Book Club #1: "A Long, Long Way". Now with Plot details (not necessarily hidden)

tbh

Hi everyone,

the first book up for discussion is A Long, Long Way by Sebastian Barry.

Please use this thread for discussion of the book.

Please: Do NOT refer to any aspect of the plot until 07 September 2009. This gives everyone a week to read the book. Please do not mention any aspect of the plot until after that date.

After 07/09/09, please use spoiler text to mask any plot details. You can use spoiler text by using the [noparse]

text

tags [/noparse]

like this

Enjoy!

tbh

I'm delighted we're doing this book first, and I can't wait to hear what you all thought of it. I found it was a book you can go back to over and over again. The plot if great, but the writing is superb - you can just pick a couple of pages to read, and the language is enough to give you a literature fix. Not going to write anymore for the moment, cause I'd give plot details away. Post your initial reactions here, but no plot details!

Snowie

will I like this book?
I dont mean to sound odd but i useually like reading about drugs and smuggling of booth people and drugs and chefs that well i guess you get me

but il pop into easons tomorrow and get it

tbh

I hope you will, it's not all flowers and poetry but! let's keep this thread just for people who've read/are reading it, and keep the general discussion in the main BC thread.

While I love this concept, it has the potential to be difficult to organise, so lets try to keep things simple for the moment.

Gran Hermano

Nice choice for first book, just went to order and noticed Amazon's crazy shipping charge means the cost is nearly doubled. Play UK have it for €8 delivered.

Fajitas!

I'll pick this up in the morning, I've at least 24 hours worth of train journeys in the next 5 days.

whatawaster

bought the book today and i'm really liking it so far

Will

picking it up tomorrow in town

Dord

Just ordered it from Amazon about 10 seconds ago. Hopefully I'll have it early next week sometime.

How long do we have to read it?

tbh

we'll start the discussions in about a week, but whenever you get done is fine. I'm not sure if the threads will be locked or anything..

Will

got the book today in hodgs figgis for €9. will give my opinion of it later once i get some reading out of the way

Will

Have to say i'm not a fan of the writing thus far :-/ seems very school boyish, a lot of repitition of words and descriptions. Only 30 pages in but thus far not too impressed. Maybe I just need to get into it more

trout

I only ordered it today ... I have no agenda or impression of the book/author; I am in a state of splendid ignorance

So ... this better be the best book evar!

tbh

oh ****! pressure!

Will, the language is a device. You have to work at it a little bit, but the payoff is that it draws you deeper into the story. You get more immersed.

Darr3nG

Finished Part I last night.

So far... meh! Good enough story, but not the easiest read.

I can see what the author is trying to do with the language. That's fine for conversation or if some character was telling the story. Trying to read it, is very off-putting.

From the Penguin Reading Guide:

You are obviously very sensitive to the music inherent in language and in the rhythms of speech. Do you think the ways in which a culture uses language also affects the ways in which people think, perceive, and behave?

I do. I have to. In an impoverished society as Ireland once was in part, all things can become bankrupt and thin. But in Ireland "wealth" settled down into how people talked, as if it were the sifted gold out of the river of poverty and bad historical luck. Not always, but often enough. What is left to us as language is a rich inheritance, though it came from a poor time. The music like the language was often the music of simple things—spoons, skins stretched over frames, voice music, bones, feet beating out a rhythm. There is something of that in Irish English. But also something of that other Ireland, the flowering of eighteenth-century culture, which we often look at as being alien but really wasn't in the end. It was often noted by baffled soldiers of other nationalities how cheerful the Irish soldiers were—maybe not quite understanding the Irish imperative to keep language going, like a responsibility. Like a form of courage. To create courage. Many of the Irish soldiers were never so well fed and fit as they were after five months of training because they came from places where food and medicine were scant—but they brought their language with them like a secret wealth, a true fitness. They might have done without proper food and the like, but never the banter and lingo proper to themselves. That is why to me to confer silence on an episode like this in the history of Ireland, because it was not helpful for instance to the story of nationalism as it later unfolded, is not only an assault on a possible lost truth but on a haven of our language itself. And we would necessarily and inescapably be the poorer for that. We were used to calling these men "not Irish," against Ireland, even traitors to Ireland, but the music of their language makes that unprovable; their old music proves them, their old talk sanctifies them.

I'll finish off Part II later and see how it goes.

whatawaster

finished it today. beautiful book.

trout

I'm about halfway through ... I am enjoying it, and I will finish it ... the lyrical, rambling ah-bejaney prose is a little bit tiresome.

It strikes me as a story that's told, as opposed to a story that is read, if that makes any sense.

I find myself imagining a seanchai in the style of Eddie Linehan sitting on a stool, telling a tale. The tale is only half the story, and the lyrical, song like phrasing is actually very calculated.

How would a non-Irish person find this book ? What if English wasn't your first language ?

Dord

Just started it this morning. I'm liking it so far.

trout

Just finished it now ... I'm in two minds.

I kinda didn't enjoy it, not really "bonding" with the main character ... and yet I couldn't put it down; I went so far as to read the last few pages on my lunch break.

I will digest both my lunch and the book ... and think on :cool:

Gran Hermano

Mine arrived in the post during the week, I have a couple of hours in the
hammock with the book and several Cuba-libre planned for this weekend.

nkay1985

How did everyone get on with this lads? I'd hate for the book club to fall flat on its face at the first turn.

trout

nkay1985 wrote: »

I'd hate for the book club to fall flat on its face at the first turn.

I don't think anyone wants that to happen ... I'll give it a bit of thought this weekend, as soon as I can catch my breath ... watch this space!

Gran Hermano

Am only half way through mine, crazy in work with Q end so not getting as
much time as normal to read.

Dord

Gran Hermano wrote: »

Am only half way through mine, crazy in work with Q end so not getting as
much time as normal to read.

Aye, same with me.

nkay1985

I only started reading it Tuesday night I think it was and now only have about 70 pages to go and that's in only a few sittings. I've gotten very into it very fast without really knowing why! Ican't see why it's a great book but I've caught myself with a big smiley grin on my face on a number of occasions without realising it!

Gran Hermano

Finished the book last night and finished my weekend on a downer!

tbh

ok: Be warned, Spoilers from here on in!!!!

Feel free to discuss plot aspects etc. from now on. I think it's a bit messy using spoiler tags, so please be aware, if you haven't finished the book - any posts following this one may contain plot details.

OldGoat

When I like a book I tend to read it again. When I really like it I'll read it again and again. Think I'm up to my 15th reading of The Lord of the Rings.

I finished The Long Way yesterday. It took me a bit longer then usual but thats no reflection on the book. Overall I liked the story. It did give me the occasional pause for thought along the way, in particular the scene (if there is a scene in a book) set in the glass room with the baths. There was touch of humour here that's universal, an escallating level of banter. I didn't know the references they were using but the sence of it came across well and I think thats a credit to the author. I ended up thinking of the Monthy Python Four Yorkshiremen sketch:

"Well when I say "house" it was only a hole in the ground covered by a piece of tarpolin, but it was a house to us."

"We were evicted from *our* hole in the ground; we had to go and live in a lake!"

"You were lucky to have a LAKE! There were a hundred and sixty of us living in a small shoebox in the middle of the road."

"Cardboard box?"

"Aye."

"You were lucky."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe1a1wHxTyo

It's a form of humor that we see frequently on Boards, usually in AH.


On the down side I was put off by the Oirishness, especially over the opening chapter. It's OK for the characters to speak in the vernacular of the time but not the author. However, he eventually settled down...thankfully.
The characters were a little thin and I didn't really build up any affection for any of them and so I felt no sense of loss if they got killed off along the way. The nearest I got to a teat-jerky moment was reading papa's letter at the end. Funny how his regrets caused me more sorrow then all the piles of bodyparts.

All in all, a good book, strong storyline, revealing history and thought provoking...but it's not one I'll read again.

Will

I've tried my hardest to pick the book back up again but honestly it's a battle, i've maybe read 5 more pages and i've done my best to be open minded and let it develop but it's just not happening.

Feel as if I'm reading the old primary school books of anne and barry

OldGoat

Perserver Will. Plough on through it. Give it 5 pages a night and you'll finish it soon enough.

We'll have worse to read in the future. :eek:

Will

Yeah like the encylodpedia of russian prison tattoos if i have my way

OldGoat

Hey, I voted for getting Fajitas photography recomendation so I'll go through the russian tattoo book. Wimmin prisoners I'm assuming. :P

trout

OldGoat wrote: »

Perserver Will. Plough on through it. Give it 5 pages a night and you'll finish it soon enough.

We'll have worse to read in the future. :eek:

Ugh ... not Dan Brown again :eek:

Amazotheamazing

Didn't really like this book, half the time i felt the author was making fun of the main character for being a halfwit. It's also a cheap rip off of All's Quiet on the Western Front, which is a superior book in just about every single way, imo.

tbh

well lads, so far it seems to have gone down like a french kiss at a family reunion

sorry that most of ye didn't seem to like it, it's still my favourite book!

I just loved the way that the main characters were all just normal, decent - albeit very innocent - boys who's lives were changed for ever for the most stupid of reasons.

All poor Willie Dunne wanted to do was the right thing - he wanted to earn the respect of his dad. He thought that the people back home were supporting him, and then he went home and discovered that the people there despised him, and going back to the front, they looked down on him there too. You have to remember as well that this is the story of so many real people, people who were just like you and me, normal guys and not professional soldiers. They were lied to and tricked into signing up ("we'll be home by christmas") and when they did what they thought they were supposed to do, and they didn't even get gratitude in return. I think the last seven words of the book will haunt me forever.

Now, bring on Dan Browne!

OldGoat

tbh wrote: »

I just loved the way that the main characters were all just normal, decent - albeit very innocent - boys who's lives were changed for ever for the most stupid of reasons.

That sense of innocence came across a little too well. I appricated it during the run up to the first few engagments in the trenches but Willy never seems to lose that innocence after all the time and the trials he undergos. To lose so many comrades, to endure the horrors and yet still be a little wide eyed like an eager puppy seems a little far fetched to me. I kow it was a different time and he was living under the threat of executation for shirking duty but it still seems a little contrived.

I didn't dislike the book, it just failed to engage me.

Now, bring on Dan Browne!

/Shudder

tbh

OldGoat wrote: »

That sense of innocence came across a little too well. I appricated it during the run up to the first few engagments in the trenches but Willy never seems to lose that innocence after all the time and the trials he undergos. To lose so many comrades, to endure the horrors and yet still be a little wide eyed like an eager puppy seems a little far fetched to me. I kow it was a different time and he was living under the threat of executation for shirking duty but it still seems a little contrived.

I know exactly what you mean, but I think that it was a reflection of his upbringing - the "system" was so ingrained in him that he just couldn't accept or believe that it could be wrong. That's what stings me so much - the betrayal.

Amazotheamazing

tbh wrote: »

well lads, so far it seems to have gone down like a french kiss at a family reunion

sorry that most of ye didn't seem to like it, it's still my favourite book!

I just loved the way that the main characters were all just normal, decent - albeit very innocent - boys who's lives were changed for ever for the most stupid of reasons.

All poor Willie Dunne wanted to do was the right thing - he wanted to earn the respect of his dad. He thought that the people back home were supporting him, and then he went home and discovered that the people there despised him, and going back to the front, they looked down on him there too. You have to remember as well that this is the story of so many real people, people who were just like you and me, normal guys and not professional soldiers. They were lied to and tricked into signing up ("we'll be home by christmas") and when they did what they thought they were supposed to do, and they didn't even get gratitude in return. I think the last seven words of the book will haunt me forever.

Now, bring on Dan Browne!

All I can suggest is read the book "All quiet on the Western Front" to see what a pastiche Long, Long, Way is.

tbh

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

All I can suggest is read the book "All quiet on the Western Front" to see what a pastiche Long, Long, Way is.

ah I've read it alright, I don't think ALLW is a pastiche, a homage maybe I was just interested in the Dublin aspect, it muddys the waters slightly.

trout

I've read All Quiet on the Western Front, and other books "inspired" by it, such as Legion of the Damned (don't read it, trust me).

I don't think ALLW was a pastiche at all ... I do think the characters are awfully one-dimensional ... Willy is the innocent abroad, his father is the strong silent type, tortured by grief and the stress of his job/life/outlook. The sisters are mna n hEireann ... throw in a few noble priests, sophisticated officer types, Dub-a-lin gems, coarse militant political types, idealised parents, pillars of the community and bamph! All you need now is a love interest, preferably poor as a church mouse, but with a beautiful spirit ... oh, wait ... we have one of those too.

Ooh, ooh! I know, a plot twist! Let's have Willie's one outbreak of lust backfire spectacularly ... this is where I lost faith ... even the most innocent of us would go ape in this situation, and surely deliver a few digs ... no ?

I only realised after reading the book that many of these characters appear in other novels by Barry ... perhaps if I had read those, I'd have a fuller sense of the characters ... as it stands, I won't be rushing to read any more.

That's not to say I didn't like the book ... well ... I didn't like it, but I can see why people do. It is very well written, and the prose & lyrical language is delightful.

I would have guessed the author is a play-wright, and this strikes me as a book which would make an excellent play ... the ideas and characters are broad brush-strokes on a striking canvas of Flanders and the Easter rising. This was the most interesting thing about the book, and the least developed, in my humble opinion. I would love to read more about this experience, and it must have been a bitter, dark pill for those soldiers to swallow.

Maybe I'll pick up another book by Barry, and give it another shot.

nkay1985

trout wrote: »

I've read All Quiet on the Western Front, and other books "inspired" by it, such as Legion of the Damned (don't read it, trust me).

I don't think ALLW was a pastiche at all ... I do think the characters are awfully one-dimensional ... Willy is the innocent abroad, his father is the strong silent type, tortured by grief and the stress of his job/life/outlook. The sisters are mna n hEireann ... throw in a few noble priests, sophisticated officer types, Dub-a-lin gems, coarse militant political types, idealised parents, pillars of the community and bamph! All you need now is a love interest, preferably poor as a church mouse, but with a beautiful spirit ... oh, wait ... we have one of those too.

Ooh, ooh! I know, a plot twist! Let's have Willie's one outbreak of lust backfire spectacularly ... this is where I lost faith ... even the most innocent of us would go ape in this situation, and surely deliver a few digs ... no ?

I only realised after reading the book that many of these characters appear in other novels by Barry ... perhaps if I had read those, I'd have a fuller sense of the characters ... as it stands, I won't be rushing to read any more.

That's not to say I didn't like the book ... well ... I didn't like it, but I can see why people do. It is very well written, and the prose & lyrical language is delightful.

I would have guessed the author is a play-wright, and this strikes me as a book which would make an excellent play ... the ideas and characters are broad brush-strokes on a striking canvas of Flanders and the Easter rising. This was the most interesting thing about the book, and the least developed, in my humble opinion. I would love to read more about this experience, and it must have been a bitter, dark pill for those soldiers to swallow.

Maybe I'll pick up another book by Barry, and give it another shot.

I was basically going to come on here and write exactly what you've said, but not so well.

Like Trout, I certainly didn't dislike the book; I tore through it when I was reading it but I wasn't spending every spare minute I had reading it like I would with a book I really enjoy. I liked the language a lot but the characters are definitely too one-dimensional for the book to be truly engaging.

That being said, the end of the book did have a slight tug at my heart-strings so I must have connected in some way.

I feel anyone coming on here slating this book is being overly harsh but I can't put it up there as one of my favourite books, unfortunately.

Still, a very decent start to this book club I think. And, sure, wouldn't it be awfully boring if we all agreed.


P.S. I really agree that it would make a very good play.