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stevenjpitt's review against another edition
5.0
Enright was able to explore the beauty and humanity within a collection of broken souls, as well as the substance holding a fragmented family together.
Favourite Lines:
• “She looked at her son, she looked him straight in the eye, and for a moment, Emmet felt himself to be known. Just a glimmer and then it was gone.”
• “He met Dan’s eyes with the easy lack of interest he had learned all his life to show.”
• “For an utterly pretentious boy, he was very set against pretension. Much fuss to make things simple. That was his style.”
• “She had lost her son to the hunger of others. She had lost her son to death itself. Because that is where your sons go- they follow their fathers into the valley of the dead, like they are going off to war.”
Favourite Lines:
• “She looked at her son, she looked him straight in the eye, and for a moment, Emmet felt himself to be known. Just a glimmer and then it was gone.”
• “He met Dan’s eyes with the easy lack of interest he had learned all his life to show.”
• “For an utterly pretentious boy, he was very set against pretension. Much fuss to make things simple. That was his style.”
• “She had lost her son to the hunger of others. She had lost her son to death itself. Because that is where your sons go- they follow their fathers into the valley of the dead, like they are going off to war.”
robhughes's review against another edition
4.0
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.
aislingryan01's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
twocentsmusic's review against another edition
4.0
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.
neil_denham's review against another edition
3.0
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.
feelsnotbrains's review against another edition
4.0
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.
lenitat's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
aekeys's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I love love love Anne Enright. This is a pretty good book about family. It’s funny and serious and lighthearted and heavy.
lvw22's review against another edition
4.0
4 1/2 stars. The kind of well written literary fiction that makes you want to go back to the beginning and read it again the minute you finish it. I felt like I knew all five of the main characters intimately by the end and could relate to all of them.