This book simply blew me away when I first read it. The writing is excellent. Each word has obviously been carefully chosen. When reading it, I found myself going over the same passages over and over. The other negative review is perhaps understandable in that, while in places, the author has achieved an authentic rural Irish voice while avoiding stage-Irishisms, for the most part the speech is unconvincing. This can also be said of the female character and the whole love affair. Maybe this is due to it being McCormack's first full-length novel. I get the impression however, that this might be intentional. It is supposed to be a fantasy. One gets the impression that the author intended to convey a lot more then I understood when I, at least, understood when I read the book. For example its' obviously based in Co. Mayo and in Galway city. He goes to a great deal of bother to describe the locale but also goes out of his way to not call these places by name (until the very end). I guess this is all part of some post-modern preoccupation with launguage (or something). Anyway, I realise I've bored (...) anyone who doesn't know what I'm talking about. The bottom line is the book is well worth a read.