| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Amazon.co.uk Trade-In Store for more details. |
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Book Description
Product Description
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
61 of 61 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Vivid map of author's unique terrain,
By
This review is from: Memoir (Hardcover)
If you are already familiar with the novels and short stories of John McGahern then not much of this will come as a surprise: the overbearing father; the mother’s death; the recurrent allure of Oakport. But this compelling autobiography is far more than a journey over old ground: in ordering and expanding those elements he has used in his fiction, McGahern has finally given us a vivid, comprehensive map of his unique terrain. It can be read and enjoyed in its own right but there is an additional pleasure in seeing the scattered pieces of his fiction assembling themselves into a single coherent shape. McGahern’s relationship with his brutal father dominates the book but this is no howl of rage or score-settling: the son examines his father as far as he is able (and there is a pleasure for the reader in the precision of that examination) but by the end seems to accept there is only so much he can understand. And despite the strong shadow his father casts, joy is interwoven throughout the account, in his relationship with his mother, in his capacity for delight in the familiar landscape (even when carrying out the many tasks imposed on him by his father) and in the moments of stolen solitariness in the boat at Oakport which prefigure his becoming a writer. Shorn of sentimentality or pseudo-poeticism, John McGahern’s Memoir feels like the culmination of his writing life. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The master has passed,
By
This review is from: Memoir (Hardcover)
The master has passed and we must learn to go on without him. He once wrote the writer's task was "to look after his sentences, nothing more". And so it is. But his sentences were always lost in the reality he touched - often painful, sometimes beautiful. He was unfailingly brave. Memoir maybe confirms things we already knew, or things we once glimpsed, in his life and in ours, for sure in mine. It's an account of his childhood, the non-fictional version of his fiction - as if these terms made any sense with regard to his work. As it turns out, he was tidying up before he would pass. And now he's gone. Thank you, John McGahern, for everything.
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
an evocative and wistful delight,
By MrPower (England) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Memoir (Hardcover)
I have read that, sadly, John McGahern has recently died. I spent most of Boxing Day 05 reading this book, in virtually one shot as I could hardly bear to put it down, it was such a delight to read. It is beautifully written and tells the story of the author's Irish childhood and of how it placed him intellectually and emotionally as an adult in the larger world. It reads honestly, his love for his mother is intensely moving, the writing is rhythmical and measured. It made me cry, but my tears were unusual, because they were not drawn from easy sentimentality or from pity. I felt grateful to the author for sharing an emotionally lucid and truthful recollection of his early life which drew me into his family in his world, so far from my own.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews |
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
