In 1950, Katherine Proctor leaves Ireland and her family for Barcelona, determined to become a painter. There she meets Miguel, an anarchist vetera...
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Jun 26, 2010
Fence
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Colm Tóibín has recently been in the news for his new book, The Master which tells the story of Henry James, and is supposedly very good. I haven’t read it, so I don’t know :) But the publicity did encourage me to pick this book up when I spotted it in the library
His first novel, it tells the story of Katherine Procter who leaves her life in Ireland for Spain, leaving behind her husband and son as well as Enniscorthy. In Spain she finds romance, and a new life as an artist, but is cons More...
His first novel, it tells the story of Katherine Procter who leaves her life in Ireland for Spain, leaving behind her husband and son as well as Enniscorthy. In Spain she finds romance, and a new life as an artist, but is cons More...
Mar 23, 2011
Jay
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“The South” is Colm Tóibín’s first novel, published in 1990 when he was 35. It traces Katherine Procter from her flight from Ireland in 1950 to her eventual reconciliation with her own demons in 1972. In the years in between, she finds love with a Catalan anarchist in the remote reaches of the Spanish Pyrenees. The novel’s themes—exile, solitude, apartness, loss and death—are the very ones that will occupy Tóibín starting with this novel and including his most recent work, “The Empty Family”.
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Apr 01, 2010
Dwhren
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Colm Toibin is actually coming to speak at the library where I work in a few weeks so I am trying to make it through some of his works before the event. I read The Master years ago, but am trying to read some of his other works as well. The South takes places during the 1950s and 1960s in Ireland and Spain. The story follows a woman named Katherine who leaves her husband and 10 year old son and moves to Barcelona where she meets a fellow artist named Miguel who she quickly develops a lasting
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Aug 28, 2011
Sandra
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I read my first Colm Toibin novel (Brooklyn) a few months ago and am a complete convert. The South was his first published fictional novel and he shows many of the concerns of his later work in this earlier one. There is a female protagonist, there are life changes, displacements and moves away from, and back to, home. Enniscorthy features again and helps Katherine Proctor reach conclusions about her life, as well as being a place where she renews relationships. Katherine travels, physically
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Aug 19, 2009
Rick
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Toibin’s first novel, published in 1990, is a story of an Irish artist in self-exile in 1950s Spain, told in crisp, stoical prose that nonetheless achieves a stark, insightful beauty. Katherine Proctor leaves her husband and son to go to Barcelona where she takes up with a Catalan painter and a former resistance figther against Franco. Toibin, an Irish writer, knows Spain well enough not to overburden his story with postcard descriptions or name dropped landmarks and is skilled enough to make h
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Jun 28, 2010
Teresa
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It was interesting to see how themes in this novel, Toibin's first, are ones that were developed to much greater effect in his later works. (Henry James and the Blackwater lightship even get glancing mentions here.)
I wonder if I'd read this Toibin first, if I would've gone on to read more by him on my own. Maybe not. Or perhaps it's just that I've been spoiled by his later works that I feel this way now. Because while there are sections in this novel that grabbed me momentarily, I n More...
I wonder if I'd read this Toibin first, if I would've gone on to read more by him on my own. Maybe not. Or perhaps it's just that I've been spoiled by his later works that I feel this way now. Because while there are sections in this novel that grabbed me momentarily, I n More...
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Feb 03, 2011
Agatha
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Aug 30, 2008
Nick
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For far too long, lovers of the visual arts have been able to claim superiority over literature lovers with the phrase "A picture paints a thousand words". This book is sweet revenge. Apart from the fact that painting a picture takes a hell of a lot longer than writing a thousand words, it seems we do not actually need a thousand words to describe a picture. In 'The South' Toibin presents us with the essences of a range of paintings in a cariety of artistic styles with an economy of ex
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Dec 05, 2011
Emily
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Sometimes I find myself in the mood for writing like Colm Toibin. His prose is quick and succinct. Not a ton of flowery language, not a ton of in depth character analysis, just good solid writing that's there and does its job well. A few things I liked -- the travel aspect (Ireland to Spain, oh boy), the art aspect, the sexual chemistry aspect, the history aspect (post WW2 Spain, Franco times). It's quick too -- a mere 200 pages that fly by in the blink of an eye yet leave you with something.
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Apr 21, 2010
Alison
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I didn't like this as much as Brooklyn, so if you are interested in reading some of TOibin's work, I wouldn't recommend starting with this one. The South follows a young woman who abandons her family in Ireland and takes up with a man in Barcelona. We watch as she essentially gets herself tangled up in a very similarly dissatisfying life as the one that she left. Only at the very end of the book (as she is much older) does she finally seem to find herself and feel some contentment.
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Jul 29, 2009
Sue
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Planning a trip to Spain, I wanted to find some literature and this was recommended.
Set between Ireland and Catalunya, the book conjured up good visual images of both. I enjoyed it, although I would happily have thrown most of the characters out of the preverbial lifeboat given the choice.
Set between Ireland and Catalunya, the book conjured up good visual images of both. I enjoyed it, although I would happily have thrown most of the characters out of the preverbial lifeboat given the choice.
Aug 25, 2011
kate_robi
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I loved this book - when i finished reading it i started it again and i bought if for people as a gift. I think i was obsessed with it. The descriptions of the paintings and making the paintings are wonderful. Its emotional depth is extraordinary - but that's Mr Toibin for you
May 07, 2009
Vanessa
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Been meaning to read this author. This is his first novel. I'm really enjoying it so far. The protagonist is a woman who leaves her husband and son in 1950 to paint in Spain. It's hard to like her, but I want to see what she does next.
Dec 15, 2011
Rosebud
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Travels in Spain to escape a bad marriage and history only to end up in the midst of more terror and death. Interesting comparisons between 2 countries and their history of terrorism and the people who try to survive. Too many abandoned children.
Jun 29, 2010
Linda
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Colm Toibin writes of a young woman dissatified with her marriage, who leaves husband and child to live and paint in Spain. Her life in Spain is not idyllic and eventually she returns to Ireland. During the entire book there are wonderful descriptions of her paintings.
Oct 12, 2009
Hal
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Beautifully atmospheric, but I just couldn't get involved, whether due to unsympathetic characters or non-suspenseful plot or whatever.
Jul 28, 2011
Catherine
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I would be interested in the thoughts of others who read this. Through much of the book, the protagonist was exasperatingly self-focused and self-indulgent. As a mother, I found her indifference to her own children painful and maddening.
Jan 23, 2010
Catherine
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Lovely, minimalist writing, and in the end, quite moving. The South is the story of Katherine Proctor, who flees her husband and her Irish home for Spain, where she becomes a painter and the lover of an anti-Franco artist named Miguel. Spanning several decades of Katherine's life, the novel traces both small moments and large-scale political happenings, and shows their impact on human lives.
Aug 18, 2008
Doogyjim
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Toibin's debut novel stakes out his future literary territory with grace, restraint and power. Many of his future recurring themes are here. A homecoming, parent/child relationships, religion, Spain and, of course, Ireland. It's a sparse, controlled novel with a cumulative power. As much about what people don't say as what they do.
Feb 03, 2011
Maureen
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http://www.amazon.com/South-Colm-Toibin/...
While the book is set in The South, the Spain in question is as repressive and heavy as the Ireland the protaganist left.
While the book is set in The South, the Spain in question is as repressive and heavy as the Ireland the protaganist left.
Dec 17, 2009
Sarah
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I read this book in the "winter of my loneliness" when I was exiled in North Carolina. The bleak starkness of the prose complimented my mood and the fact that the heroine has fled Ireland for the harsh climes of Spain resonated.
Mar 23, 2011
Kelly
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This was definitely okay enough for me to try Brooklyn.
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Feb 06, 2012
