Piquenique no Paraíso

by Frank Ronan

His father hanged himself when the boy was three years old, and now, as an adult, he retires from a world that he finds insupportable to the paradise of his childhood.

Genres: Fiction

212 pages, capa mole

First published June 1, 1991

Reviews

[Liam Ostermann]

(For some reason GR presents the works of the Irish author Frank Ronan as if they were originally written in a language other than English, in this case Portuguese).

"Does the world allow for true love between a man and a woman? And if not, can one call the friendship between two men love? Adam Parnell, an expatriate Irishman, and Dougie Millar, a taciturn Scott, are in different ways looking for a return to innocence, living with their wives amid the beauties of the Western Isles. Both find in each other the means to confront their childhoods - and the demons that drove one of their fathers to drink, the other to suicide - and to discover whether, once left behind, there can be any return to Eden.

"'An extraordinary fine writer...his novel is a shifting tableau of brilliance and oddities...The precise lyrical power of the prose - poetic but never purple - is a vehicle for a disturbingly dark vision, for gut punching philosophies and flashes of wit.' From Elle

"'A rich and assured look at the ways parents can sour a child's capacity for adult love...Ronan has an impressive wisdom and breadth of vision.' From Cosmopolitan

"'An absorbing novel...Ronan is a relentlessly honest, quirky and exciting new writer.' From The Daily Mail

"'Crisp and elegantly written.' From The Observer

"'Makes one impatient to see what this talented writer will do next.' From Times Literary Supplement

"'Ronan writes in an easy, limpid style; he has fluency and a light touch.' From Independent on Sunday

"'A Picnic in Eden continues in the same rich literary vein he tapped so successfully with The Men Who Loved Evelyn Cotton.' From The Times

"'Stylishly written' From The Irish Times

"'Both refreshing and often disturbing' From The Irish Press

The synopsis and quotes from reviews are from the 1991 Sceptre paperback edition of the novel.

Sometimes everything important has been said about a novel and, if I can't improve on it, I see no reason not to simply quote it. This is a novel you must read and, more important, Frank Ronan is an author you must read.

[Flor]

Este livro retrata as complexas relações familiares de dois homens: um cuja família foi afectada por um pai alcoólico e outro cujo pai se suicidou quando ele tinha 3 anos.
Mais um bom livro deste autor!

[Lightwhisper]

Não gostei da escrita, não gostei das personagens, não gostei da história e mesmo quando pensava - já no terceiro capítulo- que iria melhorar, enfim, nem o sentimento homossexual sentido por uma das personagens ajudou a despertar o interesse nas relações entre as personagens.

[Heather Browning]

This book differed a lot from what I had expected by looking at it, which I guess proves what they always say about judging books . . .

I loved the unique style of writing and found the bleak observations into love and relationships all the more powerful for how much they rang true for me. The ending felt strange, as though there perhaps should be another chapter, but in a book which is much more character- than plot-driven, the lack of a plot wrap-up is not fatal.

[Mady]

The story of two friends, before and after they've met.