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niallgoulding1 's review for:
This Is Happiness
by Niall Williams
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a novel for a very particular mood.
Takes a very patient approach to reveal its characters and their nature. And that is slowed further by a sentence structure that follows the speech patterns of older, rural Ireland. The author is in no rush to progress his story but that seems to be the point. This is a story told by an older, wiser man who is deliberately trying to slow down the racing and urgent instincts of his youth (and the modern world) by retrospection.
Placing the story at such a mundane but era-defining event as the introduction of electricity to a small rural village presents some really interesting ideas. It's not something that gets talked about but electrification was a seismic event. The author makes some beautiful observations in terms of how locals lives that were largely unchanged for centuries, overnight are rendered almost unrecognisable.
I found it a comforting, nostalgic read with enough thought-provoking observations to raise it above "just" a comfort read. But I can't lie and say there weren't times when I was flicking ahead to see how many more pages before the chapter/book ended. This finished strong but much of it is very slow paced.
Takes a very patient approach to reveal its characters and their nature. And that is slowed further by a sentence structure that follows the speech patterns of older, rural Ireland. The author is in no rush to progress his story but that seems to be the point. This is a story told by an older, wiser man who is deliberately trying to slow down the racing and urgent instincts of his youth (and the modern world) by retrospection.
Placing the story at such a mundane but era-defining event as the introduction of electricity to a small rural village presents some really interesting ideas. It's not something that gets talked about but electrification was a seismic event. The author makes some beautiful observations in terms of how locals lives that were largely unchanged for centuries, overnight are rendered almost unrecognisable.
I found it a comforting, nostalgic read with enough thought-provoking observations to raise it above "just" a comfort read. But I can't lie and say there weren't times when I was flicking ahead to see how many more pages before the chapter/book ended. This finished strong but much of it is very slow paced.