REVIEW: The Companion, by Lorcan Roche

The Companion, by Lorcan Roche. Published 2010 by Europa Editions. Literary Fiction.

The ad is in The Voice.
Then, after a little while, a voice is in the ad.
Sounds exactly like the bloke who played the evil-baddie in North by Northwest, you know him yes you do, silver hair, real refined, shite, what's this his name is...?
Mason, James.
And this is what James Mason saying, softly: Trevor, you should endeavour to respond. ON the contrary, it will not be a waste of a subway token and will not involve your faith in humanity further being broken. My dear boy, this is for you. Believe me.

Thus begins The Companion, Irish writer Lorcan Roche's novel about an Irish man living in New York City who answers an ad to care for a slowly dying, disabled young man named Ed. Roche tells the story in Trevor's lively first-person Irish argot and tells it with elan. Trevor is troubled himself, with a difficult backstory we don't fully learn until just near the end. His parents kept secrets from him, and he himself didn't quite fit in with his brilliant sisters and their posh beaux. He works as a companion because taking care of the disabled is what he knows how to do, and he's good at it. He forges a good relationship with the often difficult and demanding Ed, and manages Ed's cold and selfish family as well. Other characters in this colorful novel include Dana, a brittle physical therapist, the family cook Ellie and Trevor's own running internal monologue.

The Companion is a very entertaining, very bittersweet book. Trevor becomes, over the course of the book, a very different person from the hard-as-nails, sarcastic man we meet at the beginning; Roche takes us all the way under his shell and shows us the vulnerable and damaged man inside. It's possible to draw some parallels between his psyche and the outward condition of the people for whom he cares- and he does care about his patients and clients, not just for them.

I enjoyed The Companion enough that I slowed down as I neared the end, unwilling to let the book go just yet. Roche's bubbly language rolls the reader along and shows more and more heart as the pages turn. I didn't expect it to end the way it did, and I didn't expect the tenderness that came out, either. It's edgy and raw and uncompromising, like so many Europa books, and a great read for the literary fiction reader looking for something a little different and off-the-beaten-path. At first I wasn't sure I was going to like the tight-hemmed Trevor, but I ended up loving him and I think you will, too.

This is book #5 in the Irish Reading Challenge 2011, on the way to Kiss the Blarney Stone Level (6 books) and book #3 of the Europa Challenge on my way to Amante Level.

Rating: BUY

FTC Disclosure: I did not receive this book for review.

REVIEW: Ghost Light, by Joseph O'Connor

Ghost Light, by Joseph O'Connor. Published 2011 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Fiction.

Ghost Light is an enjoyable and somewhat experimental novel about the love affair between Maire O'Neil, née Molly Allgood, an Irish stage actress of the early 20th century and the playwright J.M. Synge. Although the two apparently did have a relationship, this story is a highly fictionalized account which moves back and forth through time from the early days of their affair through Maire's death years and years later as a faded and solitary alcoholic.

I say the book is somewhat experimental because as it shifts in time it also shifts in perspective, moving from a standard third-person to an interior monologue and back out again. I had a little trouble following the shifts at first but soon found myself deeply engrossed in the story; in other words, it was a slow read for me but one that I found very satisfying in the end. O'Connor tells a very lyrical and sad story between two people who seem both deeply dysfunctional and perfect for each other, but Maire's life doesn't end with the end of her relationship with Synge. O'Connor gives us hints that she finds some happiness before her life enters its final descent into obscurity.

I think of Ghost Light as another one of those intellectual beach reads. It's very Irish, and people who like Irish literature and the literature of the stage will really enjoy it. I liked the scenery of the theatrical world with its colorful characters and shenanigans and the details of time and place that O'Connor uses to enrich the story. I found it engaging but it can also be a little confusing, which is why I suggest taking it slow. Lit fic for a summer's day, Ghost Light is a fine entertainment of a book.

I read this book for the Ireland Reading Challenge 2011.

Rating: BACKLIST

FTC Disclosure: I received this book for review from the publisher.

Review: THE DORK OF CORK, by Chet Raymo

The Dork of Cork, by Chet Raymo. Published 1993 by Warner Books. Literary Fiction.

I'm not exactly sure anymore where I heard of The Dork of Cork, by Chet Raymo, or even where I got it (though I know it wasn't a review book); over the past year or so though it's survived several rounds of weeding and has remained tucked on a back shelf of my TBR pile. I pulled it out in March to read during Irish Month and found it to be an unforgettable gem.

The Dork of Cork tells the story of Frank Bois, a 43-year-old dwarf who has just published a memoir; Frank is a reclusive man now on the brink of literary stardom, and the narrative alternates between the present-tense story of his rise to fame and the past-tense story of his mother, Bernadette, a young Frenchwoman who washed ashore pregnant in Cork and stayed to raise her son and make a life for herself. Bernadette is a beautiful woman who attracts a series of lovers but remains mostly inwardly-turned, showing little interest in relationships beyond the physical. Frank is raised mostly by Jack Kelly, the first man to fall for her. Older and married, Jack is nonetheless besotted with the enigmatic Bernadette and he and his family, especially his daughter Emma, come to be key figures in Frank's life.

Jack and Bernadette's relationship ends quickly but Raymo's description of their affair is typical of much of the lyrical and erotic prose:

He sat on the unmade bed in Bernadette's room and listened to the stories he had heard twice or three times before because he was in love with the green eyes of the storyteller...And Bernadette, who did not own a looking-glass, admired herself in the full-length mirror of Jack Kelly's eyes.

As we learn about Frank's memoir it becomes clear that the story we're reading is almost like the story behind the story- all the little things he leaves out of the book he writes. The present-tense narration includes some tidbits about the publishing world and the life of a writer but mostly the book is about the search for, and power of, love in all its forms- to guide and shape people's lives and to heal them. Frank is a misfit- he's Irish but not Irish, and he's someone who will always look different but who comes to realize his heart needn't shrivel; just when he's ready to give up, love saves him after all. I thought the book lost some steam in the final third but overall I loved it and I hope more people can discover and enjoy this unusual and beautiful novel.

The Dork of Cork was adapted to the screen in 1995 as Frankie Starlight.

This book counts towards the Ireland Reading Challenge 2011.

Rating: BUY

FTC Disclosure: I did not receive this book for review.

REVIEW: Troubles, by J.G. Farrell

Troubles, by J.G. Farrell. Originally published 1970; this edition 2002, by NYRB Classics.

A phenomenal work of literary fiction, J.G. Farrell's Troubles has long been hailed as his masterpiece; a change in the rules for Booker Prize eligibility kept it out of consideration at the time it was published but it was resurrected in 2008 and recognized with the Lost Man Booker Prize. (Off-topic, but I love that the Man Booker committee has been recognizing works with hindsight-prizes like this.)

Set in Kilnalough, Ireland, in 1921, in a dilapidated hotel among a motley cast of the equally dilapidated Anglo-Irish upper class, Troubles stars Major Brendan Archer, a veteran of the first World War and fiancé of the elusive Angela Spencer, daughter of the proprietor of the Majestic Hotel, Edward Spencer. The Majestic's name has taken on the quality of bitter irony as the hotel is literally falling to pieces around its owners and residents, a group of elderly ladies left stranded by their own declining fortunes. The Major (as is known throughout the book) arrives to find nothing as he expected. Angela is mysteriously ill, Edward is slowly going mad and the Major finds himself falling hard for caustic Sarah Devlin, who is, of all things, a Catholic.

The novel is on the longish side, and the action is quotidian and slow; there is no powerful central plot driving the narrative but rather a long series of little things- conversations, encounters, minutiae. The Major stays at the hotel for a time, goes away, comes back, and goes away again. Edward becomes increasingly paranoid about the social and political deterioration of British rule in Ireland, and about Sinn Fein (the "Shinners") aggression, and the threat moves closer to home when his son marries a Catholic and runs away. The narrative is punctuated with news items about the state of British rule in Ireland, India and elsewhere in the Empire to underline the sense of instability. Meanwhile, a colony of feral cats slowly takes over and the building continues to fall apart.


But don't think Troubles is just some grim, depressing book. Farrell's writing is razor-sharp and funny and note-perfect; if you like black humor, Troubles is the book for you. A little knowledge of the political situation in Ireland of the 1920s is helpful but not necessary. It reminded me a little of Guiseppe de Lampedusa's wonderful The Leopard, also about a society, and a social class, of the brink of transformation and the end of its useful life; both books culminate in a ball whose consequences echo through the lives of the characters. It's a richly satisfying, beautifully-written, smart, knowing work of historical fiction with just about everything going for it. Highly recommended for literary-fiction readers and readers with a strong interest in Ireland, it's a wonderful, wonderful novel.

Rating: BUY

This book counts towards the Ireland Reading Challenge 2011 and the 2011 Complete Booker Challenge.

Troubles (New York Review Books Classics)
by J G Farrell

I'm a Powell's partner and receive a small commission on sales.


FTC Disclosure: I did not receive this book for review.

REVIEW: The Outside Boy, by Jeanine Cummins

The Outside Boy, by Jeanine Cummins. Published 2010, New American Library. Literary Fiction.

The Outside Boy is set in the rural Ireland of the 1950s, in a world far from the political problems of the day, in the itinerant community of the Irish Travellers. They are also called Pavees and, in a derogitory manner, tinkers (not to be confused with Paul Harding's clockworker tinkers, though). Jeanine Cummins' novel focuses on one such band of wanderers, the Hurley family, and on little Christy Hurley, a motherless boy traveling with his father and extended family.

Christy believes that his mother died seven minutes after giving birth to him, and he has been carrying this burden of guilt for all of his 11 years. As the story opens, Christy's grandfather has just died, and, per Traveller tradition, all of his belongings have been burned. However,  a newspaper clipping showing a beautiful woman wearing the same pendant Christy wears around his own neck escapes the flames. As the family has stopped in a small town to see to Christy's and his cousin's religious education, Christy befriends a local bookseller who helps him solve the mystery of the woman in the photo.

Most of this book I absolutely loved. The Outside Boy is an absolutely charming coming-of-age story. We see the work Christy has cut out for him when it comes to fitting in in the town, in school and with his peers, and we see how he struggles and how beautifully he succeeds in many ways. He has a crush on a pretty girl named Amy; she invites him to her birthday party and the party is one of the most charming scenes of pre-adolescent humor, awkwardness and tenderness I can recall. It is particularly memorable in encapsulating Christy's fish-out-of-water feelings as well as his desire to belong. He marvels at the plethora of food and the expectation presents, on the fact that a child's birthday is celebrated at all, and he shares moments of generosity and sweetness with Amy, his cousin Martin and another schoolmate. It's the kind of moment in a book that will stay with me forever.

I also loved the sound of the book. Cummins says in the introduction that she did not write it in genuine Traveller dialect (Shelta) because to do so would render the book incomprehensible; instead she writes the narration and the dialogue in a very genuine-sounding Irish voice that charmed me right away. And I loved the empathy and compassion she has for her characters. My quibbles are minor; towards the end, the story descends in melodrama and Christy does some things and has some insights that seem very mature for an 11-year-old (but would fit better on a 15-year-old). I liked it best (loved it, really) when the book focused more on Christy's coming of age and less on the drama.

Having said all that, I loved The Outside Boy and would recommend it to almost anyone looking for a great read. It's so sweet and tender; it made me laugh and cry and turn the pages, too. It also offers a look at a way of life that is probably little-known outside of Ireland and Great Britain. Beyond that, though, it's really just a wonderful story about a little boy trying to find his way in the world. I'm so glad I read it and I hope you do, too.

Here's the Wikipedia page on Irish Travellers.

This book counts towards the Ireland Reading Challenge 2011.

Rating: BUY

FTC Disclosure: I received this book for review from the publisher.

Sunday Salon: February's Accomplishments, March's Goals

So February was, in theory, given over to 2011 releases and I did read several:

Enough About Love, by Hervé Le Tellier,
The Fates Will Find Their Way, by Hannah Pittard, and
The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine, by Alina Bronsky

But for the most part I didn't. Or rather, I tried to, but the other books I tried to read I didn't really cotton to so I put them down. I did read a Booker winner, and a Booker nominee (Moon Tiger and Heliopolis, respectively) and some graphic novels, and some other stuff, so that's good.

March? March is Irish Month here at Boston Bibliophile. I'm starting with Troubles by J.G. Farrell for my Booker choice and then I'm reading The Matchmaker of Kenmare, Frank Delaney's latest, for review as well. And I have a stack of Irish novels to read, not all of which I will get to:

The Dork of Cork, by Chet Raymo,
The Outside Boy, by Jeanine Cummins,
The Midnight Choir, by Gene Kerrigan,
Ghost Light, by Joseph O'Connor,
Black Laces, by Marcella O'Connor,
John the Revelator, by Peter Murphy,
The Secret Scripture, by Sebastian Barry, and
Skippy Dies, by Paul Murray.

I'll post reviews as I read. And all these count toward the Ireland Challenge hosted over at Books and Movies. The last three books are Booker nominees as well and count towards that challenge. Erin go Bragh!

This week has been kind of quiet; my short story was workshopped last Tuesday at my writing class and the experience was only somewhat traumatic. No, not really; it went fine. I have to turn in another short story in a week and then there are only a couple weeks left of this great class. Late in the month I'm starting a 6-week acting and improvisation class which will be something really different for me.

Today I'm continuing with Troubles, which I'm really, really loving. I picked it up at a used bookstore a while back, before it won the Lost Booker Prize. It's fabulous- the writing is witty and sharp and full of verve. It's the kind of book I just want to read and read and read. With my husband away at his writing group for most of the afternoon, it looks like I'll get my chance to do just that!

More Sunday Salon here.

Ireland Reading Challenge 2011

The awesome Books and Movies blog is hosting this year's Ireland Reading Challenge. To participate, you just have to commit to reading books about Ireland and/or by Irish authors sometime in 2011. I have a whole month of Irish reading planned for March, 2011, so this challenge is perfect for me. Among the things I'd like to read are:

The Matchmaker of Kenmare, by Frank Delaney,
Skippy Dies, by Paul Murray,
The Dork of Cork, by Chet Raymo,
The Midnight Choir, by Gene Kerrigan,
The Outside Boy, by Jeanine Cummings, and more.

I have a small stash of Irish books just waiting for something like this; I'm going to read as much as I can in March but I'm sure I'll be reading all year long here and there.

I'm so excited to be participating! Thanks to Books and Movies for hosting