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A review by kimbofo
Notes from a Coma by Mike McCormack
3.0
Mike McCormack's Notes From a Coma was first published in the UK by Jonathan Cape in 2005.
This newly reprinted edition by American publisher Soho Press has a cover adorned in lavish praise: "The greatest Irish novel of the decade" (Irish Times); "The next step in Irish fiction...visionary" (author David Means); and "The finest book yet from one of Ireland's most singular contemporary writers" (author Matt Bell).
Any wonder I was itching to read it?
At its simplest level Notes From a Coma is the tale of JJ O'Malley, a Romanian orphan who is adopted by an Irish bachelor and raised in the west of Ireland.
JJ's childhood is a happy one, but his life goes off the rails as a young adult when his best friend — and the closest thing he ever has to a brother — dies. Plagued by guilt and grief, JJ decides to do something radical and volunteers for a Government experiment in which prisoners are put into a deep coma and kept on a prison ship.
So, while this is a charming, easy-to-read tale about one boy's life in small-town Ireland, it also has a strange science fiction element to it.
To read the rest of my review, please visit my blog.
This newly reprinted edition by American publisher Soho Press has a cover adorned in lavish praise: "The greatest Irish novel of the decade" (Irish Times); "The next step in Irish fiction...visionary" (author David Means); and "The finest book yet from one of Ireland's most singular contemporary writers" (author Matt Bell).
Any wonder I was itching to read it?
At its simplest level Notes From a Coma is the tale of JJ O'Malley, a Romanian orphan who is adopted by an Irish bachelor and raised in the west of Ireland.
JJ's childhood is a happy one, but his life goes off the rails as a young adult when his best friend — and the closest thing he ever has to a brother — dies. Plagued by guilt and grief, JJ decides to do something radical and volunteers for a Government experiment in which prisoners are put into a deep coma and kept on a prison ship.
So, while this is a charming, easy-to-read tale about one boy's life in small-town Ireland, it also has a strange science fiction element to it.
To read the rest of my review, please visit my blog.