Adam Thorpe Summary

Adam Thorpe's first book, Mornings in the Baltic (1988), a poetry collection, was published to critical acclaim and shortlisted for the 1988 Whitbread Award for Poetry. In 1990 Thorpe began writing... Read more

In the following review, Wormald describes Mornings in the Baltic as an “ambitious first collection,” noting that the quality of the poems remain inconsistent throughout the work. Mor... Read more

In the following review, Taylor faults Thorpe's “tiresome” and implausible attempts at constructing a nontraditional narrative in Ulverton. In outline, Ulverton must have seeme... Read more

In the following review, Clark argues that certain sections of Ulverton are more successful than others, lamenting the novel's lack of historical verisimilitude and authorial explanation. Ad... Read more

In the following review, Eder praises the wide scope and compelling characterizations in Ulverton. We only see the wind by eddies of dust and raindrops and by the birds beating across it. Adam Thor... Read more

In the following review, Robinson lauds Thorpe's skillful evocation of historical detail in Ulverton. Adam Thorpe writes of tussocks and furze, of sarsens atop hummocks and coppices at the b... Read more

In the following review, O'Toole offers a negative assessment of Still, faulting Thorpe's prose as ineffective and “banal.” Imagine it's ten minutes to midnight, ... Read more

In the following review, Fowles compliments Still for its sense of irony and original narrative voice. I finished this brilliantly jumped second novel, the traditionally tough fence, of a writer wh... Read more

In the following review, Crane praises the opening of Pieces of Light, but finds the rest of the novel disappointing. For the first 136 pages Adam Thorpe's new novel [Pieces of Light] seems ... Read more

In the following review, Jordan lauds Thorpe's narrative skill in Pieces of Light, though cites shortcomings in the novel's overriding symbolism. ‘You,’ the mother of si... Read more

In the following review, Clark praises Thorpe's subject matter and prose in Shifts, though criticizes his self-conscious preoccupation with technique and detail. The theme that links the twe... Read more

In the following review, Thorpe discusses the narrative complexity of Pieces of Light. Pieces of Light is an intriguing, finely spun mystery, most aptly entitled. Readers are led on a long journey ... Read more

In the following review, Taylor commends Thorpe's portrayal of his protagonist in Nineteen Twenty-One, but notes that the novel occasionally loses focus. Without wanting to turn hugely reduc... Read more