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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Some of the best character descriptions and setting details ever.
Closer to 4.5. Some stories are stronger than others, but the strong ones go hard. Though each takes place in a small Irish village, there is universality in the reccesional working class milieu these characters occupy. Coming from a similarly rural and isolated place, I feel like I’ve known them or maybe been them before (besides the murdering ones, of course).
“My town is nowhere you have been, but you know its ilk. A roundabout off a national road, an industrial estate, a five-screen Cineplex, a century of pubs packed inside the square mile of the town's limits. The Atlantic is near; the gnarled jawbone of the coastline with its gull-infested promontories is near. Summer evenings, and in the manure-scented pastures of the satellite parishes the Zen bovines lift their heads to contemplate the V8 howls of the boy racers tearing through the back lanes.”
“My town is nowhere you have been, but you know its ilk. A roundabout off a national road, an industrial estate, a five-screen Cineplex, a century of pubs packed inside the square mile of the town's limits. The Atlantic is near; the gnarled jawbone of the coastline with its gull-infested promontories is near. Summer evenings, and in the manure-scented pastures of the satellite parishes the Zen bovines lift their heads to contemplate the V8 howls of the boy racers tearing through the back lanes.”
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A delicious use of the English language. Not a word in excess.
One of the most exciting, original Irish writers in the world. A stunning debut.
i read this for a class in October and decided to re-read it for my exam in March as I could not remember a single thing about it apart from the fact that I thoroughly disliked it.
The first time I read it I didn't really know why I disliked it so much, but after my re-read I think I can somewhat formulate my thoughts / critique.
Basically, this book is super masculine. All stories center around men (so far no problem) and all of them are frustrated and most of them are kind of stuck in their lives in small rural towns with no way out (still no problem so far). However, most choose pretty unhealthy ways of coping with their feelings. There is a lot of violence, alcohol and questionable views towards women, which go from entitlement to crude jokes to sexual assault. For example:
There are more examples of this kind of behaviour which I won't point out for spoiler reasons. For equity reasons I'll also point out that in one story a guy gets sexually abused by girls.
All in all, I have to say I don't understand why this short story collection has such a good rating. The topics the book proposes, young men being stuck in rural Ireland and being frustrated about that, being young dads, having fincancial trouble, losing loved ones, all in all could be really interesting if they had been handled better.
The first time I read it I didn't really know why I disliked it so much, but after my re-read I think I can somewhat formulate my thoughts / critique.
Basically, this book is super masculine. All stories center around men (so far no problem) and all of them are frustrated and most of them are kind of stuck in their lives in small rural towns with no way out (still no problem so far). However, most choose pretty unhealthy ways of coping with their feelings. There is a lot of violence, alcohol and questionable views towards women, which go from entitlement to crude jokes to sexual assault. For example:
She smiled at him, flicked the brows in a way Arm figured for consent. Arm smiled and leaned in. Got a taste of the lips before she drew back and her hand was up on his throat. 'What the fuck,' she mouthed at him over the music. Arm shrugged [...]"
There are more examples of this kind of behaviour which I won't point out for spoiler reasons. For equity reasons I'll also point out that in one story a guy gets sexually abused by girls.
All in all, I have to say I don't understand why this short story collection has such a good rating. The topics the book proposes, young men being stuck in rural Ireland and being frustrated about that, being young dads, having fincancial trouble, losing loved ones, all in all could be really interesting if they had been handled better.
everyone in the reviews seems to have loved it but i literally didn't enjoy a single story lol
Colin Barrett knows how to build characters up only to topple them within a few paragraphs. These short stories are slices of Irish life, not necessarily common but certainly not privileged. A little dark, a little funny, but definitely engaging through every page.