- Hardcover: 256 pages
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (6 Nov 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0747583617
- ISBN-13: 978-0747583615
- Product Dimensions: 21.6 x 14.2 x 3.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 669,929 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Winterwood
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
'He is the fortunate possessor of a savage and unfettered imagination; his books dissect life's miseries with a gleaming comedic scalpel.' The Times Praise for BREAKFAST ON PLUTO: 'Wild, hilarious, merciless and fiendishly clever.' Independent on Sunday Praise for THE BUTCHER BOY: 'A brilliant book, so very funny as well as being heartrendingly sad.' J P Donleavy 'The most astonishing Irish novel for many year, a masterpiece.' Sunday Independent
Product Description
The intention was, of course, to bring her out to Winterwood - to that magical place that only me and her knew - but I wouldn't tell her that until much later on, for I wanted it to be as much of a surprise as possible On a return to his home place in the mountainy middle of Ireland, Redmond Hatch meets old Pappie Strange, a fiddler and teller of tales whose honeyed words and giddy reels have persuaded the local mothers and fathers, anxious at the loss of traditional values, to bring their little lambs to his Saturday morning ceilidhs. Once, in Kilburn, married to the sugar-lipped Catherine, and sharing his daughter Immy's passion for My Little Pony, with its enchanted kingdom of Winterwood, Redmond was happy. But then infidelity, betrayal and the 'scary things' from which he would protect his daughter steal into the magic kingdom, and the bad things begin to happen. Now Redmond - once little Red - prowls the barren outlands alone, haunted by the disgraced shade of Ned Strange. A shape-shifter, Red reinvents himself as Dominic Tiernan, builds a new life in TV, finds a new wife and begins to know domestic happiness once more. Then one day, in Dublin, he spies Catherine again Like the best old songs and folk tales, this is a story both simple and complex, shot through with recurring themes and motifs, ribbons of song, rags of lore. Full of raucous humour and savage satire, Winterwood taps deep into the old, dark, unseen places below the shiny surface of modern Ireland. It is Patrick McCabe's most disturbing, original and accomplished novel yet.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I found the first half of this novel really creepy and gripping...then it all started to get a bit repetitive and the mimicking of an unhinged mind derailed the narration so much it largely diluted the suspense which had been craftily and steadily built up til then. I could hardly be bothered finishing it. Am i the only reader who thought that Redmond ended up taking on elements of Ned Strange's personality (not so odd when there are so many heavy hints of them being related, psychically if not genetically), abducting his daughter and killing her and eventually also killing his ex-wife Catherine? Winterwood was the mythical place he visited post-murder to relive obsessively the happier times he had had with them.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Think of a Chuck Palahniuk or Bret Easton Ellis novel set in Ireland's booming Celtic Tiger era and you will not be a kick in the arse away from the premise of Winterwood.Throw in Flann O'Brian's parody of rural irish life in 'the poor mouth' and his version of hell in 'the third policeman'and you are left with an entertainingly disturbing story of one man's descent into evil.Even more poignant when viewed in the light of the recent collapse of the irish economy and the paedophilic scandals of the catholic church. Grimly page turning.
5 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is an involving and very creepy tale from one of Ireland's most original writers. I'm not going to go to great lengths to divulge the plot (other reviewers have already done that!); all you need to know is that it is an intimate first person narrative of a very damaged mind, and it's very difficult to pull back from. Frankly, I'm not going to bother my head over whether or not it's a parable of modern Ireland; it's a compelling read. I would agree with the comment made by an earlier reviewer, to the effect that if you emphatically don't like Patrick McCabe, don't read his books. Whether or not McCabe is a literary genius is something you could argue over for hours, but it's a fact that he's one of the best at what he does out there at the moment. Interestingly, the negative reviewer didn't give any examples of the 'weightier' gothic literature that he claims to prefer. Might that be because he fears exposing his own taste to citicism? Or is it that he simply can't honestly think of any genuine examples?
I'm not sure if 'enjoy' is the right word to use for the reading of 'Winterwood', but it certainly makes an impression.
I'm not sure if 'enjoy' is the right word to use for the reading of 'Winterwood', but it certainly makes an impression.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Teetering on the edge of reality
In Winterwood Patrick McCabe once again dances arount the edges of reality. His constantly unreliable narrator, some-time journalist Redmond Hatch, and asynchronous storytelling... Read more
Published on 26 April 2010 by Mr. Thomas Cooper
mc cabe s best?
REALLY A GREAT READ.I READ THIS BOOK IN TWO SITTINGS AS I COULDENT PUT IT DOWN!
SIMILAR IN THEME TO SOME OF HIS OTHER BOOKS BUT NONE THE WORSE FOR THAT. Read more
SIMILAR IN THEME TO SOME OF HIS OTHER BOOKS BUT NONE THE WORSE FOR THAT. Read more
Published on 9 Nov 2007 by G. M. Somers
Stories within stories within stories.
Raymond Hatch only wants the best for his wife and child, but is haunted by the ghostly figure of Ned Strange, a famous Irish storyteller, though one recently convicted of the... Read more
Published on 5 Sep 2007 by fatpaddykillah
Unsettling
Winterwood is a short novel - the narrative of Redmond Hatch. Redmond is an underachiever, having never quite made it in journalism or in various jobs around London. Read more
Published on 16 July 2007 by MisterHobgoblin
genius
Winterwood is McCabe's most extraordinary and gripping book yet. I literally was not aware of breathing until I put it down with a sign after reading it in one short sitting. Read more
Published on 21 Dec 2006 by Kait Corrigan
Book of the year contender
For me, Winterwood is neck and neck with McCarthy's The Road in the book-of-the-year stakes. In a strange way, it's not dissimilar - a trawl through the belly of hell, except... Read more
Published on 23 Nov 2006 by Guano
Casper come home
I don't know who I am or what to say so I'll say it anyways, then I'll say it again with a ponytail and once more with a pulled-down baseball cap and shaggy beard (... Read more
Published on 16 Nov 2006 by Flavius
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