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3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
Enright has always been a beautiful writer. Sentences so truthful and full. I imagine Enright will never write anything as perfect as 'The Gathering' again. Although, there are moments this felt close.
Loved it. So much to think about. The Irish setting was a big draw for me, and the portrait of this Irish family.
More and more, my favorite sort of modern novel is one intently focused on relatively small stories of relatively small events, but rendered with such emotional precision, such careful and non-judgemental attention, that not only do I feel a startling compassion for the characters involved, but like I know for a few hours the itchy heat of another's heartbreak and longing and memory. Tessa Hadley and Colm Toibin are two favorites of this genre, whatever its actual literary name, and now I add Anne Enright, whose book The Gathering I read years ago, but was then forgotten to me in the particular intensity of early motherhood. The Green Road is nearly perfect in my eyes, though the ending isn't everything I wanted. But it’s not my story, is it. I'm glad to have this one on the shelf to return to again.
Was hard to not start day dreaming. Wouldn't look for more by this author.
A hard story -- spent a bit of time cringing -- but wow, Anne Enright is such a wonderful writer. A joy to read, even with the cringes.
Engaging well written story by an author with deep understanding of people and family relationships.
So disappointed. I don’t know what I was expecting, but this was a dud.
Five star writing. Five star character development, each of Rosaleen's children distinctly drawn and deftly illustrated. Five stars for the dialogue -- you know a lot about major and even minor characters by their casual remarks and internal monologues.
And--a unique structure, bouncing forward a decade or a few years, to catch us up on major events and shifts without tedium or endless backstory. In fact, there is no saga, and unlike the proclamation on the book jacket, no sweep. It's a series of vignettes and scenes, wry and maddening and depressing , humorous and tragic.
Perhaps the book tries to accomplish too much without enough weight, but it left me feeling hungry to read more of Enright's work.
And--a unique structure, bouncing forward a decade or a few years, to catch us up on major events and shifts without tedium or endless backstory. In fact, there is no saga, and unlike the proclamation on the book jacket, no sweep. It's a series of vignettes and scenes, wry and maddening and depressing , humorous and tragic.
Perhaps the book tries to accomplish too much without enough weight, but it left me feeling hungry to read more of Enright's work.
The writing is so beautiful and the characters richly drawn. Oh families ... what do we do to each other.