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3.43 AVERAGE
3.43 AVERAGE
To be completely honest, I am not quite sure how to rate this book. Reading it feels like a sexualized and crude fever dream, a state of constant confusion, a state of Ideenflucht like I have never read it before - it was fascinating and alienating at the same time. It's difficult to assess whether there was an enjoyment beyond a perfidious state of disbelief and distaste for it's tone.
A deeper understand of the historical and pop-cultural background might have improved the experience and my state of confusion but I am sure, it was also partly intended. Paddy is an unreliable narrator who makes it difficult to distinguish between reality of the book and delusion. The strings of events are difficult to follow, inconsistent in it's narration and filled only loosely associated thought followed by another.
All in all, this story gives of the impression of deep confusion and a constant state of feeling lost as the reader gets dragged along the world that Paddy lives in, mirroring the state of feeling lost that Paddy herself might feel and therefore looks for a sense of belonging in the idea of her mother and her own family. Her's is a truly fascinating life - the rapid succession of her emotions and social relations, it feels like a character study that can only be enjoyed from a mental distance - and even that enjoyment, in my case, springs from the clinical implication that her narration allows.
A deeper understand of the historical and pop-cultural background might have improved the experience and my state of confusion but I am sure, it was also partly intended. Paddy is an unreliable narrator who makes it difficult to distinguish between reality of the book and delusion. The strings of events are difficult to follow, inconsistent in it's narration and filled only loosely associated thought followed by another.
All in all, this story gives of the impression of deep confusion and a constant state of feeling lost as the reader gets dragged along the world that Paddy lives in, mirroring the state of feeling lost that Paddy herself might feel and therefore looks for a sense of belonging in the idea of her mother and her own family. Her's is a truly fascinating life - the rapid succession of her emotions and social relations, it feels like a character study that can only be enjoyed from a mental distance - and even that enjoyment, in my case, springs from the clinical implication that her narration allows.
A short novel that passes by like a dream; strange situations, complex people, nostalgia, Ireland, sometimes confusing, always intriguing.
I thought this book had one of the most excellent voices I've heard out of a novel yet. At points, I was laughing so hard I thought I would cry, and at others I was absolutely horrified.
Definitely a good book. Worth reading. A different view on the Troubles.
Definitely a good book. Worth reading. A different view on the Troubles.
I read this before seeing the film and I have to say, I like the book better (though I liked the film a lot, too). I was really curious how they were going to do the film because the book is pretty wandering and plotless (in a good way).
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I gave this one a legitimate chance.. I really did. But after 75 pages or so, I just couldn't keep going. It was hard to follow at times and the Irish language was difficult for me to slog through at points.
I'll hold onto it and hopefully pick it up again.
I'll hold onto it and hopefully pick it up again.
basically Patrick McCabe books follow the same formula. A narrator tells the story of a character who starts off ok then falls into despair. The cause? Ireland. Always Ireland. The thing is that sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Breakfast on Pluto is ok. It focuses on a cross dressing boy who escapes his destitute life in order to find his biological parents. On the way she meets characters who suffer the fate of the IRA. Eventually she becomes a prostitute and is jailed due to connections with the IRA. Does she find her mother? no.
It's a typical McCabe and unlike The Butcher Boy of The Dead School, McCabe's spark is diminishing and things feel formulaic. Not for a beginner.
You know the cliche. The book is always better than the movie. Well that's not true. Sometimes it's quite the opposite. This book is one of those times. It isn't a bad book, it's just not great. If you're a huge fan of the movie than give it a read, it's small and mostly harmless. If you haven't seen the movie than you should really just watch that.