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81st out of 198 books
—
157 voters
The Secret Scripture (McNulty Family)
A gorgeous new novel from the author of the Man Booker finalist A Long Long Way
As a young woman, Roseanne McNulty was one of the most beautiful and beguiling girls in County Sligo, Ireland. Now, as her hundredth year draws near, she is a patient at Roscommon Regional Mental Hospital, and she decides to record the events of her life.
As Roseanne revisits her past, hiding...more
As a young woman, Roseanne McNulty was one of the most beautiful and beguiling girls in County Sligo, Ireland. Now, as her hundredth year draws near, she is a patient at Roscommon Regional Mental Hospital, and she decides to record the events of her life.
As Roseanne revisits her past, hiding...more
Hardcover, 300 pages
Published
June 12th 2008
by Viking Adult
(first published 2008)
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A wonderful, poetic book about love and memory. Also pain, and loss, and how you can miss the most important thing in the world, even though it's right under your nose.
Ireland too, of course.
We're all innocent Roseanne, locked up in an asylum for decades for no reason, or because she happened to be born with the wrong religion, or because the jealous people around her find her beauty too disturbing. She never really knows why, but she manages to forgive her tormentors anyway, even the cruel Fr...more
Ireland too, of course.
We're all innocent Roseanne, locked up in an asylum for decades for no reason, or because she happened to be born with the wrong religion, or because the jealous people around her find her beauty too disturbing. She never really knows why, but she manages to forgive her tormentors anyway, even the cruel Fr...more
First, if you're going to read this, please don't read the goodreads description.
I can't say this with absolute certainty, having read none of the other novels, but considering what I've heard about the Booker shortlist I'm surprised this didn't win. I guess it's part of the Booker's recent campaign to honor what is "fresh" and "important" rather than, you know. Good.
This book didn't change my world, but it was good. It's made up mostly of recollections by its very elderly narrator, but the way...more
I can't say this with absolute certainty, having read none of the other novels, but considering what I've heard about the Booker shortlist I'm surprised this didn't win. I guess it's part of the Booker's recent campaign to honor what is "fresh" and "important" rather than, you know. Good.
This book didn't change my world, but it was good. It's made up mostly of recollections by its very elderly narrator, but the way...more
I really loved this book, all of it, the prose, the content, the Irish-ness of it. The words are chosen so well that they flow smoothly in telling the story. Memory is a center of the tale as is Ireland and fate as in all Irish stories. There is love and hate, war but no real peace. There is always misunderstanding, but there are occasional attempts to move beyond this.
The ending was foreshadowed to some degree but I didn't mind that at all. Once again it fits with the fateful-ness and Irish nat...more
The ending was foreshadowed to some degree but I didn't mind that at all. Once again it fits with the fateful-ness and Irish nat...more
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Sebastian Barry is an Irish author who writes with lyricism that makes his prose sing. Reading a book by Barry is a sheer joy.
Confined to an Irish mental institution as a young woman for social reasons,Roseane Cleary McNulty writes a journal as an old woman, which she hides under the floor in her room. She has been a resident in the asylum for so long that no one knows why she was committed or how old she really is. The "secret scripture" is the title of Roseanne's story of her life. While Rosea...more
Confined to an Irish mental institution as a young woman for social reasons,Roseane Cleary McNulty writes a journal as an old woman, which she hides under the floor in her room. She has been a resident in the asylum for so long that no one knows why she was committed or how old she really is. The "secret scripture" is the title of Roseanne's story of her life. While Rosea...more
5 likes · like · see review
Whew, Irish literature is always so painful to read. Brutality, cruelty, pathos, religion - set against a backdrop of famine and war. The smooth-as-fine-whiskey writing and the completely beguiling character of Roseanne - a 100-year-old woman who gives us an intimate glimpse into not only her tumultuous history but also her inner girlish self - kept me reading, even when I didn't want to know what bad thing would happen next. Dr. Grene is more down-to-earth, but he has his own contemplative side...more
14 likes · like · see review
My goodreads account shall not be a five-star fund, at least not without some explanation...
I began this book weary of the two narrators: a centennarian who has spent the last half century in a mental hospital; and her sixty-five-year old doctor. Alas, they are malleable and one need not worry about being bogged down in their unsavoury minutiae. At times, however, it is difficult to buy these two characters as authentic narrators of the sections alternately titled "Roseanne's Testimony or Hersel...more
I began this book weary of the two narrators: a centennarian who has spent the last half century in a mental hospital; and her sixty-five-year old doctor. Alas, they are malleable and one need not worry about being bogged down in their unsavoury minutiae. At times, however, it is difficult to buy these two characters as authentic narrators of the sections alternately titled "Roseanne's Testimony or Hersel...more
I thought it was very skillfully constructed and written; I reckon I might read it again; and I'd like to read the author's related book.
I think that part of the reason I enjoyed this so much dates to my 25-years-ago obsession with James Joyce. Not only did I feel, reading this, that it owed much to Joyce and resembled Joyce, in style and voice (Portrait of the Artist and Dubliners more than Ulysses, though there's some Ulysses in there too); but I also realized that I am very much at home in th...more
I think that part of the reason I enjoyed this so much dates to my 25-years-ago obsession with James Joyce. Not only did I feel, reading this, that it owed much to Joyce and resembled Joyce, in style and voice (Portrait of the Artist and Dubliners more than Ulysses, though there's some Ulysses in there too); but I also realized that I am very much at home in th...more
I loved this book. The imagery was beautiful, the narrator voices were strong and heart-felt and I just - I connected. I loved the story being told, the story that lay underneath, the mysteries that were never quite solved and even more the ones that were.
This ranks up there as one of the best books I've read in a long time - and I've read some pretty strong contenders lately!
The story is told by alternating narrators - the secret scribblings of a woman nearing her 100th birthday in a mental ho...more
This ranks up there as one of the best books I've read in a long time - and I've read some pretty strong contenders lately!
The story is told by alternating narrators - the secret scribblings of a woman nearing her 100th birthday in a mental ho...more
I just read an article about Ian McEwan in which he said that suspense is built by the withholding of information. This wonderful novel illustrates the masterful application of that principle. Complex and involving, the story is told by two narrators, and this dual narration is handled here much more adeptly and interestingly than it was by Julia Glass in I See You Everywhere. The two narrators are both flawed but sympathetic, and as their stories unfold the reading becomes intense! Highly recom...more
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Tragic and heartbreaking in that very Irish way of being tragic and heartbreaking. But also very tender and beautifully written in that very Irish style of tender and beautiful writing.
Don't let the title fool you into thinking this is about religion. It refers to a life story being written by a 100-year-old woman. No one knows she is writing it, and she keeps it hidden "like a secret scripture."
I recommend avoiding amateur reviews of the book. If you accidentally read a spoiler it will ruin yo...more
Don't let the title fool you into thinking this is about religion. It refers to a life story being written by a 100-year-old woman. No one knows she is writing it, and she keeps it hidden "like a secret scripture."
I recommend avoiding amateur reviews of the book. If you accidentally read a spoiler it will ruin yo...more
I really loved this book. It's lyrical, well written, and delves into the complexity of human emotions.
It is a two person narration. Roseanne McNulty is almost a centurian, living in the Mental Hospital. She begins to write the story of her life in Ireland. Dr. Grene, who is her psychiatrist, is asked to evaluate the patients at the Mental Hospital to see who can return to society. As her story and his story develop they become intertwined in ways that are heart-breaking and beautiful, all at t...more
It is a two person narration. Roseanne McNulty is almost a centurian, living in the Mental Hospital. She begins to write the story of her life in Ireland. Dr. Grene, who is her psychiatrist, is asked to evaluate the patients at the Mental Hospital to see who can return to society. As her story and his story develop they become intertwined in ways that are heart-breaking and beautiful, all at t...more
Nicely written prose, trying to garner pathos from a reader is a delicate thing but Barry achieves it with great ease. It is set in an area of Ireland (Sligo) which I know very well and he does manage to capture the atmosphere of that area incredibly well. This was enjoyable for me as I knew the places he refers to in the novel maybe someone unfamiliar with the area may not enjoy that aspect as much as Barry spends a lot of time describing it and the effect it has on the people. Two main charact...more
This book gripped me right from the begining and drew me in so much that halfways through the story I realised this was fiction and not a true story, the characters are great and so real, there were parts of this book that I would exclaim out loud. I would really recommend this book to anyone.
The Secret Scripture was a book club selection for the Constant Reader group on Goodreads. It was the first time I've followed their lead in choosing a novel and I will certainly look to their list for more. Sebastian Barry's use of language is beautiful.
The story tells about the protestant/catholic conflict in Ireland during the early 20th century, a setting I don't know much about. The destructive effect of the conflict on the life of Roseanne McNulty is powerful, but she handles her situation...more
The story tells about the protestant/catholic conflict in Ireland during the early 20th century, a setting I don't know much about. The destructive effect of the conflict on the life of Roseanne McNulty is powerful, but she handles her situation...more
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I raced through this in two afternoons; I loved it. The unusual, lyrical prose is mesmerising and I found both narrative voices compelling from the start. I was desperate to know more about Roseanne's story and I relished the way its details were slowly revealed, not necessarily in the 'right' order but in a perfectly controlled sequence that made the detailed events all the more spellbinding. If I had to make any criticism of the plot, it would be that the final twist of the connection between...more
Oh, oh, oh! What absolutely gorgeous writing! A whodunit with two main characters, one writing in his daybook as director of an about-to-be-shut-down asylum for the mentally, uh, incompetent, and a resident of that asylum, 100 years old, who is writing _her_ story and hiding it from everyone.
If you love language, Ireland (the patient's 100 years encompass most of the 20th century, and you'll gain some insight into recent Irish history), and can handle the leisurely pace that such beautiful tell...more
If you love language, Ireland (the patient's 100 years encompass most of the 20th century, and you'll gain some insight into recent Irish history), and can handle the leisurely pace that such beautiful tell...more
1 like · like · see review
Aug 08, 2011
Sam Woodfield
added it
I have to say I was slightly disappointed with this novel as I found the end very predictable and a real non-event. The main bulk of the novel is beautifully written, with magically portreyed characters that provoke empathy, sympathy and a whole other mixture of emotions all at the same time. I thought Barry's characters were very believable and really were beautifuly constructed. The description of Rosanne's life from 2 perspectives was also really well done.
However, mid-way through, at the fi...more
However, mid-way through, at the fi...more
The way the author created two narratives that eventually relate to each other in a surprising way was ingenius, but I had a hard time getting into this story. One part of it follows the rambling narrative of Roseanne, a 100 year old Irish woman who has much to tell about her troubled past. The other part is told by the doctor/administrator of the mental hospital where she resides. He starts by trying to relate an assessment of Roseanne, as the hospital is to be torn down and the County wants hi...more
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5 likes · like · see review
This is a book that needs to be read in as few sittings as possible. I strongly recommend that you don't keep picking it up and putting it down as I did in the middle of the book. It is a suspense story--and like all such tales, you lose that sense of suspense if your reading is constantly interrupted.
Having said that, I still think this is the least enjoyable of the short-listed Booker Prize books I've read so far (please note: it's much better than other books I've rated 3 stars, but does suf...more
Having said that, I still think this is the least enjoyable of the short-listed Booker Prize books I've read so far (please note: it's much better than other books I've rated 3 stars, but does suf...more
Elderly Roseanne McNulty is writing her memoirs, her secret scripture, as her days in the Irish insane asylum are ending. The asylum will be closing and Dr. Gaunt’s trying to weed through which residents should be let back into society and which will transfer to the newer but smaller facility. Gaunt is a recent widower and is still feeling acute lose as well as regrets for mistakes he made in his marriage. Roseanne and Gaunt begin to spend time together overtly so Gaunt can reach a conclusion ab...more
Sebastian Barry's The Secret Scripture is both poetic and captivating. I love the balance: imagery and lyricism serve the story, and not the other way around. Nothing detracts from the momentum. Set in Ireland, the novel weaves the perspectives of two first-person narrators: 100 year old Roseanne McNulty and her psychiatrist, Dr. Grene.
Roseanne has been imprisoned in a mental hospital for most of her life, and is now urgently writing her autobiography on a sheaf of papers kept hidden under the f...more
Roseanne has been imprisoned in a mental hospital for most of her life, and is now urgently writing her autobiography on a sheaf of papers kept hidden under the f...more
the epistolary/diarist style didn't really work for me, i could see why roseanne would write a personal memoir but i didn't find a valid reason for the doctor's diary, especially at the points when he was merely transcribing the written notes of others... far fetched. it seemed like a structural gimmick rather than good storytelling.
i haven't read long long way or eneas mcnulty and i found it to be a hinderance--the references to eneas in the first half were confusing. i think they were meant to...more
i haven't read long long way or eneas mcnulty and i found it to be a hinderance--the references to eneas in the first half were confusing. i think they were meant to...more
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To score a five the book really has to move me on several levels. First it has to be a good read. Second it has to be a celebration of the use of language. Third it needs to give me some insights that cause me to engage. This will often involve the worst aspect of a novel: that point somewhere after the middle of the book, when I slow down my reading because I am frightened that the book will finish, leaving me bereft and wanting more. There are probably more criteria that I use, and some of the...more
Jun 05, 2013
Inez
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Inez by:
Westbourne Book Club
A good World Book Night choice.
One hundred year old Roseanne McNulty, confined in Roscommon's Mental Hospital, near Sligo in Ireland, is under the care of Dr Grene a resident psychiatrist. She is at work on a personal narrative, the facts she withholds from him . . . the 'secret scripture' of the novel’s title. As she secretly writes, so he too prepares a journal which in the end binds the two diarists closer together than either could have imagined.
From Chapter One, The Secret Scripture encompa...more
One hundred year old Roseanne McNulty, confined in Roscommon's Mental Hospital, near Sligo in Ireland, is under the care of Dr Grene a resident psychiatrist. She is at work on a personal narrative, the facts she withholds from him . . . the 'secret scripture' of the novel’s title. As she secretly writes, so he too prepares a journal which in the end binds the two diarists closer together than either could have imagined.
From Chapter One, The Secret Scripture encompa...more
May 17, 2013
Oswego Public Library District
added it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
historical-fiction,
literary-fiction
This is a moving novel of psychological fiction set in Ireland. A 100-year old woman has a secret story with little time left to reveal it. Her kind doctor wants to help her, but is grieving a personal loss. Time is running short for both since the hospital she lives in, and he works at, is about to be torn down. Full of rich description and dialogue as well as observations about the powerful role of the church in the years of Ireland's civil war. The end has a wrenching twist that the reader is...more
A slow but compelling thriller which covers the mysterious circumstances of an interned patient in a mental hospital in rural 40s Ireland.
The supposedly "disturbed" character, Roseanne, now a hundred years old, and who has been interned for more than 50 years, is writing a secret journal in which she tells, little by little, the real story of her life.
It's a sad but smartly and touching account of an extremely beautiful young woman who is cheated by the social system of her time. A society that...more
The supposedly "disturbed" character, Roseanne, now a hundred years old, and who has been interned for more than 50 years, is writing a secret journal in which she tells, little by little, the real story of her life.
It's a sad but smartly and touching account of an extremely beautiful young woman who is cheated by the social system of her time. A society that...more
This book by Irish author Sebastian Barry was short listed for the Man Booker Prize. It was one of those books that has two time periods, contemporary and the 1920-30s in Ireland, when there is fighting between Irish factions to agree to a free state solution or to reject it.
There is a very old woman, Rosanne, 100 or more, in a mental institution who is keeping a journal hidden from all. There is a psychiatrist, Dr. Greene, who is questioning what in the world he has been doing. The hospital is...more
There is a very old woman, Rosanne, 100 or more, in a mental institution who is keeping a journal hidden from all. There is a psychiatrist, Dr. Greene, who is questioning what in the world he has been doing. The hospital is...more
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Βιβλίο αισθαντικό, γεμάτο κρυφά περάσματα στην ιστορία και την ανθρώπινη φύση είναι «Η μυστική γραφή» του Σεμπάστιαν Μπάρυ. Πέρασα καλά διαβάζοντας το, αφέθηκα κάποιες στιγμές να παρασυρθώ από το δράμα του, άλλες να ονειροπολήσω ανοιχτά και ξεδιάντροπα πάνω από τις σελίδες του.
Η Ροσίν ΜακΝάλτι είναι μια αιωνόβια τρόφιμος ψυχιατρείου της Ιρλανδίας, που σαν κάποιος να την ξέχασε εξήντα χρόνια παρατημένη εκεί μέσα και ο γιατρός της ο δόκτωρ Γκρεν ψάχνει για...more
Βιβλίο αισθαντικό, γεμάτο κρυφά περάσματα στην ιστορία και την ανθρώπινη φύση είναι «Η μυστική γραφή» του Σεμπάστιαν Μπάρυ. Πέρασα καλά διαβάζοντας το, αφέθηκα κάποιες στιγμές να παρασυρθώ από το δράμα του, άλλες να ονειροπολήσω ανοιχτά και ξεδιάντροπα πάνω από τις σελίδες του.
Η Ροσίν ΜακΝάλτι είναι μια αιωνόβια τρόφιμος ψυχιατρείου της Ιρλανδίας, που σαν κάποιος να την ξέχασε εξήντα χρόνια παρατημένη εκεί μέσα και ο γιατρός της ο δόκτωρ Γκρεν ψάχνει για...more
Com uma história envolvente e repleta de surpresas, Os Escritos Secretos, de Sebastian Barry, chega ao Brasil após chamar a atenção da crítica literária, vencer o Costa Book of the Year e ser finalista do Man Booker Prize, dois dos mais importantes prêmios de literatura.
Roseanne McNulty é uma idosa que há quase sessenta anos mora em um asilo. Doutor Grene, há décadas o psiquiatra responsável pela instituição, precisa finalizar alguns casos e analisar que pacientes podem ser liberados antes que...more
Roseanne McNulty é uma idosa que há quase sessenta anos mora em um asilo. Doutor Grene, há décadas o psiquiatra responsável pela instituição, precisa finalizar alguns casos e analisar que pacientes podem ser liberados antes que...more
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