The Gathering
September 7th 2008 22:21
Nobody suffers like the Irish. Thankfully nobody can it express like them either, which is exactly why a book like The Gathering by Anne Enright can work.
To be honest, winning the 2007 Booker Prize was the only way to get me to read this book. I feel as though I have read enough about the plight of Irish children and the terrible treatment that has been doled out them over the decades. But whether the theme as been over used or not, I still love a well written book, and The Gathering is exceptionally well written, there can be no doubting that.
Veronica Hegarty must face her large family for the funeral of her brother Liam. Out of her 11 siblings, Liam was closest in age to Veronica (11 months her senior) and his death brings their childhood back into focus as she tries to make sense of her brother’s need to destroy himself with alcohol and finally suicide. Large families do not guarantee love and warm and the Hegarty’s struggle goes back to Veronica’s grandmother Ada and a triangle of love, hurt and deception. As we know, families can be notorious at keeping secrets and ignoring the obvious. And yes, once again it is the children that suffer.
Enright has put her story together in a collage of uncertain memories, family history and reconstructed facts that Veronica anguishes over while her own marriage begins to falter. But this is what the Irish are best at, and although the whole thing just seems too bleak and torturous at times, the insurmountable begins to make just a little sense and once again the human spirit is, if not triumphant, at least doggedly hopeful.
Light hearted and uplifting it is not. But then much of life isn’t and confronting the more disturbing side of families and dealing with the outcomes often leads to the healing of such hurts. And as much as it seems that an un-abused childhood is rare these days, one cannot discount the fact that ‘child in crisis’ often makes for brilliant writing. Highly recommended on my scale.
To be honest, winning the 2007 Booker Prize was the only way to get me to read this book. I feel as though I have read enough about the plight of Irish children and the terrible treatment that has been doled out them over the decades. But whether the theme as been over used or not, I still love a well written book, and The Gathering is exceptionally well written, there can be no doubting that.
Enright has put her story together in a collage of uncertain memories, family history and reconstructed facts that Veronica anguishes over while her own marriage begins to falter. But this is what the Irish are best at, and although the whole thing just seems too bleak and torturous at times, the insurmountable begins to make just a little sense and once again the human spirit is, if not triumphant, at least doggedly hopeful.
Light hearted and uplifting it is not. But then much of life isn’t and confronting the more disturbing side of families and dealing with the outcomes often leads to the healing of such hurts. And as much as it seems that an un-abused childhood is rare these days, one cannot discount the fact that ‘child in crisis’ often makes for brilliant writing. Highly recommended on my scale.
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