Tag Archives: Colm Tóibín

#BookReview ‘House of Names’ by Colm Tóibín #Greekmyths #saga

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I have a sketchy knowledge of Greek literature lost in the mist of time, and so approached House of Names by Colm Tóibín with a sense of trepidation combined with anticipation of reading something new. As always with Colm Tóibín’s novels, the writing is exquisite but House of Names did, for me, lack an emotional connection. And I’m not sure why. Colm TóibínThe novel begins with the story of Agamemnon, warrior king, who sacrifices his daughter Iphigenia to the gods in the hope of victory in battle. However this novel is not about the king but what happens next. Tóibín imagines the continuance of the story, of Agamemnon’s wife Clytemnestra, daughter Electra and son Orestes. As always with classical literature, it is easy to find parallels with modern life, in politics, war and television. Double-crossing, lies, scheming politicians, vengeful soldiers, royal disagreements, distrustful servants, sibling rivalry, kidnapping and violence.
We share Clytemnestra’s version of the story first, told in first person and more vivid for that, as her husband murders their daughter rather than celebrating her marriage. Clytemnestra broods and plans her revenge, revenge which she takes with her own hand. But the central question in this story is who is telling the truth. Did Clytemnestra arrange for the ‘safe-guarding’ of her son Orestes and the banishment to the dungeon of her daughter Electra? Or was it her new ally, the prisoner-turner-lover Aegisthus?
The story then switches to Orestes who is marched across country to be imprisoned with a group of kidnapped boys. The title of the novel comes from this section, told in the third person it moves slower. Orestes, with friend Leander, escapes captivity and wanders the barren countryside, on the edge of starvation, until they stumble on refuge in a cottage by the sea occupied by an elderly woman. With Electra’s viewpoint, the narration switches back to first person. Electra is the most enigmatic, conversing with spirits, moving silently, observing the plotting. Is she simply a watcher, or has she inherited the vengeful nature of her mother? Through Electra we finally put together the pieces of Agamemnon’s death and the subsequent intrigue, though it pays to be patient as some things only make sense as the end approaches. Somewhere through the tale the emphasis is placed on the violence of Clytemnestra’s revenge while the event which sparked her fury – her husband’s murder of Iphigenia – becomes blurred.
I did not research Aeschylus’ Oerestia before reading House of Names and there are other reviews online which efficiently compare the original with Tóibín’s re-imagining. However I do feel that an ignorance of the original is perhaps helpful when reading a novel such as this, I was able to relax into the story without worrying about changes made and diversions taken.
Colm Tóibín is one of my favourite authors and House of Names, though an experimental read for me, has not changed my mind.

Read my reviews of these other novels by Colm Tóibín:-
BROOKLYN
NORA WEBSTER

If you like this, try:-
‘The Silence of the Girls’ by Pat Barker
‘Stone Blind’ by Natalie Haynes
‘A Traveller at the Gates of Wisdom’ by John Boyne

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview HOUSE OF NAMES by Colm Tóibín http://wp.me/p5gEM4-2NV via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘Brooklyn’ by Colm Tóibín #historical #romance

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I absolutely love Brooklyn and give it 5*, which I rarely do. For me, 5* means true excellence. There is a spareness to the writing of Colm Tóibín which includes essential detail and excludes extraneous. I would not wish a single word to be changed or paragraph to be deleted, no passages seem surplus to requirement or confusing, no characters’ names are forgotten. Colm TóibínThere is no dramatic action, no mystery, no cliffhanger, simply the story of a young Irish girl who goes to Brooklyn and what happens to her there. Yes there is romance, but not in the commercial fiction sense of the term. Romance is just one element of the story.
It is 1950s rural Ireland. It is arranged by her elder sister and a family priest, that Eilish should go to America. It is deemed she has few prospects in Ireland. Brooklyn is a wonderful portrayal of 1950s Ireland and America, the attitudes, the social mores, the prejudices.
The drama comes from observing Eilish’s every step, her every thought, wondering what she will do next. The drama is in the small things. She feels so real. I wanted to say, ‘take a risk’ and ‘don’t’ and ‘go for it’. From the first few pages I was reeled in until I could not put the book down.
This is the sort of book which, having finished it, I almost wish I hadn’t read it; only so I can re-

Read my reviews of these other novels by Colm Tóibín:-
NORA WEBSTER
HOUSE OF NAMES

If you like this, try:-
‘Old God’s Time’ by Sebastian Barry
‘Water’ by John Boyne #1Elements
‘Shrines of Gaiety’ by Kate Atkinson

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview BROOKLYN by Colm Tóibín http://wp.me/p5gEM4-1TQ via @SandraDanby 

#BookReview ‘Nora Webster’ by Colm Tóibín #historical

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Nora Webster by Colm Tóibín is such a slow burn. I came to it after reading a thriller, so perhaps that’s why the pace seemed so slow. And then I took a deep breathe and let myself sink into the deep pool of the story. Colm Tóibín Reading this book was a little like listening to my mother tell the story of her life, tiny baby steps. The everyday voice of Nora, a kind of everywoman, is so clear. An ordinary woman, she is grieving for her husband Maurice and living in a world of echoes. This is a novel about grief, living with grief, and the slow re-awakening of life. Tiny baby steps.
Nora cannot indulge her grief. For one thing, money is short and her two young sons must be cared for. Her two daughters too, though older, need their mother although they don’t think they do. Nora struggles to get through her own day in which every minute is shadowed by her loss, but life gets in the way, decisions must be made. Day to day she does the best she can, trying to get the everyday detail right but not seeing how her sons’ grief is manifesting itself. Instead she worries about paying the bills and avoiding people in the street who want to pay their respects. Tóibín has created a timeless rural Ireland where everyone knows everyone else from childhood, where the etiquette of grief is followed, where it is difficult to have secrets.
As readers we experience all of this in Nora’s own mind, we are inside her head: this is Tóibín’s real skill. It would be easy to say this is a book about the grief of an Irish woman, and not much else. And to be fair, there is not a lot of action in the first half of the book. Then, unable to say ‘no’ to an invitation as it would be impolite, Nora starts to sing. And that is the first baby step of her re-awakening.
At the beginning, I wondered if I would finish it. When I finished it, I wanted to start reading it again.

Read my reviews of these other novels by Colm Tóibín:-
BROOKLYN
HOUSE OF NAMES

If you like this, try:-
‘Himself’ by Jess Kidd
‘How to Belong’ by Sarah Franklin
‘Elmet’ by Fiona Mozley

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview NORA WEBSTER by Colm Tóibín http://wp.me/p5gEM4-1eW via @SandraDanby