The lost soldier's song

by Patrick McGinley

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Genres: Irish Literature, Fiction, Ireland

198 pages, Hardcover

First published September 12, 1994

About the author

Patrick McGinley (born 1937) is an Irish novelist, born in Glencolumbkille, Ireland.

After teaching in Ireland, McGinley moved to England in the 1960s and settled in Kent. He pursued a career as a publisher and author. Among his strongest literary influences is his Irish predecessor, author Flann O'Brien, who McGinley emulates most noticeably in his novel The Devil's Diary.

Source: Wikipedia

Reviews

[Maia · Rating 5 out of 5]

it has one torture scene which is brief and excruciating rather than very graphic (it is - briefly graphic? and allusive) for that reason i got rid of my copy and will not read it again, or i would have kept it forever and reread it frequently. But that apart it was beautiful, angry, intense, believable, politically engaged (might annoy some IRA supporters) and a really incredible book. It's 9/10 not 10/10 because it's not war and peace or one of the greatest books ever written, but it is one of the best british books ever written below the top level (Woolf-the waves) and i can't believe i've not heard of this writer before or since: you would really expect him to be regularly reviewed and mentioned as good as he writes. It isn't a book whose plot you can sum up, or its writing, or its feeling: either you'd fail (bloke gets involved in the IRA, starts to regret it, thinks he'd rather not have to go to all this bother and is it possible to fight a war without getting your hands dirty? That's sold it to you hasn't it?) the aspect i've left out is the bit that matters but i won't spoil it: it's too spare, no excess scenes or words, writing that's poetic but spare - but not the macho nor the telegraphese that 'spare' usually means, nor the poncey words or stilted sentences of 'poetic': the 'intense' isn't the usual teenage over-egged crap, it's just in the lack of excess scenes and how everything is vital to the plot, so you know that every word, every sentence, every scene matters and you're desperate to miss nothing. The images in particular are sharp and vivid. It's very much an adult's book is something i would say. When you're jaded by life, this will register; when you've believed, had it disillusioned, then started believing again, it will chime: the man at the start isn't a romantic teenager, he's already cautious. When other books and other writers have started to sound like the same plot and no voice and nothing to say, this will revive you. Unless torture will leave you suffering nightmares and flashbacks, i would recommend this to everyone. I am over-sensitive to that, and like i say it's brief and essential, there's no indulging, if anything it's a tad literary. SPOILER my only quibble is, surely he knew what he would cause by what he said? That alone made me wonder: is he supposed to have known, in which case the whole previous book and character are sort of worthless? But if he wasn't, or was so detached, that for me didn't ring true. I could only live with a neutral slightly dense reading. Or: the ending is implicit not spellt out, it's clear enough, except what i've said. Or: it's short and well-written, so give it a try!

[Tom Romig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Patrick McGinley's sterling prose is a thing of rare beauty--intense, immediate, concise, and purposeful. This novel of the war of Irish independence is a tale of rashness, betrayal, and brutality. "It had been a war in which the combatants recognized no rules and no limits of self-degradation, because neither had any respect for the other." Spurred on by hopelessly heroic national myths, the band of Irish rebels sinks to levels of cruelty that match the horrors wrought by their British oppressors. As one of them admits, "Decency, honesty, humanity--they're only ballast to be thrown overboard. We'll be left with nothing but our pure, inhuman ideals and a country that isn't fit for human beings to live in."

[tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a pretty good story. Not exactly what I was expecting but good nonetheless.

The characters are not fleshed out at all, especially Maureen who is one of the main drivers of the story. You're never quite sure what motivates everyone, which I suppose if you're familiar with Irish history around 1916 you would automatically know, and I am familiar, but still you only get snapshots of characters.

Not going to tell the ending but it's....abrupt. I would have much preferred to know more about why what was happening was happening. For example, and this is not a spoiler, why was Cassie coming between Declan and Maureen?

It's one of those books that's an interesting read but could stand to have been at least another 200 pages or so longer.