Falling

by Colin Thubron

Journalist Mark Swabey is serving a prison sentence in connection with the death of Clara the Swallow, a circus acrobat with whom he fell in love. As the grief-stricken Swabey looks back on their affair, the exact nature of his responsibility for Clara’s death is movingly revealed.

Genres: Fiction

Unknown Binding

First published December 31, 1989

About the author

Colin Thubron, CBE FRSL is a Man Booker nominated British travel writer and novelist.

In 2008, The Times ranked him 45th on their list of the 50 greatest postwar British writers. He is a contributor to The New York Review of Books, The Times, The Times Literary Supplement and The New York Times. His books have been translated into more than twenty languages. Thubron was appointed a CBE in the 2007 New Year Honours. He is a Fellow and, as of 2010, President of the Royal Society of Literature.

Reviews

[Joel Cuthbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thurbold is a travel writer, and it is his expertise in description and mood and emotion that excels. From the opening chapter, I found myself lost in his use of language. The way in which each word is so carefully chosen enriches the experience of the story so deeply. Perhaps the narrative itself has some shortcomings and I for some reason am perfectly at peace with that. It is the journey that I find so richly rewarding, and it is Colin's words that make me hunger for more. He has become one of my favourite authors, whose work I stumbled upon quite by accident. Like a secret chamber in an old house, and I've been happy to revisit and disappear in there for a while, and I look forward to my next visit.


***
Review on a re-read (2023):

I think I'm still a real sucker for Thubron (not to mention my delight that he is somewhat of a hidden gem, which tickles my fancy). In this visit, I was a bit frustrated with the few odd changes in narrative voice, a choice that though creatively fascinating, feels a bit like a misstep. The perspective shift is a bit jarring and isn't quite consistent. It changes only a handful of times, as if Colin was experimenting with some creative exercise to pad out the narrative, but then decided to just put them in at the end.

I also begin to see some more of Thubron's consistent themes emerge. Always it seems, there is a tragic romance at its center (sometimes more explicitly tragic and sometimes in a more existentialist fashion). He often deals with characters that are exotic in their locales or chosen careers, there is always this great passion for the art of the work over the financial profitability. I love all these things, and his work as a travel writer does indeed flesh them out with a rather lovely effect.

It is a great charm when one finds a writer one really enjoys, even if it's not always for any exact reason, but there is a melancholy familiarity I find in his words and I continue to seek him out.

[Emi Yoshida · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mark Swabey is a young, enthusiastic journalist when he falls in love with an interview subject, an aerial trapeze artiste known as Clara the Swallow. Their love sends him to prison where lifers he meets and visits from friends collectively serve to mellow his acerbic personality. I would have liked the story more had Mark not had a Katherine pining over him in the background. The harshness she treated herself with hurt my heart.

[Susan Chow-Dukhan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book starts with Mark Swabey, a journalist, who enters a prison to serve a sentence for the murder of the woman he loved, Clara the Swallow, a circus acrobat. The story goes back and forth in time, with some chapters narrated by different characters.
A good short story, with tender and emotional scenes, stretched out to a novella of 152 pages. The important pieces of the storyline comes together midway through the book and the reader is waiting for the finishing touches. Instead of providing the readers the expected ending at this point in time, the story is stretched out with additional writing that does not enhance what was previously written, and makes it tempting to stop reading, as the reader is tired of waiting for the conclusion of the book.

[Víctor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was unaware of the fictional career of Colin Thubron when I started this book, and I've been delighted by this novel. A topic that may be controversial to some, it's taken to the practical side with an example of the fragility of our lives.

[Nina · Rating 4 out of 5]

some wonderful writing, interesting characters, but a bit disjointed, jumping in time, place and perspective.

[Lilly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tough to get into at first but soon the timeline/POV jumps made it really enticing. You learn what happens but not how, which keeps you reading. Short read, short chapters.

[Suzan Lemont · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly touching.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written in calm prose Falling is the story of Mark Swabeys loves and prison time. He has a sensible girlfriend Katherine and Clara, the trapeze artist who brightened his life before she passed.

[Angela Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

I suppose a novel called FALLING about a high-wire acrobat / artist is bound to include not only falling in love but falling from a high wire but, ridiculously, I didn't expect it would include the latter or, if it did, at least subliminally, it didn't occur to me that the damage would be permanent. Nor did I expect the story to become what it does become (I wonder if any of the euthanasia societies know about it?). It is told in alternating chapters between Mark's life with Clara - the high-wire artist - and his subsequent life in prison for what he helped her to do. It is a delicately-written novel about things that matter enormously to us human beings. And it is the delicate simplicity of the prose, as if someone was humming a simple melody into my ear to help me find the words to a song I'd forgotten, that gives Falling such power.

[Hazel McHaffie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was recommended by a reviewer who disliked 'The Kindest Thing'. Just goes to show, reading is a subjective business. Although some big names have endorsed Thubron's tale of a journalist who falls in love with a circus girl, I wasn't impressed. It rambles on about prison life and circus acts and seems to give its main action (assisted death) scant attention. There are some beautifully written passages but overall I preferred 'The Kindest Thing'.

[Abbie Ennis · Rating 4 out of 5]

the story of a man who is put in a difficult posotion when his love asks for hime to help her die after a accident in her performance. Each chapter is told in a different perspective and the reader is presented different perspectives on the crime and how one moment can change someones life forever and how after that moment nothing is ever the same.

A truly moving novel on a very difficult topic.

[Alison Spurrier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very easy to read. I wasnt expecting what hapened to happen!! I have worked a lot with people who have sustained spinal injuries and the scenario that came about was of no surprise. Some of the detail was a bit lacking but on the whole a realistic reflection of this dilemma. It was written in 1990 and so things have moved on regarding medical and nursing care. It' still is, and always will be a heartbreaking situation.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short book surprised me. After the first hundred pages, I thought I didn't care too much for any of the characters, nor did I believe in their relationships. Then suddenly I did. The remaining fifty pages brought it all together. Whether this was intentional or not, it worked for me.

[Gena · Rating 5 out of 5]

About a journalist that falls in love with a tight rope/circus contortionist and kills her. REALLY GOOD.

[Susan Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full Review soon :)

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first book-and one of only a few-that caused me to say, "I want to write like that".