Reviews

The Thing About December by Donal Ryan

greenblack's review

challenging dark emotional relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

bgg616's review against another edition

4.0

I am caught between giving this book 4 or 5 stars. This novel was published after The Spinning Heart but is Donal Ryan's first novel that was rejected. I think I appreciated more after reading The Spinning Heart. It tells the story of Johnsie Cunliffe, the resident of a small town in County Limerick (we assume). Johnsie is a man who once would have been labeled "mentally retarded" and now might be called developmentally disabled. His parents protected him growing up, but now they are both gone. This is a story about the tremendous loneliness of an individual with no friends. Some of the best passages in the book describe this loneliness. When a land boom comes to town, Johnsie is no longer friendless, but too naive to understand he is being used. This story also brings to mind those aging parents who have adult children with special needs, and worry what will become of them when they are no longer around.

laurenmckane's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

3.5

shoesmcdaid's review against another edition

Not right now

maryw's review against another edition

reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

doobage's review

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

shumska's review against another edition

5.0

sjajno ispričana priča o životu u irskoj zabiti kroz prizmu mladog i ne baš intelektualno jakog johnseya cunliffea.

donal ryan kroz 12 poglavlja (svako nosi naslov po jednom od godišnjih mjeseci, počevši sa siječnjom) provukao je sve što je potrebno da bi se suživio s johnseyem i da bi prikazao, sasvim realistično, likove (lokalni nasilnici, trač babe, paraziti, gramzivci...) i događaje koji se zbivaju među njima, a johnsey cunliffe, kao dvadesetineštogodišnji mladić na rubu retardacije, iz svoje perspektive daje jedini ispravni pogled na to društvo koje nije ni po čemu drugačije od ostalih zadrtih društava po svim svjetskim zabitima.
donal ryan ide mi na listu "pročitati sve od ovog čovjeka".

rainybunny's review against another edition

sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty

Moderate: Animal death

fionaw81's review

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

blacklake's review against another edition

3.0

The writing deserves a better rating, but I'm afraid the story is too bleak for me to like the book. I did like it quite a bit at first, past when I might have been expected to put it down.