Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
This won the Man Booker Prize and I'd never read anything by Anne Enright. So, when I found this in a church rummage sale, I decided to add it to my queue. One reason: I love Anne's New Yorker Fiction Podcast readings and discussion of famous short stories, most notably her superb take on John Cheever's "The Swimmer."
I was bitterly disappointed at first when I finally cracked open the book to discover someone had scribbled on the title page--I hate when people mark up books!It slowly got through my thick head that it was ANNE who had signed what turned out to be first edition. Bear in mind--I found this at a rummage sale. Delight.
The novel is a family saga, expertly rendered and offers a glimpse into Irish middle class life at the recent highwater mark for their economy--just before things nosedived. I love her voice, attention to detail, spare sentimentality and humor. Also, few write about sex better than Anne Enright--straight and gay--she's brilliant. The saga covers quite a bit of geographical territory--so don't worry about being stuck in the Irish countryside with its thousand-year-old walls, misty bogs and dazzling cliffs. There are certainly scenes set there but we also spend a good amount of time in Africa and New York, across many years. This is a damn good book--women especially will enjoy it, but I encourage everyone to read Enright. I'm going to tackle some of her short stories next.
I was bitterly disappointed at first when I finally cracked open the book to discover someone had scribbled on the title page--I hate when people mark up books!It slowly got through my thick head that it was ANNE who had signed what turned out to be first edition. Bear in mind--I found this at a rummage sale. Delight.
The novel is a family saga, expertly rendered and offers a glimpse into Irish middle class life at the recent highwater mark for their economy--just before things nosedived. I love her voice, attention to detail, spare sentimentality and humor. Also, few write about sex better than Anne Enright--straight and gay--she's brilliant. The saga covers quite a bit of geographical territory--so don't worry about being stuck in the Irish countryside with its thousand-year-old walls, misty bogs and dazzling cliffs. There are certainly scenes set there but we also spend a good amount of time in Africa and New York, across many years. This is a damn good book--women especially will enjoy it, but I encourage everyone to read Enright. I'm going to tackle some of her short stories next.
Rounded up from 2.5. The book was okay, but not as good as I was expecting. Something about it felt a little flat - someone with more literary critique skills than I have could probably point it out (and probably other reviewers have done so). It was not a book I would have abandoned, as I did feel somewhat invested in the story, but I am not sure how much I will remember of the story or characters in another week.
This one never quite clicked with me. I very much enjoyed the writing style and there were some fascinating characters but they felt disconnected from one another like they were strangers and not part of the same dysfunctional family. Still pondering whether this was a matter of structure or something about the writing, but I never seemed emotionally invested. Sort of reminiscent of when someone tells you a story and you're not sure why they told it to you. Upon finishing I felt sort of like a dog with that puzzled, titled-head reaction when unsure what a human is trying to communicate.
---------------------------------------
WORDS I LEARNED WHILE READING THIS BOOK
cachou | verrucas | shebeen | kaffeeklatsch | hypnagogic | langer | spágs | palaver | dolmens |
---------------------------------------
WORDS I LEARNED WHILE READING THIS BOOK
cachou | verrucas | shebeen | kaffeeklatsch | hypnagogic | langer | spágs | palaver | dolmens |
I've always loved her writing and enjoyed this book a great deal.
The Costa Book Awards are a prestigious British book award that will be held in January. This month, I'll be reading the Novel shortlist consisting of four books, this week is The Green Road by Anne Enright.
The third book of the shortlist convinced me of one thing; the Costa judges sure love a novel that jumps between time and people. Just like the previous two books I've read, A God in Ruins and A Place Called Winter, The Green Road spans over fifty years. Not only that, we also follow different characters at different points in time.
As mentioned before, I'm not overly fond of multiple narrative points of view in a story. I generally like to connect to one character and really grow attached to them so I'm invested in their journey. The Green Road is one of those books that could have benefited from having less characters. We follow Rosaleen and her four children, Dan, Emmet, Constance and Hannah, throughout most of their lives. While the family is originally from Ireland, we see how Dan moves to New York and eventually Canada and how Emmett travels the world to do charity work. In my opinion, the story was just too broad; too many characters in too many different locations with very different time periods just left me feeling lukewarm about each of them. I didn't attach or care too much about any character.
Anne Enright's writing is beautiful, she writes with an amazing balance between detail and action, but the plotting didn't quite do it for me. Everyone in the book was unhappy and going through something. While this could be realistic, I'd like to think that in a family of five, one of them must be kind of happy at some point, but maybe that is wishful thinking on my part.
My favourite character is Dan, who makes the must unexpected and original journey out of all the children. While first introduced as the son who wants to become a priest, the reader sees that course change drastically and follows him through some major life events. I really think I could have fully connected with Dan if I was able to spend more time with him. He, like the other children, gets one chapter by himself, before everyone is thrown together in one storyline. It just didn't give me enough information about Dan.
Overall, this book left me unaffected, especially considering the two amazing previous novels on the shortlist. The writing was beautiful and enjoyable, but the structure of the novel just didn't work for me. If you love multiple points of views and skipping from one character to another, this book is perfect for you. If you like to linger with characters longer, like I do, this is probably not the right match.
The third book of the shortlist convinced me of one thing; the Costa judges sure love a novel that jumps between time and people. Just like the previous two books I've read, A God in Ruins and A Place Called Winter, The Green Road spans over fifty years. Not only that, we also follow different characters at different points in time.
As mentioned before, I'm not overly fond of multiple narrative points of view in a story. I generally like to connect to one character and really grow attached to them so I'm invested in their journey. The Green Road is one of those books that could have benefited from having less characters. We follow Rosaleen and her four children, Dan, Emmet, Constance and Hannah, throughout most of their lives. While the family is originally from Ireland, we see how Dan moves to New York and eventually Canada and how Emmett travels the world to do charity work. In my opinion, the story was just too broad; too many characters in too many different locations with very different time periods just left me feeling lukewarm about each of them. I didn't attach or care too much about any character.
Anne Enright's writing is beautiful, she writes with an amazing balance between detail and action, but the plotting didn't quite do it for me. Everyone in the book was unhappy and going through something. While this could be realistic, I'd like to think that in a family of five, one of them must be kind of happy at some point, but maybe that is wishful thinking on my part.
My favourite character is Dan, who makes the must unexpected and original journey out of all the children. While first introduced as the son who wants to become a priest, the reader sees that course change drastically and follows him through some major life events. I really think I could have fully connected with Dan if I was able to spend more time with him. He, like the other children, gets one chapter by himself, before everyone is thrown together in one storyline. It just didn't give me enough information about Dan.
Overall, this book left me unaffected, especially considering the two amazing previous novels on the shortlist. The writing was beautiful and enjoyable, but the structure of the novel just didn't work for me. If you love multiple points of views and skipping from one character to another, this book is perfect for you. If you like to linger with characters longer, like I do, this is probably not the right match.
Did-not-finish.
went up to 50%. This made me feel like am not getting the big picture of the story. I wish I could enjoy this but it kept making me feel stupid :)
went up to 50%. This made me feel like am not getting the big picture of the story. I wish I could enjoy this but it kept making me feel stupid :)
Anyone with mommy issues might have a hard time getting through this novel, but don't let that discourage you. As a daughter and also as a mother, this book's introspective look at 30 years of the Rosaleen Madigan's life from the perspective of her four children pulls at your heart from every emotion imaginable. What it means to be family, for better or for worse, and how much of who we are we owe to our mothers are explored. Humor is sprinkled throughout, as well as raw truths. That we may save our harshest judgments for those we love the most might be the theme of this story, but I still felt they redeemed themselves as a clan by its ending.
I loved Anne Enright's "The Gathering". Sparse, direct, raw and powerful, it has a force all its own, and stays with you long after you've turned the last page. Knowing, then, what Enright is capable of, I was looking for that same effect from " The Green Road". In fact, its only because of "The Gathering" that I didn't put this book down after the first third. I found the characters, on the whole, unsympathetic to an extreme; not a prerequisite for a compelling story, but coupled with the disjointed narrative, this novel was unable to engage me on the raw, emotional level Enright seemed to be looking for. Having experienced the power of her writing, I'll gladly read anything new she puts out. This one simply missed the mark for me.
This book was a nice and easy read. Anne Enright has a nice writing style. As a matter of plot I find it hard to explain, as this book must be read with some background information. We are dealing with Irish literature here, and often Irish literature is in alignment with Irish history, which is the case with The Green Road. Even with this information the book seems to be more of describing nature than of a telling nature - that is, there does not seem to be an end-goal storywise. However, this book does illustrate the different generations and their sense of the world.
Rosaleen grew up in the Irish Free State, where women were mothers and not much else. In The Green Road, we find Rosaleen searching for her own identity, an identity that is anything but a mother. The character development is therefore the most interesting in this book. The first five chapters, which introduces the main characters, seem to be more of a short story nature, which allows for great character development. Throughout the book there is an interesting tension between the different generations, as we are obviously all raised by a previous generation. This tension suggests dysfunctionality and also emphasises the different views they have on the same matters.
This book keeps you engaged with the nature of the characters and the use of focalisation keeps you alert and wondering why certain modes of vocalisation were used. Overall, I think this is a nice read, but not spectacular.
Rosaleen grew up in the Irish Free State, where women were mothers and not much else. In The Green Road, we find Rosaleen searching for her own identity, an identity that is anything but a mother. The character development is therefore the most interesting in this book. The first five chapters, which introduces the main characters, seem to be more of a short story nature, which allows for great character development. Throughout the book there is an interesting tension between the different generations, as we are obviously all raised by a previous generation. This tension suggests dysfunctionality and also emphasises the different views they have on the same matters.
This book keeps you engaged with the nature of the characters and the use of focalisation keeps you alert and wondering why certain modes of vocalisation were used. Overall, I think this is a nice read, but not spectacular.
Liked the writing, mostly liked the beginning, lost interest by the end.