the blackwater lightship

there's a bunch of second-hand bookshops in the nearest town
the kind of shop traditionally i had not frequented much
but these days books come from either libraries or recycled
which is fine by me as it means no or less reason to accumulate 'em
and even more reason to take a punt on a book with little to go on
case in point being the blackwater lightship by colm toibin
an irish author based in dublin writing in this case an irish story
we shall be reading and living with the blackwater lightship in 20 years
so reads a bold statement on the cover from the independent on sunday
along with a heading stating shortlisted for the 1999 booker prize
the synopsis on the back cover read ok and so the $5 changed hands
this novel is about a now grown-up dysfunctional family
sister helen is now a successful school administrator
married to hugh with a couple of young boys of her own
her younger brother declan is gay and has fallen ill
their estranged mother lily is a career woman
her own mother lives alone in coastal ireland
close to a place called the blackwater lightship
it is at the grandmother's place that the family gathers
including a couple of male friends of brother declan
so the book is set up with 6 quite disparate people under 1 roof
3 males, 3 females, 3 generations, old and new relationships
before long it becomes apparent that declan has aids
and his illness dominates proceedings in the house
as he is tended to and some old family issues re-surface
seems the 2 siblings were dealt with cold-heartedly
when their own father died of cancer when they were young
leading to a real resentment to and detachment from their mother
which really is what the book seems to be wanting to highlight
that the treatment of children is formative for their own lives
the issue of aids is dominant but reactions to his illness seem odd
leading to a check of the year that the book was set in
i could not form an affinity with any of the characters
and the 3rd person narration got to be quite annoying
mostly short sentences prefaced with he/she said/did
not an endearing writing style to encourage re-reading
i think i must have missed something in this one
i kept waiting for something appealing to develop
even expecting an inkling to get back to ireland one day
but the charm of that country and it's residents was lacking
as the end of the book drew nearer i'd given up
there was not going to be any big revelations
it became a case of get through it quickly
even the climax to me was a letdown
which was actually quite a relief
no big surprises with the ending
nothing missed along the way
anyway take the good with the bad
back to the second-hand bookshop we go
i'm sure someone else will pick it up and love it
but it don't come highly recommended from me
beware the quotes of critics on back covers
his prose rises to heights of extraordinary beauty
this is the most astonishing piece of writing
lyrical in its emotion and spare in its construction
yup - definitely missed something
nevermind - over