false 3419808 19 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 the manuscript beneath the floorboards in her bedroom, she learns that Roscommon Hospital will be closed in a few months and that her caregiver, Dr. Grene, has been asked to evaluate the patients and decide if they can return to society. Roseanne is of particular interest to Dr. Grene, and as he researches her case he discovers a document written by a local priest that tells a very different story of Roseanne’s life than what she recalls. As doctor and patient attempt to understand each other, they begin to uncover long-buried secrets about themselves. Set against an Ireland besieged by conflict, <i>The Secret Scripture</i> is an epic story of love, betrayal, and unavoidable tragedy, and a vivid reminder of the stranglehold that the Catholic Church had on individual lives for much of the twentieth century. 3460278 30 6 2006 The Secret Scripture total:1165|5:274|4:478|3:293|2:96|1:24| 1165 4377 2501 398 4 6 false false Tue Jan 13 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Jul 29 08:08:59 -0700 2008 Wed Jan 14 11:20:28 -0800 2009
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 r...more...]]> 4 6 false false Mon Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 04 08:23:09 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 04 08:27:34 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 3 false false Fri Jan 30 06:01:13 -0800 2009 Sat Feb 07 14:53:20 -0800 2009 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...more...]]> 5 3 false false Fri Jul 25 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Jul 21 12:57:13 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 25 08:50:48 -0700 2008
This ranks up there as one o...more...]]> 5 3 false false Fri Feb 27 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 27 17:14:56 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 27 17:19:54 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 4 false false Thu Sep 24 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 07 12:38:53 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 25 07:58:29 -0700 2009
Ireland too, of course.

We're all innocent Roseanne, locked up in an asylum for decades for no reason, or be...more...]]> 5 1 false false Mon Mar 23 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Mar 19 14:05:14 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 23 07:39:05 -0700 2009
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 ps...more...]]> 3 1 false true Tue Mar 24 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 24 02:22:54 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 24 02:52:18 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 1 false false Wed Jan 07 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 07 05:57:14 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 07 06:07:04 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Dec 05 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Jan 04 09:19:16 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 04 09:22:00 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Nov 20 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Nov 21 17:03:27 -0800 2008 Fri Nov 21 17:06:23 -0800 2008 more...]]> 2 2 false false Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Nov 21 09:04:23 -0800 2008 Fri Nov 21 09:22:01 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Oct 19 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 19 18:47:30 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 19 18:58:45 -0700 2009 The story concerns an old woman committed for most of her life to an Irish mental insti...more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Aug 10 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 11 06:36:08 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 11 06:52:27 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Jun 26 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 27 04:00:29 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 27 04:15:41 -0700 2009
I think that part of the reason I enjoyed this so much dates to my 25-years-ago obsession with James Joyce. Not only...more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 05 21:45:06 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 05 21:54:01 -0700 2009 1. Sebastian Barry is the master of literally breathtaking prose, sentences that are so beautiful that you kind of stop breathing while you're reading them and then the lack of oxygen starts to take its toll and you have to put the book down becaus...more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri May 22 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri May 22 12:30:24 -0700 2009 Fri May 22 12:31:10 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed May 13 12:59:28 -0700 2009 Wed May 13 12:59:51 -0700 2009 This book is now available in paperback, published by Faber and Faber and its ISBN is: 0571215297. It was short listed for the man Booker Prize 2008 and won the Costa Book of The Year 2008. It is literary Irish fiction at its bes...more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Oct 09 09:04:30 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 11 08:45:30 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 2 false false Sat Apr 25 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 23 04:34:40 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 26 02:22:17 -0700 2009
The Secret Scriptures contains two of the most memorable images I've come across in a long while - the last resting place of the clock hands and the three different versons of Galileo's leaning tower experiment.

It also c...more...]]>