Eric Beckman reviewed City of Bohane by Kevin Barry
Review of 'City of Bohane' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
This book is as inventive and amusing as it is profane, and it is very profane. A great read driven by a creative and playful use of language.
277 pages
English language
Published July 15, 2011 by Jonathan Cape.
Forty years in the future. The once-great city of Bohane on the west coast of Ireland is on its knees, infested by vice and split along tribal lines. There are the posh parts of town, but it is in the slums and backstreets of Smoketown, the tower blocks of the Northside Rises and the eerie bogs of Big Nothin' that the city really lives.
For years, the city has been in the cool grip of Logan Hartnett, the dapper godfather of the Hartnett Fancy gang. But there's trouble in the air. They say his old nemesis is back in town; his trusted henchmen are getting ambitious; and his missus wants him to give it all up and go straight... And then there's his mother.
This book is as inventive and amusing as it is profane, and it is very profane. A great read driven by a creative and playful use of language.
Ulysses meets Clockwork Orange. Quite brilliant. In particular there is a scene where the newspaper editor meets the Gant and a child runner returns from Bohane with news of a gang feud that is hysterical and, at least for me, very reminiscent of Joyce. Not much to say, this book has been widely reviewed.