The Secret Scripture, by Sebastian Barry; Penguin Books, 2009 Reviewed by a library patron
I highly recommend The Secret Scripture, a deeply sad story...with a (mostly) happy ending. You just can't beat the Irish for individual human 'experience' and writing quality. Sebastian Barry, a contemporary Irish writer, uses two contradictory narratives against each other in an attempt to solve the mystery of a 100-year-old Roseanne McNulty, a mental patient locked up for decades in an asylum in western Ireland. Mystery, corruption, tragedy, emotion--this book has it all. I also recommend Richard Yates' Revolutionary Road. This novel has a difficult subject matter, but is well worth the read. It has excellent development of the characters through their various responses to a profound and sudden tragedy. On the flip side, I cannot recommend All Other Nights, by Dara Horn. All in all, I found this book somewhat disappointing. The use of a race and religion through a Jewish-American viewpoint during the Civil War seemed like an interesting premise, but the novel turned out to be nothing special.
I highly recommend The Secret Scripture, a deeply sad story...with a (mostly) happy ending. You just can't beat the Irish for individual human 'experience' and writing quality. Sebastian Barry, a contemporary Irish writer, uses two contradictory narratives against each other in an attempt to solve the mystery of a 100-year-old Roseanne McNulty, a mental patient locked up for decades in an asylum in western Ireland. Mystery, corruption, tragedy, emotion--this book has it all. I also recommend Richard Yates' Revolutionary Road. This novel has a difficult subject matter, but is well worth the read. It has excellent development of the characters through their various responses to a profound and sudden tragedy. On the flip side, I cannot recommend All Other Nights, by Dara Horn. All in all, I found this book somewhat disappointing. The use of a race and religion through a Jewish-American viewpoint during the Civil War seemed like an interesting premise, but the novel turned out to be nothing special.
No comments:
Post a Comment