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A review by gj377
Night Boat to Tangier by Kevin Barry
2.0
This book's cover jacket describes it as melancholic and witty... Well, the melancholy I get. The wit, perhaps lacking?
Night Boat to Tangier stages two men waiting in the ferry port at Algeciras, waiting for the daughter of one of the men to appear, in a very Waiting for Godot-esque fashion. As they wait, the narrative dips back into the past, detailing stories about the men, and how they came to be in this place.
My problems were two-fold. One, this book has no dialogue punctuation . So, while this lends an almost ethereal quality to the book (you are maybe not always sure if someone is speaking, or merely reminiscing), I firmly believe that speech marks were created for a reason. More damningly, none of the characters are likeable. The two old men are the worst of it, but they paint none of the supporting characters in a particularly flattering light either. So I just didn't really care...
Some turns of phrase were very poetic, but not enough to keep me engaged. Have a read if you care about the ramblings of two drug-addled old men.
Night Boat to Tangier stages two men waiting in the ferry port at Algeciras, waiting for the daughter of one of the men to appear, in a very Waiting for Godot-esque fashion. As they wait, the narrative dips back into the past, detailing stories about the men, and how they came to be in this place.
My problems were two-fold. One, this book has no dialogue punctuation . So, while this lends an almost ethereal quality to the book (you are maybe not always sure if someone is speaking, or merely reminiscing), I firmly believe that speech marks were created for a reason. More damningly, none of the characters are likeable. The two old men are the worst of it, but they paint none of the supporting characters in a particularly flattering light either. So I just didn't really care...
Some turns of phrase were very poetic, but not enough to keep me engaged. Have a read if you care about the ramblings of two drug-addled old men.