SEVEN books have been shortlisted for this year’s Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction:
Yesterday in the Border Telegraph we learned what the judges thought about ‘These Days’ Lucy Caldwell (Faber)
Today read what they think of ‘The Geometer Lobachevsky’ Adrian Duncan (Tuskar Rock Press)
READ MORE: Find out what the judging panel thinks of each book
“To say that Adrian Duncan’s The Geometer Lobachevsky is the story of a man surveying an Irish bog is akin to relegating Leonardo’s Last Supper to thirteen men having dinner.
“Like the bog Lobachevsky is surveying, the unassuming surface conceals ‘a subterranean ocean on a gusty day’.
READ MORE: Shortlist announced for prestigious Walter Scott Prize
‘Trained as a structural engineer, Duncan brings an engineer’s precision to the thoughts, feelings, actions, observations, reminiscences and melancholy predicament of Nikolai, great-grandson of the famous mathematician.
“The pace is measured, the vision clear, the tensions subtle but relentless. Into an era of crash bang wallop, Duncan drops this quiet gem.”
On Monday April 10 find out their thoughts on ‘Act of Oblivion’ by Robert Harris (Hutchinson Heinemann)
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