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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Another book by Donal Ryan that I need a second reading to fully appreciate.
really quite lovely. a series of vignettes tracing the lives of three different men as they navigate what it means to live in an increasingly hostile, changing world, following these people as they face conflicts, both internal and external. by chronicling three very distinct characters in wildly separate stages and experiences of life and still connecting them, donal ryan achieves great beauty and fluidity. i could hardly ask more from a book.
The strength of this book is in the way it's written and the way it gets into the core of people. Even when the characters are unlikable, you can understand the motives of them and the formation of them and you want to know more. The way the stories pull together is fantastic and well worth it and gives the story a cyclical feel.
There are many layers here. It's about being a man in worlds of men, it's about living through challenges and how we face or escape them. But my own reading is this is a book about truth and what that means.
Farouk has his truth doubted in the judgement by others. Lampy cannot bring himself to face the truth. John created other truths as suited his purposes. Each of these is brought! to settle accounts with his truth.
That reading could well be my own obsessive showing through: media, politics and history and their manufacture. But the book can be read in so many ways.
Farouk has his truth doubted in the judgement by others. Lampy cannot bring himself to face the truth. John created other truths as suited his purposes. Each of these is brought! to settle accounts with his truth.
That reading could well be my own obsessive showing through: media, politics and history and their manufacture. But the book can be read in so many ways.
dark
funny
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Trafficking, Grief, Murder, War
The writing is beautiful and the characters are richly drawn, but ooooooof the hits just kept coming. I wasn't sure where it was all going, but the end got me so good. Whew.
The structure of this one is not the norm. I would barely characterize it as a novel. The first three parts are truly much more like short stories than any other fictional form. The last part brings the first three parts together in an interesting way, but still didn’t leave me feeling like I read a novel. All that being said, I LOVE short stories, and the writing is so well done. Ryan brings these characters to life, and honestly I could have read entire novels about each one. For me, this book is the first one that I feel is worthy of the short list. I felt like I was reading about real people, and as if my friend was telling me about these people over a cup of coffee. The way Ryan wrote about them, I was riveted.
challenging
dark
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes