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domi_francois's review against another edition
Quite boring, and while I guess Tobin was trying to make Katherine sympathetic, the way the story was going, she was coming off as just a selfish, hedonistic woman who left her husband and child and home country to pursue her own selfish interests. Couldn’t continue because she was so unlikeable.
meepsharrison's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
pauline_b's review
3.0
This very much felt like a debut novel, but the melancholic tone, the nature description and the themes such as immigration, family and where one's home is, feels typically Tóibín. I'm happy I finally read his first fiction work.
bettyjward's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
maevejreilly's review
2.0
Loved the references to Northern Spain, but really had a hard time connecting with any of the characters. The end, when the main character returns to Ireland, seemed a bit more convincing.
essjay1's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book. Great writing, an interesting and atypical storyline. A good holiday read.
joshmcnally's review against another edition
sad
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
2.0
spinstah's review against another edition
2.0
I didn't like this as much as Brooklyn, so if you are interested in reading some of TOibin's work, I wouldn't recommend starting with this one. The South follows a young woman who abandons her family in Ireland and takes up with a man in Barcelona. We watch as she essentially gets herself tangled up in a very similarly dissatisfying life as the one that she left. Only at the very end of the book (as she is much older) does she finally seem to find herself and feel some contentment.
I must confess that even though I have marked this as read, I haven't quite managed to finish it, though I am not far off the mark!
I must confess that even though I have marked this as read, I haven't quite managed to finish it, though I am not far off the mark!
ssofia_reads's review against another edition
3.0
I generally enjoy Colm Tóibín's easy prose that has a directness to it while still taking advantage of the beauty of the English language. His books have the feel of a modern classic about them and The South is no exception. However, overall, The South fell short of my expectations and for anyone wanting to try Tóibín for the first time, I strongly recommend you choose another one of his novels.
The book follows Katherine Proctor, an Irishwoman who leaves her husband and son to start a new life as an artist in Spain in the 1950s. Many events and aspects of characters are heavily related to the political climate and historical events in Spain and Ireland, but Tóibín doesn't particularly elaborate on them. If the reader doesn't have prior knowledge of them, it makes relating to the characters and understanding their motives a little challenging.
The book feels rather disjointed and the narrative isn't easy to follow. The book jumps back and forth in time, some of the chapters are written in letter or diary format, some are in third person, the chapter titles do not seem to follow a clear pattern. Initially I thought that perhaps each chapter is meant to represent a work of art - each is a separate snapshot of life but at the same time there is a level of connection between them. However, at no point did I feel this was confirmed or denied.
Tóibín himself states in the Afterword: If there is a jaggedness and intensity about the tone and structure of the novel, it comes from the fact that much of it was written in snatched time. Perhaps what I experienced was just this. I highly recommend reading through the Afterword if you have one of the newer editions of the book. It explains the background of the book and how it came to be in great detail and cleared a little bit of the confusion that I had been left with while reading.
The book follows Katherine Proctor, an Irishwoman who leaves her husband and son to start a new life as an artist in Spain in the 1950s. Many events and aspects of characters are heavily related to the political climate and historical events in Spain and Ireland, but Tóibín doesn't particularly elaborate on them. If the reader doesn't have prior knowledge of them, it makes relating to the characters and understanding their motives a little challenging.
The book feels rather disjointed and the narrative isn't easy to follow. The book jumps back and forth in time, some of the chapters are written in letter or diary format, some are in third person, the chapter titles do not seem to follow a clear pattern. Initially I thought that perhaps each chapter is meant to represent a work of art - each is a separate snapshot of life but at the same time there is a level of connection between them. However, at no point did I feel this was confirmed or denied.
Tóibín himself states in the Afterword: If there is a jaggedness and intensity about the tone and structure of the novel, it comes from the fact that much of it was written in snatched time. Perhaps what I experienced was just this. I highly recommend reading through the Afterword if you have one of the newer editions of the book. It explains the background of the book and how it came to be in great detail and cleared a little bit of the confusion that I had been left with while reading.