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3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
Overall, I liked this book, but I wanted more of some parts and less of others. I found a lot of parallels with The Immortalists, in that I found both mothers the most interesting and that I knew the least about them. I found the first 50% of the book incredibly slow (reading about Dan and Emmet in particular). The last half, which was most interesting, felt rushed.
Three and a half stars.
Anne Enright writes beautifully about a bunch of of self destructive people. I enjoyed her writing but couldn't engage with the characters. I struggle with books where there is no redemption and, regardless of the events at the end of the book, I didn't see anything really changing.
Anne Enright writes beautifully about a bunch of of self destructive people. I enjoyed her writing but couldn't engage with the characters. I struggle with books where there is no redemption and, regardless of the events at the end of the book, I didn't see anything really changing.
3,5, - kanskje 4, hater stjerner. Liker boka. Elsker Irland.
Loved this. All the characters were difficult to like - that was good; it made them real people. I liked the round-about way we get to learn about them, especially Dan (there's a whole section on the New York gay scene in the 1980s where Dan - a main character - plays only a bit-part).
I listened to this story rather than read it, and it worked well. The narrator was excellent and her Irish voice especially was stuck in my head for days afterwards.
The content of the ending was perfect (open-ended), but I would have liked one last section from Constance.
I listened to this story rather than read it, and it worked well. The narrator was excellent and her Irish voice especially was stuck in my head for days afterwards.
The content of the ending was perfect (open-ended), but I would have liked one last section from Constance.
I struggled with the writing style being confusing, and then there were two crass sex references by page 8. Not for me. I can't stand gratuitous sex thrown into books any more than I like it on TV.
I'm not sure how I feel about this in the end. The first half was kind of awful honestly. The characters were completely...unsympathetic is not the right word, but I found I just didn't care about what was happening to them. The stories were also very disjointed - Dan is becoming a priest, and then suddenly he's in New York City as an art dealer(?) cruising the gay scene, with no mention of what happened in the interim. Once the family all comes together for Christmas, it's a little better. I did find it hitting all the right places as my parents age, and thinking about what will happen to my relationships as my son grows up, but I'm not sure it was enough to really redeem the book.
Ugh. What did I just read?? Read this for book club and disliked it most of the time.
A very contained and yet powerful read. I have known mother Madigan and she is written perfectly. The love and the pain on every page is written in pitch-perfect prose. It is, ultimately, much more depressing than uplifting. The joy is fleeting, the overarching tone verges on nihilism.
