English language
Published Sept. 22, 2018 by Faber & Faber, Limited.
A teenager's stream of consciousness in 70s Northern Ireland. The repetition of thoughts inherent in stream of consciousness along with a teenager's point of view permit considerable humor, or attempts at it, that contrasts with the tragedy of the troubles. On the other hand, reading an entire novel as stream of consciousness may become quite tedious.
boring ,derivative, middlebrow
I really don't enjoy stream of consciousness writing or books where there is nobody to like because everyone is being terrible. Despite the fact that this book is both of those things and was at times a tedious read, I still kind of liked it. Maybe not liked exactly, but I could identify with the narrator despite really disliking her for her terrible decisions. This book really nails the inevitability and powerlessness and resignation of being in a situation and a system that seems impossible to change. I wouldn't recommend this book to everyone, but I suspect I'll be thinking about it for a while.
Ein Buch, das im Stil von Nathan W. Pyles "Strange Planet"-Comics (www.instagram.com/nathanwpylestrangeplanet/) erzählt ist, also sehr abstrakt und ein bisschen wie für Aliens erklärt. Keine Ortsnamen, keine Markennamen. Anfangs dachte ich ungefähr fünfzig Seiten lang, das Buch spiele in irgendeinem lateinamerikanischen Militärdiktaturland. Wieder einmal steigert es das Vergnügen, vor der Lektüre absolut gar nichts zu wissen.
Excellent, tense and fitful novel by author about protagonist in city, in Northern Ireland in the 1970s. Family, politics, and the role of women in society are all prominent themes. Author excels at presenting the unnamed and unnameable. The protagonist, as speaker, tells her perspective of her life in a poor renouncer-run area in an unnamed city as she tries to exist outside of the political turmoil of her neighbourhood. Relentless in its delivery and brilliant in telling the tale of the overriding tension of a country living under a severe, dichotomous authority.
Denne boken er nok mye bedre enn ratingen jeg gir den, men stilen og storyen krever nok at du har et forhold til Nord-Irland på 70-tallet, eller en spesiell interesse for litterære stilarter. Dette er litt Tante Ulrikkes vei på nord-irsk. Cotext is king, er det ikke det de sier?
Fantastic!
Wow, what an interesting, unique and intelligent book! I can see why it won the Man Booker Prize. While not really told "stream of consciousness", from the point of view of an older woman writing about her late teens in some unnamed place (but almost certainly Belfast or somewhere very much like it) during some unnamed time (but almost certainly during The Troubles). Even the narrator is unnamed, as well as most of the people in it.
The story of the girl is told as if the narrator is repeating the tale into a tape recorder. It skips around in fascinating ways, with digressions that are both interesting and dramatic. The writing does require some work, as it rambles in a unique fashion, but I found it very refreshing. The story looped around a few times, but it was often funny and always interesting. I particularly liked when she …
Fantastic!
Wow, what an interesting, unique and intelligent book! I can see why it won the Man Booker Prize. While not really told "stream of consciousness", from the point of view of an older woman writing about her late teens in some unnamed place (but almost certainly Belfast or somewhere very much like it) during some unnamed time (but almost certainly during The Troubles). Even the narrator is unnamed, as well as most of the people in it.
The story of the girl is told as if the narrator is repeating the tale into a tape recorder. It skips around in fascinating ways, with digressions that are both interesting and dramatic. The writing does require some work, as it rambles in a unique fashion, but I found it very refreshing. The story looped around a few times, but it was often funny and always interesting. I particularly liked when she talked about her precocious "wee sisters" (her 3 younger sisters).
Highly recommended!
