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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
Rating: 3.5/5.0
This is my first read of one of the nominees in the Man Booker 2018 longlist. The book is short in length and it is basically structured into four parts. The first three parts are three stories of three men who suffer the loss of someone in their life. The fourth part is how the three stories connect together.
The first story which was the more engaging for me was about Farouk and his family who are in Syria and try to survive by escaping to a European country. The second story is about Lampy who wants a change in his redundant life especially after he suffered the loss of his girlfriend Chloe who left him and broke his heart. The third story is about John who is leaving this world and wants to confess all his sins and bad life choices he made. John never could get over the death of his brother.
The writing of Donal Ryan is interesting, sometimes it was tricky for me though to keep my concentration and remain focused as in the two other stories there was a no particular timeline but the characters kept remembering things from different time frames of their lives. Despite this, I still think the writing was beautiful for a literature and I can see why this made it to the longlist. If the writing can be termed anything I would say it is more lyrical or poetic. The fourth part where the characters intertwined was a bit short for my taste and it made me feel as the book ended abruptly. I would have loved more in that area. I am going with 3.5 out of 5.0.
This is my first read of one of the nominees in the Man Booker 2018 longlist. The book is short in length and it is basically structured into four parts. The first three parts are three stories of three men who suffer the loss of someone in their life. The fourth part is how the three stories connect together.
The first story which was the more engaging for me was about Farouk and his family who are in Syria and try to survive by escaping to a European country. The second story is about Lampy who wants a change in his redundant life especially after he suffered the loss of his girlfriend Chloe who left him and broke his heart. The third story is about John who is leaving this world and wants to confess all his sins and bad life choices he made. John never could get over the death of his brother.
The writing of Donal Ryan is interesting, sometimes it was tricky for me though to keep my concentration and remain focused as in the two other stories there was a no particular timeline but the characters kept remembering things from different time frames of their lives. Despite this, I still think the writing was beautiful for a literature and I can see why this made it to the longlist. If the writing can be termed anything I would say it is more lyrical or poetic. The fourth part where the characters intertwined was a bit short for my taste and it made me feel as the book ended abruptly. I would have loved more in that area. I am going with 3.5 out of 5.0.
This is undoubtedly a lovely and well written book, but I found myself admiring it rather than falling in love with it. If I had read it a month ago (before Booker madness began) I might have liked it more, but now it just isn't making the impression on me that several others on the list have. That said, I would have a beer with Pop any time! Booker longlist 6/13
3.5: I wanted to like this book more, especially considering all the positive reviews I read. The three main stories/sections felt pretty disconnected, and the end section connecting the three characters did not seem plausible to me. My favorite section was the first, about the Syrian refugee; I didn’t care about the other two characters. Some great writing, though, so I’m curious to check other titles by Ryan.
The story is composed of four parts. The first, second, and third parts are short stories of fifty pages about three characters, Farouk, a Syrian refugee, who lost his wife and daughter in their dangerous voyage escaping the country, Lampy who is a hospital driver in a small town in Ireland despairing of his life, and John who is a greedy accountant and a lobbyist. These three stories seemingly don't have any connection. The author elaborately tantalizes readers by not telling their relations until the last ten pages, a great storytelling technique.
His writing style is very impressive and unique. He doesn't use quotation marks at all and make very long sentences often lasting half a page, putting depictions, conversations, and thoughts at the same level. As the long sentences are differently colored with each character's tones like Farouk's despair, Lampy's disillusionment and John's obsession, Readers can't be bored.
The main Characters' short stotries share someone's death and a sense of loss, which draw them to a sea shore of country which has a sad history. (It reminds me of images of remote port towns along Japanese sea, often sung in enka tunes, sad traditional Japanese folk).
Although the author incorporates modern social issues like immigrations, social gaps, aging society, and medical care, this isn't a social criticism nor moral tale. This is a haunting elegy of the lonely men's souls. By a curious turn of fate, finally they become connected in a miraculous way, that was a revelatory moment. We are usually oblivious of how our relationships with others became connected. Every meeting is a miracle, this work tells us.
His writing style is very impressive and unique. He doesn't use quotation marks at all and make very long sentences often lasting half a page, putting depictions, conversations, and thoughts at the same level. As the long sentences are differently colored with each character's tones like Farouk's despair, Lampy's disillusionment and John's obsession, Readers can't be bored.
The main Characters' short stotries share someone's death and a sense of loss, which draw them to a sea shore of country which has a sad history. (It reminds me of images of remote port towns along Japanese sea, often sung in enka tunes, sad traditional Japanese folk).
Although the author incorporates modern social issues like immigrations, social gaps, aging society, and medical care, this isn't a social criticism nor moral tale. This is a haunting elegy of the lonely men's souls. By a curious turn of fate, finally they become connected in a miraculous way, that was a revelatory moment. We are usually oblivious of how our relationships with others became connected. Every meeting is a miracle, this work tells us.
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
quite a different style of writing but i really liked it. basically a story from multiple points of view that seem so completely different until the end when they’re all linked together in such a good way. i only actually bought this because it was in a kindle sale but i’m really glad i did.
From the Low and Quiet Sea, bubbles away with these beguiling characters and some compelling story telling. For me, John, the last character and story, is the most compelling and even that on its own could make for an excellent novel in its own right.