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margaret21's review
5.0
This is an exploration of McGahern's childhood in rural Ireland in the 1940's and 50's. He deeply loved his mother who died of cancer when he was still very young. Sent with his siblings to live with his authoritative father in police barracks (his father and mother rarely lived together)the children learn to endure cruelty and unpredictabilty and to rely entirely on each other for their emotional development. McGahern discovered books through the library of a sympathetic local priest, and through his education, gradually breaks free of the extraordinary volatile father who endeavours to control his life and that of his sisters and brother. I've not yet read any other books by McGahern. I will, to experience again his heartfelt, compelling, evocative writing.
azu_rikka's review
3.0
2.75☆
I struggled to get through this book. The author obviously had a horrible father BUT the way it was narrated showed so much resentment that at times I felt like abandoning the book.
After the death of his mother little was mentioned of the fathers involvement in the authors upbringing until, suddenly, in one chapter all the harrowing details of the fathers abuse are told. This style of writing seemed amateurish.
On the other hand, I loved the telling of life in rural Ireland in the thirties/ forties and the story of the authors mother, an intelligent, kind, wise and strong woman.
I struggled to get through this book. The author obviously had a horrible father BUT the way it was narrated showed so much resentment that at times I felt like abandoning the book.
After the death of his mother little was mentioned of the fathers involvement in the authors upbringing until, suddenly, in one chapter all the harrowing details of the fathers abuse are told. This style of writing seemed amateurish.
On the other hand, I loved the telling of life in rural Ireland in the thirties/ forties and the story of the authors mother, an intelligent, kind, wise and strong woman.
fachtna's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
sad
3.75
Terribly emotional picture of youth in the countryside of a state so flawed in its Secularism and Patriarchy
qrschulte's review against another edition
4.0
I had to read this for my English class. I found it very easy to relate to him, even though I have never experienced anything as awful as his childhood. Sometimes I did get lost in the details though, and it was kind of slow in the beginning. All in all, pretty good read.
brainwatched's review against another edition
5.0
I absolutely devoured this memoir. It's a beautifully sad, nuanced, enveloping narration of McGahern's youth, and a deeply personal look into the characters that make up his family. His beloved mother, terrorizing father, flock of sisters, and many others all exist within a backdrop of rural Irish countryside; a microcosm into a different time. So well does McGahern write these individuals that they almost take on a mythic quality, feeling real and vital and knowable, and not just words on a page. This book has stuck with me long after finishing it, carrying an air of whimsy and magic, contentment and nostalgia, but equally strain and heartbreak, that ensure it won't be long before I read it once again.
margedalloway's review
3.0
"I had come to separate morals and religion, to see morals as simply our relationship with other people and the creatures of the earth and air, and religion as our relationship with our total environment."
There is one bad sentence in this entire book. That's pretty impressive. McGahern manages to write about his rather dark childhood in a way that is not only full of light and life, but is actually quite soothing to read. The letters from his bullying, abusive father (all of which end "Love Daddy") are posited as humorous rather than sad, and McGahern expunges any kind of bitterness (which he would be completely entitled to feel) from the book. The only true flaw in the book is that as it moves from childhood to adulthood, the pace quickens, and we see everyone whiz by in a dizzying blur; people die, but we are rarely given any sense of impact. I suppose this could be considered representative of life, a kind of Woolfian technique of conveying relativity, but it feels off, it strips the book somewhat of the generosity that characterises it. The conclusion, however, in which he describes one last walk with his mother, is deeply moving. Having read quite a few books in the past few weeks that won't shut up, it is nice to read one that relishes silence.
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