مشعلو الحرائق

by Jan Carson, هند عادل (Translator)

الثاني عشر من يوليو.. بلفاست.. المدينة كلها تشتعل، المناسبة السنوية التي يجتمعون فيها لإشعال كل شيء، لتحترق المدينة بأكملها وتخرج الأمور عن السيطرة! وعندما تصير الأمور في حالة جنون، يعاني المسؤولون والحكومة لإخماد هذا الحريق وذلك الشغب. ويبقى السؤال: من المسؤولون بالأساس عن هذا الشغب؟ من هم مشعلو الحرائق؟
فانتازيا نعيشها، خاصة عندما تبدأ الخطوط الفاصلة بين الخيال والحقيقة، والصواب والخطأ، تلتقي في الدكتور جوناثان الذي يخشى من أن ابنته المولودة حديثًا قد تزيد الأمور سوءًا وتؤذي الجميع، وسامي أجنيو الذي يتصارع مع ماضيه العنيف ويخشى العنف نفسه في ابنه أيضًا، لحمه ودمه. وسط كل هذا الاضطراب، هل يستسلم كل منهما لكل ما يحدث في المدينة ويتجاهلان مصير أولادهما السيئ أم يسعيان لحماية المدينة من مشعلو الحرائق؟
رواية مظلمة، لكنها ملهمة ومختلفة بشكل مثير، تتنقل بين الحقيقة والخيال عن الصراع بين الحب العائلي المؤدي للعنف أم العيش وحيدًا في مجتمع آمن.

Genres: Fiction, Ireland, Irish Literature, Fantasy, Magical Realism, Contemporary, Book Club

359 pages, Paperback

First published April 4, 2019

About the author

Jan Carson is a writer and community arts development officer currently based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. She has a BA in English Literature from Queen’s University Belfast and an MLitt. In Theology and Contemporary Culture from St. Andrew’s University, Scotland. Jan has had short stories published in literary journals on both sides of the Atlantic, has had two of her plays produced for the Belfast stage and is a current recipient of the Arts Council NI’s Artist’s Career Enhancement Bursary. Her first novel, “Malcolm Orange Disappears” will be published by Liberties Press, Dublin on June 2nd 2014.

Reviews

[Paromjit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Northern Irish writer Jan Carson spins a offbeat and beguiling tale set in a East Belfast with its history of sectarianism, where the ghosts and DNA of its past conflicts infiltrates the present. Social realism is blended with the colour and magic of the fantastical in the summer of the tall fires, incendiary sparks that grow, threatening to consume a Belfast with its growing tribe of the rebellious young. They are following and emulating the anonymous young man starting and inciting fires in a YouTube video sound tracked by The Prodigy's The Fire Starter. Sammy Agnew is married to Pam with 3 children, he has a history of being a bad man, a loyalist paramilitary terrorising Catholics with guns and burning their cars. He has tried to escape his violent and brutal past by relocating the family to a better part of Belfast. Dr Jonathan Murray was an unwanted solitary and lonely child, raised by parents who were entirely indifferent to him until they emigrate, intentionally leaving him behind.

A socially awkward Jonathan is unable to sustain relationships or function in social circles. He finds himself bewitched by the siren call of a overweight mermaid, who leaves him upon giving birth to their daughter, Sophie. Jonathan is simultaneously delighted and afraid of his baby daughter who fundamentally shifts the trajectory of his life for the better as he begins to interact more successfully with the outside world. He hires Christine, a deaf nanny for Sophie whilst he frantically tries to enforce a world of silence, terrified of Sophie's potential for death, destruction, madness and mayhem. Sammy recognises his son is a malignant force for evil, a son he deserves, a retribution for his own haunting and bloody past. Jonathan finds some solace in discovering Sophie is not alone as he encounters parents with their own 'unfortunate children' with their own special gifts. A troubled Sammy diminishes under the burden of his love and fear of his son and Jonathon tries to find the best way to address the dangers Sophie is likely to pose, fathers feeling a sense of responsibility to the world to which their children pose untold horrors.

Carson writes a beautifully compelling story of two fathers, their relationship with their children, Sammy's terror of his son, and Jonathan's first real love in his life, his beloved Sophie. The two men connect, seeing each other with a clarity that forges a bond between these two different men over the problematic nature of fatherhood, paternal love and sacrifice. Sections of Belfast's communities are struggling to evolve a new identity, to move on from the wars of the past, racked by fear with the slow disappearance of their familiar world and the symbols over which they had invested so much of themselves. So Belfast burns until prayers are answered with the never ending floods of biblical proportions. This is a brilliant evocation of a Belfast at once recognisable but blurred at the edges with the magical and the fantastical. A superb read that I recommend highly. Many thanks to Random House Transworld for an ARC.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

For whatever reason I never tire of reading about the Troubles, but The Fire Starters is not your average 'Troubles book.' Set in modern-day East Belfast, Jan Carson imagines a series of fires that break out throughout the city, initiated by an enigmatic figure referred to as the Fire Starter, who revels in the blood lust that his havoc causes. Amidst this violence we have two fathers, Sammy Agnew, an old man and former paramilitary, and Jonathan Murray, a socially awkward new father, both of whom fear their own children, as Sammy begins to suspect that his son is the cause of the Tall Fires, and Jonathan begins to suspect that his newborn daughter is a Siren.

This is a singular, inventive, tragic, and wildly funny book about the legacy of violence and the lasting scars it leaves on a community. The novel's central conceit is reminiscent of Milkman, and of other quintessential Northern Irish lit - that terror begins at home, that trust cannot automatically be extended to one's own family - but Jan Carson's interpretation of this theme is far more abstract than any I've seen before.

I'll be honest, I'm so relieved that I didn't know there was going to be a magical realism element to this book before picking it up, because as I'm sure you all know by now, magical realism almost never works for me - but fortunately, Carson shows us how it's done. This book quite literally mythologizes the Troubles as the threat of Sophie the maybe-Siren looms large over Jonathan, but her narrative role is more ambiguous; is Jonathan merely appropriating the grandiosity of the cultural narrative he was raised into, or is Sophie actually a danger to society? As Jonathan fears for the future, Sammy reminisces on the past and the violent role he played in the conflict in the 1970s; he fears that he can never wash his hands clean, and that his actions have irrevocably damaged his son.

As I'm sure you can tell, I loved this. Jan Carson's writing is sharp and funny and piercing; the fusion of perspectives works magnificently; the examination of Belfast's history of violence and the ever-present threat of its resurgence is timely and unapologetic. And this is, frankly, one of the most original things I've read in a very long time.

[Marchpane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jan Carson’s The Fire Starters examines fatherhood in a really interesting way. The novel follows two separate narrative strands – both set in East Belfast but one is a realistic look at criminal elements and the other is a fantastical tale involving children with supernatural abilities. These two stories occasionally connect, only to glance off each other like billiard balls, remaining mostly self-contained. It’s a very odd juxtaposition but one which surprisingly works well.

Each story follows a father who fears his child, believing them to be powerful, malevolent and destructive. In one, Sammy believes his twenty-something son is the anonymous Fire Starter, a rogue individual who has attracted a large online following, and is inciting them to commit a series of devastating arsons known as the Tall Fires throughout the city. In the other, single dad Jonathan is convinced that his infant daughter is a mythological creature, with the potential to do great harm; he discovers a support group for parents of similarly afflicted kids with a range of bizarre abilities. These two men’s lives seem worlds apart, but each is grappling with similar fears & anxieties, questions of heredity, and how best to love their monstrous children.

Jonathan’s fear of his baby daughter manifests in strange ways but his emotional (and sleep-deprived) state is believable. By embodying parental worries in a fantastical conceit, Carson allows us to look at them aslant, and by juxtaposing a separate, completely realistic storyline, drives the point home further still. Parenthood is weird and causes grown adults to behave in ways that are hardly rational sometimes. Newborn babies are such strange and wondrous creatures, they might well seem to us like mythological beings. A world that was safe and comfortable becomes suddenly menacing and full of dangers once you have a tiny human to protect.

The other aspect of this novel that worked really well for me is Carson’s prose. There are some terrific zoomed-out descriptions of Belfast and its inhabitants, and of the fires cutting a swathe through the city. These are so vivid and brilliantly done, I just had to stop and read them over again. Its hybrid nature makes this a tricky book to recommend, but if you are open to something a bit different, do give it a go. 4 stars.

[Sonja Arlow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every year Belfast gets set alight.

Seriously, just google Belfast and Bonfires and you will see unbelievably high pyres just ready to be lit every year on 12 July.

It’s within this premeditated destructiveness that the story starts. And the writing was utterly fantastic in places.

I loved that the book focused on the struggles of fatherhood, the burdens and doubts fathers face silently with no outlet other than their own racing thoughts.

From Dr Jonathan Murry, whose new baby daughter was conceived with an otherworldly woman, one who destroys people with her siren song. He will go to great lengths to prevent his daughter from following in her mother’s footsteps.

To Sammy Agnew who still carries the guilt of his violent past, and recognises this penchant for violence in his oldest son.

How far will you go to protect a child that has become a danger to society?

The book is also interspersed with little snippets of children that are born with odd abilities. From a girl with wings, to a boy that can see the future in reflective surfaces. Initially I could not make heads or tails of these little interludes but it gets explained later on. There is a big theme of how being different is viewed as a shameful thing.

The writing has a gritty feel to it so the story is probably not for everyone but I loved it.

[Nessrina Hazem · Rating 5 out of 5]

عادةً احلامنا بتحتوي على غرائب
دائماً ما تكرر حلمي بالطيران و التحليق على مدار سنوات.
و تبقى الأحلام أحلام
أما الوقع و الخيال
فثمة خيط رفيع يفصل بينهما
مع جان كارسون يتلاشى هذا الخيط الرفيع
و تمتزج الواقعية مع الفانتازيا.



هنا تجد طفلة بجناحات.. طفل بعجلات بدلاً من الأقدام.. طفلة تتحول إلى قارب.. صبي يرى المستقبل على سطح الماء.

"أحياناً نقطة المطر تريني أسوأ مما يريني المحيط"
لا أحد يعرف ماذا يعني بكلامه، و كيف لهم ان يعرفوا في حين أنهم محظوظون بأعينهم العادية..احيانا يطلب من والده الذهاب الي البحر.. و يظل يحدق في البحر بقدر ما يستطيع، يقول انه يحاول زرع المقاومة في نفسه.. إنه ليس منحوساً بل لديه هبة خاصة .. لم يصدقه والده؛ يظن أن ابنه يبحث عن إجابات. ربما يرغب في رؤية نهاية المستقبل الذي يراه.. "



امرأة تعيش و تلد و تنام في حوض الاستحمام.. أو ربما ليست أمرأة بل حورية؟



"انها حورية بحر. مخلوقة شريرة و قوية. و سأكون محظوظاً لو نجوت منها و مما تفعله في حوض استحمامي."

"إنها تطالب بملء الحوض بماء ساخن حتى في موجة حر أبريل.. لا تتناول إلا السوائل، تصر على أنها لو تناولت شيئاً أكثر كثافة من هذا فسوف ينحشر في جسدها و لن يخرج."

و طفلة صغيرة يخاف ابيها من ماهيتها.. هل ستصبح حورية شريرة كأمها؟ او تغلب طبيعتها البشرية؟

يجمعهم جميعاً موطنهم مدينة بلفاست.

استطاعت الكاتبة ببراعة تشييد فانتازيا ممزوجة بواقعية في مدينة بلفاست الصغيرة. فمن مشعلو الحرائق في احتفالية النيران العالية السنوية الصيفية في مدينة بلفاست،امتدت الحرائق في بيوت و  شوارع و مباني المدينة و السيارات ، ثورة او شغب. نيران عالية تلتهم المنازل و الحدائق و الاسفلت و ترعب الحكومة.




الرواية لها ٣ مسارات: الطبيب جوناثان موراي و ابنته "صوفي" و خوفه عليها او منها.. فزعه و رعبه من صوت طفلته ذات الشهور القليلة الذي قد يبث الرعب في العالم. و كيف سيخفي صوتها و ماهيتها؟ كيف سيحميها من طبيعة امها المجهولة؟



المسار الثاني : سامي أجنيو و خوفه على ابنه بسبب طبيعته العدوانية.. شعوره بالذنب من أن يكون ابنه عدوانياً مثله

"هناك رغبة بداخلي لإيذاء الناس"

و كيف سيحمي سامي ابنه من نفسه و من الشرطة؟

المسار الثالث و الأجمل هي الفواصل بين المسارين السابقين بقصص الفانتازيا.. عن أطفال ذوي طبيعة خاصة.

"هؤلاء الأطفال يتعرضون للأذي و لا يتسببون به. إنهم تعساء"

مع تقاطع المسارات الثلاثة.. بيظهر حب الأهل لأبنائهم.. مع اختلاف الوسيلة. من تقبلهم.. لتعنيفهم.. لكبتهم.
عوالم غريبة نسجتها الكاتبة في مدينة بلفاست الهادئة.
جانب آخر من المدينة الهادئة مجهول للطبيب جوناثان.

" لماذا لم اسمع عن كل هذا قبل ولادة صوفي ؟ "
"لأنك أكثر ترفعاً من أن تعرف ماذا يجري على الجانب الآخر. "

استمتعت جدا بأسلوب الكاتبة الرقيق رغم أجواء الرواية العنيفة المثيرة الأعصاب و بالترجمة الممتازة.

[Nigel · Rating 4 out of 5]

In brief - This is an odd book. It's well written but it is somewhat off the wall. Aspects I simply loved, aspects were strange, aspects didn't work for me.

In full
This is set in a Belfast that seems quite recognisable with its sectarian divisions as well as cultural ones. However the book does stray from anything I would associate with normality fairly quickly. The first chapter left me a little puzzled and it was a while before I could get into the story. It is the Summer of the Tall Fires in Belfast and Sammy is concerned about his children. We then meet Jonathan (actually Dr Jonathan Murray a GP) and Sophie, his daughter, and the strangeness of the book begins to develop. It is often dark and down to earth and at times poetic as it follows in the main these two threads that inevitably come together.

Other characters do flit among the pages - a little oddly initially. However Jonathan and Sammy are the main focus of this book. We learn about the lives both current and past. Sammy has a background in the Troubles which is dark but felt authentic to me as did the rest of his story. However it is Jonathan whose story grabbed me and kept me engaged. To call it somewhat bizarre is probably something of an understatement however I felt myself smiling with at times and wincing too. For someone who seems unlikeable he is remarkably likeable!

I don't think I've ever read anything quite like this before. It puts a foot in the fantasy stream in a very effective way. It looks at life in Belfast in an interesting way. I guess to me it is about parenthood in the main and the way your views turn and change over time. I imagine I must be fortunate though probably quite normal to not have had to face what Sammy and Jonathan do. Some time after actually finishing the book I'm still not quite sure what I think and it. However I am glad I read it and it will stay with me for some time to come I'm sure.

Note - I received an advance digital copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair review

http://viewson.org.uk/fiction/the-fir...

[fatma · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Jen Carson is an exceptional writer. The Fire Starters has some of the most vivid, immersive descriptions of a city and its ethos that I've read in a long time. In the hands of Jan Carson, East Belfast becomes a city that is at once recognizable and unique, one that somehow feels both familiar in its everyday mundanities and yet utterly distinct in its particular quirks. All of this is to say, Carson renders the setting of her novel with a masterful balance between the sprawling and the specific.

And yet this is no portrait of a quaint, inert city. East Belfast, and by extension the people in it, is subject to tensions that threaten to, quite literally, boil over. The characters of the The Fire Starters find themselves embroiled in circumstances that seem unexpected and yet strangely inevitable. On the one hand there is Sammy Agnew who finds his violent past from the Troubles unearthed and, he believes, mutated into a far more dangerous form in his son's actions. On the other, there is Jonathan Murray, a man whose past has, unlike Sammy's, been painfully empty and impressionless. Together, these two men's narratives coalesce into a narrative about fatherhood, masculinity, and intergenerational relationships: how do fathers think of their identities in relation to their children's, especially their sons? how does a particular conception of masculinity in East Belfast relate to a particular kind of violence? how does violence seep from one generation to the next, and how does it mutate between those generations? In so doing, Carson depicts a milieu in which the momentous is often noticed and known, but not necessarily acknowledged. It becomes not so much a matter of things unseen, but rather things left unsaid despite them having been seen. In other words, a milieu in which silence pervades.

Throughout all this, Carson pays particular attention to names, the ways in which something, once named, becomes Something--a sudden representative of the essence of some kind of phenomenon or event, one that is almost destined to prove inadequate to the task of that representation. Names fall short in The Fire Starters; they obfuscate rather than clarify.

"This is Belfast. This is not Belfast.
Better to avoid calling anything a spade in this city. Better to avoid names and places, dates and second names. In this city names are like points on a map or words worked in ink. They are trying too hard to pass for truth. In this city truth is a circle from one side and a square from the other."

"The Troubles is too less a word for all of this. It is a word for minor inconveniences, such as overdrawn bank accounts, slow punctures, a woman's time of the month. It is not a violent word. [...] The Troubles is always written with a capital T as if it were an event, as the Battle of Hastings is an event with a fixed beginning and end, a point on the calendar year. History will no doubt prove it is actually a verb; an action that can be done to people over and over again, like stealing."

The only thing is, I wanted to feel more strongly about these characters. As cliche as it sounds, my favourite character of this novel was East Belfast, and really, considering the amount of time we spend learning about the conditions of the city from a kind of literary bird's eye view, it is absolutely its own character. That said, I wanted to feel more attached to the two main characters, Sammy and Jonathan. I definitely cared about their struggles and anxieties, but I also didn't feel like like they had 100% of my sympathy.

Regardless, The Fire Starters is an impressive novel with even more impressive writing. Jan Carson is definitely a writer to look out for.

Thanks so much to Transworld Ireland/Penguin Books UK for sending me a copy of this in exchange for an honest review!

[Aija · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5*
Viena no labākajām šogad lasītajām.

[Dalia Nourelden · Rating 3 out of 5]

رواية فانتازيا وواقعية في نفس الوقت ..
فيها جانب الفانتازيا من حيث طبيعة بعض الشخصيات المختلفة وفكرة إشعال الحرائق نفسها ..

وواقعية في عرض باقي الشخصيات وافكارهم ومخاوفهم وفكرة مهمة قدمتها الرواية وهي تأثير الأهل على ابنائهم وعلى مستقبلهم وعلى شخصياتهم ونظرتهم لنفسهم وتعاملهم مع الآخرين..

الرواية خفيفة واسلوبها سلس والترجمة جميلة بس طول فترة القراءة عندى إحساس ان الرواية ناقصها حاجة بس مش قادرة أحدد ايه ؟!
او جايز المشكلة فيا انا 😁

بس في المجمل تجربة لطيفة..
برفقة صديقتي الجميلة سارة سمير ❤️ اللى كل مرة بنقعد نتعازم مين اللى هيرشح الرواية اللى هنقراها عشان بقينا مرعوبين ومن اختياراتنا و مشتركين والحمد لله في النحس الأبدي والعمل اللى معمولنا 😂😂

٥ / ٢ / ٢٠٢٥

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I stated in my last wrap up I read a lot of solid books. By this I mean that the novels were good and I liked them but I wanted a WOW factor. The Fire Starters was the exception. Trust me, this is a WOW book from start to finish.

The setting of the book is Belfast 2014. The Troubles are over but someone is starting a series of fires around the city. Sammy Agnew thinks that his son, Mark, is the arsonist. After all, when Sammy was young he caused a lot of havoc and he thinks that the violence gene was passed on.

In another storyline, Jonathan, who is the result of uncaring parents, is scared that his baby daughter can injure the human race. As he is a doctor, Jonathan has a medical solution which cannot be considered ethical.

The Fire Starters is a magical realist novel. Creatures roam the pages, bizarre things happen and surreal situations occur.

But the fantasy element is only one part of the novel.

The book is mainly about father/child relationships. Both fathers in the book feel that they have to sacrifice something so that their children may prosper, no matter how dangerous they are. Eventually Jonathan and Sammy’s destinies do cross which influences their final decision.

The other theme in the book is politics. Carson makes some swipes at gentrification, values and Belfast before and after The Troubles. Carson is a gently humorous writer, so I did grin at these sections.

The Fire Starters is a fantastic read. The magical realist bits are a joy to read and combined with the more gritty Sammy plotline works. The majority of the writing does have that distinctive Irish style (like a person telling a tale down in a pub) and there many moments of pure pleasure. None of the characters in the book are redeemable but the reader will care for them.

In the grand tradition of Rushdie, Garcia Marquez and Allende, Carson is able to ascend into flights of fancy but manages to use that as a way of exposing the grim realities of life.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

February 2022 - I reread this novel for my contemporary Irish book club and I am glad that I did. This reading I savored her writing. Carson writes beautiful descriptions - not just of city scenes such as sights in East Belfast, where she lives - but descriptions of fire damage, discarded cigarettes, and other detritus of daily life.
As I reread this book, I was chilled by the descriptions of how residents of East Belfast, and indeed the rest of the city, from the Protestant communities, feel about the efforts of authorities to limit and control the size of bonfires built for Eleventh night, July 11. July 12th is the culmination of the Marching Season, and "celebrates" (at least from the Unionist perspective) the victory of William III of Orange (King Billy) over King James II (the deposed Catholic King of Scotland and England) at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. It is seen as a victory of Protestants over Catholics, and to many the fact that this happened over 300 years ago doesn't matter. As expressions of Unionist "pride" - parades, bonfires, etc.- are eroded by official efforts to control or ban them, the Unionists wonder if losing these symbols will cause them to disappear. For decades, particularly after the partition of Ireland and Northern Ireland in 1921, the Protestant majority had more - better housing, more of the jobs, and most of the political power. Carson describes the feelings generated when Unionist symbols - the bonfires being a major one - are "taken away", and it was chilling. The parallels with Americans who fly Confederate flags, and hold on to their monuments are compelling. Supporters of the Confederacy in the US, and those who Northern Ireland who cheer King Billy as a symbol of Protestant supremacy fear that any lessening of their dominance, means they get a smaller piece of the pie. However, it is not a zero sum game.

If you have seen the film Belfast , you have some sense of what East Belfast, the setting for this novel, is like. The film is set in North Belfast, but Belfast is a small city. Both are not far from one another and the shipbuilding giant Harland and Wolfe. H&W was famous for building huge luxury ocean liners including the Titanic. Many men in these two neighborhoods worked for the shipyard that did not hire Catholics. In the Catholic community prior to the Northern Ireland civil rights movement, men were unemployed, and the women worked, often in linen mills. Most of these linen mills which once employed 40% of the population in Northern Ireland, have shut down. Since the 1998 Peace Agreement, things have been looking up in Belfast. Change is slow, but it is happening. It takes a little longer in a society where old resentments, grudges, and hates still linger.

This is Jan Carson's second novel. She has a high profile in Northern Ireland as a young writer who has written novels, flash fiction, and short stories. She often is featured as a discussant with other writers (I'll see her in mid-July in Armagh, Northern Ireland in conversation with the writer Kevin Barry). Her first novel Malcolm Orange Disappears was set in the United States, where Carson spent time. This novel is firmly set in East Belfast (home of Van Morrison, and C.S. Lewis), a working class Protestant stronghold.

July is the "Marching Season" for Protestant Unionists, who are members of and adherents to the Orange Order. They are fervently dedicated to the Orange cause, and commemorate the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. Here William of Orange defeated the Catholic James II who was attempting to reclaim the English throne. On July 12th every year, Orangemen (and women) march throughout Northern Ireland. On the night before, the 11th, huge bonfires burn everywhere. https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-northe...
The bonfire custom is a theme in the novel as residents work to construct bigger and bigger flammable towers of combustible items including furniture. But this year the towers are growing way beyond the height limits, and soon fires are happening everywhere, placing people, homes, and businesses in danger. It becomes apparent that the other fires are being set by one person who begins to brag about his exploits on the internet. Chapter 8 - Eleventh, Twelfth, Thirteenth - is an absolutely stunning description of these days in July - the lambeg drums (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7UzN...) , the Orange sashes, fifes, and the Union Jacks flying everywhere.

The second theme, which is very much Jan Carson's usual style, is the theme of the "Unfortunate Children". These are children who are "different". They may have wings, superpowers, or even be potentially dangerous to others. The parents of these children are often desperate. It seems that in East Belfast, there is an abundance of this kind of children, and the parents have a doctor who advises them, and brings them together in a support system. Children of this sort are found all over the city, but it is only in East Belfast where the parents gather together (middle class parents have the resources to get support privately). Two of the fathers in the novel have challenging children, and their dilemmas drive the story.

This was a hard-to-put-down novel for me. Carson's style is brilliant - her interpretation of magical realism. Perhaps there is a name for it that I haven't come across. The novel is grounded in the reality of East Belfast life, while at the same time, threaded through with the bizarre, magical and at times terrifying.

[MisterHobgoblin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved The Fire Starters. Maybe it was all the references to Connswater Tesco where I used to do my shopping (though it was better when it was still Stewarts).

This is a comic novel set in the heart of loyalist East Belfast. Sammy Agnew is a decommissioned paramilitary trying to cope with civilian life. Jonathan Murray is a GP whose heart is not really in his work. Both share a feeling of irrelevance; both share concerns that their children are growing up to become monsters.

Much of the humour is derived from a deadpan explanation of the cultural mores of the protestant working man. With a straight fact, we are told of the traditions of the Twelfth; the need to assert cultural supremacy over the neighbouring Catholics by the building of immensely tall bonfires; and the injustice of the lack of appreciation for these acts of fealty by the State that they are designed to venerate. And there is Jonathan's first person narrative that sneers at his patients - especially the older and poorer sections of society - as he himself feasts on red wine and pizza.

Then, every now and then, the Sammy and Jonathan narratives will break for a vignette of a child with some extraordinary and esoteric superpower - with some superpowers more useful than others. Being able to turn into a boat, for example, is probably less useful than, say, the ability to fly.

Both Sammy and Jonathan are simultaneously grotesque and loveable. There is a sense that they put on an external act to satisfy others' expectations but underneath there is a genuine human. They feel real.

The novel is also hugely referential. Some references - to popular culture, music, the Anonymous movement, politicians - are quite obvious. Others are more subtle - there's more than a hint, for example, of the NIO Cats In The Cradle advert; or the Midnight's Children superpowers. And then there's this idea of linking prodigy to fire starters... Spotting these references adds enormously to the fun.

The plot as it unfolds is a masterpiece. It leads the reader off to expect some kind of terrorist/police procedural but in fact is a really insightful look at the relationships between parents and children; the aspirations we have for our kids and how we handle things when they don't turn out quite the way we expected; the way we understand their uniqueness in a world where other people's children blur into a single society.

I really cannot find fault in The Fire Starters. I wholeheartedly recommend this novel.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a little while to get on board with the style of The Fire Starters - Barney Norris described it as "fizzing with energy", which about sums it up. The style feels a little stream of consciousness at times too, a little frenetic. But as the novel progresses it becomes evident that this fits the narrative - fires are raging across Belfast faster than they can be put out.

Set in east Belfast the story focuses mostly on two men worried about their children and what they might be capable of: one (Jonathan) who is concerned about his newborn daughter and q\ the other (Sammy) is worried about his adult son.

I'd agree with another quote from the blurb, too - that this is "fiercely original". At times it is grittily real, at others there are magical elements. Recommended!

Thank you Netgalley and Random House UK/Transworld Publishers for the advance copy, which was provided in exchange for an honest review.

[Kirsty · Rating 5 out of 5]

You know sometimes you finish a book and just think: WOW? The sort of book that casts a shivering, glittering spell over you? The sort you feel right in your bones? The sort you’re so consumed by that you literally can’t look away in the last chapters? The Fire Starters is that book.

[فيصل السويدي · Rating 4 out of 5]

هذا الكتاب تذكرة مجانية إلى بلفاست(عاصمة إيرلندا الشمالية)، هذه المدينة القصية والصغيرة نسبية وذات العدد القليل نسبيا من السكان،
هذا الكتاب رحلة إلى طرقها طبائع أهلها شبكة مواصلاتها جنون سكانها غرائبها وعجائب تركيبتها
فعلا القراءة رحلة مكوكية إلى البعيد النائي والغريب المجهول
أول 48 صفحة في رأيي هي قمة القمة ثم كان هناك صعود وهبوط مستمرين للسهم البياني
أسلوب مشوق ساخر لاذع وبه مسحة من جنون
مع وجود شطحات غريبة وتفاصيل قد تكون مؤذية للبعض
رحلة رائعة في المجمل وتجربة لطيفة

[Inita · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 zvaigznes
Autore raksta labi, bet pilsētā un tēlos valda tik liela bezcerība un nolemtība, ka man bija pagrūti lasīt. Šeit bija viss ir slikti Belfāstā. Būt vecākam nereti ir ļoti grūta nasta un ik pa laikam ir jautājums - kas ņem virsroku cilvēkā - daba vai audzināšana? Skaidra atbilde šeit netiek dota, bet ir vecāki, kam jāpieņem grūti lēmumi.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having recently read another novel without realising it was of the gothic genre, I think I've gone and done it again, this time, a contemporary Belfast gothic novel, because right from the first chapter, there is the overwhelming sense of something sinister going to happen, and it's not the series of summer fires that are plaguing the city though they are equally troubling. I discovered having finished the book that Jan Carson is also a fan of absurdist fiction.

In that first chapter we meet a father, Jonathan, who has a strange perception of his baby daughter, who he is caring for alone. He desperately wants to care for her, but he feels that part of his role in doing that is to remove the aspect of her that she has inherited from her mother, who he believes was a siren, a woman/creature capable of controlling a man's reason. His own childhood was one of being provided for, but unloved, his parents (who never wanted children or grandchildren) abandoning him at the age of 16 to a boarding school, leaving the country. He becomes a Doctor, and of no surprise, lacks any form of empathy.

We meet Sammy, also a father, an ex loyalist paramilitary, who is becoming increasingly anxious, having reason to suspect that his son Mark, who lives in their attic and rarely comes out, may be involved in sinister activities, fearing he has inherited his own thirst for violence, a tendency he had no control over in youth and even today, has to quell the feeling inside.

I found the depictions of both these men terrifying, both are planning some kind of intervention and up until the last pages, we can't quite believe that they may follow through, and they too wrestle with their instinct and question, whether they ought to proceed.

Then there is the background of a hot summer and the approach of the Orange parades of the Eleventh Night on every 12th of July, an Ulster Protestant tradition where large, towering bonfires are lit, accompanied by street parties and loyalist marching bands.

The bonfires are lit to celebrate (1688) and victory of Protestant King William (Billy) of Orange over Catholic king James II at the Battle of the Boyne (1690), which began the Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. - Wikipedia

When the rain finally arrives, people begin to smile, there are fewer angry people on the streets, they no longer have the numbers for a decent riot, the air of festivity is extinguished. Protesting soon makes way for the football season.

This is how it has been in Belfast every summer since the Agreement. The same hot anger rises at the end of June and and goes stamping up and down the little streets. Stamping and shouting and raising Cain all the way through July until, by August's end, the energy's gone right out of it.

And the various versions and perceptions of truth and history that exist, depending on who is doing the telling, where they live, what day it is, demonstrated in this opening chapter This is Belfast.

This is Belfast. This is not Belfast.
Better to avoid calling anything a spade in this city. Better to avoid names and places, dates and second names. In this city names are like points on a map or words worked in ink. They are trying too hard to pass for truth. In this city truth is a circle from one side and a square from the other. It is possible to go blind staring at the shape of it. Even now, sixteen years after the Troubles, it is much safer to stand back and say with conviction, 'It all looks the same to me.'

And following this are two paragraphs, one that begins with 'The Troubles are over now.' and the other begins with 'The Troubles have only just begun.'

Jonathan (Dr Murray) is obsessed with silencing his daughter, and even employs a deaf nanny to look after her. She is a loving, nurturing soul, providing one of the few notes of relief in an otherwise tense narrative, as these men ponder their responsibility as fathers and fear of what their children may become.

There is a third brief narrative, an omniscient voice that shares the story of a few of the Unfortunate Children of Belfast, children of parents who belong to a support group, that Jonathan attends once, they are children born with deformities and powers and it is here, that I realise there is an element of magic realism in this tale, that perhaps his perception of his daughter as a siren isn't an aspect of his own mental health problem.

The novel is a blend of politically charged social and magic realism, though it feels realistic in its reading; dealing with the trauma of legacy's, a parent's legacy to a child and the community's complicated legacy of the political troubles of Northern Ireland. It is set in East Belfast, where the author lives and from listening to the interview, I learn that she is an accomplished eavesdropper, that many of the words in these pages have been inspired by overheard conversations.

On Developing Empathy for Those Living Segregated Lives

Interested to understand the motivation behind the novel, I listened to an excellent interview with Nicky Bull in which she shares something of her role as a community arts facilitator and the role this can play in healing rifts, bringing people together, using the creative process to help develop empathy, she talks about the ability of storytelling to help develop this.

The community arts sector in Northern Ireland has played a huge role in the peace and reconciliation process. Primarily it brings people from both communities together into a shared space but I also think it has also taught people soft skills that have been missing from Northern Irish culture.

It’s very, very hard for people here to practice empathy because quite often we grow up segregated, so how are you supposed to understand what life is like if you don’t have any friends who aren't from the same background as you, the skill system is still largely segregated,and government housing and things.

So these conversations around learning how to empathise, which I think the creative act, particularly writing fiction, you’re putting yourself in the shoes of another character, even when you read, it's an act of empathy, those skills can be taught and then transferred into the social realms that we’re working in Northern Ireland at the moment, that people can imagine a life that isn’t theirs, it's much more difficult to hate and to segregate when you have the ability to empathise with other people.

It's an incredible and deeply disturbing novel, yet despite the discomfort I learned a lot from reading it and especially from taking the opportunity to listen to the author speak, that helped me understand the motivation behind it and that incredible candour around the very real problem of how the creation of segregated community's causes a lack empathy.

[Raquel · Rating 4 out of 5]

«La palabra "conflicto" se queda corta para describir todo esto (...) No es una palabra suficientemente violenta. Por necesidad, nos hemos tenido que ganar una palabra violenta, algo tan rotundo y tan brutal como "apartheid" (...) Se habla del conflicto como si fuese un acontecimiento concreto (...) Sin duda la historia demostrará que en realidad es un verbo; una acción que se le puede infligir a la población una y otra vez, como robar»

Reseña en español | Review in English (below)

No puedo negar que me siento atraída por historias que transcurren en Irlanda y/o Irlanda del Norte, y a veces especialmente en Belfast si los años del conflicto juegan un papel importante en la novela. Descubrí un poco por casualidad Los Incendiarios aquí en Goodreads mientras buscaba literatura norirlandesa, y al poco me enteré que la editorial asturiana Hoja de Lata lo publicaba en España, así que no pude resistirme a hacerme con una copia.

Los Incendiarios , de Jan Carson narra, durante los meses de verano, una historia que mezcla realidad y fantasía con dos protagonistas masculinos que intentan encontrar la respuesta a lo que es ser padre en la Belfast actual, una ciudad que todavía soporta las marcas del conflicto y que se incendia con la llegada del verano: Sammy Agnew, preocupado porque uno de sus hijos herede su ira y odio hacia el "otro bando" y cometa los mismos errores de su juventud; y el doctor Jonathan Murray, un joven bastante ingenuo que tras encontrarse a una sirena en una bañera y enamorarse de ella, ésta le abandona dejándole a su recién nacida Sophie.

«Son casi las cinco. Se ha acabado el partido. Han ganado, lo que quiere decir que en el otro lado de la ciudad han perdido. Aquí para todo hay dos bandos, especialmente para el fútbol. Todo el mundo está obligado a escoger uno y no cambiar»

La autora va intercalando, además de estos dos puntos de vista en diferentes personas narrativas (primera y tercera), capítulos generales sobre lo que ocurre en Belfast cuando el ayuntamiento decide limitar la altura de las hogueras del solsticio de verano que se construyen en Belfast Este, y otros capítulos que nos introducen a diferentes niños con poderes especiales (niñas que nacen con alas, vampiros diurnos, niños que nacen con patines en vez de pies…) y la asociación de los Niños Desdichados, a la que finalmente el doctor Murray acudirá al temer que su recién nacida herede los poderes mitológicos de su madre sirena.

«Los padres no dejan ver las noticias a sus hijos esta semana, y la gente de otros países que casi se había olvidado de los problemas de Belfast ve estas imágenes y coge aire lentamente entre los dientes, haciendo un ruido que expresa a la vez sorpresa y lástima y que en cierto modo es también el sonido que hace un antiguo recuerdo al ser desenterrado»

Me ha gustado especialmente el estilo de la autora aun habiendo leído una traducción, y la verdad que es un gustazo leer sin que te chirríe nada y no parezca que el idioma original sea otro: las descripciones, metáforas y símiles que utiliza Carson (“el cielo desde allí es como una pinta de cerveza asentándose, una serie de capas negras y doradas sobre la valla del jardín”), el sarcasmo y cierta comicidad dentro de la crudeza del postconflicto norirlandés, y la mezcla de elementos mágicos con la realidad de Belfast Este.

Los Incendiarios ha sido un gran descubrimiento: me parece un libro único y muy especial que gustará a quienes os sintáis atraídos por el realismo mágico y los Troubles, pero también si os interesa la dialéctica nature vs. nurture y las historias familiares diferentes. Personalmente, me ha dejado con ganas de seguir leyendo a la autora.

«En el fondo les aterra que, una vez que les roben el último símbolo, no sepan diferenciarse a sí mismos de cualquier desconocido con el que se crucen por la calle»

- - - -
I can't deny I’m drawn to stories set in Ireland and/or Northern Ireland, and especially in Belfast if the Troubles play an important role or background in the novel. I discovered The Fire Starters here on Goodreads while looking for Northern Irish literature, and shortly after I found out the Spanish publishing house Hoja de Lata was releasing it in Spain, so I couldn't resist getting a copy.

The Fire Starters , by Jan Carson narrates, in the span of the summer months, a story that mixes reality and fantasy through two male protagonists who try to find the answer to what it's like to be a father in today's Belfast –a city that still bears the marks of conflict and starts burning again with the arrival of summer: Sammy Agnew, worried that one of his sons will inherit his anger and hatred towards the "other side" and will commit the same mistakes of his youth; and Dr. Jonathan Murray, a rather naive young man who, after meeting a mermaid on a bathtub and falling in love with her, is left with their newborn Sophie.

The author intertwines, in addition to these two points of view in different narrative persons (first and third), general chapters on what happens in Belfast when the city council decides to limit the height of the summer solstice bonfires that are built in East Belfast, and other chapters that introduce us to different children with special powers (girls who are born with wings, daytime vampires, children who are born with skates instead of feet...) and the association of the Unfortunate Children, to which Dr Murray will finally attend fearing that her newborn will inherit the mythological powers of her mermaid mother.

I loved Carson’s beautiful prose and style even though I have read her translated, and the truth is that you can tell it's nicely done when you don't feel it was written originally in another language: the descriptions, metaphors and similes that Carson uses (“the sky from there is like a pint of beer settling down, a series of black and gold layers on the garden fence”), the sarcasm and a certain parody within the harshness of the Northern Irish post-conflict, and the mix of magical elements with the reality of East Belfast.

The Fire Starters has been a great discovery: I think it is a unique and very special book that will appeal to those who are attracted to magical realism and the Troubles, but also if you are interested in the dialectic nature vs. nurture and unique family stories centred on fatherhood. Personally, it has left me craving to continue reading the writer.
*I use the CAWPILE rating system created by Book Roast, and this book was a 8/10 for me.

[Richa Bhattarai · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

A lonely, socially inept doctor climbs up eight flights of concrete stairs to chance upon a woman with baby teeth and soles as unlined as a newborn’s. After three days in bed with her, he leaves the apartment, carrying her fireman-style, and buckling her to the seatbelt of his old Renault. For the next nine months, this fascinating-repulsive seductress fills his bathtub to the brim, and wallows underwater, “like an octopus or a submarine.”

At last, Doctor Jonathon admits the bad word to himself—she is a wicked, irresistible, intoxicating siren, that “myth made flesh”, a fantastic being come to life. As he is trying to deal with her, she suddenly disappears, leaving him with a perfect little girl splayed out on a wash basin. If the baby is a Siren like her mother, Jonathon knows he must stop her before she destroys all the men in the city. He longs to place his hand across his daughter’s mouth and make it disappear. He makes a perfect plan to cut off his daughter’s tongue and protect the world—but does he follow through?

Barely five minutes away from his home, but socially continents away in distance, lives Sammy Agnew. A former paramilitary, Sammy is wracked with guilt at his son’s vandalism. He thinks the violence has run down from him to his progeny. In the 1970s, Sammy was part of a gang that set people’s cars alight “for the sheer godless rush of wreaking havoc”, and filled with spite for a well-off man, Sammy pummeled the man: “His face, after Sammy had finished with him, was meat, with bits of bone and tooth whiting through the red.” Now Sammy’s son seems to be the notorious Fire Starter, who instigates people to build raging fires throughout the city of Belfast, and scorch it alive. Sammy knows he must stop his son’s madness and save the city—but can he?

The Fire Starters, Irish author Jan Carson’s second novel, is about these angry men in Belfast, who riot over they know not what. It is about desperate fathers looking out for their unfortunate children, and of the war between parental love and moral dilemma.

And above all, it is an exploration of the embers smouldering deep within the city of Belfast. Decades after the original ‘Troubles’ that divided Belfast, the unrest and pessimism in its residents is hard to quell. A flame here and a blaze there gradually spreads into a series of choreographed fires that threaten to ravage the whole city. “It is like a snapshot of the world’s end: masked children eating ice cream while the whole city glows hell red behind their backs.” The contours and alleyways and the very breath of Belfast is bottled up, still alive and fluttering, in these pages—the locale participates as a character, the protagonist if you will.

Carson excels at drawing a picture of Belfast, a wet, dreary city with a face on it “like a weekend funeral,” where “rain washed the lightness out of everything it touches.” Belfast’s sighs and rustles, its restlessness and tremors are palpable and tactile. There are, within the city, other things to see, smell, almost touch. Along with Sammy, readers peer at the “constellation of brown liver stains haloed around an old man’s bald patch.” They hear the “muddy Fermanagh accent” of a 999 operator. The smells are particularly strong—“piss and stale cider, warm rubbish, aerosol, animal and withered human.”

In this sad city that harbours senseless brutality erupting at the slightest excuse, there live the ‘Unfortunate Children.’ These, perhaps, are one of the best examples of magic realism in recent books. It is surprising just how credible their descriptions are, none longer than two thousand words, yet each lingering on in the mind, the shine and polish of the novel. There is a perverse allure to the ‘gift’ each of them possess—flight, morphing into a vampire, soothsaying through liquid surfaces, turning into a boat and paddling away at the lake. These flights of whimsy produce a beautiful, evocative, startling work of art.

This aura is created largely due to Carson’s way with letters. Her words are strewn smooth and light, and easy to wade through. Yet they are dark and purposeful and impossibly sharp, biting and scratching and imploring readers to pay attention. Where the novel falters in is the amalgamation of all the threads it branches into. There are parallel stories, each important and interesting, yet they do not gel together seamlessly as a novel’s segments ought to. The wavelengths of the sub-plots are a mismatch, with some being personal and passionate and mysterious, and others just distant and detached. It is jarring to switch between the stories, though they occur simultaneously.

It is a tale of yesterday and tomorrow, of fathers trying to erase their bloody histories, and plotting to evade the scary future. Carson helps us navigate the “troubled” history of Belfast, whose citizens are obligated to fight and rebel because they feel they must, yet have long forgotten the political idealism they first started out with. As the world moves on with newer crisis and the residents begin to feel neglected and inconsequential, as their resentment and frustration grows, they start striking back by setting the city aflame. This attention-seeking tendency is a direct attack on every city that exists today, every person, even every country.

At the heart of this tumult are sirens—sirens that rent the air running from one emergency to another, and the mythical sirens who could, with a song from their beings, destroy every man ever to exist. This wordplay is cruel and clever, a motif and yet not repetitive.

The Fire Starters, with its inimitable vantage point of a location and time period; its explorations of a uniquely formed city and the human psyche; its flirtations with the magical and the real, is certainly worth a read, if not a re-read.

[سارة سمير · Rating 3 out of 5]

سبحان الله انا وداليا طول القراءة حاسين بحاجة ناقصة بس مش عارفين ايه هي
هتفضل الرواية لآخر كلمة في آخر سطر ناقصها حاجة مش عارفة ايه هي

بس ايه النهاية دي يا سيدي
حد يخطف حد كدا يعني .. اتقفلت قفلة هندي محترمة بعد الرغي دا كله واللي مش عارفة ايه علاقته بعنوان الرواية

بس رغم العيوب المريبة دي الا اني استمتعت بوقت لطيف والترجمة سلسة جدا والاحداث ماشية بسهولة بس هو يقول عايز ايه يعني في الآخر

شكرا صديقتي العزيزة داليا نور الدين على الاختيار الموفق اللي انا اخترته من قائمتها هي .. يعني نحس مركب 😂🩷

[Lyudmila Spasova · Rating 3 out of 5]

16 години след “Смутните” или Проблемните години в Белфаст отново назрява огромно напрежение, чиято кулминация са огньове, които преминават в масови палежи на частни и обществени сгради. Краткото и необичайно горещо и сухо като за Северна Ирландия лято разпалва страстите и лоялистите, в книгата най-често назовавани “оранжисти”, подкрепящите съюза с Великобритания протестанти, поемат на обичайните паради със знамена, барабани и стиснати юмруци. Техните права са нарушени, нещо, ко��то никога няма да простят. Палежите се извършват от тинейджъри, направо деца, натрупали агресия, яростни и решени да унищожават. Джен Карсън успява да създаде апокалиптична картина и мисля, че това именно е литературното и постижение в този роман.

Няколко метра високи огнове, “Високите огньове”, които традиционно се палят “всеки юли в Единайсетата нощ”, “своеобразна подготовка за парада на оранжистите на Дванайсети”, прерастват в огнен ад, обхванал големи райони от града. “Това са планини от разтопено дърво, които започват да се изграждат два или повече месеца преди запалването на огъня.
… Всички участват в строежа, най-вече децата… Те са научили това умение от бащите и безпътните си чичовци, които са ги научили да пият и да пикаят на улицата”. Политиците са безсилни, полицията изтощена. Става дума за вековна традиция, която трябва да се спази, свързана с “крал Били, който си проправил път през помръкналия град, и откритите огньове белязали пътя му”. Има се предвид Уилям III Оран(ж)ски и никой не може да забрани огнения ад.

За съжаление едва дочетох втората част, наричам я условно така, изпълнена с фантастични елементи, някакъв вид “магически реализъм”, който никак не ми беше магически, а по-скоро ми прилича на хорър. Летящи деца, деца с крила и амбициозни родители, бутащи ги безуспешно от високо, за да полетят, дете с нещо като вродени колела на ръцете и краката, морско чудовище, навярно сирена, дете, което физически се превръща в облак или в лодка.

Идеята на авторката за децата заплаха става ясна и без тези “магически” способности. Най-опасният младеж, “Подпалвачът”, който подстрекава към пълно разрушение и тотален хаос от социалните медии, няма такива. Най-много ме отблъсна идеята на баща на застрашаващо мъжете момиченце да отреже езика и, защото точно с него тя може да наранява. Непрекъснато повторящият се мотив с отрязването на този орган у едно бебе, как точно ще се извърши хирургически, ме накараха да си го представя в големи подробности и още не мога да се отърва от това зловещо видение. Карсън е искала да ни шокира, мен ме отврати. Смятам, че идеята и е не е добра и че романът би бил успешен, ако се беше придържала към един по-реалистичен ракурс, защото наистина има да ни каже нещо наистина значимо.

Според мен най-важната тема, разгледана задълбочено в книгата, е за злите деца, онези, които навреждат на другите. Дали са родени зли без ясна причина или това е наследствен проблем, дали средата има роля в акумулирането на толкова много агресия? И двамата бащи, централни герои в повествованието, обвиняват себе си и се чувстват отговорни за общността, която трябва да бъде пощадена от напастта, която представляват децата им. Сами винаги е бил агресивен, палил е коли, прибивал е хора по време на Смутните години, а после е станал отговорен човек, способен да контролира огромния си, непосилен гняв. Джонатан, напротив, е потиснат, необичан в детството си, самотник с трудности в общуването, но винаги надежден, кротък и неагресивен. Двамата мъже са от различни социални класи, но трябва да решат как да спасят другите от злите си чеда в един обезумял град.

Какво бихте направили, ако детето ви обича да наранява, ако е социално опасно? Бихте ли извикали полиция, бихте ли го предали? Знам, че не са малко родителите, изправени пред такава дилема и крият болката си, като се опитват да се справят който както може. Дали група за взаимопомощ от подобни родители би била ефективна?

Белфаст е неприветлив, мрачен град, а жителите му пият много, ядат главно пица и чипс, но най-вече са гневни. Антидепресантите и успокоителните не помагат, мъжете носят бремето на извършено в миналото насилие, на вината и безсилието. Така го е пресъздала Джен Карсън и мисля, че е създала много силен образ. Ако ме попитат кой е основният герой в този роман, това е Белфаст. А езикът е режещ, експресивен до оголеност.

“Смрадта на престъпното начало не може да бъде измита със сапун или с поддържане на внимателна дистанция. Той е това място, както и децата му са това място. Това не е непременно добро нещо за носене, въпреки че тези дни в града се заражда смътна надежда, най-вече назряваща у младите. Дори има и индивиди, които гордо надигат глави и казват: “Аз съм оттук и няма да се извинявам за това”. Сами мисли, че тези хора са групаци. Той се страхува за децата си, особено за сина си. У момчето се усеща коравост, присъща на това място. Коравостта не е най-лошият начин да се държиш в град, белязан до такава степен от разочарованието. Но Сами знае, че коравост, оставена да тлее, поражда ярост, а яростта е близка до жестокостта - точно това вижда всеки път, щом погледне Марк: този град, покваряващ момчето му точно както някога погуби и самия него”.

[Inga · Rating 3 out of 5]

It kā par Ķibelēm, bet jo tuvāk beigām, jo sirreālākas situācijas un pārdomas.
Tēviem ir ļoti bail par saviem bērniem.
Man par mistisku.

[Jackie Law · Rating 5 out of 5]

“This is a power worth believing in. I’m not at all sad for Ella Penney. I’m sad for her parents who do not understand what they’ve been given. Who may well miss the most glorious part of her.”

The Fire Starters, by Jan Carson, is a tale of two fathers struggling to gain control of events surrounding their offspring. Set in contemporary East Belfast during an unusually long, hot summer it perfectly captures the voice, quirks and insular concerns of the local community. There is a dash of magical realism that may be read as possibility or metaphor. It all adds depth to a tale of parental concerns for children, who insist on developing as individuals despite best efforts to mould them as approved.

Dr Jonathan Murray is a single parent caring for his newborn daughter, Sophie. Having been raised in the knowledge that his own parents had never planned to have a child, and then been left behind as a teenager when they emigrated to New Zealand, he has few pointers to good parenting other than practical knowledge gained from his profession.

Jonathan has little positive experience of any close relationship. The few friendships he formed whilst at university bore little resemblance to those depicted on American television. The time spent with Sophie’s mother has left him afraid of the power their child may unleash as she develops.

Forced to return to work in order to pay the bills, Jonathan hires a nanny. He takes what precautions he can to protect his child from outside influences but believes that, longer term, more drastic measures will be necessary to keep the rest of the world safe from Sophie.

Sammy Agnew has a violent and bloody past that he put behind him when he and his wife had their children. Two have now flown the nest but the eldest, Mark, still lives a nocturnal existence in the attic upstairs. When local politicians decide to limit the height of the loyalist community’s July bonfires – citing health and safety – there are calls for protest in the form of widespread arson attacks. Sammy fears that Mark may have inherited the anger he himself, at times, can barely suppress and become involved in events that could lead to tragedy.

Growing ever more despairing, Sammy seeks help from his doctor and thereby meets Jonathan. Dr Murray has also recently been consulted by the mother of a child born with wings but who cannot fly. Even in this small corner of the city he discovers there are numerous parents struggling to deal with children whose particular gifts, characteristics and behaviours cause them issues. They do not fit within what society is willing to accept. Despite this, Jonathan still regards Sophie as a special case. He advises Sammy to act for the wider good. The tension ratchets up as the reader realises how Jonathan plans to follow similar advice in dealing with Sophie.

The author has a knack for capturing the nuances of everyday conversation and activity. Jonathan’s interactions with the lady receptionists at his GP practice are a delight. His discomfort in any company is astutely portrayed. Sammy and his wife offer a picture of a long married couple who quietly coexist whilst longing for their past selves. Every character, major and minor, adds to the humour and pathos redolent of this still troubled city.

There have been a number of novels published recently offering windows into life in Belfast – the experience and legacy of The Troubles. Those that I have read focused on areas to the west of the city. The Fire Starters captures the idiosyncrasies of people living to the East – from the narrow inner city terraces to the more affluent Castlereagh Hills. The resentments and aspirations emanating from these streets are evoked with unstinting authenticity.

A delicious and layered tale written with a refreshing lightness that complements its originality and wit. Playful yet piercing, this was a joy to read.

[Sonia · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5 / 4 estrellas que redondeo al alza por todas las virtudes del libro, que pesan más que los “fallos”.
Una obra notable, súper original, con toques de realismo mágico (de las cosas que más me han gustado de la novela) y muy bien escrita.
Sin embargo no me ha acabado de parecer perfecta, tal vez porque la perfección en el estilo no se ve natural, suena forzada, o porque, incluso en las partes que están narradas en primera persona, es una novela muy cerebral (aunque tiene momentos emotivos); o, más posiblemente, porque las dos tramas principales están encajadas con calzador, así como las pequeñas micro historias de los niños... creo que la autora ha querido contar mucho (y todo maravilloso), y se ha quedado a medio camino en todo; o, mejor dicho, resultaba tan interesante todo lo que nos deja con ganas de más.
Con todo, esta novela me ha encantado: una obra sobre lo que queda tras el conflicto terrible que asoló Irlanda del Norte (desde la perspectiva de los unionistas del Belfast Este), sobre la crueldad, sobre la violencia y la ira, sobre paternidades disfuncionales, sobre sirenas, seres “mágicos” y especiales, sobre la necesidad de encajar y sobre el amor descarnado y absoluto de la paternidad.
Eso sí; un aviso: es una novela de tono reposado, intimista y reflexiva. El que busque acción se quedara desencantado. Y a aquellos a quienes no les guste el realismo mágico, también.
Yo la he disfrutado

[D'Ailleurs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Αυτό είναι το Μπέλφαστ.

Το Μπέλφαστ που ακόμα αναρρώνει από τις Ταραχές, που καλύπτει τις όποιες ομορφιές της κάτω από ένα πέπλο βίας, που η νέα γενιά φαίνεται να είναι μια ανακύκλωση της προηγούμενης, που οι ψηλές φωτιές δημιουργούν ένα αποκαλυπτικό τοπίο. Και μέσα σε αυτή τη πόλη η Κάρσον περιγράφει με σκληρή πρόζα διηγείται την ιστορία του Σάμ που φοβάται ότι ο γιος του είναι εμπρηστής, που βλέπει ότι το μήλο πέφτει κάτω από τη μηλιά, που ξαφνικά νιώθει το βάρος του κόσμου στους ώμους του. Και κάπου εκεί μπλέκεται η διήγηση του Τζόναθαν και ξαφνικά το βιβλίο μεταμορφώνεται σε μαγικό ρεαλισμό, γιατί ο Τζόναθαν έκανε ένα παιδάκι με μια Σειρήνα και φοβάται ότι η κόρη του όταν μεγαλώσει θα καταστρέψει πολύ κόσμο. Δύο ξεχωριστές διηγήσεις για την αίσθηση της πατρότητας, τα προβλήματα που αντιμετωπίζουν οι πατεράδες, για τη σχέση πατέρα και παιδιού. Λυρικό, αρκετά θλιβερό, ρεαλιστικό αλλά και έντονα συναισθηματικό παρόλο που δεν είμαι πατέρας νιώθω ότι μίλησε λίγο μέσα μου. Ίσως σας δυσκολέψει στην αρχή αλλά δε πειράζει. Αξίζει.

Υ.Γ. Kudos στον George K. (https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/4...) που έκανε τη καταχώρηση της Ελληνικής έκδοσης, να τον κάνετε φίλο αναβαθμίζει το προφίλ σας.

[Zainab ElMasry · Rating 1 out of 5]

هتقولي فين يا زينب القصة هقولك معرفش، طب فين الأحداث معرفش برده، طب بقالك ٣ أيام بتقرأي في الرواية ليه هقولك عندي وقت بضيعة
السرد ممل طويل بلا فائدة، تطويل في الصفح بلا داعي، الأحداث لا توجد تعتبر، الحبكة غير موجودة، سيئة جدًا.

[All My Friends Are Fictional · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fairly solid novel, a bit clumsy at the beginning, but it finds its footing towards the end. I think it had the potential to be great, but it got somewhat lost under the ambition to be great. This is a book about toxic masculinity half-disguised under a mix of gothic fiction and magical realism. I found the choice of the narrators quite peculiar, it's definitely up for a discussion, which one do we believe more - an insane man telling his own story or a violent man whose story we are being told.
P.S. The five chapters about Unfortunate Children felt rather like an afterthought. They either should have started from the very beginning, spread evenly through the book till the very end, ending with Sophie, or should have been redacted completely.

[SueLucie · Rating 4 out of 5]

We have here loosely connected stories of two fathers. Lonely, socially awkward Jonathan is left alone to bring up his baby daughter, the first time he has had responsibility for anyone other than himself. He is afraid for her, for what havoc she might be capable of wreaking, not least on him. Sammy had a history of violence during the ‘Troubles’ before he moved his young family to a quieter part of town but he fears that his eldest son has not only inherited his nature but plans worse and more calculated acts of mayhem. Things come to a head during a long, hot, dry summer, characterised by a series of ‘tall fires’ across the city growing steadily taller and more threatening.

How these two fathers act to protect their children from themselves drives this book, but the story is interspersed with imaginative, fantastical anecdotes about local children with unusual ‘superhuman’ powers and these children and their parents’ reactions to their offspring underline the central theme.

I really enjoyed the author’s vision of a tense and feverish Belfast during this heady summer of heat and fire. I was quite taken with her two main characters too, especially Sammy, the hard man past his prime and beset by an anxiety alien to his former self. Terrific writing, heartily recommended.

With thanks to Random House, Doubleday via NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC.

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a book! Original, exhilarating, intelligent, surprising, magical, brilliant, captivating – these are just some of the adjectives swirling around the reviews at the moment. And I have to concur. This is a wonderful novel, completely compelling. Set in East Belfast over a long hot summer, in a season of fires and riots, it focuses on two men, two fathers, whose experience of fatherhood comes close to overwhelming them. And that’s all I want to say about the story. Too many reviews, in my opinion, give too much away. This is a book that should be allowed to creep up on the reader, to gradually unfold, to surprise (which it will do) and to intrigue without any preconceptions. Social realism and magical realism seamlessly intertwine as the political background and geographical background simmer away. I couldn’t put it down and was happy to be carried along by some of the stranger elements. A superb read.

[Buchdoktor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Im brüllend heißen Sommer 2014 werden in Belfast zuerst meterhohe Feuer entzündet; bald darauf brennen gezielt öffentliche Gebäude. Die Stadt steht kurz vor dem wirtschaftlichen Zusammenbruch, weil diese neuen „Troubles“ Touristen aus aller Welt abschrecken. Samuel/Sammy Agnew erinnern die Brände an gewalttätige Übergriffe in seiner kriminellen Jugend vor 30 Jahren. Die aktuelle Lage beunruhigt ihn weitaus stärker; denn er muss vermuten, dass sein Sohn Mark anonym als Figur „Firestarter“ in den sozialen Medien die Brandstiftungen befeuert und als Protestform legitimiert. Als Sammy sich eingesteht, wie stark Marks kaltschnäuzige Aggressivität seiner eigenen Verfassung als Jugendlicher ähnelt, muss er als Vater Verantwortung übernehmen und wendet sich an Dr. Murray vom medizinischen Zentrum des Stadtviertels.

Auch Murray ist Vater; seine Tochter Sophie wurde vor kurzem von einer Art Meerjungfrau bei Murray zurückgelassen. Seitdem beharrt der junge Doktor darauf, dass er unbedingt Sophies Heranwachsen verhindern muss, weil das Baby als Sirene allein mit seiner Stimme Schaden anrichten wird und die Unruhen weiter anstacheln könnte. Murray entzieht sich zunächst seiner Verantwortung, indem er sich selbst als normal einstuft, obwohl seine Eltern ihn als Jugendlichen mit beispielloser Gefühlskälte in Irland zurückließen und ohne ihn auswanderten. In der Frage, ob Anlagen oder äußere Einflüsse den Menschen prägen, würde der Doc vermutlich behaupten: weder noch, er hätte sich aus eigener Kraft entwickelt und wäre mit Sicherheit kein Psychopath. Selbst wenn Murray sich im Studium nie mit der erblichen Disposition zu Aggressivität und Gewalt auseinandergesetzt hätte, müsste seine Fassade angesichts der „Unglückskinder“ in der Stadt allmählich bröckeln. Eine Selbsthilfegruppe von Eltern „besonderer“ Kinder hatte Murray nur kurzen Trost bieten können. Schnell wurde ihm dort klar, dass die herausragenden körperlichen und mentalen Fähigkeiten der Kinder dieser Eltern mit ungewöhnlicher Grausamkeit einhergehen. Sie alle lassen ihre - sehr fordernden - Kinder nicht mehr aus den Augen, weil die kleinen Soziopathen Tiere und Menschen quälen und schwer verletzen werden, sowie sich die Chance bietet.

Während draußen die Stadt Belfast zur Kriegsruine wird, sind unabhängig voneinander zwei Väter entschlossen, die Welt vor ihren gefährlichen Kindern zu schützen. Jan Carson lässt ihre makabre Dystopie zwischen dem Icherzähler Jonathan Murray und dem Blick eines neutralen Erzählers auf Samuel Agnew wechseln. Von der Hoffnung, jemand würde doch bitte den durchgeknallten Doc zu einer Therapie überzeugen, bis zur Neugier, ob sich außerhalb der Elterngruppe jemand Gedanken über die Disposition zu Aggression und Gewalt machen würde, bis zu atemlosem Schrecken hat mich der Roman durch einige emotionale Wechselbäder geschleift. Zurück bleibt nach dem Schließen der Datei meine Hochachtung für Jan Carson, die Worte dafür findet, wenn Menschen in einem Zwischenzustand feststecken, den ihre Umwelt beschönigend verleugnet.