Breath

by Michael Symmons Roberts

In a country recovering from a brutal and divisive civil war, a young boy, Jamie, is knocked off his bike and dies in a city street. His father agrees to allow one of Jamie's lungs to be removed and flown over the border for a transplant. As the night unfolds and the plane travels across the war-ravaged country, we see the drama from three different the father, grieving for the son he perhaps never knew well enough; the lung's recipient, an old man fighting for breath; and in the turbulent sky between them, the young pilot who is closest to Jamie - or at least to his breath, his spirit, his voice.

210 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 13, 2008

About the author

Michael was born in 1963 and spent his childhood in Lancashire, England before moving south with his family to Newbury in Berkshire in the early ‘70’s. He went to comprehensive school in Newbury, then to Oxford University to read Philosophy & Theology.

After graduating, he trained as a newspaper journalist before joining the BBC in Cardiff as a radio producer in 1989. He moved with the BBC to London, then to Manchester, initially in radio, then as a documentary filmmaker. His last job at the corporation was as Executive Producer and Head of Development for BBC Religion & Ethics, before he left the BBC to focus on writing.

His 4th book of poetry – Corpus – was the winner of the 2004 Whitbread Poetry Award, and was shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize, the Forward Prize for best collection, and the Griffin International Prize. His 6th collection - Drysalter - was the winner of the 2013 Forward Prize and was shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize.

He has previously received the Society of Authors’ Gregory Award for British poets under 30, the K Blundell Trust Award, and was shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize for his 2001 collection Burning Babylon. In 2007 he received a major Arts Council Writers Award.

His continuing collaboration with composer James MacMillan has led to two BBC Proms choral commissions, song cycles, music theatre works and operas for the Royal Opera House, Scottish Opera, Boston Lyric Opera and Welsh National Opera. Their WNO commission - The Sacrifice - won the RPS Award for Opera in 2008, and their Royal Opera House / Scottish Opera commission - Clemency - was nominated for an Olivier Award.

His work for radio includes A Fearful Symmetry - for Radio 4 - which won the Sandford St Martin Prize, and Last Words commissioned by Radio 4 to mark the first anniversary of 9/11. His first novel – Patrick’s Alphabet – was published by Jonathan Cape in 2006, and his second – Breath – in 2008. He is a trustee of the Arvon Foundation, and Professor of Poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University. In 2012 he was made a Fellow of the English Association, for services to the language arts.

He is married with three sons, and lives near Manchester. (source: http://www.symmonsroberts.com/about_l...)

Reviews

[Alka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disappointing. It is about lung donation, it is about north versus south US, it is about waiting for organ, it is about the father who is consenting to donate son’s lung, it is about the pilot who is ferrying the lung. See, i had enough reason and more to expect the world of this book. It disappoints, big time. Can i ask Grisham to write on this topic

[Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an amazing book, one of my absolute favorites. The writing, the subtle yet harsh plot twist. Everything about this book is so original, so well written. The fact it isn’t to big, the perfect amount of pages and vocabulary. Absolutely astonishing.

[JaKrysshyanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quite liked this book :))

[Érica · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25⭐

[joypipi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fez eu chorar em público 10/10

[Hazel McHaffie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this book about organ transplants from different points of view. It's readable enough but I just couldn't believe it.

[Sofia · Rating 4 out of 5]

“She is playing the facts over and over in her head as the plane maps the river’s course : the boy, the crash, the grieving, the missed opportunities, the lost hope.”