Green Eyes: Amazon.co.uk: Andrew O'Hare: Books

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Amazon.co.uk Review

Life is hardly a cabaret for Shaun McKenna and Harry Hannah. The two teenagers at the centre of Green Eyes, by Andrew O'Hare, are thrown together by fate and embark on a passionate love affair. But this is Northern Ireland, and McKenna is Catholic; Hannah Protestant. Although the love between the two boys never wavers, they find themselves in the middle of a maze of family strife, dark secrets and sectarian violence. The book's setting is fresh, giving O'Hare the opportunity to show his ear for Northern Irish idiom; much of the dialogue in this dialogue-driven story sounds truthful. A complex web of characters is spun with some craft, although much of the present-day action groans under the weight of dem dry bones in the closet. But there is a real sense of idyllic love under threat, which has you rooting for our heroes. The reader's sympathies are slicked by countless unsparing sex scenes, which might be eye opening but are always based in the boys' burning love. O'Hare has a clumsy way of dropping the pronoun from sentences with dialogue--very few instances of "he said" or "she said". He has a way to go before his style is perfected. And great stretches of the book are taken up with inane "banter" of the "Oooh, you are awful, McKenna," variety. But this oddly Irish blend of pillow-talk pap and deeply felt emotion is ultimately endearing. --Alistair Pegg

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Customer Reviews

14 Reviews

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
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Average Customer Review

4.7 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews)

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Beautiful Tale crossing two divides, 5 Jan 2003

By

"matthewjacobsuk" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Green Eyes (Paperback)

This is the first book that I have read by author Andrew O'Hare and as a result cannot wait for the next. 'Green Eyes' is a beautifully written story of two young men growing up in the troubled, divided UK Territory of Northern Ireland.
The author has the ability to portray to the reader the consequences of unrelenting bigotry in a land that is divided by two faiths. I found that I really got to know in-depth the two characters of Shaun McKenna and Harry Hannah. Both characters so different in personality, yet so passionate in their love for each other
The book was beautifully, yet sensitively written, resulting in an unexpected climax of tragic hatred. This book left me reeling with tears in my eyes and a true sadness in my heart. A definite must read.

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful yet traumatic book!, 4 Mar 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Green Eyes (Paperback)

It is very rare that I come away from a book with such an intense love and hate opinion of what I have just read. Don't get me wrong the book is very well written and I was captivated from the start, the hate aspect concerns the way in which the story develops.
The storey begins by charting the blossoming love between two boys, Shaun and Harry. It does not take long for the relationship to become the focus of both boys' lives and in turn dominate the varying responses from both families. The trials of being Gay and falling in love are hard enough but add the fact that the boys are both from Catholic and Protestant backgrounds produces the real basis of hatred, bigotry and conflict.
The book is very much a Jekyll and Hyde - and I was left feeling cheated that I had been lulled into the beauty of the relationship between Shaun and Harry only for the story to become much darker and brutal. The brutality towards the end maybe a device created by the author and enhanced by the feel good nature of what came before! I am not saying that this is a problem with the book but maybe with the way in which I wanted it to end!
Green Eyes is worth reading..

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pure genius!, 3 Jan 2003

By

Mr. Mj Jackson "Mattius" (UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Green Eyes (Paperback)

Today is the 3rd January 2003. I read the last 150 pages of this book yesterday and I was distraught. I very nearly could not bring myself to read it but I knew I had to otherwise I wouldn't be able to sleep. I have never before been so moved by a novel. I laughed out loud in all sorts of places, especially the flirty banter between Shaun and Harry and in those terrible final chapters, I cried and I can be a tough nut to crack.
Andrew O'Hare has managed to capture perfectly the emotions and trauma of being gay and the rollercoaster of emotions that comes with coming out. I could almost reach out and touch the characters they were so real to me. How much do we all wish Aunt Jean was OUR mum.
Despite my resolution to finish I could still not sleep, the ideas and emotions that the booked explored were formost in my mind and despite thinking that it is the best thing I have read so far, I could not read it again because of how it made me feel. That is the power of this novel. Maybe it's just me but read and you will see that you cannot pull yourself out of this world for very long, it really is sensational.
Despite being a wonderful novel, it brought home to me the realities of the situation in Northern Ireland and just how messed up the country really is. The tragedy of this book is only made more heartbreaking by the fact that things like this do actually happen in the real world.
There is also outstanding sexual detail and a definite sense of loss and hatred.
SO READ IT! Enjoy it!

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars This would be a blockbuster movie!
I purchased this book from Amazon and read it many years ago, but I was not able to write a review because my English is not really good enough to express what I was feeling after... Read more

Published on 29 April 2008 by Indiancowboy