Milkman

Paperback, 368 pages

English language

Published 2019 by Faber & Faber Limited.

ISBN:
978-0-571-33875-7
Copied ISBN!

View on OpenLibrary

4 stars (5 reviews)

In this unnamed city, to be interesting is dangerous. Middle sister, our protagonist, is busy attempting to keep her mother from discovering her maybe-boyfriend and to keep everyone in the dark about her encounter with Milkman. But when first brother-in-law sniffs out her struggle, and rumours start to swell, middle sister becomes 'interesting'. The last thing she ever wanted to be. To be interesting is to be noticed and to be noticed is dangerous.

Milkman is a tale of gossip and hearsay, silence and deliberate deafness. It is the story of inaction with enormous consequences.

8 editions

Strange artefact

4 stars

Not sure where to begin... First, after reading some ten pages of this novel you discover the importance of the paragraph, for here they are few and far in between. So reading the whole thing (352 pages) is reading a wall of text. It's like a marathon and you never know if you'll be able to hold on until the next paragraph. Second the language is surprising. Like English at the time of Cavern man: Me husband, you wife, she older daughter, she middle daughter, them wee daughters. But allow me to quote her: "After a pause brother-in-law said he was going to beat him up all the same. ‘Not necessary,’ I said. ‘Still,’ he said. ‘Ach,’ I said. ‘Ach nothing,’ he said. ‘Ach sure,’ I said. ‘Ach sure what?’ he said. ‘Ach sure, if that’s how you feel.’ ‘Ach sure, of course that’s how I feel.’ ‘Ach, all right …

Review of 'Milkman' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I enjoyed this overall. I think it was a bit long, it tested my endurance. It was a weird experience because I was enjoying it and finding it difficult to get through it at the same time. I think it’s got a relentless feel because of many long sentences and huge paragraphs.

This book tackles the Troubles from the perspective of an 18 year old woman. It’s the context for the story rather than the main focus. It talks a lot about everyday experiences of those in the midst of it. There was a lot of unexpected humor despite the darkness of the content.

The plight of being a young woman is a major theme. A lot of the story is in the narrator’s head as she deals with and reflects back on difficult situations with men, with living in a small community.

This is an intensely internal story. There’s …

Review of 'Milkman' on Goodreads

2 stars

Good to great feeling of oppression from the small-town, small-brain, in your pocket mentality.

Good to great 'living it' representation of an Irish city under British occupation, living among the 'renouncers', the entirety of the population.

Passable narrative of a young woman's everyday life, including being half stalked by an unwanted admirer ...

... but it just got too boring, in the middle just started to waffle, really, so I gave up on it.

Subjects

  • Northern ireland, fiction
  • Fiction, coming of age
  • Fiction, psychological

Lists