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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
Through much of my reading of this, especially as the story progresses and gets darker, the refrain of Fun Boy Three's "The Lunatics (Have Taken Over the Asylum)" ran through my head. In the novel, though, the lunatics haven't taken over the 'asylum,' 'they' have always run it, the craziness of the main so-called caretaker becoming more and more apparent as the "troubles' increase. The ending is inevitable.
This is sharp satire, an overarching analogy within a reality. It's a bit long-winded and a bit repetitive at times, but I never wanted to stop reading it: the prose is that good and the imagery is always vivid, almost to excess. It's not as tight as [b:The Siege of Krishnapur|256280|The Siege of Krishnapur (Empire Trilogy, #2)|J.G. Farrell|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1389053785s/256280.jpg|1046167], which I found perfect.
This is sharp satire, an overarching analogy within a reality. It's a bit long-winded and a bit repetitive at times, but I never wanted to stop reading it: the prose is that good and the imagery is always vivid, almost to excess. It's not as tight as [b:The Siege of Krishnapur|256280|The Siege of Krishnapur (Empire Trilogy, #2)|J.G. Farrell|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1389053785s/256280.jpg|1046167], which I found perfect.
A humorous satire on the final years of British rule in Ireland. The Nationalist cause doesn't escape the author's sharp pen either.
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Troubles is a tale of crumbling British colonial rule in Ireland told through the lens of an eccentric cast of The Quality living in a dilapidated hotel: The Majestic.
The pacing is quite literally glacial, twisting, and plodding, much like taking a stroll through the rotten corridors of the great building. It's a comedy, but like all comedies it's juxtapose with striking terror, and other very heavy themes. All of which the cast attempts to gloss over with a veneer of 'civilization' in a land that their bigotry and fear deems to be more and more barbaric.
Not a book for everyone, and honestly parts of it were pretty hard work because of the pacing, but I'm very glad that I completed it.
The pacing is quite literally glacial, twisting, and plodding, much like taking a stroll through the rotten corridors of the great building. It's a comedy, but like all comedies it's juxtapose with striking terror, and other very heavy themes. All of which the cast attempts to gloss over with a veneer of 'civilization' in a land that their bigotry and fear deems to be more and more barbaric.
Not a book for everyone, and honestly parts of it were pretty hard work because of the pacing, but I'm very glad that I completed it.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
What a good book. I read Siege of Krishnapur many years ago, and slowly understood (1/3 of the way into Troubles) how Troubles is the first of the trilogy. But it seemed like a Fawlty Towers kind of story for much of it, until the metaphors and the politics all lined up. Farrell did a fine job on this. Subtle yet fierce.
Из читанного похожий вспоминается только "Горменгаст" Мервина Пика. А так сравнения скорее визуальные: как если бы "Госфорд парк"/"Аббатство Даунтон" снимали вместе Феллини, Терри Гильям, Кустурица и, возможно, Герман-старший. В Ирландии, которая вот-вот обретет независимость, приходит в упадок огромный принадлежащий немного чокнутому протестанту отель. Множество готических и эксцентрических сцен, сделанных, безусловно, чрезвычайно старательно, в памяти остаются, вероятно, надолго, но анемичность, "предумышленность" и бесцельность затянутого повествования их, увы, перевешивает. Местами практически гениально, но в сумме слишком утомительно.