Love and Sleep: A Romance [Paperback]

This is a journey inside the dark psyche of struggling writer Niall, onthe run from the past and denying himself a future. Arriving in Derry,years after he left for a wandering life in Spain and London, he discoversthat very little has changed. The streets are still blighted by sectarianviolence and the grubby pubs still cater for the lost and lonely. Just ashis memories, fears or desires threaten to consume him; Niall enters intoa complicated relationship, with Lorna, a committed socialist with a darkside of her own. Haunted by a past that only gradually gives up itssecrets and insensate for most of the time through a cocktail of booze anddrugs, Niall lives his life to extremes, testing and pushing himself evercloser to destruction.
On the backdrop of Derry in the break of thefirst ceasefire, it is not the politics or socialist-context that move thestory forward. It is the struggle of this young, totally tortured manpicking his way through the days motionless, drunk on nightmares, guilt,fear, hatred, lust and self-pity. He made me feel uneasy and although atdaggers with all those about him, acquaintance or stranger; and his cruel,perverse and brutal treatment of them, strangely you felt a sort ofresponsibility towards him and that there was a thin shred of hope that hemay be redeemed; saved from the demons of his past and present.
Thisdebut novel spits out the truth and ugliness of macabre living to surviveand remain sane. It is seductively strong, ruthlessly resonating andjewelled with vivid descriptions and sharp-shock-stock imagery. In a senseit suffocates the reader in an uncomfortable trance and a brutal, if notbrittle, honesty of home-born-bred mentality. Like captive, damagedanimals tortured by the troubles, poverty, family life, screaming forsalvation.
The writing is sharp, menacing and in contrast mesmerisingand psychotic, poignant and brutal, beautifully if not harshly delivered.
There is a little of Niall and Lorna in all of us. We've all been a touchof these characters at a time and possibly still, selfish and ugly in ourwants, needs, disappointments, dreams and nightmares.
This style ofwriting is in a genre of its own creation, but by God, it gets under yourskin, penetrating the pulse and runs riot through your veins.
O' Reilly captures and concocts the smells, images, shadows, memories sourgently, so brilliantly, that at once you are thrown into its vividnesshead first and your own past is stirred and smacking you in the face. Hislyrical power seduces you in its grasp and knuckle nudges you into payingattention. It is the kind of writing that is so unique and courageous, ifnot a little daring, that it grips you and forces you to listen. It getsto you and you become part of the picture. I am still at odds as how todescribe the reading experience.
He dishes out a modern and menacing,raw and risky, powerful piece of stark fiction. It is without dressing orcolourful camouflage. It might not be to everyone's taste, but oncesampled, it will be a hard hunger for more from this truly individualvoice in Irish writing.

I was so disappointed by this book. For much of the time the primary character is `off his face'; while `being of your face' can be a very intense experience it is usually pretty dull to around and that is certainly how I felt about this book. One to avoid.