October 2021 Group Read Discussion: The Ghosts of Belfast by Stuart Neville

[Bill]

This is the thread for discussing The Ghosts of Belfast by Stuart Neville. CBRetriever will moderate the discussions.

Enjoy. A separate thread will be set up for spoiler comments.

[CBRetriever]

ah, welcome to Northern Ireland and the tale of 12 ghosts

Rhis book as two different titles depending on where you live:

The Ghosts of Belfast (US Name) The Twelve UK/Ireland name).

I'm not sure what it's called in other countries but on amazon.fr, it's sold under both names in hardcopy and as The Twelve in Kindle format (ditto for amazon.de).

At one time it was slated to be made into a movie starring Pierce Brosnan, but it looks like the plans never cam to fruition.

Interview with the author here:

https://www.npr.org/2013/06/17/191318...

I found this to be an extremely noir crime book (it's not a mystery)

[CBRetriever]

the culture seems to be almost more segregated than the US B&W cultures in the US.

[Icewineanne]

CBRetriever wrote: "ah, welcome to Northern Ireland and the tale of 12 ghosts

Rhis book as two different titles depending on where you live:

The Ghosts of Belfast (US Name) The Twelve U..."

Thanks for the link CBR

[CBRetriever]

I'm reading The Twelve as that's the one I bought when I lived in France

[Suzy]

I plan to join the discussion on this one as well as The Cold, Cold Ground. I will listen - it has the same narrator as TCCG, who is terrific IMO. I need to finish up a couple of hours on another book and then will start this.

[CBRetriever]

could we please have a spoiler thread for this book as well?

tyia

[Suzy]

Dropping back in to say I've read about 20% of this and I don't think I have the stomach for it right now to go further. I might revisit in the future since I bought the audiobook and I see it's well-rated, but not in the mood for this at the moment.

[Jan C]

That may have been what happened to me. But I think I was further along, like 60% or something. I put it down for a number of years and only picked it up when it became a group read. And discovered that I was mostly done. I was glad that I picked it back up.

[Suzy]

Jan C wrote: "That may have been what happened to me. But I think I was further along, like 60% or something. I put it down for a number of years and only picked it up when it became a group read. And discovered..."

I do think I could read it if in the right mood. After reading The Cold Cold Ground for the other group read, I think this was just too much!

[CBRetriever]

this one is way more noir and w/o much humor in it.

[Janice (JG)]

I've had this one on hold at the library but hadn't made my mind up yet about reading it. I'm interested in the complications of the Troubles, but I've read several reviews of this novel that say they couldn't abide the hopelessness. As I've said, I haven't read it, but with that information and the responses of CBRetriever and Suzy, I think I will forego this read for now.

[Suzy]

Janice (JG) wrote: "I've had this one on hold at the library but hadn't made my mind up yet about reading it. I'm interested in the complications of the Troubles, but I've read several reviews of this novel that say t..."

I really liked the other book we're reading this month, The Cold Cold Ground, also about the Troubles, but not so grim and bleak.

[Janice (JG)]

Suzy wrote: "I really liked the other book we're reading this month, The Cold Cold Ground, also about the Troubles, but not so grim and bleak..."

Good idea, thanks. I've ordered this one instead.

[Tom]

I've just started this book after finishing a reread of The Cold Cold Ground. I've had this book for years but never got around to picking it up. I, too, paid too much attention to negative reviews. Now I'm kicking myself. I love the premise of this story!

[CBRetriever]

thank you - I liked it too

[Vikki]

I actually read this over the summer after it had been on my to-read list for ages.
I'd agree that it's darker and has less humour the The Cold Cold Ground but I also really enjoyed this book. Perhaps it's the local setting and my interest in the Troubles that made it appealing to me. This one is set much more recently than TCCG but does show that there are still tensions and problems, that paramilitaries haven't gone away. It wasn't quite what I was expecting but I enjoyed it and would recommend giving it a go.

[Vikki]

CBRetriever wrote: "the culture seems to be almost more segregated than the US B&W cultures in the US."

It depends on the area, some places are more "us and them" than others. There are different schools depending on religion right across the country, some sports are considered very much Catholic sports etc. But in my area, there are no housing estates that are very specifically one religion or the other and most people live peacefully in my hometown.

[CBRetriever]

Vikki wrote: "CBRetriever wrote: "the culture seems to be almost more segregated than the US B&W cultures in the US."

It depends on the area, some places are more "us and them" than others. There are different ..."

that's good to know - I visited Ireland and Northern Ireland in either 2011 or 2012 and I remember that on a tour that went through Belfast, the guide really pointed out all the segregation and the walls. It's a beautiful country and I very much enjoyed my trip which was a bit of exploring on my own and taking some day tours run by a outdoor type of company (Cliffs of Moher, Giant's Causeway, the Byrrent, etc)

[Vikki]

CBRetriever wrote: "Vikki wrote: "CBRetriever wrote: "the culture seems to be almost more segregated than the US B&W cultures in the US."

It depends on the area, some places are more "us and them" than others. There ..."

Good to hear that you enjoyed your trip! The segregation is much more prevalent in places like Belfast, Londonderry etc.

[Tom]

I'm glad I chose to read both. Cold, Cold Ground takes place during the Troubles whereas this book takes place in this century and looks back on the Troubles, simultaneously highlighting how much has changed but focusing on those still haunted by past.

[Richard]

A very dark, very violent read; but it was also deeply philosophical. What a pleasure to get this into my eyeholes at last.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[aPriL does feral sometimes]

Finally the library hold came through! Reading it now.