Clifford Garstang

A chronicle of a mental breakdown. This is the first thing I've read by Kerouac and I think there's more of a debt to James Joyce here than I realized.

I wasn't as well-informed about the Irish Troubles as I should have been, as it always seemed so remote and intractable to me. So this book, which is one of the best-written non-fiction books I've read–fills in a lot of details, including the names of key players and information about milestones in the history of the conflict and its ultimate resolution. It's a fascinating piece of reporting.

What a beautifully written book this is. Perhaps it is “overwritten,” as a friend of mine has said, but for me its lushness is part of its charm. It's the story of a pair of twins, Rahel and Estha (a girl and a boy, “two-egg twins”) and the rest of their family, living through the tragedy of the death of their cousin Sophie Moll, and the complex aftermath. Embedded in this story is a look at India's caste system, at the political morass, the socio-economic divide, at education and race and the role of women.
I have owned a copy of this book for a long time—I try to read the Booker Prize winners, and this one won in 1997—but I didn't get around to “reading” it until I came into possession of the Books on Tape version (which, sadly, apparently isn't available commercially). It is narrated by Donada Peters, a gifted actress, if her reading of this book is a good measure. She's fantastic. And now, having come to the end of the tapes, I'm ready to dip into the actual text.

Because of the book's popularity, I felt obligated to read it, but I'm not sure I feel obligated to read further in the series. On the other hand, my main disappointment in the novel was that it focused on the friendship of two young girls, which didn't interest me much, although the environment of their friendship–working-class Naples of a much earlier time–was quite interesting. The writing is fine, although repetitive.

The narration of the audiobook is very slooow. Eventually, I switched to the Kindle version so I get through it faster. I can't say that it brought me more enjoyment, however.

Impressive, but . . . boring.