Far North, Marcel Theroux
Far North, Marcel Theroux
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Far North
A Novel

Author: Marcel Theroux

Narrator: Yelena Schmulenson

Unabridged: 8 hr 39 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 12/01/2009


Synopsis

Far North is a 2009 National Book Award Finalist for Fiction.

My father had an expression for a thing that turned out bad. He'd say it had gone west. But going west always sounded pretty good to me. After all, westwards is the path of the sun. And through as much history as I know of, people have moved west to settle and find freedom. But our world had gone north, truly gone north, and just how far north I was beginning to learn.

Out on the frontier of a failed state, Makepeace—sheriff and perhaps last citizen—patrols a city's ruins, salvaging books but keeping the guns in good repair.

Into this cold land comes shocking evidence that life might be flourishing elsewhere: a refugee emerges from the vast emptiness of forest, whose existence inspires Makepeace to reconnect with human society and take to the road, armed with rough humor and an unlikely ration of optimism.

What Makepeace finds is a world unraveling: stockaded villages enforcing an uncertain justice and hidden work camps laboring to harness the little-understood technologies of a vanished civilization. But Makepeace's journey—rife with danger—also leads to an unexpected redemption.

Far North takes the reader on a quest through an unforgettable arctic landscape, from humanity's origins to its possible end. Haunting, spare, yet stubbornly hopeful, the novel is suffused with an ecstatic awareness of the world's fragility and beauty, and its ability to recover from our worst trespasses.

About Marcel Theroux

Marcel Theroux is the author of A Blow to the Heart, A Stranger in the Earth, and The Confessions of Mycroft Holmes: A Paper Chase, which won a Somerset Maugham Award. He lives in London.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Matt on August 04, 2018

I was drawn to this book because of its setting in the north and post-apocalyptic genre, but I was pleasantly surprised by some of its distinctives. First, (view spoiler)[ it has a female protagonist, which I found an enjoyable and insightful viewpoint, as the experience and vulnerability of women in a world gone (hide spoiler)]......more

Goodreads review by Gertie on January 10, 2012

This one is bleak. Not quite as soul-crushing as The Road, but definitely harsh. That is part of the beauty of it though. Thoroughly engrossing, with a main character (Makepeace) you can enjoy getting to know, both the good and the bad. Makepeace is someone you can't help but admire for sheer stubbor......more

Goodreads review by Kat on August 30, 2016

Let me start by saying it took me 11 days to read this book. 300 pages over 11 days is, what, 27-odd pages a day which is VERY unusual for me. I do confess that I was in something of a reading slump when I started this, so please take what I say with a pinch of salt! This book is beautifully written......more

Goodreads review by Eddy on January 05, 2025

Premier coup de cœur 2025. Le post-apo n'est pas vraiment ma came mais celui là se démarque par son personnage principal. L'auteur a su plusieurs fois m'amener là où je m'attendais pas. Le style et le nature writing sont envoûtants. Un sans faute dans le genre.......more

Goodreads review by Jane on January 29, 2011

Where I got the book: my own selection, from the library. Makepeace is a survivor in an age where drought and famine have wiped out most of the population. A remnant of a religious community that settled the farthest northern reaches of Asia, Makepeace struggles with the choice between isolated self-......more


Quotes

“Narrator Yelena Schmulenson escorts the listener on Makepeace's remarkable journey as she ventures beyond her vacant city to explore the tundra, searching for any life besides her own...Schmulenson interprets Makepeace's intelligence and fortitude with compassion, providing a rhythmic pace that bridges the heroine's insightful thoughts and brutal experiences.” —AudioFile

“How refreshing to meet Makepeace Hatfield, who faces a world gone wild with hope, humor, and a scrappy tenacity that manages to find beauty in a ravaged arctic landscape, and hangs on to humanity against all odds.” —Pam Houston, author of Cowboys Are My Weakness

“Theroux is a master storyteller, and the narrative is as full of surprises as it is of murders. And in Makepeace he's created the moral centre of a heartless world: hardened by . . . experiences [yet] capable of great courage, friendship and loyalty, so that the bleak vision of this novel contains a glint of consolation.” —Brandon Robshaw, The Independent on Sunday (five stars)

“An absorbing end-of-days fable.” —GQ

“It's a great pleasure to fall into the pages of a natural-born storyteller. If you're looking for an unforgettable character, your search ends here.” —Russell Hoban, author of Riddley Walker

“Imaginative and extremely well written.” —Kate Saunders, The Times (London)

“An atmospheric tale of a near-future dystopia . . . One for fans of Margaret Atwood.” —Evening Standard

“Marcel Theroux delivers a masterly sleight-of-hand . . . and after the third chapter deftly pulls the rug from under the reader's feet. I was completely duped. It is set in a cruel Siberian landscape that is dotted with slave camps and where ‘human beings are rat-cunning and will happily kill you twice over for a hot meal.' This is an action-packed, dystopian adventure story with cracking set pieces.” —Sebastian Shakespeare, Tatler

“Theroux's postapocalyptic road novel will inevitably be compared to that other postapocalyptic road novel Oprah liked, and while Theroux . . . is not the existential stylist McCarthy is, he is a superior plotter . . . Theroux succeeds in crafting a wildly eccentric and intelligent page-turner that's ultimately and strangely hopeful.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)


Awards

  • National Book Awards - Finalist