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The Gathering

By Anne Enright

(41)

| Paperback | 9780099501633

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Critics

'The Gathering' by Anne Enright

Grim and disturbing are the first words that spring to mind when describing Anne Enright's Booker shortlisted The Gathering. But admid the dark, often depressing, subject matter there are chinks of light that make the novel surprisingly witty and, in ... (read full critics)

readingmatters published on Tue, 28 Sep 2010

Intimate relations

The Gathering by Anne Enright Jonathan Cape £12.99, pp263 Big families don't feature much in novels - I mean really big ones. It's hard to think of a larger fictional brood (Letters Editor, perhaps you'd better brace yourself) than HE Bates's seven L ... (read full critics)

guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

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6 Reviews

1 person find this helpful

I was looking forward to reading this, as from the blurb plus the fact it was a Booker prize winner, it sounded like just the sort of novel I would enjoy. In fact it was a complete let down that I was glad to finish as it was so depressing. It was not difficult to read just for my taste the narrator ... (continue)

I was looking forward to reading this, as from the blurb plus the fact it was a Booker prize winner, it sounded like just the sort of novel I would enjoy. In fact it was a complete let down that I was glad to finish as it was so depressing. It was not difficult to read just for my taste the narrator Veronica's obsession with guilt over the death of her brother Liam just became somewhat boring and depressing.
The idea of reading the story of the Hegarty family, Midge, Bea, Ernest, Stevie, Ita, Mossie, Liam, Veronica, Kitty, Alice and the twins Ivor and Jem as the nine surviving children of the clan gathered in Dublin for the funeral of Liam was initially appealing as had been promised a novel about love and disappointment. A cast of potenially interesting characters that I never got to know at all, as none of them are given any personality by the narrator, Veronica.
Veronia is angry and finds fault in everything in her own life after the death of Liam the brother she was closest. Her childhood memories and imaginings of her grandparents and parents lives are all detailed, as her own sanity hangs in the balance as she tries to come to terms with the guilt and grief. Love and disappointment but certainly not from the angle I was expecting as the entire novel is a narration direct from Veronica's confused mind.
Technically a well written novel but I read for enjoyment not to get depressed. I am somewhat surprised that it won the 2007 Man Booker Prize , it is certainly not the title I would have voted for, my vote would have gone to On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan, but then I am no expert.

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Lindyloumac said on Nov 4, 2009 | Add your feedback

1 person find this helpful

I have edited the rating for this book a zillion times. Two stars, or three stars? Two seems a bit too harsh, but three doesn't seem to be quite fair for other three-starred books. I stuck with two in the end, because I didn't actually enjoy the book.
The book is actually very well written (no ... (continue)

I have edited the rating for this book a zillion times. Two stars, or three stars? Two seems a bit too harsh, but three doesn't seem to be quite fair for other three-starred books. I stuck with two in the end, because I didn't actually enjoy the book.
The book is actually very well written (not a surprise for a booker prize winner). I like her diction, her exquisite sentences that managed to create an almost real-life atmosphere, her drifting mind which is so accurate and true to a real distressed person. As I was reading the book, I felt as though there was a grey cloud hovering above me, and at times, I felt like I was experiencing hallucination (following the very depressed mind of the main character).
The thing is, this book is far too gloomy, sad and disturbing. If it is meant to be that way, then of course it's very successful.
But then it goes back to the purpose of reading. I read to be inspired. I read to be entertained. I read in the hopes of improving my language skills and mind. The problem with this book is I was substantially disturbed without being enlightened.
I don't know. I plan to reread this some other time. May be a few years later. I hope I would see another side to this book. But then I hope I shall never identify with the main character.

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Magdalene said on Apr 25, 2008 | Add your feedback

The death of her brother has brought lots of repercussions in Veronica's life, be them sad, or revealing. Numerous childhood memories flashed back from time to time in her bereavement, forcing her to face the undesirable in the past and the fear of unknowable in the future.

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Vicente Hong said on Dec 3, 2010 | Add your feedback

I've just read another review (by Magdalene) and I couldn't agree more with her. The book is very well written, but the tone of voice is too bitter, too rude and angry. Definitely too disturbing for me. Maybe that's what the author wanted to achieve but that's not what I look for in a novel. (At lea ... (continue)

I've just read another review (by Magdalene) and I couldn't agree more with her. The book is very well written, but the tone of voice is too bitter, too rude and angry. Definitely too disturbing for me. Maybe that's what the author wanted to achieve but that's not what I look for in a novel. (At least not at this particular time of my life).

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nuriape said on Jul 23, 2009 | Add your feedback

It took a while for me to get into this, the language is full of Irish terms .. and the main character is cold and very difficult to understand.

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guiltlessreader aka screamingbanshee said on Feb 22, 2009 | Add your feedback

This is a a real page-turner. Although there might be some flaws as regards the way the plot is developed, it is a book that has received positive reviews.

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gabriel2009 said on Feb 2, 2009 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback