A review by alisonjfields
Bohane, sombre cité (ROMANS, NOUVELL) by Kevin Barry

5.0

I adored this book. That should not necessarily read as a recommendation to you. If the idea of a gorgeously ugly idyll about dystopian Irish gangsters delivered in a kind of foul and glorious patois (often more in line with poetry than prose) doesn't scare you off completely, City of Bohane will probably be right up your (narrow, dreamy bloody, folkloric, history-drenched) alley. I am pretty sure I've never read anything quite like this before, so if you're looking for comparisons . . .(it's pretty far from standard issue dystopian fiction and though quite literary, would probably rankle the Booker Prize crowd) fuck, I dunno.

The path is neither straight nor particularly concerned with its end path, but lord, what a ride.

Still, you've been warned. Proceed with caution.