[AnotherCat]

Better late than never, maybe, getting into this book, however I finished it a couple of days ago but then had been away from home since.

First, I should say that I am very wary of reading novels unless they have survived at least 10 years in print and maintaining their popularity. That because it seems to me that at the time of first publication all books are wonderful and must reads according to the reviews in news media and magazines, and much of the "arty" commentary. I am too lazy to pick through them or waste money testing for myself. So came to this book slightly blighted.

After reading it I looked at some reviews contemporary with its publication and all seemed to hold it in high regard which I thought fair enough, with me having some reservations. One thing I noticed was many reviewers claimed the book was set in the late 1960s which seemed incorrect to me. The book is written in a linear chronology and while I wondered when it was set I got no real clues to that until the shootings and the embassy burning were mentioned (an Irish reader may have picked up earlier hints as to time). I had assumed that these were the Bloody Sunday shootings in Derry and the British Embassy burning a few days later which places the reference in the book to early 1972.

Now the book starts with Maurice already dead and in Chapter 18, sometime later than the reference to shootings and embassy burning, so sometime in 1972 one assumes, Josie says to Nora that Maurice has been dead for over three years. By my maths that means the book was set in the early 1970's? Perhaps I have missed something?

My feeling is that there are plenty of mothers around like Nora, and plenty worse in the understanding of their children, and plenty of children like Donal and plenty worse afflicted. And there are plenty of families around with both in them and father dead as well. So I felt that the story line was rather humdrum and lacking in tension, except perhaps when Aine "disappeared" in Dublin. But in that I was not entirely comfortable with the use of the emotional Bloody Sunday events (even to Conor saying "Maybe Aine was one of the ones who burned the Embassy") to build it (can't really put my finger on why I felt that?).

However, my knowledge of Irish history is not great and my being non-Irish and half a world away I cannot claim any great understanding of exactly how emotions stand on the subject (I have briefly visited Ireland but the best of the little I can claim is that as I was working there my relationships were immersed ones rather than those of a tourist's superficial fly by). So I felt that the drama added was perhaps much less for me than an Irish or better informed reader's might be; for me trying to imagine the feelings of the family and their acquaintances, when they referred the Dublin events, could only be described as me hallucinating claiming an understanding I am not entitled to.

All that aside, despite the storyline being as I said for me fairly humdrum, I did enjoy reading it. But that in most part because I thought it very well written. The first person speech seemed very natural (and I note that Fantasyfan, having Irish familiarity, could "practically hear their voices"). The narration I felt had a nice slight lyrical touch and did not labour anything nor give me the feeling of being overwritten, "little" events were described in a "little" way. Ongoing (quite interesting) events such as the music happenings and in Nora's workplace helped provide a thread for the story for me and gave room for other participants and their quirks to be built in.

I think there is some Irish heritage Toibin lives up to well in his prose. As one part of that when reading the book and thinking how humdrum the events were to me, I could not help drawing a bit of a comparison with Leopold Bloom's humdrum events (albeit in just a day); also, that the events of Bloom's day are drawn from Joyce's own experience (but crowded into a day) as it seems that at least Nora and Donal are drawn from Toibin's.

Thanks for the recommendation.