Reviews

City of Bohane by Kevin Barry

teokajlibroj's review against another edition

5.0

This book is a master of dialouge and worth reading for this alone. Half of what everyone says is slang or in accent, but thankfully being Irish I was able to recognise enough of it (I pity any non-Irish person trying to figure out what anyone is saying). The book excellently captures setting and location, in this case the city of Limerick Bohane. The plot too is excellent with just the right amount of drama without becoming absurd or a soap opera. The twist and subversion perfectly suits the story.

The one minor complaint I half is about the unnecessary and blunt descriptions of what everyone was wearing which I found annoying and meaningless.

jmcook's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

jean_mcguinness's review

adventurous challenging dark reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.75

carolinb87's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

2.75

whatsmacksaid's review against another edition

4.0

It took me forever to get through this, but I did really enjoy it. The prose requires a certain fluid kind of mindset to enjoy--it's written in dialect, and some of the slang is made up, so you kind of just have to go with it.

I'm not much for books that are about the journey rather than the destination, but in this case I enjoyed both. I returned my library copy just so I could buy my own.

duparker's review against another edition

4.0

I found that once I understood the dialect the author was writing, and could understand the environment the story was set in, I really enjoyed this tight and well paced story. It is set in Ireland in the future and has a good edge to it. I was reminded of The Friends Of Eddie Coyle, a gritty crime novel that centers not around the killing of people, but the interactions of people in the criminal underworld and shows them from the perspective of people trying to get by. Everyone in the city of Bohane has flaws, and struggles. Great book for a hot Saturday afternoon.

ocurtsinger's review against another edition

4.0

While reading this book I was reminded of what it's like to read William Gibson's Neuromancer for the first time. At first it's a little unclear what the meat of the story is, but if you just hang on and let the rhythm and cadence of the prose take you for a ride, you will find yourself in a new and fascinating place. And what a place; Bohane is a weird and wild mash-up of Jamaican shanty-towns, Soviet tenements, and Little Italy and Chinatown. It's true that the plot and characters are lacking a little cohesiveness, but ultimately you'll find yourself turning the pages not for the story-line, but to explore the city as Barry describes it. You feel yourself prowling backstreets and lingering in the memories that the lights and the smells conjure. Reading the novel is similar to reading a poem in which the message may be hard to grasp at first, but the language is so rich and deftly wielded that you've got to stop and admire the lush imagery that you find yourself conjuring.

beeeeg's review against another edition

2.0

Not for me. Written with tons of Irish slang and with a weird obsession with what everyone was wearing. Found it a hard read and didn't really connect with any of the characters.

alisonjfields's review against another edition

5.0

I adored this book. That should not necessarily read as a recommendation to you. If the idea of a gorgeously ugly idyll about dystopian Irish gangsters delivered in a kind of foul and glorious patois (often more in line with poetry than prose) doesn't scare you off completely, City of Bohane will probably be right up your (narrow, dreamy bloody, folkloric, history-drenched) alley. I am pretty sure I've never read anything quite like this before, so if you're looking for comparisons . . .(it's pretty far from standard issue dystopian fiction and though quite literary, would probably rankle the Booker Prize crowd) fuck, I dunno.

The path is neither straight nor particularly concerned with its end path, but lord, what a ride.

Still, you've been warned. Proceed with caution.

zeldaspellman's review against another edition

dark funny slow-paced

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

2.0