false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170210974m/43699.jpg 43699 17 The nine stories in <i>Mothers and Sons</i> examine in depth some of the ways that the bond that is forged--or not--between mothers and their sons is altered, re-formed, or broken forever. In <i>The Master</i>, his fictionalized life of Henry James, Toíbín made the reader see and understand the writer more fully than ever before. Similarly, these new stories look at relationships between fully formed adults and, with a few deft strokes, make clear what their mutual history has brought them to. In most cases, they must deal with loss, while trying to grasp the complexities of that sometimes precarious balance between a mother and her son. <p> In the first story, "The Use of Reason," a lifelong burglar is nearly brought down by his mother, who talks too much when she drinks in her local pub. In "A Song," Noel, on the town with a group of his musician friends, ends up in the same bar as his estranged mother, who is asked to sing. She sings an Irish ballad about love and treachery and he is convinced that she is singing directly to him. In "A Priest in the Family," Molly's son Frank is accused of abuse, but no one has the courage to tell her until it is almost time for the trial. Her reaction is not entirely predictable. "Three Friends" takes place after a young man attends his mother's funeral. He joins his friends for a night of carousing and drugs ending with a late-night swim, where he is emboldened to make an overt sexual pass at one of his buddies, with interesting results. The final story, "A Long Winter," is set in Spain in a remote village. Miquel's mother drinks. Everyone knows it but Miquel. His father pours out her supply of booze and she leaves the house. So far it's a simple story. It doesn't stay that way. Each of these stories has its own gravitas, its own sadness, and that laser-beam of insight that is Toíbín's trademark. <I>--Valerie Ryan</I> 2414743 2006 Mothers and Sons: Stories total:206|5:35|4:90|3:58|2:19|1:4| 206 751 379 39 4 2 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Fri Nov 09 01:34:27 -0800 2007 Fri Nov 09 01:44:16 -0800 2007 more...]]> 5 1 false false Wed Mar 26 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Jan 13 13:52:46 -0800 2008 Thu Mar 27 11:52:47 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 0 false false Fri Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Thu Mar 12 05:50:59 -0700 2009 Thu Mar 12 05:53:27 -0700 2009
That is, many of the stories read like chapters excerpted from various novels, rather than ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Jan 04 12:41:15 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 04 12:41:27 -0800 2009 This Is Not The Second Sunday InMay Stories, 21 Jan 2007


4.5 stars
"Sometimes they're more about the mothers, sometimes the sons, but most every story in Colm Tóibón's Irish-inflected collection is expertly woven with the threads of devotion, obl...more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Jan 22 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Dec 29 13:07:40 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 22 12:39:13 -0800 2009 At his best, Tóibín's stories are very, very good. My favorites were "Famous Blue Raincoa...more...]]> 0 0 false false Thu Feb 05 09:41:17 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 05 09:41:17 -0800 2009 In his first short-fiction collection, Colm T_�ib"n takes a compelling look at the ties that bind. There are no Hollywood happy endings here, and some readers may find the lack of resolution exasperating, even depressing. Still, critics praised T_�ib"n's graceful, unadorned prose and deft ...

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Toibin's Ireland is _not_ the "happy Ireland" of the tourist books, but is a mournful place full of Joycian "The Dead" memories.

The lon...more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Apr 18 12:17:02 -0700 2008 Thu May 22 12:35:32 -0700 2008 more...]]> 0 0 false false Mon Jan 28 12:18:35 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 28 12:20:47 -0800 2008 more...]]> 2 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Jan 16 12:47:34 -0800 2008 Wed Jan 16 12:50:59 -0800 2008 ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=43699