WINNER OF THE 1970 BOOKER PRIZE

'And so at the Majestic everything returned to the way it had been before. The gleaming tiles became dulled. Sofas as sleek as prize cattle lost their glow.'

1919, the Majestic Hotel in Kinalough, Ireland. Haunted war veteran Major Brendan Archer arrives to marry Angela Spencer, daughter of the house. But his fiancee is strangely altered, and her family's fortunes have suffered a spectacular decline.

The hotel's hundreds of rooms are disintegrating; its few remaining guests thrive on rumours and games of whist; herds of cats have taken over the Imperial Bar; bamboo shoots threaten the foundations; and piglets frolic in the squash court. And outside the order of the British Empire totters, as the violence of 'the troubles' mounts.

'A work of genius' Guardian

About the Author
J.G. Farrell was born in Liverpool in 1935 and spent a good deal of his lifeabroad, including periods in France and North America, and then settled in London where he wrote most of his novels. In April 1979 he went to live in County Cork where only four months later he was drowned in a fishing accident.

Reviews
A work of genius * Guardian *
One of the finest novels of the past 50 years * Mail on Sunday *
Funny, sad and beautifully written; prescient, wise, original and unexpectedly eccentric -- Rachel Cooke * Observer *
TROUBLES has everything: great story, compelling characters, believable dialogue and big ideas. It's a book good enough to win the Booker in any year. Not just 1970. * GUARDIAN *
Like Fawlty Towers written by Evelyn Waugh -- Rachel Cooke * Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival *
No finer work has ever been written about this transitional period in Irish history: it remains a landmark in 20th-century Irish literature, and one that deserves to win The One And Only Great Retrospective Booker * IRISH INDEPENDENT *
Farrell's vision and voice are unique, inimitable -- John Banville
It's funny, sad and beautifully written; it's prescient, wise, original and unexpectedly eccentric. Vote JG, I say. Or even better, just read him. -- Rachel Cooke * OBSERVER *
Troubles has everything: great story, compelling characters, believable dialogue and big ideas. It's a book good enough to win the Booker in any year. Not just 1970. -- John Crace * GUARDIAN *
Like Fawlty Towers written by Evelyn Waugh -- Rachel Cooke * Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival, 2010 *
'I can't praise this book enough. It's a good rule that reviewers should be forbidden from using the word "genius"...But it's hard to know what else to say when faced with a book like Troubles. There's no avoiding it. JG Farrell was a genius.' -- Sam Jordison * GUARDIAN BOOKS BLOG *
No finer work has ever been written about this transitional period in Irish history: it remains a landmark in 20th-century Irish literature, and one that deserves to win The One And Only Great Retrospective Booker. -- Kevin Myers * IRISH INDEPENDENT *
Troubles stands up at every stage. It has a fine beginning and a brilliant ending, and is sustained throughout by this wit, laughter and intelligence. -- Tobias HIll * INDEPENDENT *
meaty and magnificent?He [Farrell] is a master at controlling pace, and his writing is satisfyingly solid. He is capable of the most vigorous farce, and then he will bring things to the knife edge of tragedy?a fine and fitting winner. -- Philip Womack * DAILY TELEGRAPH *
Poignant, meticulously observed, often hilarious, it is one of the finest novels of the past 50 years. -- Simon Shaw * MAIL ON SUNDAY *



Book Information
ISBN 9781474603423
Author J.G. Farrell
Format Paperback
Page Count 464
Imprint Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Publisher Orion Publishing Co
Weight(grams) 320g
Dimensions(mm) 196mm * 128mm * 32mm