I had a lot I wanted to say about this book, as I had just finished it, but then I got into a long, work-related conversation with a colleague, and now I find my brain mostly empty of thoughts where this book is concerned. That, perhaps, is a good indicator of how deeply affected I was by it. Mostly...
Like Sebastian Barry's other novels, On Canaan's Side examines the way individuals are crushed beneath the wheels of larger events and yet somehow manage to maintain a kind of dignity.Lily's father is the superintendent of police in Dublin at the time of the Irish War of Independence, which puts him...
So I'm having trouble here with the rating. This is a 3 star book in the most un-obvious way; that is that there are parts of this novel that I would rate as 5 star and others that I would give a 1 star. And so, everything must average out.First, for my complaints. I felt like Barry was just tryi...
This is the most exquisitely written book, beautiful prose, wonderfully evocative, I would give it 10 stars if I could. I have taken my time reading this, savouring each and every paragraph. I have really enjoyed his plays, but this is the first novel by Sebastian Barry that I have read, and I am lo...
On the first day after her grandson Billy dies, Lilly Bere, eighty-nine years old, starts writing down the story of her life before she intends to put an end to it.Over the next seventeen days she writes in her accounts book a story that starts in Ireland before World War I and ends in America durin...
I feel bad because I really wanted to love this book, but I feel as thought Irish writers are jut not for me. I don't enjoy the way Barry structures his sentences - his thoughts don't flow in a way that clicks with me and I just can't get into the story.
The lad knows how to unspool a yarn, that is for certain. If you're planning to read this book, I would caution you against reading long detailed reviews about the plot and characters. The story really needs to unfold at the author's pace in the proper sequence. If you have hints of what's coming, i...
It was a slow and difficult read. Slow because the prose was so beautiful that I kept re-reading some sentences over and over, difficult because on many instances, I felt so touched I had to have a break from reading.I do hope that On Canaan's Side wins the Booker Prize this year, it absolutely dese...
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