A review by linafischer
Prophet Song by Paul Lynch

dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

While the writing of this novel was beautiful and full of imagery and the dense, uninterrupted stream of consciousness served the narrative, the contents of this book were overall underwhelming and didn't add any nuance to the existing canon of dystopian narratives. The question I could not stop asking myself is "Why did Lynch feel the need to publish this?" - the only answer I can come up with so far is that the male audacity combined with utter ignorance made him do it. 
Let's start with the bizarre choice of plot. Ireland is under the reign of an authoritarian regime, mirroring events that either have already happened in world history or are currently happening to very real people. So why is it set in Ireland of all places? Rather than adding originality to a narrative that was otherwise wildly unimaginative, the setting contributed to the overall patronising tone of the novel. It seemed to scream "imagine if something like 1984 happened in real life and people had to flee their homes!",  completely disregarding that (civil) wars, authoritarian rule, police states, and the need to seek refuge are ongoing problems - just not in western Europe. The Orwellian themes that were continuously being spoon-fed to the reader only added to this. 
At times, the description of the suffering feels suffocating and voyeuristic. 
Especially the description of Bailey's corpse after his death seems unnecessarily detailed, his death simply an instrument to increase Eilish's suffering, with no apparent artistic value or purpose attached to it.
 
Further, the protagonist reads as heavily implausible. Once again, the setting worked against the overall strength of the novel rather than in favour of it. Surely, someone at least slightly familiar with Irish history wouldn't be so utterly surprised by political unrest. Even if we're supposed to believe that Eilish is entirely oblivious to that, she references the Stasi at some point, so she cannot be wholly uninformed about world history. Her naïvety in spite of her apparent intelligence seems improbable (and makes her a grating presence throughout the novel). At least I assume she must be at least somewhat intelligent to be a scientist, though the novel fails to pick up on this entirely. The blurb describes her as a "scientist and mother-of-four", yet during the course of the novel, her actions are defined by her role as mother, wife, and daughter. Of course, extreme situations will shift priorities. But why write her as a scientist if that is of no relevance to either plot or character development? Surely, the need for books where women are reduced to their relationships with other people is extinct in 2023. 
I was hoping for the novel to somehow redeem itself, yet the ending only manifested the privilege oozing off the pages.
The last sentence, which marks a significant moment in the family's flight out of Ireland, reads "[...] she says, to the sea, we must go to the sea, the sea is life". This feels like a slap in the face considering all the lives lost in the Mediterranean. Even if we assume that Lynch is trying to acknowledge that issue, it remains questionable where he sees the need for this dire ending, this reference to the traumatic, ongoing loss of lives.
 
 

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