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3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
I started this book three times and couldn't even make it through to the end of the 2nd chapter. The premise sounded interesting to me and I enjoy books that jump back and forth between characters as well as time. Plus, the time/place of chapter two---the late 80s/ early 90s during the AIDS epidemic in NYC---was one I rarely see in books, so I was interested in that as well. And yet despite all of this I just could not warm up to the overall style of writing or work up any interest in any of the characters.
I very rarely opt not to finish a book. In fact, this is the first book I've not finished since before I started adding books here in Jan. 2021. Typically I will slog through a book, even in I don't love it, because I really loathe starting a book and not finishing it. But in this case, 3 tries were enough for me. Maybe some time in the future I'll give it another go, but for now I'm giving the first 1.75 chapters 1 star, and placing it on my newly made "Did Not Finish" shelf here at Goodreads.
I very rarely opt not to finish a book. In fact, this is the first book I've not finished since before I started adding books here in Jan. 2021. Typically I will slog through a book, even in I don't love it, because I really loathe starting a book and not finishing it. But in this case, 3 tries were enough for me. Maybe some time in the future I'll give it another go, but for now I'm giving the first 1.75 chapters 1 star, and placing it on my newly made "Did Not Finish" shelf here at Goodreads.
It was kinda an Irish, poor man's version of Franzen's The Corrections.
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This novel is similar to Anne Enright's other novel "The Gathering" in a lot of ways. It's also about an Irish family and, at the end, a gathering around the matriarch of the family.
It's also, supposedly, bleak, but I think my tolerance level for bleak and depressing is just very high (and very low for fluff). What this novel is not: exciting. What it is: very well-written. What this story doesnt have: an engaging story. What it does have: great character studies.
I mean, just read this blurb "Spanning thirty years and three continents, The Green Road tells the story of Rosaleen, matriarch of the Madigan family, and her four children"... This book is barely 300 pages long, how much of 30 years can you bring into this, and still make it ring true and full? Without losing focus?
In a way, it's almost like you're reading (good) short stories from different POVs, that are loosely connected at the end.
It's also, supposedly, bleak, but I think my tolerance level for bleak and depressing is just very high (and very low for fluff). What this novel is not: exciting. What it is: very well-written. What this story doesnt have: an engaging story. What it does have: great character studies.
I mean, just read this blurb "Spanning thirty years and three continents, The Green Road tells the story of Rosaleen, matriarch of the Madigan family, and her four children"... This book is barely 300 pages long, how much of 30 years can you bring into this, and still make it ring true and full? Without losing focus?
In a way, it's almost like you're reading (good) short stories from different POVs, that are loosely connected at the end.
This was on the longlist for the Man Booker Prize, it didn't win because, well it's actually very good and the Man Booker doesn't do things like that. Complicated and emotional with some brilliant stand alone chapters, i wouldn't say it's a light read and there is some lagging towards the end but it is definitely worth it.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Anne Enright's piercing study of each of the characters have me relish every single page in this book. While there is not so much a development of the characters (seeing that it spans a few decades), the descriptions and storytelling brings me into the world of each of the characters and makes each of them perfectly believable.
At first I was not sure (it has an Irish boy called Danny in it, seriously?) but in the second section (Coming Home) it gets a lot better, and has some fantastic moments, observations and lines.
This book made me cry on the Central Line to Ealing Broadway, on the N199 bus to Bermondsey, in Bar Termini on Old Compton Street. This book made me want to call my mother midway through Rosaleen's chapter, made me want to run away to New York, made me miss my family in Roscommon, Ireland, made me feel the bitter wind of an Atlantic gale. I'm not trying to sound pretentious (although I'm certain that's how this sounds so far), I just can't express with great articulation how powerful this book tugged at emotions. You will leave this book longing profoundly for family who are just around the corner or at the end of a telephone call.