From the Bookshelf of Constant Reader…

Milkman

Anna Burns

Start date: March 15, 2020

Finish date: April 1, 2020

Discussion: Reading List

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Reading List

* The Schedule for July through Dec. 2025
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What Members Thought

Jan 19, 2019 Ken marked it as abandoned · review of another edition

I started reading and walking at the same time when I noticed eight maids-a-milking following me and *click* went a nearby bush and *click* went a nearby tree and I said to definitely-wife when I got home first, I think I'm being watched, and second, How could this be when there are no longer maids-a-milking in the world, but it mattered not because number-one-sis told me that rumors were already flying that I was fraternizing with milky-skinned women who were not only stalking me but apparently I started reading and walking at the same time when I noticed eight maids-a-milking following me and *click* went a nearby bush and *click* went a nearby tree and I said to definitely-wife when I got home first, I think I'm being watched, and second, How could this be when there are no longer maids-a-milking in the world, but it mattered not because number-one-sis told me that rumors were already flying that I was fraternizing with milky-skinned women who were not only stalking me but apparently stalking definitely-wife because they knew that I had spoken to her of them and that she had lifted her eyebrows in wonder and said, Does your mum know? Lord, if my mum knows, that's the end of it, as she is a well-respected lady in this politically-fraught neighborhood, in fact someone who can read books that consist of giant paragraphs from Mars, in fact someone who can skip entire pages and chapters even, landing wherever and picking up seamlessly as if my narrative had no seams and I was the King of Digressions in a land that has no kings (but certainly has digressions, as I explained to definitely-wife, who immediately saw the humor in it and said, Life is too short and paragraphs are too long and there's no accounting for tastes when it comes to Man, oh Man prizes or Booker, Dan-O, prizes, and that even though you can be clever and funny in a prolix way it is bound to drive some people crazy whether the car is standard or automatic), and why do you think there are so many lactose-intolerant readers in the world, anyway? But I digress. And if you want to jump 47 pages from here, I promise that you won't really miss much anything because not much anything is happening and your job is to be fascinated, I gather, with my voice, I gather, and my maybe-stream-of-consciousness (or preciousness, or whateverness) and, honest, I'd like to wrap this review up, but I feel compelled to go on with impunity because I can and I have and there's milk to be delivered and I keep hearing that *click*-ing sound from the bushes (not George bushes, either), which can only mean Google or Twitter or possibly the Russians or their friends the Republicans are watching, and where is George Orwell of the Milk Mustache when you need him, anyway? So, yeah, definitely-wife, I am in fairness not starring this because in fairness I only made it through 100 pages, though in fairness feel I could have read the first sentence of every paragraph (as they arrived each five pages) and had the basic gist of this entire book anyway, but no, I said, that's no way to read a book, I said, even this book, I said. Other matters were more pressing, anyway, like other books with more conventional paragraphs and less patience-trying voices and maybe this is all about me and my lack of prize-winning taste and maybe it isn't and I'll have to take it up with sisters number one and two and my maybe-dog (who needs a maybe-walk despite the maybe-sleet falling outside) and, of course, definitely-wife who is always reading Sense & Sensibility and thus approving of my disapproving, or at least has been like that up until now. *Click.* ...more

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Feb 17, 2022 Renata rated it it was amazing

Have been putting this off for years, but finally dove in. So many negative reviews, and I get it, it’s not everyone’s “cuppa”. I really enjoyed the narration by Brid Brennan, and although the story was not linear, I didn’t have trouble getting wrapped up in the workings of “the community”. What a rat’s nest of rumors and gossip and nosiness! And then the every-day violence! Time to get some non-fiction books on that part of Irish history.

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Jan 24, 2019 Tensy (bookdoyen) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

The reviews of this Man Booker Prize winning novel have been polarizing, you either love it or hate it. I was forewarned to listen to the audiobook versus the print version, but having finished the novel I feel an urge to buy the book. The audio narration is wonderful and fully brings to life the stream of consciousness narrative style of the unnamed main character. Yet, this novel has so much packed into it that I feel like I may have lost some nuances by only listening and not reading the text ...more

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Apr 04, 2020 Connie rated it did not like it

Oh my, I had such hopes, but this novel was not for me.

The novel appealed to me as it focuses on an 18 year old girl living during the Sorrows (1970's - 1980's) of Belfast. The author had contrived, vague, pseudonyms for every character which I found amusing for about 3 pages. After that I found the writing, overly complex, repetitious, and tedious. The verbiage just seemed to weigh down and obviate the emotions, the fears and ultimately, for me, the story. I am surprised I finished...and event ...more

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