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This Is the Way
A mesmerizing tale of a young man on the run in Dublin, from a startling new voice in Irish fiction
Anthony Sonaghan is hiding out in an old tenement house in Dublin. He fears he’s reignited an ancient feud between the two halves of his family: twenty-first-century Dublin may have shopping malls and foreign exchange students, but Anthony is from an Irish Travelling community, where blood ties are bound deeply to the past.
When his roguish uncle Arthur shows up on his doorstep with a missing toe, delirious and apparently on the run, history and its troubles are following close behind him—and Anthony will soon have to face the question of who he really is.
In prose of exceptional vividness, Gavin Corbett brings us a narrator with the power to build a new, previously unimagined world. His language, shot through with dreams and myths, summons a vision of Ireland in which a premodern spirit has somehow survived into contemporary life, brooding and overlooked. Funny, terrible, unsettling, fiercely unsentimental, This Is the Way is haunted by some of Ireland’s greatest writers even as it breaks new ground and asks afresh why the imagination is so necessary to survival.
Anthony Sonaghan is hiding out in an old tenement house in Dublin. He fears he’s reignited an ancient feud between the two halves of his family: twenty-first-century Dublin may have shopping malls and foreign exchange students, but Anthony is from an Irish Travelling community, where blood ties are bound deeply to the past.
When his roguish uncle Arthur shows up on his doorstep with a missing toe, delirious and apparently on the run, history and its troubles are following close behind him—and Anthony will soon have to face the question of who he really is.
In prose of exceptional vividness, Gavin Corbett brings us a narrator with the power to build a new, previously unimagined world. His language, shot through with dreams and myths, summons a vision of Ireland in which a premodern spirit has somehow survived into contemporary life, brooding and overlooked. Funny, terrible, unsettling, fiercely unsentimental, This Is the Way is haunted by some of Ireland’s greatest writers even as it breaks new ground and asks afresh why the imagination is so necessary to survival.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2013
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460 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
July 9, 2013
set in 21st century dublin, but told through a young man hiding from his irish traveler family, they want to kill him (and should?) so nice juxtaposition of "tribal" rules and customs and modern life. told in a clumsy, half-literate style (though this comes and goes, from elemental buh buh buh, to relating about many of ireland's literary greats) to evoke the outsider, traveler mindset. if you are at all interested in ireland, irish literary history, and outsiders, a great novel. though i would say ross raisin does it better Waterline: A Novel a great debut (in usa anyway, really his 2nd, but who's counting?)
by the way, i read another novel recently about "irish travelers", it was a crime/noir by adrian mckinty and though sort of "convenient" that main character was a traveler and found "his people" to hide out in an out-of-the-way corner on the coast, it was interesting to see inside outsiders mindset. Falling Glass
by the way, i read another novel recently about "irish travelers", it was a crime/noir by adrian mckinty and though sort of "convenient" that main character was a traveler and found "his people" to hide out in an out-of-the-way corner on the coast, it was interesting to see inside outsiders mindset. Falling Glass
March 3, 2013
If I could give it a 3.5 I would - such clamorous praise on the back cover from the likes of John Burnside, Emma Donoghue, Colum McCann didn't *quite* live up to the hype. Liked the structuring device that slowly revealed plot, char motivations etc but was in danger at times of looking like a story the debutante didn't quite know how to fit together. That said, great voice, definitely worth a read.
November 24, 2019
The first book i read like i was listening to a narrator.
July 9, 2014
In the end, this book came together. The story is about two feuding Traveler families. At times, I got lost as to who was narrating. Most of the actions takes place in and around Dublin, and seems to be in current times. The writing style included sentences with pronouns, nouns and other important words missing. This seems to be part of this writer's style. He seems to be trying to find a style and a voice, and I'm not sure he achieves either.
March 21, 2013
A strange book, written in the voice of an Irish Traveller. Takes a while to get into the flow of the language and theme as the Narrator, Anthony Sonaghan is fairly illiterate, but well worth pursuing.
August 16, 2018
I really enjoyed this one. It feels like a version of "Catcher in the Rye" taking place in Dublin. Anthony is depressed and not doing much of anything as he hides out in the city. At first he seems reticent to tell any of his story, even to the reader, just as he barely talks to anyone. The style is what makes the read unique--others here have called it "semi-literate;" it sounds conversational.
As his uncle arrives and Anthony is forced to reminisce on the past, the chapters begin alternating between past and present. I like that his doesn't start up until later in the book, making it purposeful. There is some nice symbolism, like in how the uncle has his toe sewed on his hand as a missing finger, that fit into the mythology wound into the family feud.
Despite being through more of an "outsider" perspective, there might be some allegory of Ireland in the so-called origin story of the family feud, perhaps involving Catholics and Protestants constantly in conflict, but I am not really immersed enough in Irish culture to say for sure.
As his uncle arrives and Anthony is forced to reminisce on the past, the chapters begin alternating between past and present. I like that his doesn't start up until later in the book, making it purposeful. There is some nice symbolism, like in how the uncle has his toe sewed on his hand as a missing finger, that fit into the mythology wound into the family feud.
Despite being through more of an "outsider" perspective, there might be some allegory of Ireland in the so-called origin story of the family feud, perhaps involving Catholics and Protestants constantly in conflict, but I am not really immersed enough in Irish culture to say for sure.
April 11, 2024
There is a long stream of Irish, and UK writing of comic novels that aren't all that funny. (e.g. Joyce Carey's novels.) They can be touching. They do tend to have funny bits. And any number of people really really like them. (I'm not really amongst that crowd, although I can appreciate what the author is doing and snicker here and there.
Corbett's novel is of this stream. The plot is essentially an ex-traveler - which if you aren't up on UK idiom means gypsy, sort of - sone of a romeo /juliette marriage - is trying to make his way in Dublin and not cause more open warfare between his fighting relatives. As a portrait of a working class, or lower, bloke it seems pretty good to me.
Over to you.
Corbett's novel is of this stream. The plot is essentially an ex-traveler - which if you aren't up on UK idiom means gypsy, sort of - sone of a romeo /juliette marriage - is trying to make his way in Dublin and not cause more open warfare between his fighting relatives. As a portrait of a working class, or lower, bloke it seems pretty good to me.
Over to you.
October 26, 2017
I was intrigued by this book after picking it up as a "Blind Date With a Book" from Elizabeth's Bookshop in Newtown, Sydney. It sounded very promising.
After ten pages I wasn't feeling it but, I pushed on. At 35 pages I thought it was finally going somewhere. Nope. By 100 pages, I gave up.
There's an interesting concept that I feel could have been better developed; that could have made it as gripping as John Steinbeck's "East of Eden". It had the essence, yet, it lacked the substance. The language and style was beautifully lyrical but, the book lacked composition.
After ten pages I wasn't feeling it but, I pushed on. At 35 pages I thought it was finally going somewhere. Nope. By 100 pages, I gave up.
There's an interesting concept that I feel could have been better developed; that could have made it as gripping as John Steinbeck's "East of Eden". It had the essence, yet, it lacked the substance. The language and style was beautifully lyrical but, the book lacked composition.
January 4, 2023
Loved the way that this book was written but struggled with the narrative. It seemed a little all over the place. I pushed through to the end but for little reward. 2.5 stars as 3 is a little generous.
April 27, 2024
DNF
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 17, 2017
not a fan of this one...sorry :( the whole feuding family element was the only thing I found interesting the rest was kinda all over the place in my opinion...
January 29, 2016
This novel fits into a tradition that, to me at least feels far more American than Irish though maybe its traveller characters have more in common with those from the American west than they do with their Irish compatriots. Tonally and in parts stylistically this reminds me of Shepherd, Albee and most of all Cormac McCarthy in this it has a truly mythic quality to it and a language that is as key a character as any in the novel.
To some extent it is a bit style over substance as not an awful lot happens and as the end approaches one starts to feel that it needs a further 100 pages or so in order to really do its characters justice but that aside if it is style over substance then the style is totally worth it. The whole 230 pages run basically as a monologue and while it reads as narration it would work equally well on stage performed as just that with the entirety of the text being written in Anthony Monaghan's voice. For the first 20 pages or so this can grate a little but once one finds the rhythm of his language it becomes as poetic as a novel can be.
A further 20 pages into the text and one really starts to care about the characters, as alien as their world, language and experiences might be which is a great testament to the way in which Corbett makes them three dimensional individuals and avoids any hint of stereotyping and remains sufficiently distant from the works of other Irish writers to be fresh. Ultimately this is more Border Trilogy than Barrytown Trilogy.
Definitely worth a read.
To some extent it is a bit style over substance as not an awful lot happens and as the end approaches one starts to feel that it needs a further 100 pages or so in order to really do its characters justice but that aside if it is style over substance then the style is totally worth it. The whole 230 pages run basically as a monologue and while it reads as narration it would work equally well on stage performed as just that with the entirety of the text being written in Anthony Monaghan's voice. For the first 20 pages or so this can grate a little but once one finds the rhythm of his language it becomes as poetic as a novel can be.
A further 20 pages into the text and one really starts to care about the characters, as alien as their world, language and experiences might be which is a great testament to the way in which Corbett makes them three dimensional individuals and avoids any hint of stereotyping and remains sufficiently distant from the works of other Irish writers to be fresh. Ultimately this is more Border Trilogy than Barrytown Trilogy.
Definitely worth a read.
July 15, 2015
Hard going, but finally finished. Two major problems with this. The first is that the whole thing is written in the internal voice of the narrator, Anthony, an Irish Traveller. So it’s 230 pages of
"Them were the days them weeks with Arthur in that room that house I would think well of him and there were days I was angry the trials could have come down on me." Interesting for a few pages, but wearying over the long haul having to read sentences twice.
The second problem is that it’s basically plotless. Anthony is introduced, his uncle joins him, they don’t do much, they meet some people, there’s some remembering the past. It’s all exposition and no development and feels like something that emerged during the writing rather than a plot. Some humour might have lightened it, but the tone throughout is dour.
"Them were the days them weeks with Arthur in that room that house I would think well of him and there were days I was angry the trials could have come down on me." Interesting for a few pages, but wearying over the long haul having to read sentences twice.
The second problem is that it’s basically plotless. Anthony is introduced, his uncle joins him, they don’t do much, they meet some people, there’s some remembering the past. It’s all exposition and no development and feels like something that emerged during the writing rather than a plot. Some humour might have lightened it, but the tone throughout is dour.
January 30, 2016
Anthony's is a new voice in literature; he is the son of a Sonaghan and a Gilleroo, a pair of families who's feud is so old that only fables remain of its origin. He has come to Dublin to keep a low profile, and lives in fear of meeting one of his hostile cousins. Joined by his uncle, Arthur, he looks back at the events that have brought his life to this lonely place.
Written in his speaking voice, Anthony tells his story of isolation and loss and unease. Although this could never have been a convential story, I did find it quite disjointed with lots of loose threads. This was probably intended but it confused me! Well worth a read just to see the world from Anthony's perspective for a while.
Written in his speaking voice, Anthony tells his story of isolation and loss and unease. Although this could never have been a convential story, I did find it quite disjointed with lots of loose threads. This was probably intended but it confused me! Well worth a read just to see the world from Anthony's perspective for a while.
May 10, 2014
There were aspects of this book I really enjoyed -- very distinct voice, intriguing insights to the life of a traveler, seeing Dublin through such a character's eyes, the flashbacks and family history stories, and most of all the creation myth the mother tells of the Sonaghan and Gillaroo families (by far my favourite part). Overall, however, I had a difficult time truly getting into the story and when it was over I was a bit stuck as to exactly what I had just experienced,
April 26, 2015
Sonaghans and Gillaroos are feuding Irish clans.
This creates good stories but some horribly bad plans.
This creates good stories but some horribly bad plans.
Read
March 15, 2017This captivating first-person narrative follows Anthony, the product of rival Travelling clans with a long history of bloody conflict. Anthony is hiding out in in a crumbling Dublin tenement when he has an unwelcome visit from his Uncle Arthur, who is also attempting to lie low. Trawling the streets of contemporary Dublin, with the ebb and flow of an eclectic supporting cast, Anthony spins Traveller myths and stories in a voice that’s completely compelling. —Jess Kidd (https://www.bookish.com/articles/iris...)
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews