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leahhh1's review against another edition
dark
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Pregnancy, and Pedophilia
Moderate: Sexual content and Misogyny
bookstolivewith's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
2.5
I really don’t have a great review for this one. That Old Country Music by Kevin Barry is a collection of short stories inspired by the landscape of Ireland as well as its many, many songs. Irish songs, often popularized as pub songs, are generally several stanza ballads encompassing love and loss, as well as magic and the mundane. This collection aims to combine the oldest of Irish traditions with a modern Irish populace, all set against the never-changing background of the Irish countryside.
Sounds incredible, right? But I was... bored. And I didn’t get it. I don’t know if it was just that the short story format didn’t connect with me or what, but besides the first story in the collection, I felt like everything flew above my head and I was missing references left and right. It’s definitely the type of book I needed to read with a professor and a group.
Now, if you aren’t familiar with Kevin Berry, you should definitely try his debut novel, City of Bohane, which has A Clockwork Orange-type vibe. I absolutely loved that book and found his dystopian interpretation of Ireland interesting. But this one just didn’t do it for me. However, if you like lyricism, grey areas and short stories, it might be for you!
Sounds incredible, right? But I was... bored. And I didn’t get it. I don’t know if it was just that the short story format didn’t connect with me or what, but besides the first story in the collection, I felt like everything flew above my head and I was missing references left and right. It’s definitely the type of book I needed to read with a professor and a group.
Now, if you aren’t familiar with Kevin Berry, you should definitely try his debut novel, City of Bohane, which has A Clockwork Orange-type vibe. I absolutely loved that book and found his dystopian interpretation of Ireland interesting. But this one just didn’t do it for me. However, if you like lyricism, grey areas and short stories, it might be for you!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction and Death
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