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kingarooski's review against another edition
4.0
Brilliantly structured with three, seemingly unrelated tales of men brought together by a few sentences. I will be thinking about this one for some time yet.
vcmnsn's review against another edition
4.0
No writing gives me such raw emotion as that of Donal Ryan. The way he can tell a character’s story and make you feel such gut wrenching emotional leaves me in awe every single time.
I found myself in the beginning feeling frustrated with the stories, and where they were going to go.
By the end, I had to take a moment to pause and reflect on these lives and their woven histories. So beautifully written.
I found myself in the beginning feeling frustrated with the stories, and where they were going to go.
By the end, I had to take a moment to pause and reflect on these lives and their woven histories. So beautifully written.
kevin_shepherd's review against another edition
4.0
I did a wee bit of research and assembled a list of Irish authors (ones not named Joyce) that I wanted to read. In doing so, I quickly discovered that few contemporary Irish novelists are getting more buzz than Donal Ryan—and for good reason.
From a Low and Quiet Sea begins not in Ireland, but in Syria with the first of three seemingly unrelated stories. Ryan is adept at moving between vignettes, not only from Syria to Ireland but from dogma to angst and from anguish to indifference. This is actually three novellas braided into one incredible aggregate. I’m not generally a connoisseur of modern fiction but this engaged me. I have never read anything quite like this before.
From a Low and Quiet Sea begins not in Ireland, but in Syria with the first of three seemingly unrelated stories. Ryan is adept at moving between vignettes, not only from Syria to Ireland but from dogma to angst and from anguish to indifference. This is actually three novellas braided into one incredible aggregate. I’m not generally a connoisseur of modern fiction but this engaged me. I have never read anything quite like this before.
mattke84's review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
paulsnelling's review against another edition
4.0
Spare prose, three beautifully written stories and an unforeseeable conclusion. Very good
bluestarfish's review against another edition
4.0
This is a beautiful novel. The first three parts of the book tell the stories of three men with very different lives and experiences. And the fourth unexpectedly weaves them together in surprising ways. The portraits, monologues, of the three men explore their lives with care and detail and they are each allowed to be very different from each other. Trees share nutrients and messages among themselves using a poorly understood symbiosis with fungi and is it so very different with humans after all?
tabbiecat's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
itsgoodtobea's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
tensy's review against another edition
5.0
The Irish are amazingly good at telling stories. As Ryan writes in this short novel, "Some stories a man can glory in. Some stories were told for kudos or for laughs." Donal Ryan tells us three separate stories of men who are trying to puzzle a life together after the loss of loved ones that have left them with a wounded heart; a Syrian refugee, a young nursing home attendant, and a dishonest accountant. We hear these stories first hand from each man and not until the final section do we learn how the three are interconnected and it will take you by surprise. The writing is beautifully crafted and spellbinding.