Oxygen

by Andrew Miller

Book Overview

It is the summer of 1997. Alec Valentine is returning to England to care for his ailing mother, Alice, a task that only reinforces his deep sense of inadequacy. In San Francisco, his older brother... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0340728264
• ISBN13: 9780340728260
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
• Length: 323 Pages
• Weight: 0.54 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A Breath Of Fresh Air

When I first began Oxygen, I was taken in by the writing, by the author's deft use of words, his economy of language. I could tell right away that Miller knew how to work a pen (or, nowadays, a word processor). But I must confess that I wondered, for a while, if anything was really going to happen. There is certainly a story here (three in fact), but in all honesty, not that much happens. I was fully expecting this lack of grounded action to undermine the novel's rather deceptively simple and beautiful tone. I am pleased to report that I was wrong. Brothers Larry (moderately famous soap opera star gone to seed and trapped in a dying marriage with a klepto daughter who is, by all accounts, creepy in her emotionless demeanor) and Alec (the French translator who is perched on the edge of a life of tepid failures and regrets that mask themselves as hopes and dreams) find themselves forced to deal with the decline and inevitable demise of their mother, Alice, a strong-willed woman who is fighting a losing battle with cancer and the accompanying senility that comes with dying so messily. This story is connected by a few thin (but strong threads) to the tale of the Hungarian playwrite, Lazar, who has a life that is successful, rich with meaning and love, and in all other ways, admirable. Still, of course, there is something missing -- something serious -- and it plagues Lazar with the same insinuating tenacity as the disease that plagues Alice (and, by proxy, her sons). What makes this novel so remarkable (aside from Miller's ability to manipulate words in a manner that is as playful as it is revealing, as meaningful as it is masterful) is that whenever something solid and certain DOES happen -- something that could be called the undergirding of a crucial plot element -- it usually takes place either off screen or ambiguously. The firing of a gun, the taking of a pill, the indescretions of men and women: these are hinted at, heard from another room, suggested. Miller doesn't just suggest events, he suggests reasons, he suggests outcomes, he suggests decisions. There are no easy answers in his book, and in place of predictable plot machinations or trite bits of drama, Miller gives us compellingly simple and real insights into the characters and how they view the various disintegrations of their respective worlds. This is a return to true literature, I think, a lost art wherein the audience is not plied with the easy levers of emotive dialogue or overt symbolism. We are given what is there, and are left to make do with what we have. The endings to all four stories (Alice's, Larry's, Alec's, and Lazar's) are left open to interpretation. An optimist could probably see upswings all around, but it would be just as easy to argue that the stories are all bound to end sadly. Either way isn't really the point, and that's the final and greatest thing about the novel. A true novel isn't really about what happens to the characters, it's about wha

A Deeply Pleasurable Read

Three men caught in a crisis of life, two are related by blood and the other is related by his writing. Andrew Miller was a Booker Prize Finalist with his book, "Oxygen". Oxygen the element of life's breathing, so necessary in our life. Alice Valentine has recurrent tumors in her chest that have metastasized to her brain. She is in the throes of death and her two sons need to see her soon. Alec is a struggling translator and is working on a book written by a Hungarian writer, Lazlo. Alec has never had an easy life; he has had to fight for what he needs and wants his entire life. Alec has a crisis in his life- how can he care for his mother and still lead the life he wants, Lazlo has everything he needs in life it seems, love, riches and a career in Paris. But, those close to him, understand that he allowed a young Hungarian to die during the Hungarian revolution is 1956. Lazlo cannot forget this, and there comes a time when he may be able to rectify this mistake. Lazlo has a crisis in his life and he needs to know he can overcome his mistake and live life a free man again. Larry is Alice's other son, and he lives in California. He has had a successful career as a television star, but that ended two years ago. Now he needs to pay his bills for his wife, Kristi and young daughter, Ella. Porn seems to be the answer for easy money. Larry and Kristi have a crisis in their marriage. Alice is dying and everyone in her family wants to come together to celebrate her life and birthday. There is celebration, there is pain and there is the mundane everyday life of the men and the people they bring into their lives. Each of these men will be able to feel a sense of liberation from their actions. They will concentrate on love and loss and regret and self-discovery. Each of them will live and breathe Oxygen. Will Alice's dying bring the family closer together? How does the story of Lazlo's book, Oxyegen compare to the real life drama going on within the family? What of little Ella who steals "things" and hides them, and then becomes very quiet? What of Kristi and what she wants within the marriage? Does reconciliation bring the family closer? This is a skilled chronicle of the human mind and heart. This book leaves us gasping for more "Oxygen". Highly recommended. prisrob

Astonishing Talent

There are books notable for their story, those notable for their writer's style and the rare book notable for the author's facility with language and grammar. This book is all three. The book tells the story of a group of disparate characters united superfically by their families, in one case, by work in another but much more profoundly by their shared humanity and attempts to survive their own weaknesses. One character tries to atone a much earlier failure when he let a lover die and another family tries to ease their mother's terminal illness while trying to come to terms with all they and their relationships to her are not.The plot hurries ominously onward but the fluidity of the writing finds you reading more slowly so to give its almost poetic quality its due. This is the sort of writing that I hope to be doing a lot more reading of in years to come.

Subtle and Beautiful

Andrew Miller has created a unique and beautiful novel about characters who are caught in regret and the human struggle. The interweaving story lines are subtle and beautiful, and will be meaningful to readers who wish to look beyond the obvious and see the interconnections of our existence. One of the profound themes of Oxygen calls to mind a phrase from American poet jani johe webster, who wrote so eloquently: "hoping not to leave/ this earth/ regretting." And so the main characters of the book, estranged brothers Larry and Alec, their dying mother Alice, and, in a different country, a talented but anguished playwright, experience this very struggle: the struggle to live in a way that will liberate them from their wounds and regrets. Andrew Miller took on a great challenge in creating a novel that exists outside the box, and the outcome is a beautiful and nuanced literary work.

Eloquent and emotionally resonant

The ink from Andrew Miller's pen flows with such natural grace and ease there's a hushed sense of intimacy in the rhythmn of his prose. The experience is not dissimilar to tuning into a confession. But don't read the blurb and jump to the conclusion that you're dealing with some overhyped angst ridden family drama belonging to that genre much beloved by British book critics. "Oxygen" is exceptional because its writer is not only gifted with an uncommon eloquence, he has the rare intuitive ability to connect with the reader in a manner suggesting a dangerous knowledge of the human heart and that is what makes the difference. Alice Valentine is dying of cancer. Her two sons, Larry and Alec, return to Brooklands to spend her last days with her. The family is not estranged but separated, Alice in the loneliness of her terminal illness, her golden boy Larry in the shameful aftermath of his collapsing marriage and career in America, and the listless Alec in his own sense of failure as he struggles on with his translation work for a Hungarian playwright. They harbour truths about themselves they're barely able to recognise let alone confront or articulate, so Alice's death scene becomes the perfect occasion for them to come together, resolve their differences, exorcise their demons and settle the score. This they do, but quietly - strictly no histrionics - and in ways you least expect. Lazslo's story may be linked with Alec's by a thin narrative thread but he shares with Larry and Alec the same need for courage and redemption. Whilst Larry's release comes unexpectedly one evening after Alice suffers a fall, Alec digs deep to find the resolve to perform the ultimate act of heroism. For Lazlo, he sheds the burden of guilt for letting his lover die in enemy hands during the 1956 Hungarian uprising when he agrees to act as courier for a political cause. By using contrasting settings (domestic and bohemian) for his two stories, Miller universalises the issues and achieves an impact far beyond his contemplation. "Oxygen" is hugely deserving of its Booker Prize & Whitbread Prize nominations and the many accolades heaped upon it. A minor masterpiece.--