74th out of 129 books
—
382 voters
Centuries of June: A Novel
Keith Donohue has been praised for his vivid imagination and for evoking “the otherworldly with humor and the ordinary with wonder” (Audrey Niffenegger). His first novel, The Stolen Child, was a national bestseller, and his second novel, Angels of Destruction, was hailed as “a magical tale of love and redemption that is as wonderfully written as it is captivating” (Pittsbu...more
Hardcover, 352 pages
Published
May 31st 2011
by Crown
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This unique novel mixes surreal lit fic and dreamy historical fiction to make a (mostly) compelling story about love, loss, responsibility, and moving on. The reader and the unnamed narrator are plunged immediately -- from the first paragraph -- into the same confusing mystery: what happened to him and who are all these people in his bathroom?
Strangely I feel ambivalent toward this novel even though it hits so many elements I like in a book: fascinating heroines, literary references, story-withi...more
Strangely I feel ambivalent toward this novel even though it hits so many elements I like in a book: fascinating heroines, literary references, story-withi...more
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Keith Donohue is a new-to-me author, though I have The Stolen Child sitting on my shelves (and it's been sitting there for a while now). But I couldn't turn down the opportunity to check out his latest, Centuries of June. I mean, the blurb had me at "black comedy about a man who is attempting to tell the story of how he ended up on the floor with a hole in his head"... How do you turn down something like that?
I will admit to reading this slowly at first. Really slowly... In fact, it probably too...more
I will admit to reading this slowly at first. Really slowly... In fact, it probably too...more
Good clear writing, confusing plot.
It is the middle of the night and Harry finds himself on the bathroom floor with a hole in the back of his head. When he gets up off the floor, he faces an old man who seems very familiar and yet he cannot place how he knows the old man. One good thing about the old man is that he keeps a Tlingit woman from bashing in Harry's skull. In order to explain why, Yeikoo.shk tells a story about her husband, a man who could transform into a bear.
Although Harry cannot...more
It is the middle of the night and Harry finds himself on the bathroom floor with a hole in the back of his head. When he gets up off the floor, he faces an old man who seems very familiar and yet he cannot place how he knows the old man. One good thing about the old man is that he keeps a Tlingit woman from bashing in Harry's skull. In order to explain why, Yeikoo.shk tells a story about her husband, a man who could transform into a bear.
Although Harry cannot...more
Centuries of June is set in the bathroom of Jack's home. Jack finds himself dying on his bathroom floor and is visited by a trail of women who all have tales to weave for him. These tales take place over a course of time spanning from pre-Colombian times to present, including stories from the Salem witch trials, Southern Gothic, and Native American folklore and mythology. Jack begins inserting himself into the stories, and he finds that the women seem to be familiar to him. While the stories the...more
When Jack falls, naked, in his bathroom, he cracks his head open and starts to bleed to death. When he comes to, he isn't quite sure what's going on, other than the fact there are eight naked women lying in his bed. Confused and disoriented he goes back to the bathroom and meets an old man, who he thinks is his deceased father. Over the course of an untold amount of time, though the clock never changes from 4:52 am, Jack is visited by seven of those women while he is still in the bathroom. All s...more
A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by Crown Publishers to review Centuries of June by Keith Donohue. Although Mr. Donohue has published two other novels, The Stolen Child and Angels of Destruction, I was not familiar with him. I am always thrilled and excited to read new authors so I readily accepted.
It is difficult in this age of instant gratification and self publishing to find original and intriguing stories. You know how it is you pick up a book and start reading an instantly know you ha...more
It is difficult in this age of instant gratification and self publishing to find original and intriguing stories. You know how it is you pick up a book and start reading an instantly know you ha...more
Reading this book was like dissecting a Dali - surreal, fantastic, with small bits of recognizable traits from "real life" but otherwise, a dreamscape when time and space don't jive. The book is a dying man's look back on history - through the eyes of eight women and a male "guide" that morphs from his late father to Samuel Beckett, to his living brother...
The man falls on his way to the bathroom in the middle of the night... as he lays on the bathroom tile, people join him in the bathroom - si...more
The man falls on his way to the bathroom in the middle of the night... as he lays on the bathroom tile, people join him in the bathroom - si...more
Having read all of two novels by Donohue now, with a third about to be teed up, I can say I really like this author. He's a smart cookie who has also got imagination and a sense of humor, and as a novelist at least he lives in a spirit filled world. He mixes absurdist whimsy with realist melancholy in a way that really appeals to me though I readily imagine not to everyone. Would it be absurd to compare his novels to the music of The Smiths here? Well, I won't yet, but an analogy is tickling the...more
This is a remarkable novel from a real talent. At first, I was confused and frustrated by the beginning, almost to the point of being ready to put the book down. However, from the first woman's story right to the end, I was entranced by the language, by the quality of the stories, and by interplay between the protagonist and these seemingly unrelated group of characters in, of all places, a bathroom. As more of the plot is revealed, we begin to understand gradually what is going on in the bathro...more
Keith Donohue's novel Centuries Of June is hard to classify. It is several stories within a story and they all come together at the end. When I first started reading Centuries of June I wasn't sure what to make of it. The lead character is on the floor in the basement with a hole in his head. Then the women start coming in. Most don't seem to like Jack very much either. But as they arrive they have stories to tell, and none of them are pretty.
Once I got over the initial confusion of how the stor...more
Once I got over the initial confusion of how the stor...more
Creatively told through mythical and archetypal tales, this third novel by Keith Donohue takes us on a funny, touching, and inventive journey through five hundred years of American history and sexual politics. A man finds himself lying on his bathroom floor with a major head injury and must endure a series of seven visitations from women who appear to have it in for him, and who may or may not have something to do with his predicament. Their stories, punctuated by his own surreal and darkly comi...more
Copy provided by Goldberg McDuffie Communications, NYC.
CENTURIES OF JUNE is the story of one man’s journey when he’s confronted with haphazardness of life. The book opens with a man, we later learn his name is Jack, who somehow falls in the bathroom and hits his head. From an awkward position on the bathroom floor, he watches helplessly as “a scarlet river seeped into the grout.” It is a compelling opening and I was curious to see what the author would offer up next.
Mr. Donahue tells an intrigu...more
CENTURIES OF JUNE is the story of one man’s journey when he’s confronted with haphazardness of life. The book opens with a man, we later learn his name is Jack, who somehow falls in the bathroom and hits his head. From an awkward position on the bathroom floor, he watches helplessly as “a scarlet river seeped into the grout.” It is a compelling opening and I was curious to see what the author would offer up next.
Mr. Donahue tells an intrigu...more
“Centuries of June” by Keith Donohue is a fictional book where a man meet his past consorts. The book’s timeline is irrelevant since it compromises of several unrelated tales which all have a common denominator.
A man wakes up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night. Somehow he finds himself lying on the floor with a gashing wound in his head. Another man appears which the man thinks might be his deceased father.
One by one several women appear trying to kill the narrat...more
A man wakes up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night. Somehow he finds himself lying on the floor with a gashing wound in his head. Another man appears which the man thinks might be his deceased father.
One by one several women appear trying to kill the narrat...more
You got time for a story?
Centuries of June is a novel that takes place during the wonderful, sensual month of June. My favorite month of the year. In the middle of a hot June night, a man got up to go to the bathroom and was hit from behind with an object. He fell to the floor and thereby tries to figure out what happened.
In his house are seven scorned women with a plan for revenge. Each of these women has a story and our victim must listen to their tales of adventure and woe. Each woman has bee...more
Centuries of June is a novel that takes place during the wonderful, sensual month of June. My favorite month of the year. In the middle of a hot June night, a man got up to go to the bathroom and was hit from behind with an object. He fell to the floor and thereby tries to figure out what happened.
In his house are seven scorned women with a plan for revenge. Each of these women has a story and our victim must listen to their tales of adventure and woe. Each woman has bee...more
My Blurb:
Jack awakens in the middle of the night to find himself face down on the bathroom floor with a hole in his head and he is not alone. One by one guests appear with weapons that might be the cause of the hole in Jacks head and one by one they share their tragic life stories faulting Jack as the one for their misfortune.
Is this all a dream or reality?
Lets Talk About It:
What a fantastic read!
This book was much like a who done it murder mystery dinner served up in the format of a book. What...more
Jack awakens in the middle of the night to find himself face down on the bathroom floor with a hole in his head and he is not alone. One by one guests appear with weapons that might be the cause of the hole in Jacks head and one by one they share their tragic life stories faulting Jack as the one for their misfortune.
Is this all a dream or reality?
Lets Talk About It:
What a fantastic read!
This book was much like a who done it murder mystery dinner served up in the format of a book. What...more
Jun 27, 2012
Orianne
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
started-but-could-not-finish
An Unreview: I hate to review a book I haven't really read, but perhaps that should say something as well. I managed to get about 40 pages in, but then had to question the likelihood that I would ever finish this book or, more importantly, enjoy actually reading it.
As described in the ARC I received from Crown Books -- the book is set in the bathroom of an old house just before dawn on a night in June. It's the story of a man attempting to tell the story of how he ended up on the floor with a ho...more
As described in the ARC I received from Crown Books -- the book is set in the bathroom of an old house just before dawn on a night in June. It's the story of a man attempting to tell the story of how he ended up on the floor with a ho...more
One narrator tells a story, then another narrator tells another story, etc., just like in The Decameron or Canterbury Tales. Hooking it all together is the bashed-in-the-head architect and an older man who initially seems to be the architect's dead father. The style is breezy and moves along. Good writing but the author doesn't seem to be taking himself too seriously.
I did put the book aside after 1/3 or 1/2 because the father-apparation was annoying me. But I could pick this up again someday....more
I did put the book aside after 1/3 or 1/2 because the father-apparation was annoying me. But I could pick this up again someday....more
You know, while I was reading this book, people kept asking me -- "soooo, what's that book about?" And I had a hard time with that question. The big reveal at the end of who all these women were and his relationship to them was something I saw coming, but if the author was trying to make a statement about the arc of a person's life, about how we move through history, about the mistakes we make and how we try to correct them, I completely missed it. I finished the book without understanding how t...more
Centuries of June by Keith Donohue
It sorely grieved me to put this book down after turning the last page. It is as captivating and enthralling as Keith Donohue’s first book, The Stolen Child. Donohue is a master storyteller, and he proves it yet again in this latest book. His talent is evident through his use of language, weaving a tale that keeps the reader spellbound.
Centuries of June begins in the narrator’s bathroom, which is the main stage for the central plot and all the subplots. His us...more
It sorely grieved me to put this book down after turning the last page. It is as captivating and enthralling as Keith Donohue’s first book, The Stolen Child. Donohue is a master storyteller, and he proves it yet again in this latest book. His talent is evident through his use of language, weaving a tale that keeps the reader spellbound.
Centuries of June begins in the narrator’s bathroom, which is the main stage for the central plot and all the subplots. His us...more
I won this book from READ IT FORWARD. I was really looking forward to reading this book. I am a sucker for covers, and I think this one is excellent. The cover turns out to be perfect for the book. I liked the premise of a dead man trying to fiqure out who killed him.
I would put this book on the unique shelf. It is a dark comedy that is well written with strange stories.
The setting of the book takes place in Jack's bathroom. Jack had been hit over the head and is dead. The author had seven diff...more
I would put this book on the unique shelf. It is a dark comedy that is well written with strange stories.
The setting of the book takes place in Jack's bathroom. Jack had been hit over the head and is dead. The author had seven diff...more
I feel like I should give this novel more than three stars because I really did, in the end, like it a great deal.
But I don't think the execution of its premise is as stream-lined as it ought to be. It comes off as being kind of pointlessly quirky and weird for the sake of being kind of pointlessly quirky and weird for a good long while.
In the end, once it all comes together, and just what this novel is about becomes clear, it's distinctly worth more than three stars. But I dock those stars be...more
But I don't think the execution of its premise is as stream-lined as it ought to be. It comes off as being kind of pointlessly quirky and weird for the sake of being kind of pointlessly quirky and weird for a good long while.
In the end, once it all comes together, and just what this novel is about becomes clear, it's distinctly worth more than three stars. But I dock those stars be...more
This aptly titled novel, Centuries of June, is an ambitious and surreal dreamscape of adventures through time. In a style that resembles bedtime stories for grown ups this historical fiction spans over 500 years and is filled with wonderfully colorful characters you will fear, loath, admire and love. Remarkably, the story takes place all across America yet somehow never actually leaves the bathroom of the main character's house. The author has an impressively visual writing style that makes the...more
First off, I want to say I think this book hits almost every book genre within it's pages. You've got mystery, you've got sci-fi/fantasy, you have romance, historical, etc. It hits them all in a really interestingly told story that bops between characters. The characters being the man who starts the book on the floor with a hole in his head, and then all of these women. Each character has a very different voice because they are from different centuries but are all inexplicably tied to this man....more
I listened to Centuries of June by Keith Donahue, and it has risen to one of my favorite books of the year. The reader, Mark Bramhall's ability to create individual voices for each character is remarkable. Listening to this made my long drive to and from work almost enjoyable, and I couldn't wait to resume listening to this darkly funny tale.
"Set in the bathroom of an old house just before dawn on a night in June, Centuries of June is a black comedy about a man who is attempting to tell the stor...more
"Set in the bathroom of an old house just before dawn on a night in June, Centuries of June is a black comedy about a man who is attempting to tell the stor...more
won this one!! will take it on vacation and try it out! :)
so far so good!! fascinating read about legends, myths, and history, with a bit of mystery... however, if I had read that as the description, it wouldn't entice me to read this book... so don't let the above description steer you away from this book. can't wait to see how it all wraps up!
Finished this book Friday night... it was wonderful! great pace, great premise, and a really interesting tour through history. (and I HATE history!)
The e...more
so far so good!! fascinating read about legends, myths, and history, with a bit of mystery... however, if I had read that as the description, it wouldn't entice me to read this book... so don't let the above description steer you away from this book. can't wait to see how it all wraps up!
Finished this book Friday night... it was wonderful! great pace, great premise, and a really interesting tour through history. (and I HATE history!)
The e...more
This was one of those books that makes you go, "hmm."
There's the main character, Jack, who finds himself the object of several murder attempts by women he swears he's never seen before. The attempts are thwarted by an old man who looks just like his dead father. Oh, and did I mention that this is all taking place inside the bathroom in Jack's house? Eventually there are seven women, plus Jack, plus the dead-daddy lookalike, plus a baby that grows way too quickly, all crowded in there. Each woman...more
There's the main character, Jack, who finds himself the object of several murder attempts by women he swears he's never seen before. The attempts are thwarted by an old man who looks just like his dead father. Oh, and did I mention that this is all taking place inside the bathroom in Jack's house? Eventually there are seven women, plus Jack, plus the dead-daddy lookalike, plus a baby that grows way too quickly, all crowded in there. Each woman...more
Really like this author, and this was a good book, but his debut novel, The Stolen Child, was so spectacular, and his second, Angels of Destruction, so close to that level, that this one pales just a bit by comparison. But just a bit! The great thing about this one, for me, was that there are so many stories included from so many different points in history. It's kind of like seven short historical novellas in one book. It begins with a man waking up on his bathroom floor, totally disoriented an...more
I was so sad as I read this. I LOVE Donohue's use of language and writing style in general. He makes me angry how talented he is; however, this book is nowhere near as good as THE STOLEN CHILD--it's not even as good as ANGEL OF DESTRUCTION. Much as I love his writing, his novels are on a downward slope. I really, REALLY hope his next one is on the incline, or I'm going to have to stop telling people he's one of my favorite authors.... Sad day.
This one might not have bothered me as much if it had...more
This one might not have bothered me as much if it had...more
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Keith Donohue is an American novelist. His acclaimed 2006 novel The Stolen Child, about a changeling, was inspired by the Yeats poem of the same name. His second novel, Angels of Destruction, was published in March 2009.
Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he earned his B.A. and M.A. from Duquesne University and his Ph.D. in English from The Catholic University of America.
Currently he is D...more
More about Keith Donohue...
Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he earned his B.A. and M.A. from Duquesne University and his Ph.D. in English from The Catholic University of America.
Currently he is D...more
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“The bed in which we spend a third of our lives functions as a kind of protective haven for the true self, the subconscious refuge from the assault of the external world. The bed becomes the restorative womb, where the imagination is nurtured while our resting bodies are safe.”
—
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Jul 20, 2011 07:22am