Reviews

The Gathering by Anne Enright

annavanna's review against another edition

Not enough suspense early on. Too much digging in the (imaginary) past. Keep forgetting the characters...

khyland's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

2.75

alannafowler's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-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

3.0

sidharthvardhan's review against another edition

3.0

To be honest the prose does reflect the despair of a grieved person. What is despair? But confusion created when we lose all consciousness control in face of a tragedy - and, the prose is confusing for sure. The narrator's stream of consciousness is often alternating, like the chapters, between past and present. Yet it was too big to do justice to its centeral theme. Theme of dealing with loss of a loved one.

eunicek82's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

4.5

A really well-done book about how our past traumas shake the core of who we are and affect how we remember. I could’ve used fewer descriptions of genitalia. 

jess_mango's review against another edition

3.0

Hmmm, Enright has definitely got a way with words. There were moments in this book that were glorious, but a lot of it felt vague and "removed" in that way that it seems many Booker Prize winners or nominees are. Maybe I just read too much, but I felt like I had read bits of this book elsewhere--- Irish family with lots of siblings and dirty secrets in their closet...
While I enjoyed Enright's style of writing, the story and characters just didn't draw me in. Maybe the multiple chapters where the narrator imagined her grandmother having sex had something to do with my misgivings. Hmmmm, indeed.

tarajoy90's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Pedophilia, and Suicide

emilyjhahn's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

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

4.25

jaydgreen's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

lbaireid's review against another edition

1.0

I usually like finishing books so that I can give a fair review but I gave up reading about 5 chapters in as it was so depressing and boring and showed no sense of getting better or progressing the plot to an interesting place