In the Approaches
In the Approaches by Nicola Barker, published by Fourth Estate in 2014, is a 497-page literary fiction novel that invites readers into a unique narrative landscape. Set in the picturesque English seaside enclave of Pett Level, the story unfolds with a blend of romantic comedy and metaphysical exploration, creating a distinctive atmosphere that merges elements of both G.K. Chesterton and Philip K. Dick.
Readers will encounter a rich tapestry of themes, including the enduring allure of communication and the intersection of faith and technology. This work serves as the concluding installment of Barker’s ‘digital trilogy,’ presenting a thought-provoking vision of a world reminiscent of Orwell’s 1984, yet infused with a sense of possibility that transcends dystopian narratives. Through its imaginative storytelling, In the Approaches challenges conventional boundaries and offers a fresh perspective on the complexities of modern existence.
Official synopsis Publisher
‘Open yourself up again to all that terrible light and savage bliss and deafening reverberation …’
Nicola Barker’s readers are primed to expect surprises, but her tenth novel delivers mind-meld on a metaphysical scale. From quiet beginnings in the picturesque English seaside enclave of Pett Level, ‘In The Approaches’ ultimately constructs its own anarchic city-state on the previously undiscovered common ground between G.K. Chesterton and Philip K. Dick. On the one hand, this is an old-fashioned romantic comedy of fused buttocks, shrunken heads and Irish-Aboriginal saints; on the other it’s Barker’s wildest and most haunting book since 2007’s Booker Prize-shortlisted ‘Darkmans’.
Following previous celebrations of the enduring allure of the posted letter (‘Burley Cross Postbox Theft’) and the pre-lapsarian innocence of pre-Twitter celebrity (Booker-longlisted ‘The Yips’), this concluding instalment of Barker’s subliminally affiliated ‘digital trilogy’ imagines a basis for the internet in Catholic theology. Set in a 1984 which seems almost as distantly located in the past as Orwell’s was in the future, ‘In the Approaches’ offers a captivating glimpse of something more shocking than any dystopia – the possibility of faith.
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