{"id":860,"date":"2020-10-09T05:16:16","date_gmt":"2020-10-08T16:16:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zirkvandenberg.com\/?page_id=860"},"modified":"2021-12-05T21:51:07","modified_gmt":"2021-12-05T08:51:07","slug":"860-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/zirkvandenberg.com\/index.php\/books\/860-2\/","title":{"rendered":"I Wish, I Wish"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I Wish, I Wish, Cuba Press, NZ, 2020<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cVan den Berg is a skilled prose stylist who has pulled off something bold and unusual; this is likely to be one of the most singular literary treats you\u2019ll encounter in 2021.\u201d – NZ Booklovers Award comment<\/p>\n

\u201cThis beautifully written novel is a sharp-eyed, unsentimental tribute to the power of hope.\u201d –\u00a0Stephen Stratford<\/p>\n

“… a moving and deeply felt meditation on marriage, family and mid-life ennui […] Beautifully written, I Wish, I Wish might be just what we need right now – a hard-earned ode to hope.” – Greg Fleming, NZ Herald<\/p>\n

“… a taut and funny pleasure, suffused with a laidback, understated wit that at its best makes one think of Muriel Spark or Evelyn Waugh.” – Paul Little, North & South<\/p>\n

“… it is one of those books that causes you to re-examine your own thoughts and desires when you lift your eyes from the page. Definitely one of the most interesting books I have read this year, and in subject matter and the narrative voice, it is refreshingly different.” – Susannah Whaley, NZBooklovers.co.nz<\/p>\n

“cleverly written novella […] is an existentialist tract”\u00a0– Vaughan Rapatahana, Landfallreviews<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2021 NZ BOOKLOVERS AWARD FOR FICTION.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Afrikaans edition of this book won the 2020 W.A. Hofmeyr Prize for fiction, the 2020 kykNET-Rapport Prize for fiction and the kykNET-Rapport Prize for best filmable novel.<\/strong><\/p>\n

As a mortician, Seb has mastered the art of making the dead resemble the living. He has embalmed countless corpses, unpacked organs, reset bones and made up pallid faced for their final viewing. If he’s honest, he prefers the company of the deceased – no surprises and nobody to witness his inadequacy. But they don’t make for great work stories – nothing for his teenage children to look up to or attracte the waning interest of his wife.<\/p>\n

It looks like another humdrum day at White Lily Funerals when Seb meets Gabe, a dying boy unusually interested in caskets, who forces the mortician to rearrange the pieces of his life and shows him that magic doesn’t have to be just a wish.<\/p>\n

Read the full review on nzbooklovers<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Read the full review in Landfall<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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NZ Herald, 17 October 2020<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Comments on the Afrikaans edition:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI Wish, I Wish <\/em>is funny, clever, tender and surprising. It is, in every sense of the word, an enchanting text.\u201d –\u00a02020 WA Hofmeyr Prize commendation<\/p>\n

\u201cKindles the hope that wishes can come true after all. It is the perfect antidote for the current Weltschmerz.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u2013 2020 kykNET-Rapport Prize commendation<\/p>\n

\u201cEnchanted like a child by a fairy tale, I could\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 not put the book down.\u201d\u00a0\u2013 Willie Burger (critic)<\/p>\n

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NZ Listener, 21 November 2020<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s as if it had always been there.\u201d\u00a0\u2013 Deborah Steinmair (author & critic)<\/p>\n

\u201cEvokes a life with masterful strokes.\u201d\u00a0\u2013\u00a0 Jean Meiring \u00a0(critic)<\/p>\n

\u201cA book that proves that less is often more. It\u2019s been a long time since I\u2019ve read a book with so much charm.\u201d\u00a0\u2013 Fran\u00e7ois Bekker \u00a0(critic)<\/p>\n

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North & South, December 2020<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cA pleasure to read and, at times, wondrously funny.\u201d\u00a0\u2013 Reinhardt Fourie \u00a0(critic)<\/p>\n

\u201cAbsolutely, totally\u00a0 blown away by this book.\u00a0Masterful.\u201d\u00a0\u2013 Jonathan Amid \u00a0(critic)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt captured my heart.\u201d\u00a0\u2013 Marita van der Vyver \u00a0(author)<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat a lovely, lovely book.\u201d\u00a0\u2013 Fran\u00e7ois Smit \u00a0(author and critic)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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