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A review by christar_123
The Green Road by Anne Enright
5.0
It's been a long time since I read a book where the author wrote so convincingly from different viewpoints and narrators' perspectives. When I first started reading, I was a little put off by the second chapter before I realized what what happening with the change of viewpoint (there is an unexplained "we" who narrates ONLY that one chapter, which still feels a little like an unresolved issue. However, I ultimately found it to be effective).
The story is told by the different Madigans and moves through time. We're given lots of details, daily life for a quick view into each person's life, then whisked away to the next person. This makes much of the first half of the book feel like a short story collection,almost by different authors! Seriously, Enright is great at using different narrative voices and it doesn't feel forced! Amazing!
I'm not a huge fan of the "scattered, damaged family epic" - the genre starts feeling similar after awhile (sorry Tolstoy!) but this one kept my interest. I think because of the changes in narrator and the exquisite, strange details: The mosquito nets Emmet needed in Mali, the way he felt betrayed by excesses at an indulgent airport; an overwhelming, scary foreboding at a doctor's office; a younger sibling's confusion awhen older ones are making unexplained changes.
The story is told by the different Madigans and moves through time. We're given lots of details, daily life for a quick view into each person's life, then whisked away to the next person. This makes much of the first half of the book feel like a short story collection,almost by different authors! Seriously, Enright is great at using different narrative voices and it doesn't feel forced! Amazing!
I'm not a huge fan of the "scattered, damaged family epic" - the genre starts feeling similar after awhile (sorry Tolstoy!) but this one kept my interest. I think because of the changes in narrator and the exquisite, strange details: The mosquito nets Emmet needed in Mali, the way he felt betrayed by excesses at an indulgent airport; an overwhelming, scary foreboding at a doctor's office; a younger sibling's confusion awhen older ones are making unexplained changes.