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jackieeh's review against another edition
4.0
It is so hard to give stars to sort stories. The stories in Mothers & Sons fluctuate between two and a half and five stars, so this gets four, with no apologies for the lopsided-ness of the average.
At his best, Tóibín's stories are very, very good. My favorites were "Famous Blue Raincoat," "A Priest in the Family," and the completely fantastic "A Long Winter," which may be my favorite short story ever. (I'll have to review some of the others I've read and loved, though. Great. More to read!)
Others were more underwhelming. "A Journey" was too short to pack much of a punch, and "The Use of Reason," which I had read before in Finbar's Hotel without Tóibín's name attached, still failed to hold my attention.
Still, this is worth a read; just get it out of the library like I did. My approach to Tóibín, who is one of my favorite authors, has been and continues to be: When he is good he is very, very, good and when he is bad he is blah.
At his best, Tóibín's stories are very, very good. My favorites were "Famous Blue Raincoat," "A Priest in the Family," and the completely fantastic "A Long Winter," which may be my favorite short story ever. (I'll have to review some of the others I've read and loved, though. Great. More to read!)
Others were more underwhelming. "A Journey" was too short to pack much of a punch, and "The Use of Reason," which I had read before in Finbar's Hotel without Tóibín's name attached, still failed to hold my attention.
Still, this is worth a read; just get it out of the library like I did. My approach to Tóibín, who is one of my favorite authors, has been and continues to be: When he is good he is very, very, good and when he is bad he is blah.
fiona_doyle's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
siili's review against another edition
4.0
Äitejä ja poikia (2013) on nimensä mukaisesti yhdeksän novellin kokoelma, jossa kaikki novellit pyörivät tavalla tai toisella äidin ja pojan suhteiden välillä, joskus myös useammassa sukupolvessa. Kokoelman novellit sijoittuvat suurimmilta osin Irlantiin, yksi novelli on sijoitettu Espanjaan.
Kaikki kokoelman novellit ovat omalla tavallaan kiinnostavia, erityisen heikkoja yksilöitä ei oikeastaan ole mukana. Muutama keskinkertainen novelli joukossa kyllä on, kuten tällaisissa kokoelmissa melkein aina, mutta ne eivät heikennä kokoelmaa merkittävästi. Omia suosikkejani olivat novellit Famous Blue Raincoat, Kolme ystävää sekä Pitkä talvi. Kokonaisuutena erittäin tasokas novellikokoelma, jossa tarinat vaihtelevat tarpeeksi ja ovat myös yllättäviä, vaikka teema on kaikissa pohjimmiltaan sama. Annan tälle 4 tähteä.
Kaikki kokoelman novellit ovat omalla tavallaan kiinnostavia, erityisen heikkoja yksilöitä ei oikeastaan ole mukana. Muutama keskinkertainen novelli joukossa kyllä on, kuten tällaisissa kokoelmissa melkein aina, mutta ne eivät heikennä kokoelmaa merkittävästi. Omia suosikkejani olivat novellit Famous Blue Raincoat, Kolme ystävää sekä Pitkä talvi. Kokonaisuutena erittäin tasokas novellikokoelma, jossa tarinat vaihtelevat tarpeeksi ja ovat myös yllättäviä, vaikka teema on kaikissa pohjimmiltaan sama. Annan tälle 4 tähteä.
tonyosso's review against another edition
Slow start for me — found the first few stories limp. Suspected that maybe I’m more responsive to his style in novel form — loved Brooklyn. Then, starting with A Priest in the Family, something clicked and I was back in sync with CT. The last 5 stories intrigued and moved me.
joannakatz4's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
saxamaholly's review against another edition
5.0
Great collection of short stories. His writing style is very sparse, but still, charged with emotion. Loved this book!
Looking forward to reading some of his novels on my to-read list.
Looking forward to reading some of his novels on my to-read list.
psalmcat's review against another edition
4.0
Very weird book of short stories about the relationship between mothers and sons. I hope to God mine is never as messed up as some of these are. The majority of the stories are Irish, but there is one novella which takes place in rural Spain around the time of the Civil War.
This is not a happy book. Not at all. There are no answers, no pretty endings (and damn few pretty scenes of any kind), just a lot of bleakness. I can't get the scene of several art masterpieces going up in smoke because it's too much of a hassle to fence them. Aaarghh!
The novella is good. Sad, bleak, hopeless in parts, but good. There's a lot of subterranean symbolic stuff going on there, and it actually ends on a note of desolate hopefulness.
This is not a happy book. Not at all. There are no answers, no pretty endings (and damn few pretty scenes of any kind), just a lot of bleakness. I can't get the scene of several art masterpieces going up in smoke because it's too much of a hassle to fence them. Aaarghh!
The novella is good. Sad, bleak, hopeless in parts, but good. There's a lot of subterranean symbolic stuff going on there, and it actually ends on a note of desolate hopefulness.
jim_b's review
4.0
On the whole, this collection is very good, made up of some stories that are merely decent, some that are very good, and then there's 'A Long Winter', which is one of the finest pieces of prose I've read in a long time.