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3.48 AVERAGE
3.48 AVERAGE
Another Quirke and Hackett investigation and at this stage the charm is wearing off.
How many more women can possibly fall into Quirke’s hapless arms?
How many more descriptions of someone smoking or staring into the bottom of a whiskey glass can I take?
How many repetitions of scenes in pubs, restaurants, dreary flats, are possible without the author quoting himself unconsciously? Already I’ve caught Black repeating a description and then passing it off as a character’s ‘recollection’ of an earlier scene.
Not to mention the impossible amount of lamp shades that look like dried human skin.
But Black/Banville does a great line in tongue in cheek. Have a look at the characters’ names from the various books:
Quirke speaks for itself but Hackett?
Well, I daresay, if a twenty foot hedge lay between the good inspector and the truth, he would hack it to bits.
April isn’t the cruellest month for nothing.
Dick (!) Jewell just happens to be Jewish?
Christine Falls, and pays the price.
Rose smells sweet but boy, has she got thorns.
Malachy, a long awkward-sounding fellow with just a spot of badness?
Delia, a double dealer?
Jimmy Minor is, well, a minor character.
Andy is randy.
Phoebe? - in Greek mythology she was raped by Castor or Pollux and, yes, the poor girl does indeed get raped - by randy Andy...
But Sarah is just Sarah - isn't that perfectly fitting?
How many more women can possibly fall into Quirke’s hapless arms?
How many more descriptions of someone smoking or staring into the bottom of a whiskey glass can I take?
How many repetitions of scenes in pubs, restaurants, dreary flats, are possible without the author quoting himself unconsciously? Already I’ve caught Black repeating a description and then passing it off as a character’s ‘recollection’ of an earlier scene.
Not to mention the impossible amount of lamp shades that look like dried human skin.
But Black/Banville does a great line in tongue in cheek. Have a look at the characters’ names from the various books:
Quirke speaks for itself but Hackett?
Well, I daresay, if a twenty foot hedge lay between the good inspector and the truth, he would hack it to bits.
April isn’t the cruellest month for nothing.
Dick (!) Jewell just happens to be Jewish?
Christine Falls, and pays the price.
Rose smells sweet but boy, has she got thorns.
Malachy, a long awkward-sounding fellow with just a spot of badness?
Delia, a double dealer?
Jimmy Minor is, well, a minor character.
Andy is randy.
Phoebe? - in Greek mythology she was raped by Castor or Pollux and, yes, the poor girl does indeed get raped - by randy Andy...
But Sarah is just Sarah - isn't that perfectly fitting?
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
BORING. My motto this year is reading is for fun so im no longer forcing myself to finish books i am not enjoying. 😌
Just okay. The Quirke series has went to the well one too many times with another plot based around birth and abortions in Dublin. Plus Quirke wasn't even situated to be exploring anything due to his position in this book. A little tired overall.
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
An investigator with a drinking problem is such a cliché, but otherwise I find this series set in 1950s Dublin to be well written and interesting. See this link for my complete review: https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2024/02/22/review-2318-elegy-for-april/
Content Warnings
Minor: Alcoholism, Incest, Abortion
Benjamin Black's (AKA John Banville) third book in the Quirke series finds Quirke just out of rehab for alcoholism. His daughter Pheobe comes to him concerned that she has not seen or heard from her friend April, whom she is fairly close to and speaks to daily. The story unfolds slowly and we learn more about Quirke, Pheobe and her friends. The suspense builds as Quirke and Hackett confront April's family, who don't seem to care what has happened to her, and that they have disowned for her wild lifestyle. Black describes 1950's Dublin as a city of beauty and atmosphere, but also prejudice, class and religious divides and conservative social mores. You will want to keep reading late into the night to find out how this one ends.
Do you know what was more interesting than this book? Everything. I stopped reading this book part way through to read another book. Also, I had to tear myself away from the internet many times to force myself to read this book because more interesting things include: FB, pinterest, blogs, gifs, online shopping, online TV, buzzfeed, the list goes on.
There was way too much attempt at character development in this book. Which would have been okay if it wasn’t all completely pointless. As a mystery book this was awful. As a novel it was okay. It’s like the author couldn’t decide what he was trying to write though and seeing as how I was hoping for a mystery this did not meet my standards. I'm being harsh but I'm just annoyed at how much time I spent reading this blah of a book.
There was way too much attempt at character development in this book. Which would have been okay if it wasn’t all completely pointless. As a mystery book this was awful. As a novel it was okay. It’s like the author couldn’t decide what he was trying to write though and seeing as how I was hoping for a mystery this did not meet my standards. I'm being harsh but I'm just annoyed at how much time I spent reading this blah of a book.
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
lots of Irish insider character stuff; a bit too much for me.