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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
i think this is FINE, a passive misogynist in full swing gets screwed and good
I do however, think Claire Keegan is absolutely scamming people by publishing a 47 page book and charging £9 for the pleasure
I do however, think Claire Keegan is absolutely scamming people by publishing a 47 page book and charging £9 for the pleasure
fast-paced
Poignant, subtle writing that just grasps your attention and let you think about it for a long while.
Great construction moving from the impression of a normal Friday through different levels of the recent past to the explanation why it is not such a normal Friday.
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
time has come to enjoy short stories published singularly as books: head too full to immerse myself into anything longer than 50 pages. with short stories, i always find them to be not what i expected and am left to first mourn my hopes and then re-consider what the story was actually about. with so late in the day, i’ve been spinning in my chair for a while, and i’m still baffled about this story.
i can imagine this story as four paintings: hot office at the end of summer; soft, ruffled bedsheets and a basket overflowing with pitted cherries at the darkened background; bathroom sink densely populated with toothpaste, face lotions, creams, razors, cotton discs, make up remover, two toothbrushes; and a man, looking down from his window into the dusk of a summer street, tiny ring on a windowsill, shirt creased, belt unbuckled.
not sure about the aim of this story. it is a sketch of a middle-aged misogynist Irish man, who doesn’t talk to women, doesn’t appreciate a woman buying cherries and mushrooms for him, doesn’t notice a girl who works as a cleaner in his office, doesn’t go further when he remembers his brother pulling a chair from under his mother as she finally sits down to eat, too - and laughing. i’m so glad i got to read this for free because i feel robbed of a nuanced character study. yet, i wonder if the power of this little book is in what things it doesn’t say but which linger on your mind after reading. the woman’s motives when agreeing to marry this man. what men expect of marriage. how people assume their needs will be met naturally due to some mysterious bond, while in fact it requires communication and often conscious effort. i also think this book’s subtlety serves well for portraying the internal blindness of the protagonist as he seems to just barely lift the cover of a massive cognitive dissonance but slides back into the simple explanation: “cunts”. this dissonance between his long-held misogyny and a discomfort he seems to barely feel at pre-realisation of his mistakes and behaviours is something i would really like to see dug into. maybe with internal paranoia and existential crisis, like in the moustache, except the man would be re-examining his past encounters with women, first in a cold rational way, reaching the dissonance, realising, and then frantically searching for exit. however, in this story, there is only a millisecond-lasting stupor, aided by same-old song of a blame for half of the society. what can be done?
***
i enjoyed the writing and the details that Keegan skilfully placed in the story’s snapshots.
***
i enjoyed the writing and the details that Keegan skilfully placed in the story’s snapshots.
he sat breathing her scent until it occurred to him that there must be thousands if not hundreds of thousands of women who smelled the same. (1)
‘and there’s no reason why we couldn’t have a child’, he said, ‘if you wanted.’
he’d watched her closely; she didn’t seem to turn away.
‘you like that idea?’ Cathal asked.
‘a child is not an idea,’ she retorted.
‘i just didn’t think it would be like this, is all,’ he said. ‘i just thought about your being here and having dinner, waking up with you. maybe it’s just too much a reality.’
also:
- the wasp
- forgetting about the cat
- a man triumphing he can piss without having to lift the lid
and finally, yes girl, you should have no wish to marry this man at all if he doesn’t appreciate your cooking and finds it cool to not wash his hands after peeing.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny
dark
emotional
informative
relaxing
tense
challenging
dark
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It seems this is a collection of short stories as a physical book, but just the one story on audio, which is a bit strange...
It's a character study, I suppose, but the characters don't have enough character for us to really draw much from and there's not enough plot to make up for that.
I do think the audiobook likely let down the writing, and I'd have enjoyed it more reading it in my own way. I'd try a full length novel from the same author, but definitely not via audiobook.
It's a character study, I suppose, but the characters don't have enough character for us to really draw much from and there's not enough plot to make up for that.
I do think the audiobook likely let down the writing, and I'd have enjoyed it more reading it in my own way. I'd try a full length novel from the same author, but definitely not via audiobook.