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Shall We Gather at the River
Shall We Gather At The River tells the story of Enoch O'Reilly, the great flood that afflicts his small town, and the rash of mysterious suicides that accompany it. Charlatan, Presleyite and local radiovangelist, O'Reilly is a man haunted by the childhood ghosts of his father's sinister radio set... a false prophet destined for a terrible consummation with that old, evil river. A suicide mystery and a rich patchwork narrative of legend, myth, occult inheritance, eco-conspiracy, viral obsession, airwaves, water and death, Shall We Gather At The River is a spellbinding piece of work, marked by prose that is by turns haunting, poetic and blackly humourous. With shades of Flannery O'Connor's Wise Blood , Jeffrey Eugenides' The Virgin Suicides , of Twin Peaks and Wisconsin Death Trip , Shall We Gather At The River is a novel that will further cement Murphy's reputation as one of the most original and exciting novelists to emerge in recent years.
- GenresFiction
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
6 people are currently reading
133 people want to read
About the author
Peter Murphy
138 books28 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads data base.
There are various authors in this profile.
There are various authors in this profile.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
June 5, 2013
I chose this book because I love Ireland. I am sad that I didn't love this book. I enjoy books with beautiful descriptive words and this book is full of them. So much so that at times the complicated descriptions took away from the story and I had a hard time staying focused. I would read something else by Peter Murphy though, just to see...
March 25, 2014
Having read and mainly enjoyed John the Revelator, I bought this book on its publication last year without knowing much about it.
On closer inspection, the blurb intimated that the book wasn't really for me, but I went into reading it with an open mind. Unfortunately, my hunch was correct. The social themes of the novel, in the difficulties that individuals face living in a small town I could understand, but the idea of the river and nature's power having an effect on the town's psyche went over my head, and ultimately I was left with feelings of confusion and disappointment.
I'll be sure to read the blurb of Murphy's next novel carefully, and will only buy if the story promises to be nothing like this one.
On closer inspection, the blurb intimated that the book wasn't really for me, but I went into reading it with an open mind. Unfortunately, my hunch was correct. The social themes of the novel, in the difficulties that individuals face living in a small town I could understand, but the idea of the river and nature's power having an effect on the town's psyche went over my head, and ultimately I was left with feelings of confusion and disappointment.
I'll be sure to read the blurb of Murphy's next novel carefully, and will only buy if the story promises to be nothing like this one.
December 3, 2014
What an intriguing novel! I think the reviewers who say they "don't get it" are kind of missing the point - the premise is absurd, the narrative is fragmentary, and the main characters' obsessions are esoteric and clearly not supposed to make (real/logical) sense. But isn't it compelling, the pseudoscience of eternal sound waves and cyclical floods and culling populations through some kind of telepathy with the inanimate world, especially when developed alongside the motif of Irish mythology? Doesn't it make you want to think about the world differently?
Murphy's prose is beautiful, and that he can achieve that kind of lyric voice while describing a protagonist who enters the seminary because he has a vision of Elvis ("the King," great word play!) telling him to do so, I mean... I'm enraptured.
Murphy's prose is beautiful, and that he can achieve that kind of lyric voice while describing a protagonist who enters the seminary because he has a vision of Elvis ("the King," great word play!) telling him to do so, I mean... I'm enraptured.
October 6, 2013
Unique and original, literary and poetic.
January 26, 2021
I'm not sure that I was the right kind of audience for this book. I found it very confusing and slightly nonsensical to read. I'm also unsure if this is a genuine piece of Christian fiction, or if it is a commentary on the subject, since there wasn't any real religious factors within the book, except for maybe idol adoration.
The writing was good, though rather poetic and vague. I also found that the main story was lacking and uninteresting for me. Little stories about other people you don't meet pop up, and those were honestly more interesting than our main, Elvis loving, protagonist and his adventures.
If you want something different and what makes you think while reading it, this might be something to give a chance, though all that thinking might end up turning into a headache if you end up sharing any of my opinions about this book.
The writing was good, though rather poetic and vague. I also found that the main story was lacking and uninteresting for me. Little stories about other people you don't meet pop up, and those were honestly more interesting than our main, Elvis loving, protagonist and his adventures.
If you want something different and what makes you think while reading it, this might be something to give a chance, though all that thinking might end up turning into a headache if you end up sharing any of my opinions about this book.
February 25, 2019
There's a point in the novel where the protagonist gives a speech he's planned for a while now that he knows will have the crowd bowing at his feet, acting as if he's a genius spouting out information that's life-changing, and yet a minute or two in he realises that not a single person in the crowd can even comprehend his nonsense.
Reading some reviews of this book, it seems that poor Peter Murphy has predicted his own future. Either he's not as smart as he thjnks he is, or we're just too inept to understand the sheer genius of what he's just written. For our sake, let's hope for the latter.
Reading some reviews of this book, it seems that poor Peter Murphy has predicted his own future. Either he's not as smart as he thjnks he is, or we're just too inept to understand the sheer genius of what he's just written. For our sake, let's hope for the latter.
February 28, 2020
The pleasure of reading this book is in its unexpected movement through the life of the title character and others in his region of Ireland. It's quite uneven, and there times when I found myself reading much quicker than others, but the language of the author is quite skillful and, as is common in books like this that are not widely popular, the moments of impressive stylistic or emotional writing hit that much harder.
August 4, 2017
I got this in a book box subscription, and I started it thinking I would enjoy it. As I read, it just didn't interest me or hook me on even the first 50 pages, but I made myself finish. I do not like to just desert books but this one truly was difficult to get through.
February 12, 2019
I see what the author was going for, I really do, but this was painful to get through.
February 14, 2024
Good story-teller. Very interesting coming from such a young man. Will look forward to his next adventure.
April 26, 2014
Like a river, a narrative has its course and wends its own particular course to its end. Like a traveler on a river, a reader may not see the turns coming, the cross-currents underneath or the rocks on the river banks on which the journey may be interrupted, or even abruptly halted. Reading Peter Murphy's The River and Enoch O'Reilly is like undertaking a rocky river journey.
Young Enoch is fascinated by the homemade radio transmission system his father has built in their basement. Not much else goes on in his miserable Irish town. The river rose and kept rising during the last onslaught, so much that it appears God broke his promise to Noah. People are lost, animals killed and property damaged. Enoch, listening to his father's radio, hears a transmisison that changes his life. It's the Holy Ghost Radio with fire and brimestone and the spirit of Elvis. Enoch plays with the settings, trying to keep up with the transmission, but loses it. Enoch's father is furious. The cellar door is locked and further transmission beyond Enoch's listening. He leaves town, heartbroken.
Most of Enoch's next years are the stuff of fable or street gutter. We see only one actual event -- a chance chaste encounter with a young lady -- and are left to decide for ourselves what's under the murkey surface waters. What did Enoch really do all those years? Did he travel the backroads of the American South? Did he wander from pub to pub in Ireland? Does it matter? Would it have made a difference? We don't know and it probably doesn't matter.
Enoch makes his way back to the old hometown and talks his way into a weekly radio show. It catches fire not when he is earnest but when he goes all McCarthy-holy roller preacher on his audience. Each week, they cannot wait for the scandalous rumors. But just when it appears the river of this narrative will take delicious twisty turns and be a dark journey, the story hits some big rocks and flounders.
Murphy shows what can happen when all the elements are in place for a unique work of fiction -- setting, premise, characters that could yield complex motivations and undergo great change, but not this time. The story deflates just when it looks like it's going to inflate and then inflate some more, perhaps bursting, perhaps getting right to the point just before it bursts. It's a great disappointment.
So at least the reader who perseveres can feel empathy for Enoch after hearing the wisps of a truly great narrative that gets lost. Their journeys are similar.
Young Enoch is fascinated by the homemade radio transmission system his father has built in their basement. Not much else goes on in his miserable Irish town. The river rose and kept rising during the last onslaught, so much that it appears God broke his promise to Noah. People are lost, animals killed and property damaged. Enoch, listening to his father's radio, hears a transmisison that changes his life. It's the Holy Ghost Radio with fire and brimestone and the spirit of Elvis. Enoch plays with the settings, trying to keep up with the transmission, but loses it. Enoch's father is furious. The cellar door is locked and further transmission beyond Enoch's listening. He leaves town, heartbroken.
Most of Enoch's next years are the stuff of fable or street gutter. We see only one actual event -- a chance chaste encounter with a young lady -- and are left to decide for ourselves what's under the murkey surface waters. What did Enoch really do all those years? Did he travel the backroads of the American South? Did he wander from pub to pub in Ireland? Does it matter? Would it have made a difference? We don't know and it probably doesn't matter.
Enoch makes his way back to the old hometown and talks his way into a weekly radio show. It catches fire not when he is earnest but when he goes all McCarthy-holy roller preacher on his audience. Each week, they cannot wait for the scandalous rumors. But just when it appears the river of this narrative will take delicious twisty turns and be a dark journey, the story hits some big rocks and flounders.
Murphy shows what can happen when all the elements are in place for a unique work of fiction -- setting, premise, characters that could yield complex motivations and undergo great change, but not this time. The story deflates just when it looks like it's going to inflate and then inflate some more, perhaps bursting, perhaps getting right to the point just before it bursts. It's a great disappointment.
So at least the reader who perseveres can feel empathy for Enoch after hearing the wisps of a truly great narrative that gets lost. Their journeys are similar.
March 16, 2014
Be careful whose gospel you adhere to...
Peter Murphy's absorbing new novel provides a rich tableau of changing, swirling currents of mythic proportions. Through an in-depth investigation of the lives of flood victims, the author reveals a disturbing subtext to the behavior of the flood. In equal parts darkly mysterious and fondly familiar, his voice brought me right into a dream-like state where all the many sounds of the universe began to make sense. Including the clarion blast of righteousness dispensed from the pulpit. Not all the songs are happy ones, though. The novel follows the life of one character whose father has stumbled across knowledge which eventually is his undoing as well as that of many others. Hard for me to classify, this book treads ground between scifi, fantasy and mystery on a footing that at times, felt as spongy as the water soaked ground near the river of the title. A very satisfying, chilling read nevertheless, but be prepared to minimize all distractions while reading.
Peter Murphy's absorbing new novel provides a rich tableau of changing, swirling currents of mythic proportions. Through an in-depth investigation of the lives of flood victims, the author reveals a disturbing subtext to the behavior of the flood. In equal parts darkly mysterious and fondly familiar, his voice brought me right into a dream-like state where all the many sounds of the universe began to make sense. Including the clarion blast of righteousness dispensed from the pulpit. Not all the songs are happy ones, though. The novel follows the life of one character whose father has stumbled across knowledge which eventually is his undoing as well as that of many others. Hard for me to classify, this book treads ground between scifi, fantasy and mystery on a footing that at times, felt as spongy as the water soaked ground near the river of the title. A very satisfying, chilling read nevertheless, but be prepared to minimize all distractions while reading.
November 17, 2013
This book was a difficult read for me. I just didn't get it. Lots of loopy sentences and incoherent ideas. I think it was about a river that compels people to commit suicide, but I could be wrong. I found myself reading sentences over and over again, just to comprehend their meaning. But alas, I don't have a lot going on above the shoulders, so it just might be a fabulous story and I just didn't/couldn't see it. Give it a read and be your own judge.
April 1, 2013
A real Marmite book I think. I gave it two stars as I loved some lyrical passages and some of the images he painted with words were wonderful but I am not into myths, legends and ancient hokey pokey and a lot of it I just didn't get probably my failing.The Gothic character of Enoch definitely stays with you as I have discovered a few days after finishing the book.
March 30, 2014
This was an interesting book--the title character is an odd amalgam of a self-proclaimed preacher, Elvis worshipped, dejected son , and heir to a mysterious radio his father built. I enjoyed it, although I'm not sure why I didn't 't enjoy it more than I did.
February 25, 2015
What was all that about?
October 7, 2013
Normally, I love anything written about Ireland, but unfortunately I couldn't get into the rhythm of this novel.
August 5, 2014
Interesting style. The reader meanders through different stories and snippets. Conceptually cool, but I wanted more.
November 9, 2014
i literally dont understand what happened throughout this whole book
February 7, 2016
I found it a bit hard going to be honest, didn't really feel like it was going anywhere
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews