by John McGahern
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by John McGahern
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by Patrick McCabe
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by John McGahern
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by John McGahern
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Review
Michael Moran, a former Republican leader in the War of Independence, exercises strict control over his five children growing up on an isolated farm in Ireland. As they begin to lead independent lives the balance of their often fraught relationship with him changes in this subtle and haunting novel about an ageing tyrant who must come to terms with his family and with himself. Booker Prize shortlisted 1990. Dermot Healy, whose books include Sudden Times, described for us how McGahern 'took up again the themes he had been pursuing in his other work, but here he has more room to let a whole landscape and family breathe, the bleakness is given full reign, the niceties turn to ironies and the daughters - who gives rise to the title - and the father are true unnerving portraits. Its also a great book in which to encounter the Irish breakfast. I don't know of many novels that contain so many fries.' (Kirkus UK)
McGahern (High Ground, 1987; The Pornographer, 1979, etc.) writes a very pregnant novel, usually with one splendidly truthful germ as well as the capability to sensitively echo its close surroundings. But the actual book he delivers tends to be somewhat disappointing, somewhat limp and not fully realized. That's the case here too - with a family portrait of old man Moran, a hero in the Irish Independence war who has steadfastly refused his pension in disgust at how the country turned out. Moran, a farmer, has a large family - three daughters and two sons - and as the book begins ia taking a second wife, Rose. Rose holds her own in the family, remarkably - for what family is to Moran is a fastness, a fort, a place in which to hide. The daughters especially suffer this insistence on the family as withdrawal mechanism - and when the boys test it, they soon are banished altogether. The title here, however, is somewhat misleading (and the book bears no resemblance except in title to Cesare Pavese's great Italian novel), for the story is clearer about its main character, Moran, through the eyes of the sons than of the daughters. McGahern writes intimately of their lives, but there's a muzziness to many of his sentences that makes the women indistinct as well. Well-intentioned, quite artful work - with less of a strong, solid core than is satisfying. (Kirkus Reviews)
Product Description
Moran is an old Republican, a veteran of the Irish Civil War. His old age, its rhythm and shape, is dominated by his three daughters. It is they who revive the custom of celebrating Monaghan Day and it is through their lives that we discover the story of his life. The author also wrote "The Dark".
Michael Moran, a former Republican leader in the War of Independence, exercises strict control over his five children growing up on an isolated farm in Ireland. As they begin to lead independent lives the balance of their often fraught relationship with him changes in this subtle and haunting novel about an ageing tyrant who must come to terms with his family and with himself. Booker Prize shortlisted 1990. Dermot Healy, whose books include Sudden Times, described for us how McGahern 'took up again the themes he had been pursuing in his other work, but here he has more room to let a whole landscape and family breathe, the bleakness is given full reign, the niceties turn to ironies and the daughters - who gives rise to the title - and the father are true unnerving portraits. Its also a great book in which to encounter the Irish breakfast. I don't know of many novels that contain so many fries.' (Kirkus UK)
McGahern (High Ground, 1987; The Pornographer, 1979, etc.) writes a very pregnant novel, usually with one splendidly truthful germ as well as the capability to sensitively echo its close surroundings. But the actual book he delivers tends to be somewhat disappointing, somewhat limp and not fully realized. That's the case here too - with a family portrait of old man Moran, a hero in the Irish Independence war who has steadfastly refused his pension in disgust at how the country turned out. Moran, a farmer, has a large family - three daughters and two sons - and as the book begins ia taking a second wife, Rose. Rose holds her own in the family, remarkably - for what family is to Moran is a fastness, a fort, a place in which to hide. The daughters especially suffer this insistence on the family as withdrawal mechanism - and when the boys test it, they soon are banished altogether. The title here, however, is somewhat misleading (and the book bears no resemblance except in title to Cesare Pavese's great Italian novel), for the story is clearer about its main character, Moran, through the eyes of the sons than of the daughters. McGahern writes intimately of their lives, but there's a muzziness to many of his sentences that makes the women indistinct as well. Well-intentioned, quite artful work - with less of a strong, solid core than is satisfying. (Kirkus Reviews)
Product Description
Moran is an old Republican, a veteran of the Irish Civil War. His old age, its rhythm and shape, is dominated by his three daughters. It is they who revive the custom of celebrating Monaghan Day and it is through their lives that we discover the story of his life. The author also wrote "The Dark".
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