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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
emotional
sad
slow-paced
This is about an elderly man sitting at a bar thinking about the good and bad times and people in his life. There were a few interesting stories, but this one was just an okay read for me.
Really great book. It follows Maurice at a bar one night in Ireland, toasting to the 5 most important people in his life. It shows the power of relationships, the weight of regrets, and the intensity of love. Was teary for a solid 76% of this book.
This book was fine, probably not going to stick with me but was an easy travel read.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
"I'm here to remember - all that I have been and all that I will never be again."
[b:When All Is Said|39863464|When All Is Said|Anne Griffin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1542078980s/39863464.jpg|61659678] tells the life story of Maurice Hannigan. Now an elderly man, he sits alone in the bar of the Rainford House Hotel. Over the course of one evening, he raises toasts to five different people as he recounts the story of his life up until that moment. Like all lives, Maurice's has moments of pure happiness, moments of darkness and misery, mistakes made and things left unsaid. I think perhaps the quiet strength of this book - and the saddest thing about it - comes from knowing deep down that there's really only one way it can end.
Past tense, decade-spanning family stories are totally my thing. This one was no exception. I got a very strong John Boyne [b:The Heart's Invisible Furies|33253215|The Heart's Invisible Furies|John Boyne|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1490803456s/33253215.jpg|51438471] vibe reading this, and it came as no surprise when Griffin thanked him in the acknowledgements at the end. There's also a touch of [b:A Man Called Ove|18774964|A Man Called Ove|Fredrik Backman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1405259930s/18774964.jpg|21619954] in here, too.
Griffin takes us from the old-fashioned Ireland of the past to the present. We revisit Maurice's childhood and see how he struggled at school because of his dyslexia, and, of course, had no one to give him guidance on it. In those times, his only option was to turn to work on the farm, which resulted in him working under an abusive employer. Later, we see him fall in love and marry, and have kids, but all this is told through the five toasts; all relating back to the one person at the centre of that chapter.
Tony never stopped telling me I was full of greatness. People didn’t really do that back then, encourage and support. You were threatened into being who you were supposed to be.
It's a very effective kind of storytelling. The old man's view, combined with the past tense, makes for a very nostalgic tale, tinged with bittersweetness from start to finish. Many sad things happen but for me it was saved from being too maudlin by Maurice's fire, love, and grumpy sense of humour. It is amusing to hear this old-fashioned guy recount a visit to a fertility doctor and bemoan the discussions of "'Rhythm' fecking this and 'cycle' fecking that".
Another strength of the story, I feel, comes from the exploration of how the same thing can look quite different in hindsight, not just for Maurice, but for humanity as a whole. In Maurice's case, minor acts of revenge turned out bigger than he'd ever anticipated, and he also saw his wife's actions in a new light as he aged. For humanity, someone who was written off as "stupid" is now recognized as having a learning disorder that can be helped; mental illness, too, is now better understood.
There was a love but of the Irish kind, reserved and embarrassed by its own humanity.
A beautiful, sad, funny book, made all the more interesting because many of the characters, especially Maurice, are difficult, or selfish, or grumpy, but we still come to love them. It broke my heart.
Warnings for grief, abuse and
Spoiler
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This was extremely painful to read. The book had me anxiously awaiting the end, and not in a good way. So dull and drawn out. What a relief to be done with it.
Don't get me started on the story about the coin, either. O.m.g.
Don't get me started on the story about the coin, either. O.m.g.
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes