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3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
Anne Enright’s The Green Road has been long listed for the 2015 Man Booker Prize. This is the Irish writer’s sixth novel, but only the third one of hers I’ve read.
The first one I read, The Gathering, won the 2007 Man Booker Prize and, perhaps somewhat unfairly, gave her a reputation for writing rather grim literary fiction, particularly as it looked at the outfall of sexual abuse on a family. The second book, The Forgotten Waltz, was slightly more accessible, but it still explored dark territory — that of an extramarital affair as told by the “other woman”.
But this new novel treads totally different territory. It’s not exactly light-hearted but there are elements of black comedy in it, which make it a fun read as opposed to a depressing one.
The Green Road is essentially a forthright family drama following the lives of four siblings — Hanna, Emmet, Dan and Constance — and their needy, domineering mother, Rosaleen, over the course of 25 years. Each character gets their own section, beginning when Hanna, the youngest child, is just 12 years old, and culminates with all of the siblings returning to their childhood home as adults for a Christmas dinner in 2005 at the height of the Celtic Tiger.
The novel highlights the differences between each of the siblings and the ways in which they all grow apart as they get older and pursue their own lives and careers so that they effectively become strangers — and yet as soon as they’re thrown together for a Christmas celebration all the old tensions, resentments and childhood dynamics come to the fore, almost as if they never moved out of the family home.
Enright takes her time fleshing out all of the characters — most of whom we meet as adults— each of whom is grappling with private difficulties: Dan, who once wanted to be a priest, has reinvented himself as an artist in New York but is living a double life during the AIDS crisis of the early 1990s; Emmet, an aid worker in Africa, has rejected the materialism of the modern world but finds it hard to make meaningful connections with women; Constance, raising her own family in Ireland, has a health scare that she keeps to herself; and Hanna, a first-time mother and struggling actor in Dublin, has an ongoing problem with alcohol.
But it is the central character, Rosaleen, that lends the book its gravitas — and humour. This Irish mammy is manipulative, self-absorbed, living “her entire life requiring things of other people and blaming other people” and vacillating between “a state of hope or regret”.
To read my review in full, please visit my blog.
The first one I read, The Gathering, won the 2007 Man Booker Prize and, perhaps somewhat unfairly, gave her a reputation for writing rather grim literary fiction, particularly as it looked at the outfall of sexual abuse on a family. The second book, The Forgotten Waltz, was slightly more accessible, but it still explored dark territory — that of an extramarital affair as told by the “other woman”.
But this new novel treads totally different territory. It’s not exactly light-hearted but there are elements of black comedy in it, which make it a fun read as opposed to a depressing one.
The Green Road is essentially a forthright family drama following the lives of four siblings — Hanna, Emmet, Dan and Constance — and their needy, domineering mother, Rosaleen, over the course of 25 years. Each character gets their own section, beginning when Hanna, the youngest child, is just 12 years old, and culminates with all of the siblings returning to their childhood home as adults for a Christmas dinner in 2005 at the height of the Celtic Tiger.
The novel highlights the differences between each of the siblings and the ways in which they all grow apart as they get older and pursue their own lives and careers so that they effectively become strangers — and yet as soon as they’re thrown together for a Christmas celebration all the old tensions, resentments and childhood dynamics come to the fore, almost as if they never moved out of the family home.
Enright takes her time fleshing out all of the characters — most of whom we meet as adults— each of whom is grappling with private difficulties: Dan, who once wanted to be a priest, has reinvented himself as an artist in New York but is living a double life during the AIDS crisis of the early 1990s; Emmet, an aid worker in Africa, has rejected the materialism of the modern world but finds it hard to make meaningful connections with women; Constance, raising her own family in Ireland, has a health scare that she keeps to herself; and Hanna, a first-time mother and struggling actor in Dublin, has an ongoing problem with alcohol.
But it is the central character, Rosaleen, that lends the book its gravitas — and humour. This Irish mammy is manipulative, self-absorbed, living “her entire life requiring things of other people and blaming other people” and vacillating between “a state of hope or regret”.
To read my review in full, please visit my blog.
My first Anne Enright but it will not be my last. She paints a familiar Irish landscape while dragging the country and its people into the 21st century...the mother who despairs over her son going into the priesthood and the son who leaves it to embrace the gay lifestyle in New York in the 1990s when his friends are all dying of AIDS...the actress who becomes a drunk.. The passive aggressive mother... The dutiful daughter with her stalwart husband...how they all come together for one more Christmas in the old house. All familiar territory, but the prose is transcendent, the characters engaging, the action quiet and compelling. Each of these characters deserve his or her own novel because they are so richly drawn.
It was fine, a book about four children and their mother. The four children had grown up and moved away and now the mother had decided to sell the house they all came back home one last time. It was fine. But the way they carried on as if their mother was some terrible person they couldn’t wait to get away from. She was fine maybe a bit highly strung, but they were really making a mountain out of a molehill.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.5 stars. Beautifully written but, at the same, clunky and obscure. The story arch is interesting and engaging, but the conversations never run smoothly - but maybe that is the way people talk to each other. I ended up feeling there was something missing.
I really enjoyed this book too - either I made a great selection of holiday reading or the quality of my reading has been improved by being out of the rat race for a couple of weeks. A monster mother is at the centre of the narrative - the cadence of the language reminds me of Irish friends and I'm keen to read more by the author who I haven't read before.
I've enjoyed all the books I've read by Anne Enright. They all seem put together just right, from the sentence level on up. Her ability to capture family relationships is unparalleled.
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was beautifully written with fine descriptions of the various settings. I really felt I understood each character, even though their experiences were so different than mine. I felt such empathy for each child trying to please mom at the Christmas gathering after she announced she wanted to sell the homestead, but also felt for the mom who felt so disconnected from her brood that had so often left for other countries, other types of lives, etc. I must admit that when the story ended I was surprised to see the next chapter was acknowledgements as I expected more. But that's not all bad, as I can finish each life in the manner I wish. This IS good fiction ;-)