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A review by franalibi
Milkman by Anna Burns
3.0
I first jotted these thoughts down as I started “Milkman”:
To be unnamed is to show that these chain of events can happen to anyone. it explores how society views us, not just as an individual but as part of something greater and dangerous. using the name “milkman” turns something honest and friendly (back in the day you’d greet them and maybe make small talk) into something more sinister. these people can easily blend in or have influence on changing the truth to suit their own needs.
I feel like what I wrote is partly true to the rest of the story. It’s a VERY political driven novel with very few pieces of dialogue. If you love lengthy paragraphs of description with rare long words, then you’ll like this.
Set it Belfast (though not explicitly said, as we get phrases like ‘over the border’ and ‘over the water’), it follows a girl’s experience of having a renouncer stalking her in a way that creates gossip called the milkman. It explores how society is quick to judge a situation or an individual by only having a glimpse of something - and then create a whole other false story out of it. They label you (groupies, beyond the pale, etc.) and stripping the names of characters out of this story creates the idea of the fact you are not as independent as you feel you should be. You’re owned by the place you live in, the government, society in general - and you’re just a cog in a machine.
I gave this one 3 stars, as I really liked the ideas and concept but felt Burns waffled on too much. Like an essay you need to reach a word count for, so you talk a long time about one thing in order to get there....
To be unnamed is to show that these chain of events can happen to anyone. it explores how society views us, not just as an individual but as part of something greater and dangerous. using the name “milkman” turns something honest and friendly (back in the day you’d greet them and maybe make small talk) into something more sinister. these people can easily blend in or have influence on changing the truth to suit their own needs.
I feel like what I wrote is partly true to the rest of the story. It’s a VERY political driven novel with very few pieces of dialogue. If you love lengthy paragraphs of description with rare long words, then you’ll like this.
Set it Belfast (though not explicitly said, as we get phrases like ‘over the border’ and ‘over the water’), it follows a girl’s experience of having a renouncer stalking her in a way that creates gossip called the milkman. It explores how society is quick to judge a situation or an individual by only having a glimpse of something - and then create a whole other false story out of it. They label you (groupies, beyond the pale, etc.) and stripping the names of characters out of this story creates the idea of the fact you are not as independent as you feel you should be. You’re owned by the place you live in, the government, society in general - and you’re just a cog in a machine.
I gave this one 3 stars, as I really liked the ideas and concept but felt Burns waffled on too much. Like an essay you need to reach a word count for, so you talk a long time about one thing in order to get there....