake a final journey.As Michael makes his way deep into a distant desert – a strange and liminal landscape that lies between hell and redemption – he undertakes another journey, into long-suppressed memories: of Vietnam and the dying days of war, and to face a final accounting for what was done.‘Another compact marvel … This is a meditative novel that, while investing heavily in a patient build-up of atmosphere, never forgets the need to put a foot on the gas’ DAILY MAIL‘David Park’s novels are always elegantly written’ INDEPENDENT'Unflinching, courageous, wise, alert to the thrill and sorrow of violence ... Adds to David Park's status as a superb novelist' FRANK MCGUINNESS

De kommunale sportsbaner, Belfast, Nordirland: En håndfuld mennesker har meldt sig til et løbeprogram, der over ni uger skal bringe dem fra sofaen og frem til fem kilometers uafbrudt løb. De kender ikke hinanden i forvejen og har meget forskellige grunde til at snøre kondiskoene. Nogen løber tilsyneladende fra noget, andre mod noget. Det lange løb er en lille perle af en kort, præcis roman, en fortælling om at række ud over sig selv og måske vinde øjeblikke så gyldne som efterårsblade, uanset ens sluttid.Af David Park er på dansk tillige udkommet de anmelderroste romaner Sandhedskommissæren, Hun som sluger solen, Poeternes hustruer og Under fremmed himmel. Han skriver intenst om mellemmenneskelige bånd, brudte og sommetider bundne, sine steder under den nordirske vinkel (fx Sandhedskommissæren), altid med et stærkt almenmenneskeligt perspektiv.

Fjerde roman på dansk af nordirske David Park.Af Irish Times kåret som Book of the Year:En mand, en far, forsøger at forcere et snelandskab for at nå frem til sin syge søn, undervejs udforskes tabets psykologi. En roman om fædre og sønner, sorg, erindring, familie og kærlighed – om de forkerte veje vi tager for at finde frem til dem, vi elsker. Og om dem vi sårer dybt undervejs. Få skriver som David Park om forældreskab og familierelationer.David Park har skabt en playliste til bogen: http://bit.ly/jd102David Park bor i Nordirland og har vundet en lang række priser for sit forfatterskab bl.a. Major Individual Artist Award fra The Arts Council of Northern Ireland og for sit bidrag til irsk litteratur har han modtaget American Ireland Funds Literary Award. På dansk er tidligere udkommet de anmelderroste Poeternes hustruer (2017), Hun som sluger solen (2016) og Sandhedskommissæren (2014).

WINNER OF THE KERRY GROUP IRISH NOVEL OF THE YEAR ‘I loved this delicate, beautifully written novella about fathers and sons’ David Nicholls‘One of Ireland's great novelists’ Roddy Doyle‘Wrings the heart’ Bernard MacLaverty‘A mighty book’ Frank McGuinness‘Extraordinary, raw and moving a chronicle of pain and powerlessness as could be written’ Lisa McInerneyAN IRISH TIMES BOOK OF THE YEARThe world is shrouded in snow. With transport ground to a halt, Tom must venture out into a transformed and treacherous landscape to collect his son, sick and stranded in student lodgings. But on this solitary drive from Belfast to Sunderland, Tom will be drawn into another journey, one without map or guide, and is forced to chart pathways of family history haunted by memory and clouded in regret. Travelling in a Strange Land is a work of exquisite loss and transformative grace. It is a novel about fathers and sons, grief, memory, family and love; about the gulfs that lie between us and those we love, and the wrong turns that we take on our way to find them.

A powerful collection of stories from the critically-acclaimed, prize-winning author David Park.'One of the shrewdest observers of the way we live now' Independent'Park is an excellent writer; psychologically astute, lyrically unflinching' Telegraph'He writes prose of gravity and grace' GuardianGods and Angels locates, with pinpoint accuracy, the quiet but deeply charged moments in life that can define a person.A seventeen-year-old boy visits his estranged mother on Boxing Day in a grey seaside town; a university lecturer who is learning to swim falls in with a group of older men who inhabit a very different world; a detective breaks into his former home to spy on his estranged family; a couple reflect on twenty-five years of marriage under the Northern Lights; and an old man volunteering in a charity shop forms a tender bond with a young single mother.______________________'David Park is one of my favourite writers. This beautiful, nuanced, perceptive collection of stories is a considerable achievement. Somehow he writes with both grace and muscularity, and every page resounds with the sort of truthfulness that stirs deep recognitions in the reader. This is important, committed work from a writer who knows what he's about, but Park is also such a pleasure to read. I loved this book' Joseph O'Connor