''The Late Hector Kipling'' is a novel written by English actor

David Thewlis David Wheeler (born 20 March 1963), better known as David Thewlis (), is a British actor, author, director and screenwriter. Thewlis rose to prominence when he starred in the film ''Naked'' (1993), for which he won the Cannes Film Festival Awa ...

. The book was released in the UK in hardback on September 7, 2007 and released on paperback July 4, 2008. In the US the book was released (hardback version) November 6, 2007.

Plot summary

Hector Kipling is an artist who is famous for his

ovarian The ovary is an organ in the female reproductive system that produces an ovum. When released, this travels down the fallopian tube into the uterus, where it may become fertilized by a sperm. There is an ovary () found on each side of the body ...

paintings of big heads. When one of his closest friends is found to have a

brain tumor A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and seconda ...

, Hector finds himself longing for someone close to him to die, as being the one left behind would make him the subject of sympathy. Hector's girlfriend Eleni leaves for her native

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

after her mother is injured in a kitchen accident. Meanwhile, Hector's own father has ended up in hospital as well: the money his mother spent on a replacement

settee A couch, also known as a sofa, settee, or chesterfield, is a cushioned item of furniture for seating multiple people (although it is not uncommon for a single person to use a couch alone). It is commonly found in the form of a bench with up ...

, after Eleni and Hector stained the old one during sex, is too much for him to handle. At an exhibition, an assailant badly damages one of Hector's paintings. To make up for the damage, the assailant Monger will buy an expensive settee from Hector's parents to get his father out of hospital. He does so, but also robs Hector's parents of £15,000 and kills their pet dog. Eleni returns home to tell Hector that her mother has died, but leaves in anger after she finds him with an American

punk poet Punk literature (also called punk lit and, rarely, punklit) is literature related to the punk subculture. The attitude and ideologies of punk rock gave rise to distinctive characteristics in the writing it manifested. It has influenced the transg ...

named Rosa Flood. Monger ends up killing Rosa and Lenny Snook, one of Hector's friends. Hector shoots Monger with the latter's gun and heads for the

Tate Britain Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in ...

, where he paints the words "The simplest act of surrealism is to walk into a crowded street with a loaded revolver, and open the fire at random." He then does just that. After his arrest, Hector is charged with killing Rosa and Lenny, but has decided to let it go. Hector's father has died in hospital upon hearing of his son's deeds, and his mother has committed suicide by throwing herself into the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea or , gv, Y Keayn Yernagh, sco, Erse Sie, gd, Muir Èireann , Ulster-Scots: ''Airish Sea'', cy, Môr Iwerddon . is an extensive body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Ce ...

. He never hears from Eleni again.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Late Hector Kipling, The 2007 British novels Novels about artists Simon & Schuster books