false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170258925m/44309.jpg 44309 7 The Derry of poet Seamus Deane's first novel, <I>Reading in the Dark</I> is a perilous place. Ghosts haunt the stairwells of apartment buildings, a curse follows two families down through the generations, close friends turn out to be police informers, and the police are as likely to persecute an innocent man as protect him. And hovering over all the violence, poverty, and despair of 1940s Northern Ireland is the specter of the "Troubles." The hero of the novel is an unnamed young man whose life turns upside down when a policeman frames him. Deception becomes his only means of self-defense. But the initial lie on the part of the policeman and the narrator's corresponding trickery are only part of the tangled web Deane weaves here. Early in the novel we learn that Uncle Eddie, an Irish Republican Army gunman, was blown up in the town distillery in 1922. In addition to sorting out his own problems, the narrator seeks the truth about his uncle's death. <P> <I>Reading in the Dark</I> sounds grim, and in some respects it is, yet leavening is provided by infusions of the Irish folktales and legends that inform the characters' daily life. And then there is the language. Deane is a poet, and his prose shows it: sex is like fire, "glinting with greed and danger"; ice snores and candles are swathed in a "thick drapery of wax." Readers looking for a thoughtful, serious, and beautifully written novel will find one in <I>Reading in the Dark.</I> 1931119 24 2 1996 Reading in the Dark: A Novel total:293|5:8|4:5|3:1|2:1|1:0| 293 1107 434 42 4 2 false false Sun Aug 03 03:59:22 -0700 2008 Sun Aug 03 04:00:49 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Thu Apr 16 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri May 02 07:22:18 -0700 2008 Thu Apr 16 19:21:07 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 2 false false Wed Mar 17 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Tue Feb 12 09:00:58 -0800 2008 Tue Feb 12 09:00:58 -0800 2008 more...]]> 2 1 false false Tue Sep 25 08:04:31 -0700 2007 Sat Oct 06 14:32:28 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 1 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2001 Sat Aug 18 02:55:47 -0700 2007 Sat Aug 18 03:09:05 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 1 false false Mon Sep 01 15:29:31 -0700 2008 Mon Sep 01 15:29:51 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 1 false false Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Nov 05 08:14:09 -0800 2008 Wed Nov 05 08:16:26 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Thu May 24 02:19:44 -0700 2007 Wed May 30 09:11:05 -0700 2007
This is marvellous. Moving, sensitive but not at all slushy or saccharin. It is tender, haunting, and left me feeling quite emotionally fragile after finish it. Ah, Seamus Deane]]> 5 1 false false Thu Aug 28 09:02:26 -0700 2008 Thu Aug 28 09:07:30 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Wed Oct 28 13:34:41 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 28 13:34:41 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 2 false false Sat Dec 29 16:10:19 -0800 2007 Sat Dec 29 16:11:11 -0800 2007 4 0 false false Sun May 24 11:44:40 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 30 13:58:14 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 20 06:19:49 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 20 06:26:36 -0700 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Sun Oct 11 19:45:40 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 11 19:48:06 -0700 2009 5 1 false false Thu Feb 05 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 01 14:42:41 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 06 15:15:18 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Sun Dec 07 10:55:36 -0800 2008 Sun Dec 07 10:56:19 -0800 2008 3 0 false false Sat May 16 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 29 23:32:26 -0700 2009 Mon May 18 11:12:03 -0700 2009
I liked the style of writing. Each chapter was a particular story and how it related to the entire novel. It spanned over the course of maybe thirty years. ]]> 4 0 false false Mon Apr 13 13:08:10 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 13 13:08:41 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Thu Mar 26 13:30:08 -0700 2009 Thu Mar 26 13:30:47 -0700 2009 ]]> 3 0 false false Tue Jul 14 10:35:27 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 09 18:54:51 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 14 10:35:27 -0700 2009
Second review. I just finished. I just can't like this book. It's sorrowful. It's beautiful. It's a lot of things, but...more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=44309