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John McGahern

By the Lake Hardcover – 1 Mar. 2002

by John McGahern (Author)

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A year in the lives of the unforgettable inhabitants of a modern-day Irish village--the Ruttledges, Londoners seeking a new way of life; the womanizing John Quinn; Jimmy Joe McKiernan, local head of the IRA; locals Jamesie and his wife Mary; and "the Shah," the wealthiest man in town--unfolds through a cylce of work, play, religious festivals, and the changing seasons. 20,000 first printing.

Print length

352 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Alfred A. Knopf
Publication date

1 Mar. 2002
Dimensions

15.09 x 2.84 x 22.05 cm
ISBN-10

0679419144
ISBN-13

978-0679419143
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Product details

Publisher : Alfred A. Knopf (1 Mar. 2002)
Language : English
Hardcover : 352 pages
ISBN-10 : 0679419144
ISBN-13 : 978-0679419143
Dimensions : 15.09 x 2.84 x 22.05 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 2,114,492 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 147,883 in Literary Fiction (Books)

Customer reviews:
46 ratings

Product description

About the Author

John McGahern is the author of five highly acclaimed novels and four collections of short stories. His novel Amongst Women won the GPA Book Award and the Irish Times Award, was short-listed for the Booker Prize, and was made into a four-part BBC television series. He has been a visiting professor at Colgate University and at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, and is the recipient of the Society of Authors Award, the American-Irish Award, and the Prix Étrangère Ecureuil, among other awards and honors. His work has appeared in anthologies and has been translated into many languages. He lives in Dublin.

Customer reviews

5 star		55%
4 star		21%
3 star		10%
2 star		8%
1 star		5%

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Amazon Customer

The book was in excellent condition.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 17 August 2017

Verified Purchase

Everything was fine, the book was in excellent condition and the delivery was very quick, many thanks.

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Brian Duffin

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 October 2017

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A work of genious

One person found this helpful

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june mc maugh

... bought it as a present and was told they enjoyed it very much

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 2 January 2015

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I bought it as a present and was told they enjoyed it very much .

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A magnificent celebration of a vanishing way of life.,

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 27 November 2002

A gentleness and warmth infuse this paean to small town Irish life and the usually loving connections among the residents. Almost plotless in the traditional sense, the book achieves surprising power through its sensitive and sometimes humorous portrayals of "everyday" characters as they work their land, respond to the needs of their neighbors, celebrate milestones, and observe the lyrically described changes in flora and fauna around the lake during one year. It's a magnificent novel, a testament (and, unfortunately, perhaps also a memorial) to a vanishing way of life and the enduring connections, both among men and with the land, which have shaped the Irish character and spawned its traditions.
The Ruttledges have returned to Ireland after advertising careers in London, renewing connections with their kin and settling "by the lake," where they are greeted first by Jamesie Murphy and his wife Mary, who bring food, and then by the unforgettable roue of the village, John Quinn, who wants them to find him a wife from out of town, as he's already too well known to be successful in his own village. Other characters, each unique, give color and a sense of reality to life by the lake: Jimmy Joe McKiernan, the local Provo leader who led the breakout from Long Kesh; the pathetic Bill Evans, an orphan brought up by the nuns, then farmed out to an unfeeling family to work when he was 14; Cecil Pierce, the local Protestant; Johnny Murphy, Jamesie's brother, who visits each summer from London, where he lives in relative exile after being dumped by the woman he loved; the Shah, a Ruttledge relative who became hugely successful in the junk business; Patrick Ryan, who never seems to finish the building projects he's doing for his neighbors; and many others who illustrate the charms and frustrations of small town life and the forces which have shaped it. Significantly, all the main characters are middle-aged or older, the young having been lured already to big cities. As one character says, "After us there'll be nothing but the water hen and swan."
As the reader shares the passage of the year with the residents, observing the celebrations of birth, the rites of death, and the homely activities which give meaning to life by the lake, it's impossible not to feel a sense of profound melancholy and to mourn the loss of this rapidly disappearing life. As McGahern himself says, "[The days] did not feel particularly quiet or happy, but through them ran the sense...that there would come a time when these days would be looked back on as happiness, all that life could give of contentment and peace." With its profound openness to the sensations of the moment, its constant awareness of even the subtlest changes in nature, and its joy in human connections, it's a life which few harried city dwellers ever know. Mary Whipple

31 people found this helpful

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The Oxford Don

Reader beware...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 28 June 2006

Excellent book from the late lamented Mr. McGahern but be aware that this is the American title for "That They May Face The Rising Sun". I will leave you to fathom out why the title was simplified for American audiences...

14 people found this helpful

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