Ingenious Pain
Winner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize

This is Andrew Miller's debut novel. It tells the story of a man in the 1700s who doesn't feel pain, who doesn't possess sensibility. As a child he is exploited by a travelling charlatan who sticks pins into his hands in market places to sell a bogus potion. Then he is kidnapped by a well-meaning ar......more

I recently heard an interview with Andrew Miller on the radio - he was speaking about his last book, Pure, which was just published here in translation. He was an interesting and eloquent speaker and got me interested in reading his book, but then I remembered about Ingenious Pain - and that I've ha......more

_ درد از شیطان است. درد، لمس و نوازش اوست. آغوشِ مسموم اوست. چه کسی فریاد آدمی را نشنیده که از فرط درد به زمین و زمان فحش می دهد؟ یا زنی را که موقع زایمان گوش بچه متولد نشده اش را با جیغ و هوار پاره نکند؟ مادر دلسوز، تبدیل به عفریته می شود. درد، آدم خوب را از خوبی بیزار می کند. درد یعنی عذاب جهنم بر......more

I was not impressed. I did not like any of the characters…which I guess is not a problem in and of itself if they are all supposed to be bad. I thought some of the events in the book that were quite important to James Dyer, the major protagonist in the novel, were fantastical and dealt with so brief......more

I love Andrew Miller's writing.I love his stories,and I love that he respects the reader.......more