Eureka Street

by Robert McLiam Wilson

Romantic Ireland is definitely dead and gone. With the exhilarating Eureka Street, Robert McLiam Wilson cheerfully and obscenely sends it to its grave. Jake Jackson, his thoughtful anti-hero, finds Belfast's tragedies are built on comedy: Catholics and Protestants so intent on declaring their differences "resembled no one now as much as they resembled each other…. That was what I liked about Belfast hatred. It was a lumbering hatred that could survive completely on the memories of things that never existed in the first place." He spends a certain amount of time worrying about seeming too Catholic and an equal amount worrying about not seeming sufficiently Catholic. Sometimes, after several drinks, Jake forgets that he's not a Protestant. Each position is as dangerous, and absurd, as the other. His best friend is less torn up. Chuckie Lurgan is a chubby Methodist whose only accomplishments so far have been shaking Reagan's hand, appearing in the same photo as the Pope, and having "an intense and troubling relationship with mail-order catalogues." But Chuckie suddenly surprises Jake with his first entrepreneurial scheme. Though he's placed an ad for an enormous sex toy in Northern Ireland's "only mucky paper," he hasn't any intention of ever fulfilling an order. Instead, he follows legal protocol and sends each disappointed customer a refund check, in the proper amount, stamped GIANT DILDO REFUND. The gamble is that most people will be too embarrassed to cash them. "Chuckie smiled the smile of the just-published poet." And soon he has more than 40,000 pounds in the bank and a lust for big money. He also has a rich, new girlfriend: "He hoped his dreams wouldn't suffer from all this reality."

Jake is more preoccupied with the day-to-day. His construction site job gives him ample opportunity to consider his romantic failures and the ever-present symbols of war. There's also a new graffito that has sprouted among the various deadly acronyms. IRA, UVF, and UDA make no more sense than OTG, but at least everyone knows what they stand for. OTG becomes a puzzle to all of Belfast--is it, the authorities wonder, a new terrorist group? (Jake also notes several other phrases, FTP, FTQ, and FTNP--the "T" stands for the and "P" and "Q" for Pope and Queen. The "N" is for Next.) Despite his love for Belfast, Jake loses heart with its zealots and fanatics and, halfway through, Eureka Street threatens to slide into windy bathos. It's only a momentary lapse amid energetic, colloquial poetry and comic realism.

Genres: Fiction, Ireland, Irish Literature, Historical Fiction, Novels, Contemporary, Roman

Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Robert McLiam Wilson was born in Belfast on 24 February 1966 and studied English at St Catharine's College, Cambridge. He is the author of the novels Ripley Bogle (1989), winner of the Hughes Prize, a Rooney Prize for Irish Literature, the Irish Book Award and the Betty Trask Prize; Manfred's Pain (1992); and Eureka Street (1996), winner of the Belfast Arts Award for Literature. He is also the author, with Donovan Wylie, of The Dispossessed (1992), a non-fiction book about poverty.

In 2003, Robert McLiam Wilson was named by Granta magazine as one of 20 'Best of Young British Novelists', despite the fact that he has not published new work in English since 1996.
----from British Council site

Reviews

[Orsodimondo · Rating 4 out of 5]

TUTTE LE STORIE SONO STORIE D’AMORE



Sparsi in tutta la città, sui marciapiedi, davanti ai portoni o tra le aste delle inferriate, ci sono mazzi di fiori. In ogni angolo di strada, avvolti in carta trasparente, piccoli giardini artificiali, fiori ancora freschi dai colori vivaci, oppure avvizziti e spenti. Ogni passeggiata in città è cadenzata dal susseguirsi di quei mazzi posati dagli abitanti di Belfast là dove sono stati uccisi i loro concittadini. Quando i petali sono ormai secchi, ci si domanda chi sia morto in quel punto e non si riesce mai a ricordarlo.



Belfast, Irlanda del Nord, 1994.
Il lungo sanguinoso doloroso assurdo conflitto (guerra?) tra cattolici e protestanti, unionisti (lealisti) e repubblicani, spudoratamente e malignamente generato e alimentato dall’occupazione inglese, presentato in chiave di ironica scanzonata amicizia tra Chuckie, ciccione protestante che vive a Eureka Street, circondata da amici cattolici, tra cui spicca Jake, romantico picchiatore.
Chuckie e Jake, spensierato e ottimista il primo, riflessivo malinconico e romantico l’altro (che non per nulla abita in Poetry Street), amici sin dall’infanzia, sono la palese dimostrazione che le divisioni religiose son fittizie, invenzioni per titoli di giornale e strategia politica d’accatto.



C’è tutto quello che ci si aspetta: i pub e le birre, il fumo, le armi, i posti di blocco, gli elicotteri che sorvolano bassi illuminando la notte, gli attentati, la paura, i morti e i feriti, le vittime che sono solo numeri tranne che per chi li conosceva e gli voleva bene, solitudine e disperazione, risate e fratellanza, abbandoni (Jake è di famiglia adottiva), risse, cazzotti, povertà, ricchezza (Chuckie ha uno spiccato innato senso per gli affari, di qualsiasi natura essi siano). Personaggi bizzarri e stralunati più azzeccati del vero. Amore, sogni, malinconia, palpiti.
La vita malgrado tutto.
Tutti avvolti in una piacevolissima veste ironica. Che sa però frenarsi fino ad asciugarsi per descrivere un momento di autentica tragedia, l’attentato a Fountain Street.



McLiam Wilson alterna narrazione in terza persona a quella in prima di Jake, passa da un fresco humour a momenti lirici, la materia che racconta si presta particolarmente a questo struggente mix che tiene sempre viva la chiave emotiva.

Tutte le storie sono storie d’amore, recita l’incipit di McLiam Wilson: non tutte sono felici.
Proprio no.


Muro di Belfast: opera dello street artist MTO.

[Lorenzo Berardi · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I was 17 I was going to accept a summer-work offer from a farmer in Londonderry.

I'm not sure to remember properly what I was supposed to pick up in Northern Ireland. Might have been cucumbers. Unfortunately at that time my knowledge of the English language was pretty low, so I thought I would have picked up watermelons (known as "cocomeri" in Italy).
And I was wondering a lot about that task. Perhaps Northern Irish watermelons were smaller than the ones growing up under the warm Mediterranean soil.

I contacted the farmer via mail and he sent me a paper letter, explaining me how much he would have paid me, for how long I would have to work each day and so on. He didn't tell me anything about his religion, but I was sure that, deciding to hire a worker from Italy, he was Catholic. Being a rare example of non-baptized secularist Italian (before knowing the way to say it in English) I think I would have been a delusion for my jobsgiver.

Eventually I decided to don't go to Londonderry. But before of that decision I read all the informations I was able to find about the Sinn Féin party, Ira, The Troubles in Belfast ant the contrasts in Derry. Maybe part of my decision to don't work in Northern Ireland was influenced by what I read and watched on tv. I was a fearful boy.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, after those few weeks in 2000 I totally lost my interest for Northern Ireland. Belfast never attracted me that much and I never considered the city as a realistic option for a vacation.

Thanks to Robert McLiam Wilson (and to Jenny for suggesting his works to me) I'm considering the opportunity of giving Belfast a first chance.

This book is a blinding gem. I can't wonder why Roddy Doyle managed to put so much attention on Dublin with "The Commitments", "The Van" and "The Snapper" while "Eureka Street" didn't do the same for Belfast. In fact I found McLiam Wilson's way of writing so far better than Doyle's one. There are countless hilarious moments of humour in this book and a halo of disillusion and romanticism that makes it irresistible.

Plus, there is an unforgettable, deeply touching and yet extremely raw chapter that is very hard to forget. You will understand what I am writing about. I can confess how my cheeks got wet while reading those pages. And I understood how much McLiam Wilson loves his hometown.

Anyways.
The second part of "Eureka Street" title tells the truth.
This is really "A Novel of Ireland Like No Other".
I wished it was neverending.

[Bondama · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having lived in Ireland for over 17 years, I've always made a point of reading virtually any book by either a well known or new writer from this country. Having said this, "Eureka Street" was recommended to me by a Polish friend.. (Thanks, Mac)

This book is about love - it's a love song written to the greyest, wettest, dampest, most depressing city I've ever seen. Robert Wilson McLiam was, of course, "bred and buttered" in Belfast - to use an old Irish expression. This book is set in 1996, just at the tail end of the last edition of the "Troubles", as they are called over in this perplexing, totally unique country (Northern Ireland.) The two main characters have both reached the age of thirty, and, as the book begins, are realizing that they've accomplished little to nothing in their lives - the way they go about changing their lives is the secret of this wonderful, incredible book.

Jake Jackson is a lapsed Catholic - He has survived what was apparently a horrific childhood, to be educated beyond his "station," only to find that the only thing he's truly good at is fighting. He tends to fall in love two to three times a day, primarily with lamentable results. Jake is the narrator of this unique, hilarious book.

The outstanding character of "Eureka Street" is Chuckie Lurgan, Jake's best friend. Fat and pale, he grew up in his Methodist home, raised by his mother - his father took off long ago. After his thirtieth birthday, Chuckie makes a list of his accomplishments, and decides to get rich. In the course of the book, not only does he succeed, but he manages to have Max, a lovely American girl, fall in love with him. Chuckie's hilarious - so well drawn, and so well described --- I've met dozens of "Chuckies" in the North of Ireland myself.

I can't think of another book that I've read recently where the author is so deeply in love with the culture and the people of a city. McLiam writes absolutely beautifully - and it's the kind of beauty that sneaks up on the reader. To those of you who have not seen Belfast, it's a miracle of a book, it truly is.

"Eureka Street" is such a wonderful read -- I couldn't think of anyone I know who wouldn't completely enjoy it. McLiam does a particularly good job in separating the various groups because believe me, the people in the North of Ireland suffer from a unique insanity -- and I don't think it will ever change.

The peace is still holding up in the North, and it's a blooming miracle that it is. Almost as much of a miracle as "Eureka Street" itself.

[Cosimo · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Avevano tutti una storia. Non erano storie brevi, o non avrebbero dovuto esserlo. Avrebbero dovuto diventare lunghi romanzi, splendide narrazioni di ottocento pagine e più, non soltanto le vite delle vittime, ma anche quelle che si erano trovate sul loro cammino, l'intreccio di conoscenze, amicizie e relazioni intime che le legava a coloro che amavano, che conoscevano e da cui erano conosciute, una rete di grandiosa complessità e ricchezza. Che cosa era accaduto? Una cosa molto semplice: storia e politica erano giunte a un vicolo cieco”.

Belfast 1994, due amici che intrecciano le loro storie di romanticismo e ascesa sociale, dentro ai Troubles, al tempo del cessate il fuoco: cattolici e protestanti su fronti contrapposti di una guerra civile per una storia di sangue, desiderio e ideali. Gli abitanti dell'Irlanda del Nord sono pronti ad incontrarsi su un terreno comune, a superare gli sbarramenti, ma nessuno vuole abbandonare le armi, in attesa di un accordo. In questo contesto storico, McLiam Wilson inscrive le storie dei suoi personaggi imperfetti e benevoli, vicende grottesche e avvenimenti alcolici, sesso occasionale e sogni di grandezza; un'epica urbana e di quartiere, nella quale ognuno ricerca un altro essere umano da amare e le famiglie si allontanano in un'evasione da normalità e solitudine, che genera contrasti e ambiguità, violenza e appartenenza. Tra disavventure sentimentali e economiche, uomini e donne della working class comunicano tra loro di ragazze e illusioni, denaro e conflitti, birra e risse, scontri e manifesti, politica e identità popolare. Sopravvivono in una città che parla solo di guerra e attentati; hanno sfiducia e rancore e insieme una speranza, sono coraggiosi e incoscienti. Il racconto procede per memorie, depistaggi e coincidenze: caratteri e intrecci si presentano alternativi in prevedibilità e vivacità, per un buon romanzo scritto con onestà e narrato con meritevole entusiasmo.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

"All stories are love stories" is the first sentence of this book. It's not a love story in the traditional sense but a delicious tribute to the city of Belfast. In Chapter 10, McClaim Wilson writes, "cities are the meeting places of stories" and that is exactly what this book is about.

Set in the mid 1990's, when the "troubles" of Norther Ireland were at a fevered pitch, Jake, a rough and tumble Catholic, and Chuckie, a fat Protestant boy with big dreams, are friends. As they grope their way to maturity, the boys go through a series of adventures that are so humerous that I laughed out loud and then so sad that tears ran down my cheek. It's a tightrope between comedy and tragedy just as it is in real life and the author handles it beautifully.

Sadly, this is not a book I would have picked on my own. When my Goodreads Ireland book club selected it, I was a little hesitant. Who wants to read about the troubles in Ireland? But the book is more about living in the middle of chaos, how it is possible to go about daily living with bombs exploding around you and how people just go about their business no matter the circumstances. It's in Ireland but it could be anywhere- Afghanistan, Syria or NYC after 9/11.

One of the chapters dealt with the aftermath of a terrorism attack and it was so incredibly moving that I sobbed all the way through it.
The author states, "For the men who planted the bomb knew it was not their fault. It was the fault of their oppressors who would not do what they wanted them to do." Belfast, NYC, Sandy Hook and Fort Hood have all been victims of that thinking.

I cannot recommend this book more highly. The writing is lyrical. The story involves all your emotions and you just end up caring about all the characters. It is a perfect book.

[Makis Dionis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Το Μπέλφαστ.

Το έδαφος του βαραίνει από τους ζώντες, κ λιπαίνεται πλούσια από τους πολλούς νεκρούς του. Πλακωμενο από τις ενοχές, επαναλαμβάνει τον κακό εαυτό του σε κάθε ευκαιρία.
Σε καλεί να το αφουγκραστεις, το καθημαγμένο παρελθόν του να σου ψιθυρίζει ιστορίες στο αφτί, κ αν το κάνεις η πόλη να κολλάει στα δάχτυλά σου.

Αλλά και αγαπησιαρικο με τους ωραίους τρελούς του, προτεστάντες και καθολικούς, επαναστάτες κ φιλήσυχοι, λάτρεις του αλκοόλ κ του χαβαλε.


Η πόλη είναι ένα μυθιστόρημα

[piperitapitta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Chi ha annacquato la Guinness?

Un romanzo fatto di due capitoli: intorno a questi (l'undicesimo e il dodicesimo), il nulla.
Un nulla fatto di storielle banali, personaggi macchiettistici, situazioni in bilico fra il paradossale, la commedia romanticoagrodolce alla Nick Hornby e un umorismo inglese - pardon, irlandese - che dovrebbe far ghignare e invece, a malapena, strappa un sorriso; situazioni, quelle che raccontano le storie e le gesta dei due amici Jake e Chuckie (cattolico l'uno e protestante l'altro, ma tu guarda le combinazioni) che si inseriscono nella realtà storica della Belfast dei Troubles, degli attentati, delle fazioni, dell'IRA appena prima del "cessate il fuoco" della seconda metà degli anni Novanta.
E qui scatta l'incazzatura - mi si perdonerà il linguaggio da muratore di West Belfast - perché, mi dico, accidenti a te, Robert McLiam Wilson, sai scrivere due capitoli così belli e così intensi, così drammatici per il loro violento realismo, due capitoli di una forza e di una potenza inaudite, e che fai, me li mimetizzi in mezzo a più di quattrocento pagine di mediocrità e noia assoluta?
Vade retro, McLiam, due stelle sono anche troppe per quello che hai scritto, soprattutto pensando a quello che avresti potuto scrivere: ma chi credevi di essere, il Nick Hornby dei tempi d'oro?
Irlanda del Nerd, mi verrebbe da dire (e questa è una battuta che piacerebbe a a Chuckie. O a Jacke. O forse anche a Robert McLiam Wilson), se non fosse che siamo fermi ad appena un attimo prima: ma Chuckie e Jacke sono proprio due Nerd prima dell'avvento dell'era digitale, e il livello delle battute e dell'ironia è più o meno questo, ahimè.
Peccato, perché a Belfast c'è il mare.
Non l'avevo mai pensato, e McLiam Wilson me l'ha fatto capire, come nessuno mai, nelle belle parole dedicate alla sua città.
Poi, però, l'aria si fece pastosa, densa come melassa (lo dice persino lui), proprio niente a che vedere con lo spendore di una pinta di Guiness appena spillata, con l'emozione di un tramonto sul mare irlandese; e la sensazione di aver perso del tempo, fra situazioni grottesche e finali multipli telefonati (no, pure la doppia svolta gay no, per favore!), è troppo forte.
Che poi io preferisco le Lambic, o le Rosse, se proprio devo confessarlo.

[Carmen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The city's surface is thick with its living citizens. Its earth is richly sown with its many dead. The city is a repository of narratives, of stories. Present tense, past tense or future. The city is a novel.
Cities are simple things. They are conglomerations of people. Cities are complex things. They are the geographical and emotional distillations of whole nations. What makes a place a city has little to do with size. It has to do with the speed at which its citizens walk, the cut of their clothes, the sound of their shouts.
But most of all, cities are the meeting places of stories. The men and women there are narratives, endlessly complex and intriguing. The most humdrum of them constitutes a narrative that would defeat Tolstoy at his best and most voluminous.

[Vio · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me laugh (especially in the first half), cry (damn chapter eleven) and want to get on a plane and visit Belfast right away! Well deserved 5 stars!

[Stacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved this book when I started reading it. The first half is incredibly funny (often laugh-out-loud hysterical), with a clear voice that pulls you along effortlessly. It satirizes The Troubles in Northern Ireland brilliantly. But after reaching the half-way point (chapter 11 -- a really moving stand alone story, which by itself is worth reading this book for), it goes downhill immediately. Nothing happens, the jokes become more predictable (i.e. didn't we just read all this?), and everything is contrived. The second half made me think that the book, as a whole, isn't all that great. Still funny, still engaging with intriguing observations, but the writer's portrayal of the US (a complete and utter stereotype, which is both insulting and poorly researched) makes me think that nothing about Belfast is portrayed honestly either. Satire is one thing, complete and utter bullshit is another. I'd recommend reading the book and stopping after chapter 11. 5 stars for the beginning, 2 stars for the end.

[roberto · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Ma parlare di tenerezza non è abbastanza per descrivere quello che provo per questa città, quest'insieme di corpi. Una città fatta di spine dorsali, reni, cuori, fegati e polmoni. A volte questa fragile città di carne e di ossa mi sommerge di tenerezza. Mi sembra che nessuna violenza potrà ferire questi corpi che la abitano e che mi appartengono un po' perché sono nei miei pensieri."

Ciò che davvero rende godibile questo romanzo è il suo equilibrio interno: da una parte c'è lo sfondo tragico del periodo e del contesto in cui è ambientato (l'Irlanda del Nord lacerata dalla guerra civile fra protestanti e cattolici, fra lealisti e repubblicani), un periodo di sangue, bombe e tensione; dall'altra c'è la sgangherata e malferma combriccola di personaggi che in questo scenario si muovono e fanno di tutto per vivere le proprie vite, nonostante la radio e la televisione parlino funestamente di dolore, nonostante odano ogni giorno il rimbombo di spari e di urla. Si sviluppa così una narrazione insieme intensa-sconvolgente e dolce-divertente. Sono due facce di una stessa medaglia: la Belfast qui descritta vive, per quanto azioni di terrorismo cerchino di ucciderla e di raserla al suolo essa vive, grazie alla forza e alla voglia di ridere e scherzare di chi ci abita essa vive in un quadro affascinante, per quanto un po' sconvolgente.

I personaggi che qui a Belfast si muovono sono simpatici, stravaganti, ho sviluppato con loro quel bel rapporto di amicizia letteraria che capita solo con i gruppi di personaggi spassosi e veri davvero. Ecco, "veri": c'è esattamente tanta verità in queste pagine, con sentimento sincero Wilson parla della sua Irlanda così tanto amata nonostante tutto e nonostante le sue contraddizioni, e lancia un bellissimo messaggio di speranza, mai melenso o stucchevole, mai di troppo.

Un romanzo che è un bellissimo equilibrio fra la voglia di urlare per la paura e quella di piangere per la gioia. Potente, e oggi più importante che mai.

[LauraT · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really emotional novel, could have been better had it be a bit more ..."tight": too many threads, not closing when they could …

They all had stories. But they weren't short stories. They shouldn't have been short stories. They should each have been novels, profound, delightful novels, eight hundred pages or more. And not just the lives of the victims but the lives they touched, the networks of friendship and intimacy and relation that tied them to those they loved and who loved them, those they knew and who knew them. What great complexity. What richness.
What had happened? A simple event. The traffic of history and politics had bottlenecked. An individual or individuals had decided that reaction was necessary. Some stories had been shortened. Some stories had been ended. A confident editorial decision had been taken.
It had been easy.
The pages that follow are light with their loss.The text is less dense, the city is smaller.

(Avevano tutti una storia. Non erano storie brevi, o non avrebbero dovuto esserlo. Avrebbero dovuto diventare lunghi romanzi, splendide narrazioni di ottocento pagine e più, non soltanto le vite delle vittime, ma anche quelle che si erano trovate sul loro cammino, l’intreccio di conoscenze, amicizie e relazioni intime che le legava a coloro che amavano, che conoscevano e da cui erano conosciute, una rete di grandiosa complessità e ricchezza.
Che cos’era accaduto? Una cosa molto semplice: storia e politica erano giunte a un vicolo cieco. Un individuo, o forse più di uno, aveva stabilito che era necessario agire e alcune storie erano state troncate, altre abbreviate. Una bella riga nera su una pila di fogli)

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't say enough about this book. There's a great review by Allan posted last week. Allan grew up in Northern Ireland and lives in Belfast. I come to this book as an outsider, but someone who has visited Northern Ireland half a dozen times, starting back during the height of The Troubles.
MacLiam Wilson, the author, loves this city and it comes through constantly in the book. And he loves the people of Belfast. This is from the last page of the book : "The mountain looks flat and grand in the greyness, it is stupidly green. It looks like all cities this morning, Belfast. It's a tender frail thing, composite of houses, roads and car parks. Where are the people? They are waking or failing to wake. Tender is a small word for what I feel for this town. I think of my city's conglomerate of bodies. A Belfastful of spines, kidneys, livers and lungs. Sometimes, this frail cityful of organs makes me seethe and boil with tenderness. They seem so unmurderable and, because I think of them, they belong to me.
Belfast - only a jumble of streets and a few big bumps in the ground, only a whisper of God."

The book tells a story, and at times it is hilarious, and crude. An interesting insight is made by a French journalist to the city who asks someone to explain why the Irish kill other Irish. MacLiam Wilson makes fun of those politicians and paramilitary groups who take themselves very seriously. There are some who would be insulted by the writer's irreverence. But his irreverence is the point. He is saying "get over yourselves". This , I have learned, from Irish friends, is a fundamental value in Irish society. Be humble, don't put yourself above others, and if you do, we'll knock you down a peg or two. McLiam Williams is a master.

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. I loved Jake Jackson and Chuckie Lurgan more than I've loved any other fictional characters in a while. I loved RMW's beautiful and sharp and inventive prose. I loved the story itself and the beautiful and conflicting insight into Belfast and the insider's take on sectarianism.

There is one chapter that contains much more violence (a bombing) than the rest of the novel and because of that, I was actually breathless and out of sorts for a while after I read it- not entirely because it was too graphic, but rather because it was so unexpected that it actually shocked me, and made me feel deeply the impact of a bombing despite having only just read about it in fiction. The effect was literally haunting, as it should be.

I didn't want to leave these characters behind- I fell in love with Jake from the beginning, particularly during his first encounters with Mary. It took a little longer for Chuckie to grow on me, but he did, along with Roche and Max and Peggy and Aoirghe. I actually stopped reading it for a couple days because I didn't want to finish it too quickly. I love this book long time.

P.S. There were a few moments of prose that left me shaking my head a bit, where RMW's writing got a little repetitive and bogged down... but there were other moments that were so wonderfully written and where the storyline was so funny and awesome, that I was happy to overlook the few bits that made me wish his editor had brought out the red pen a teeny bit more often.

[Am · Rating 5 out of 5]

The title couldn't be more precise, as this is truly a depiction of contemporary Belfast that is like no other (as far as I know...). It lacks sentimentality to the point where terrorist bombings are framed by cynical love scenes. A refreshingly, humanly complex treatment of politics on an individual level.

[Robleggecose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sullo sfondo drammatico di una Belfast dilaniata dai Troubles degli anni '90, R. McLiam Wilson racconta l'amore attraverso l'amicizia improbabile e scanzonata di due personaggi indimenticabili, uno cattolico e sentimentale, l'altro protestante e talmente bizzarro da sembrare irreale, che, malgrado un quotidiano precario, tentano di costruirsi una vita sognando il giorno in cui nella propria città tornerà a regnare finalmente la pace. Eureka Street è infatti la dichiarazione d'amore per una Belfast divisa dall'odio, che però non ha mai perduto la propria bellezza e in cui ancora crede. Una lettura spensierata e ironica, ma anche struggente e dolorosa. Consigliatissimo.

[MonicaVandina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un libro che si legge volentieri. I personaggi principali sono ben caratterizzati e l'ironia è ben calibrata. Ho ritrovato alcune atmosfere della Belfast in cui sono stata varie volte (la prima proprio nel 1994, anno in cui si svolgono le vicende del libro). Però non mi ha convinto del tutto. Alcune uscite sui 'Troubles', pur nel nobile intento di non dare alcuna giustificazione agli atti di violenza, risultano, a mio avviso, superficiali. Non c'è approfondimento sulle questioni sociali che sono state alla base dei conflitti. Mi aspettavo qualcosa di più.

[Moka Aumilieudeslivres · Rating 5 out of 5]

"C'est le problème quand on ment. Si on ne vous croit pas, vous vous méprisez; et si on vous croit, vous méprisez l'autre."

"Quand ma peau a touché la sienne, j'ai compris que je ne me suiciderais pas ce mois-ci, que la vie était une sacrée belle marchandise lorsqu'elle incluait une fille comme Mary."

[Tanabrus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ogni storia è una storia d'amore.
E Wilson ce lo dimostra con questo libro, dove una grande storia d'amore ne contiene due al suo interno, e le contorna di tante altre piccole storie d'amore.
Il tutto in un ambiente che non farebbe proprio pensare all'amore, e cioè Belfast al tempo delle bombe, degli scontri terroristici tra cattolici e protestanti.

E così in una città che vive accompagnata dal timore degli attentati e dalla consapevolezza dei tanti gruppi antagonisti che spadroneggiano per le strade, conosciamo i due protagonisti del romanzo, Jake e Chuckie.
Trentenni, immaturi, senza soldi, sul confine labile tra lavoro e disoccupazione, tra onestà e goliardica disonestà.

Jake vive solo con un gatto, ha una ex fidanzata tornata a Londra per via del clima politico irlandese e malgrado l'istruzione universitaria lavora in una losca ditta che si occupa di recuperare per conto dei venditori la merce le cui rate non sono state tutte pagate.

Chuckie è solo, vive con la madre in un quartiere popolare e proletario, è grasso e mezzo calvo e non ha un lavoro.


Tutto si mette in moto quando Chuckie si innamora e trova un espediente per far soldi in maniera creativa, scoprendo insospettate doti che lo renderanno sempre più ricco e rispettato, mentre Jake cercando l'amore incapperà in diverse disavventure.


Queste due storie sono costellate dalle storie d'amore dei loro amici e di chi gli sta vicino, storie che spuntano fuori come fiori a primavera proprio quando arriva il cessate il fuoco e vengono deposte le armi, e la ritrovata pace di Belfast porta con sé pace e amore ai suoi abitanti.

Perchè la macrostoria d'amore è quella per Belfast, per la città stessa, sullo sfondo della quale si intrecciano le vite dei personaggi. E l'autore mette in bocca a Jake dichiarazioni d'amore senza fondo per la città, pensieri che penso bene o male possano risultare familiari a molte persone, quando pensano alla propria città.


Il tutto raccontato con uno stile colloquiale, leggero, piacevole, che ci mette subito al fianco di Jake e Chuckie, ci fa stare con loro al pub, ci fa dare loro pacche sulle spalle per le questioni amorose.
L'unica pecca del libro per me è verso la fine, quando gli eventi storici pressano maggiormente e guadagnano uno spazio maggiore nella narrazione. Ecco, qui lo stile che prima (e dopo) è piacevole e divertente diventa difficoltoso e pesante, e si arranca un poco nella lettura.
Peccato perché per quanto mi riguarda senza questa cosa sarebbe stato un libro perfetto.

[Elena · Rating 5 out of 5]

I joined Goodreads after a bad experience with a collection of loosely tied short stories that shall remain nameless. That book hit me over the head with a bat, kicked me in the gut, drove over me and dropped what was left in a frozen river from a tall bridge. It was a formative experience, but at the moment I hated it so much -so much- fiercely, with passion. And on top of that I thought it was pretty shitty; the proportion quality/effect it had on me was completely off. So I told myself never again: never again to pick up a book based on titles, covers and blurbs. Viva goodreads and previous opinions. The problem of that being, I would have missed this book too.

Curiously, my love for Eureka Street didn't bloom overnight. In fact, after finishing it, I thought it was good enough, but the plot is not exactly believable and I was expecting it to look cheap in hindsight. What happened, instead, is that it became insidiously part of the books that I read just because. And the BBC Northern Ireland mini-series was great too. It's available on youtube, if anyone is interested. So I picked up a soft cover edition whose paper had seen more than a little rain for 2 euros in a half open-air second hand bookstore on the corner of my hostal in Berlin and I powered through the german feeling I was missing perhaps 30% percent of the book (as I probably did). This was not meant to be a life companion, by any means. So why? And how can I have it again?

I'm going to tell you what this is about, thought: it's about hitting our thirties, looking around, realising that they have somehow lost their footing after leaving college, and building a life they can go on with. It's about coming out of the holes we find ourselves into. It's a feel good book; read only the first chapter and the last, and it'll be more than obvious. It deals with anger, poverty, difference, missed chances and risks taken that impossibly payed off. Look at the relationships: all of them are about difference, being happy with it, reconciliation, hope; they mimic Ireland's political situation, they are based on forgiveness, and they have this bright tomorrow ahead of them and I'm rooting for them all, because life is not about being right or being wrong; it's not even about agreeing: it's about doing your best and letting others do theirs.

[Fionnuala · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man, what an incredible book. I loved every moment of this. I really don't know how to articulate how I feel about this book. It was just so good, so enjoyable, so well-written... there was never a moment where I found anything lacking at all. This book had me hooked on every single word, and I'm not usually one for books like this. Yes, there's a plot and it moves along, but it's more a moment in time than a story with an obvious beginning and end. I'm wary with things like that -- they can so easily become dull or pretentious. This book was neither, and it was so genuine. I can sincerely believe that I looked in on these characters at a single point in their lives, and that before the first page and after the last they go on living.

This book is brilliantly entertaining, laugh-out-loud funny more often than any book I can remember reading. At the same time, it contains the most blunt, stunning depiction of the violence that was so commonplace in the Troubles that I have ever read. The way the tragedy is illustrated alongside the monotony; the way the story itself pauses to remind you of the backdrop and the event haunts the second half of the book without being mentioned again... it is phenomenal writing. I have never seen anything like it before. That level of skill was evident in the whole book, but to see it levelled at such a subject and with such precicion and force was incredible. It's been a while since I had to take a brief break just to fully recover and take in a scene.

This is defintely the kind of book you could read in one go. The prose is so effortless you could forget you were reading. Oh, and bonus points for featuring a character with an Irish name even I had never seen before. That's always impressive, considering my classmates and I often consituted a substiture teacher's worst nightmare.

[Susanna Rautio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eureka street oli loppua kohti kehittyvä kirja. Ja sehän on hyvä asia!

Ensin oli kolmekymppisiä ei-ikinä-aikuisia ja baariläppää. Olutta, sydänsuruja ja surullisia naissuhteita.

Sitten heistä kasvoi miehiä, monipuolisia ja omien tarinoiden arvoisia.

Belfast saattaa olla eurooppalainen vastine uskonsodille, Euroopan ensimmäinen länsirintama. Piikkilanka-aitoja ja naapurustojen raja-aitoja. Pieni kaupunki, johon on piirretty kulttuurisia ja uskonnollisia raja-aitoja. Syviä kuin seisova vesi.

Typerän väkivallan jälkeen Eureka street on täynnä toivoa. Inhimillistä ja poliittista. Ja kummankin osalta valloittavasti etenevä kasvutarina.

Lue ihmeessä, jos olet empinyt. Ja suhtaudu rauhallisesti ensimmäiseen satasivuiseen, koska siitä se tarina vasta alkaa!

[Suketus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Makoisa tarina, monipuolinen ja taidolla kerrottu. Belfast elää ja hengittää, täynnä tarinoita ja ihmiskohtaloita.

[James Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eureka Street is such an important touchstone for me. When I first read it in my early twenties, it immediately became my favorite book ever. I had never encountered a work of art before that so thoroughly ran the gamut of human emotion. This book is hilarious, of course, but it also has plenty of moments of melancholy reflection, abject horror, and even fist-pumping triumph, and Robert McLiam Wilson navigates his tonal shifts with an incredibly deft hand.

Another key reason I immediately loved this book was how strongly I related to Jake Jackson, the novel's co-protagonist and primary narrator. His particular blend of hard-bitten cynic and melancholy dreamer is particularly appealing to a certain type of young man who thinks he's got the world figured out. Maybe the most interesting thing about my recent reread was how my perspective has shifted, now that I'm nearly as many years older than Jake as I was younger than him when I initially read Eureka Street. This time I couldn't help but read him as a sort of thirtysomething Holden Caulfield, a character whose outward bravado is masking deep wounds, and whose cynicism, though well-earned, has also left him untethered, merely going through the motions of life. Of course Jake is a much more self-aware character than Holden, fully recognizing the ways he's damaged, which range from pretty run of the mill immaturity when it comes to women to the much deeper wounds that come from growing up in a terrorism-riddled war zone. But there's a big difference between recognizing that you're broken and being willing to take the steps to fix yourself, and for most of the novel, Jake settles for the former, even going so far as to accept some pretty rough beatings as penance for his actions rather than improve his behaviors (By the way, did I mention that Jake is Catholic?) But by the end of the novel, he does seem like he's finally ready to turn a corner and become a better version of himself. I like to think he succeeds, both for Jake and for the part of me that has always related to him.

So is Eureka Street still my favorite book ever? Well, as I've grown older and more well-read, it's become a lot harder for me to single out any single work as my absolute favorite, but it still definitely ranks among them. As I said, it's a major touchstone for me. Whether I'm processing a new book I just read or the trials of real life, I often find my mind drifting back to Eureka Street as an important point of comparison. And it's a place I look forward to revisiting throughout the various stages of my life.

[Delfi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Puzzle non ricomposto

Questa è la sensazione che ho avuto al termine della lettura, protratta nel tempo perché poco attrattiva, del romanzo: vicende e personaggi mi sono apparsi tessere di un puzzle che però non si ricompone. Manca, secondo me, un tema centrale forte che funzioni come filo conduttore, pur toccando argomenti di notevole importanza, primi tra tutti la questione irlandese, la contrapposizione cattolici e protestanti, la lotta per l'indipendenza dell'Irlanda del nord.
Però questi appaiono spesso quasi un corollario rispetto alle vite dei due personaggi principali, Jake e Chuckie, improbabili personaggi penso di poter dire, in particolare il secondo, nonché dei loro amici e famiglie che ruotano intorno a loro.
Insomma, un romanzo che non "funziona", perché non c'è approfondimento alcuno e durante la lettura mi son sentita sballottata, come fossi su una nave che affronta un mare moderatamente mosso e che soprattutto non sa bene dove dirigersi e verso quale meta finale concludere il suo viaggio.
C'è pure l'happy end alla fine, ma per rimanere in ambito "happy", avrei preferito un happy hour con amici in un buon locale.
Le stelle sono 2 e mezzo, per essere precisi.

[Anita Giannasio Mirisola · Rating 4 out of 5]

«La cosa ridicola è che ogni sostanziale differenza tra protestanti e cattolici è svanita da un pezzo, e i nordirlandesi ormai, cattolici o protestanti che siano, sono soltanto nordirlandesi. Il mondo ne è consapevole e di conseguenza assiste perplesso a tanta ostinata violenza fratricida, ma la gente di queste parti non riesce proprio a capirlo.»
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Un #romanzo di #RobertMcLiamWilson sui #Troubles, il tremendo periodo tra gli anni '60 e '90 in cui l'Irlanda del Nord sanguinò a causa del conflitto tra lealisti #protestanti e repubblicani #cattolici. Fu guerra civile, gli attentati si susseguivano quotidianamente, la popolazione si era ormai abituata a vivere nel terrore.
Il #libro di Wilson testimonia le atrocità fisiche e i traumi psicologici subiti dai nordirlandesi in quei drammatici anni, presentando un quadro generale della situazione e affidando il racconto alle voci di due protagonisti agli antipodi (Chuck, un protestante, e Jake, un cattolico) che, malgrado tutto, desiderano la stessa cosa: la fine del conflitto.
Una storia sconvolgente sulla banalità del male e sulla normalizzazione della violenza, tanto più incredibile quanto più ci ricordiamo che si tratta di eventi piuttosto recenti.
Una penna precisa, in grado di dare descrizioni dolorosamente dettagliate, e al contempo ironica al punto giusto da rendere scorrevole una serie di accadimenti tanto tragici, altrimenti indigeribili.
Un libro importante e alla portata di tutti, anzi: leggerlo è un imperativo morale per comprendere quanto la prospettiva dell'uomo possa essere stravolta in tempo di guerra.
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#books#bookblog#libri#narrativacontemporanea#romanzi#bookblogger#consiglidilettura#booktube#leggere#ira#irlanda#read#reading#letteraturacontemporanea

[Irene V. E. Martini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lettura fluida e travolgente, Eureka Street è molto più di quanto possa sembrare. Chi vorrà approcciarsi a questo romanzo con l’intenzione di avere una panoramica storica dettagliata di una Belfast lacerata dai conflitti settari, probabilmente non troverà questo romanzo pienamente di proprio gusto; Eureka street apre infatti uno scorcio molto amaro e genuino sulle vite degli abitanti di Belfast in quei disastrati anni. L’autenticità degli intenti è testimoniata da una variegata sfilza di personaggi che, nel corso del romanzo, non mancano di svelare le proprie contraddizioni e i propri tabù con la classica beffarda ironia che contraddistingue (almeno, per la mia esperienza) gli abitanti dell’Irlanda del Nord.

Non mi dilungherò nelladescrizione della trama, in quanto Eureka Street è una dichiarazione di intenti nei confronti di un sistema nazione che ha per anni versato- disincantato e iracondo- il proprio sangue per le strade dei quartieri più proletari di Belfast ma che, nella sua aperta vena satirica, non manca di dipingere a tinte fosche tutta la scia di povertà e degrado che, in entrambe le fazioni, il conflitto settario non manca mai di lasciarsi alle spalle. Prorompente e canzonatorio, questo romanzo ha colto nel segno lo spirito di une generazione, tratteggiandone in maniera ironicamente scomoda le controversie e capovolgendo interi stereotipi, ma, soprattutto, attraverso le gesta dei protagonisti, cantandone la volontà di approdo.

[Rob Kitchin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read Eureka Street when living in Belfast in the late 1990s and much of the story takes place within a mile of where I was working in the area just to the south of the city centre. And in many ways the novel is a kind of love story for the city and its people. It has a wonderful sense of place and is full of pathos and humour as Chuckie and Jake try to navigate being poor, working-class friends from different religions in a city still riven with sectarian tension and violence. Wilson does a fantastic job of developing the two characters as their lives transform over the course of a year and deal with various situations. It’s beautifully written and has a strong emotional resonance, with the story switching from laugh-out loud moments to deep melancholy and tears. It has as much relevance for understanding Northern Ireland now, as it did then. Definitely one of my favourite novels.

[Pierfrancesco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Il racconto di una città martoriata da una guerra intestina dove protagonisti, personaggi secondari e comparse animano un organismo più grande che è la città di Belfast, autentica protagonista della vicenda: dilaniata dalle esplosioni e dalle manifestazioni ma che si riscopre bellissima nel (meraviglioso) finale.
Nel mentre ironia e umorismo si alternano ai racconti degli altri personaggi e alle drammatiche descrizioni degli attentati… un arazzo meraviglioso.

[Lovisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

ytterligare en bok som jag hade hört sååå gott om men som jag verkligen inte föll för, tyvärr. till skillnad från My policeman och Tärningsspelaren så orkade jag inte ens tvinga mig själv att läsa klart denna… 170 lästa sidor på över en månads tid säger ju sig självt!
note to self: ändrade så att det står att jag läst boken för 14 år sedan ist för i år ty jag vill inte att en bok jag inte läst ut ska räknas in i min ~reading challenge~ lol