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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
En pueblos como Glanbeigh hay dos opciones: te quedas o te vas. Los relatos de Colin Barrett son sobre los primeros, las personas que se quedan mientras los demás viajan para estudiar en la universidad o buscar un futuro más prometedor.
Barrett nos mete de lleno en el ambiente claustrofóbico de una Irlanda rural posterior al derrumbe económico del Celtic Tiger. Los protagonistas son hombres que deambulan sin un propósito, encerrados en situaciones que no parecen haber elegido del todo, emborrachándose en bares, trabajando para criminales de poca monta, usando la violencia para ganarse la vida o resignados a lo que encuentran.
Entre la crudeza del paisaje y lo burdo de los personajes, un tono que se mantiene a lo largo del libro, irrumpen destellos fugaces de belleza, como si por las grietas se inmiscuyeran pequeños instantes de poesía, por ejemplo en el final de The Moon o la presencia de los caballos en Calm with Horses. Hay algo en esos campos irlandeses desolados que hace que, a pesar de la miseria, por momentos se vuelvan imponentes.
No sé si podría señalar un relato favorito, me parece que todos están al mismo nivel y se complementan, armando una colección solida y pareja. Está bueno leerlos como un todo.
Súper recomendable para lectores aficionados de la literatura irlandesa, de los relatos que se enfocan más en los personajes que en la trama y que abordan temáticas vinculadas a las clases más bajas.
Barrett nos mete de lleno en el ambiente claustrofóbico de una Irlanda rural posterior al derrumbe económico del Celtic Tiger. Los protagonistas son hombres que deambulan sin un propósito, encerrados en situaciones que no parecen haber elegido del todo, emborrachándose en bares, trabajando para criminales de poca monta, usando la violencia para ganarse la vida o resignados a lo que encuentran.
Entre la crudeza del paisaje y lo burdo de los personajes, un tono que se mantiene a lo largo del libro, irrumpen destellos fugaces de belleza, como si por las grietas se inmiscuyeran pequeños instantes de poesía, por ejemplo en el final de The Moon o la presencia de los caballos en Calm with Horses. Hay algo en esos campos irlandeses desolados que hace que, a pesar de la miseria, por momentos se vuelvan imponentes.
No sé si podría señalar un relato favorito, me parece que todos están al mismo nivel y se complementan, armando una colección solida y pareja. Está bueno leerlos como un todo.
Súper recomendable para lectores aficionados de la literatura irlandesa, de los relatos que se enfocan más en los personajes que en la trama y que abordan temáticas vinculadas a las clases más bajas.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
This is a cracking collection of stories. It took me longer to read than I anticipated - I read some of the stories months ago and put the book aside. I wasn't comfortable in the world Barrett creates, or with his characters (mostly young) leading dead-end lives in a fictional Irish town. Life's crap, violence frequent, ugliness endemic; these people have no prospects and for the most part no escape. But the writing - the writing is absolutely beautiful. Such finely crafted sentences, such careful attention to detail, imagery that staggers you. I ended up reading several of the stories twice and will undoubtedly go back to them.The story I loved most was probably technically a novella - Calm with Horses - about an ex-boxer and hired thug called Arm. Like Cormac McCarthy, Barrett can write viscerally about brutality and murder one moment, and yet there is tenderness and raw beauty a moment later.
Read this at the request of two friends. Would’ve been a quick read if I hadn’t gotten snagged on the novella. I was interested in the way these stories communicate with each other, how they all work to create a visceral landscape, and the attention to detail on the sentence level was surely impressive. But altogether I felt very -meh- about this collection, particularly because of the violence, the hyper-masculine tone, and the fact that girls are always the ones being taken advantage of, or locked in bathrooms while the men take care of their business. I’m sure there’s a level of commentary under the surface here about this kind of society, which feels very traditional and old-fashioned, but these simply aren’t my favorite type of stories to read. Walking away from this collection, I can really only remember the first story, “The Clancy Kid,” and the one about Bat, “Stand Your Skin.”
Stories wild, rich, and keenly observed (maybe a mite too keenly, but that's open for debate). Gorgeous dialogue and characterization.
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Suicide
This young gent is one to watch. A 5 Under 35 honoree in 2015 and winner of a slew of literary awards in Ireland already, I will look forward to his future works. In this collection, 'Calm With Horses' was outstanding and the others solid.
Hands down the best short stories I’ve read this year.
Raw and vivid middle class Irishness. Brilliant writing.
Raw and vivid middle class Irishness. Brilliant writing.
Colin Barrett has a stunning way with words. Some of these sentences are unbearably beautiful. As such I can absolutely see why this collection comes this highly praised. But, for me personally, the stories were just too bleak in the end and in their bleakness too similar to each other.
The stories focus young men and not so young men who for one reason or the other are unhappy in their lives. There is a sense of hopelessness that infuses these stories, a sense of roads not taken and lives not lived. All stories are impeccably crafted but maybe too similar in tone. Short fiction is often a format that plays with hopelessness and sadness, but even so, this one was too sad for me.
Barrett infuses his stories with a great sense of place in a way that I really appreciated. His depiction of small town Irish life rings true (as true as it can ring for me who has never lived there).
My favourite story was the very last story of the collection: Kindly Forget My Existence was just the perfect way to end this collection. Here two former bandmates meet again at a pub in their hometown, trying to drink their cowardice away and attend the funeral of their ex-girlfriend and ex-wife respectively. The whole story is just pitch perfect and nearly had me up my rating. If you only read one story of this collection, make sure it is this one.
You can find this review and other thoughts on books on my blog.
The stories focus young men and not so young men who for one reason or the other are unhappy in their lives. There is a sense of hopelessness that infuses these stories, a sense of roads not taken and lives not lived. All stories are impeccably crafted but maybe too similar in tone. Short fiction is often a format that plays with hopelessness and sadness, but even so, this one was too sad for me.
Barrett infuses his stories with a great sense of place in a way that I really appreciated. His depiction of small town Irish life rings true (as true as it can ring for me who has never lived there).
My favourite story was the very last story of the collection: Kindly Forget My Existence was just the perfect way to end this collection. Here two former bandmates meet again at a pub in their hometown, trying to drink their cowardice away and attend the funeral of their ex-girlfriend and ex-wife respectively. The whole story is just pitch perfect and nearly had me up my rating. If you only read one story of this collection, make sure it is this one.
You can find this review and other thoughts on books on my blog.