Pages: 260Genre: Fiction
Publication Date: 2007
Synopsis (from Google):
The nine surviving children of the Hegarty clan are gathering in Dublin
for the wake of their wayward brother, Liam, drowned in the sea. His sister, Veronica, collects the body and keeps the dead man company, guarding the secret she shares with him--something that happened in their grandmother's house in the winter of 1968. As Enright traces the line of betrayal and redemption through three generations, she shows how memories warp and secrets fester. The Gathering is a family epic, clarified through Anne Enright's unblinking eye. This is a novel about love and disappointment, about how fate is written in the body, not in the stars. The Gathering sends fresh blood through the Irish literary tradition, combining the lyricism of the old with the shock of the new. As in all of Anne Enright's work, this is a book of draing, wit, and insight, her
distinctive intelligence twisting the world a fraction and giving it back to us
in a new and unforgettable light.
Why I Quit:
By page 30 something I was bored. Nothing really happened. Let me rephrase that. Stuff happened but the writing was so bland that it all seemed rather uneventful. I expect to feel some emotion when reading a story were a mother learns that her son is dead. I felt nothing.
I also got tried of the jumping back and forth. The story is written in first person. The narrator jumps back and forth between present day and a imagined encounter between her grandmother, grandfather, and grandfather's best friend. Now I am sure this has something to do with the story. But I will never find out. Because I Quit.
Now, I have to look for another book that takes place in Ireland. Because this book was for a challenge. I am not having much luck with award winning books lately. This book won The Booker Prize in 2007.
Pages Completed: 41
I finished it but was not impressed by this novel, and I expected to be when it won the Booker that year. It was just not powerful enough emotionally for me, so I understand. The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry is very good if you haven't read it yet. It is set in Ireland. I loved it.
ReplyDeleteTry Edna O'Brien The Country Girls.
ReplyDeleteI gave up on a book today, too. I gave it 90 pages, but I was so bored I couldn't make myself read any further.
ReplyDeleteI really liked this book. I found the ending really interesting. I wish I could quit books at 20%....when I finally give up a book it is usually with only 50 pages left or so...its a waste of my time.
ReplyDeleteI have this on my shelf but don't know a single person who has liked it so am apprehensive to pick it up... For a book that's set in Ireland, I can really reccommend Star of the Sea by Joseph O'Connor.
ReplyDelete