What do you think?
Rate this book
Crowe's Requiem
Crowe's Requiem is an eerie, dark, and otherworldly tale of a young man of uncertain origins and of his dreamlike but all-too-rapid transit through life. Rich in language and imagination, it is the work of an uncommonly talented young writer.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1998
4 people are currently reading
158 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
June 18, 2019
Crowe's Requiem: A Novel by Mike McCormack. Adult Fiction. Kindle edition. Print length is 231-240 pages. Published by Vintage Digital. Publication date: 30 June 2012. Sold by: PRH UK. First published in 1998 by Jonathan Cape. 5 Stars.
An early book from Mike McCormack that is at times raw and poetic. McCormack’s writing attains a magical prowess in Solar Bones.
Crowe’s Requiem is a love story full of perverse wisdom, and much of the power of McCormack’s writing is not what is revealed but rather what is secreted away. Surreal, dark and deluded, Crowe discovers love and makes a frightful decision as he stumbles towards his hero’s journey.
Many thanks Amazon Kindle for the purchase.
An early book from Mike McCormack that is at times raw and poetic. McCormack’s writing attains a magical prowess in Solar Bones.
Crowe’s Requiem is a love story full of perverse wisdom, and much of the power of McCormack’s writing is not what is revealed but rather what is secreted away. Surreal, dark and deluded, Crowe discovers love and makes a frightful decision as he stumbles towards his hero’s journey.
Many thanks Amazon Kindle for the purchase.
July 27, 2020
I read this book when it was first published and am quite surprised by the lukewarm reviews below. 20 years later I still go back to it. An allegorical novel is one of the most difficult of challenges and I think McCormack pulls it off brilliantly. I just love the poetry of his language throughout the novel but in particular I still go back to read both the introductory page "When I was a child I was told that the man who made time made plenty of it....." followed by the the allegorical account of his birth on the first two pages. The literary tool of "Sometimes, in spite of all I know I think of it this way..." If I could achieve 10% of McCormack's poetic language and imagination I would be thrilled!
This is not a book for the faint hearted. It is a tragedy of mythic proportions but all the more powerful for that.
This is not a book for the faint hearted. It is a tragedy of mythic proportions but all the more powerful for that.
January 21, 2025
An astoundingly beautiful and moving novel. There are fine reviews on Goodreads and in the mainstream press which heap praise on this work far better than I can. McCormack is a great writer and I will buy, if needs be, his other works so I can read them.
July 26, 2011
One of my faves.. slow and deep flowing .if you read this book... If you can understand AND enjoy it, then we are.. kindred.
September 2, 2021
This is the second of Irish writer Mike McCormack’s novels that I’ve read. The first was Solar Bones and it was one of those books that has me following and seeking out more Irish writers. I loved SB, and Crowe’s Requiem, though written much earlier, was equally good. McCormack is not very old, but his writing is interestingly death obsessed (he pursued grad studies in philosophy for a time and it shows). He’s also interested in engineering and his language is poetic, and beyond that it would be hard to tell you anything meaningful about either of these novels that would not be telling too much.
May 2, 2021
A fantastic read and really an underrated and seemingly overlooked book (95 ratings?). Highly recommended to anyone who likes Mccormack's style. Beautifully composed from beginning to end. I loved the scenes and atmospheres from Galway city.
February 25, 2018
Just finished Crowe's Requiem for the third time - the first time was 20 years ago, when it was first published. It had a huge impact on me as a teenager, with all its gloomy outsider themes, and I can see why after revisiting it in my 30s. I still love it. McCormack's portrayal of the Wesht is as bleak and accurate as ever. Highly recommended.
May 18, 2021
McCormack combines the banality of life with one young man's extraordinary circumstance in Crowe's Requiem.
The 1999 review published in Kirkus calls this "fairly unremarkable," but whether or not that is really a bad thing I guess is up to the reader. Personally, I found that the book made Crowe--a self-mythologizing, left-handed, brilliant, chronically ill, autistic-coded (? for long hair that he avoids cutting, social difference, types of observations) and otherwise utterly different and strange boy--into just somebody else existing in the world.
As an aside--the audiobook is narrated by Roger Clark, who I didn't realize was the same Roger Clark to voice Arthur in Red Dead Redemption 2 so needless to say, the narration is fantastic and was definitely a factor in making this 'reading' experience immersive and meaningful. Audiobook accessed through the libro.fm bookseller program, via my place of work, Oxford Exchange bookstore in Tampa, FL.
The 1999 review published in Kirkus calls this "fairly unremarkable," but whether or not that is really a bad thing I guess is up to the reader. Personally, I found that the book made Crowe--a self-mythologizing, left-handed, brilliant, chronically ill, autistic-coded (? for long hair that he avoids cutting, social difference, types of observations) and otherwise utterly different and strange boy--into just somebody else existing in the world.
As an aside--the audiobook is narrated by Roger Clark, who I didn't realize was the same Roger Clark to voice Arthur in Red Dead Redemption 2 so needless to say, the narration is fantastic and was definitely a factor in making this 'reading' experience immersive and meaningful. Audiobook accessed through the libro.fm bookseller program, via my place of work, Oxford Exchange bookstore in Tampa, FL.
January 16, 2022
From the beginning, I was drawn into the curious tone and mood of this beautifully written tale. As it went on, the depth of feelings of young Crowe made me sympathetic to everything that he had to overcome. I was hanging in there, waiting for what I expected to be a deeply meaningful revelation at its conclusion.
The fourth star of my rating was due to the expertise of the reader, Roger Clark.
The fourth star of my rating was due to the expertise of the reader, Roger Clark.
November 20, 2023
A quick read, which I'm sure will stick with me - just finished it. Such atmospheric descriptions of the bleak West and the novelty of the city are few and far between.. and what comes next is equally matched for pulling you right in. On to the next Mike McCormack.. I'm bereft.
April 24, 2021
*received for free from netgalley for honest review* Really odd, pretty long not in length but just felt really long. sex scenes were weird too, skipped them.
December 12, 2022
So beautifully written, very captivating.
Hated almost every character though
3.7
Hated almost every character though
3.7
January 27, 2024
Couldnt finish this...it started with good potential then just kinda went nowhere. Maybe I missed something but I don't think I'll go back to finish it
September 22, 2023
Wow! During the early going of this book, I was thinking it was a two star book. I didn't like it, but I didn't hate it. Well, that changed after Crowe got back from his time away at the clinic. I quickly found that I did indeed hate the book.
From the beginning, I knew I wasn't going to like it. I hate the formal way it's written. It's interesting, because a lot of the praise for this book is for the language, and I hated the way McCormack writes. But it was a book club selection, and I always feel that I have to read book club selections, as I've made a commitment. So I read it until the bitter end.
The book doesn't make a lot of sense. Early on, when Crowe first goes away to school, he is unable to speak to classmates that talk to him. But then later, he's full of glib, throw-away comments when he's talking to doctors, surveyers, bar denizens, hobos, etc. So is he shy or isn't he? He has these gnarled fingernails that exist to scratch some kind of itch that's mentioned and then forgotten. The whole thing with his grandfather is strange - sure he's closed to him, but it's weird that his parents just disappear after that.
During the early going of this book, I kept thinking "why are we supposed to care about this guy or what happens to him?" At no point was this ever resolved. Crowe, Maria, the grandfather - none of the characters ever possess anything compelling enough to make us care about them.
I also found that the story went in a different direction than I anticipated. After Crowe heads off for university, I thought we'd kind of follow his journey.
I found the constant philosophical dialogue - characters always talking about the meaning of life, love, god - annoying. They all talk so weightily, as if what they have to say is the final word on the subject. I find when characters make statements like this, you either agree with what they say, or think it's nonsense, and if it's the latter, it loses me right away. I found it off-putting, and it starts early on with Crowe and his grandfather.
This was a total miss for me. I didn't like the writing, thought the characters were flat and uncompelling, and thought the whole plot was a mess - lots of threads leading nowhere. There was nothing positive for me to take away from the book except that it was relatively short, so at least it didn't take up too much of my time. I would recommend against reading this, but since there are so many positive reviews, instead I'll say give it a shot, but if you don't like it early on, quit while you're ahead, because it doesn't get any better.
From the beginning, I knew I wasn't going to like it. I hate the formal way it's written. It's interesting, because a lot of the praise for this book is for the language, and I hated the way McCormack writes. But it was a book club selection, and I always feel that I have to read book club selections, as I've made a commitment. So I read it until the bitter end.
The book doesn't make a lot of sense. Early on, when Crowe first goes away to school, he is unable to speak to classmates that talk to him. But then later, he's full of glib, throw-away comments when he's talking to doctors, surveyers, bar denizens, hobos, etc. So is he shy or isn't he? He has these gnarled fingernails that exist to scratch some kind of itch that's mentioned and then forgotten. The whole thing with his grandfather is strange - sure he's closed to him, but it's weird that his parents just disappear after that.
During the early going of this book, I kept thinking "why are we supposed to care about this guy or what happens to him?" At no point was this ever resolved. Crowe, Maria, the grandfather - none of the characters ever possess anything compelling enough to make us care about them.
I also found that the story went in a different direction than I anticipated. After Crowe heads off for university, I thought we'd kind of follow his journey.
I found the constant philosophical dialogue - characters always talking about the meaning of life, love, god - annoying. They all talk so weightily, as if what they have to say is the final word on the subject. I find when characters make statements like this, you either agree with what they say, or think it's nonsense, and if it's the latter, it loses me right away. I found it off-putting, and it starts early on with Crowe and his grandfather.
This was a total miss for me. I didn't like the writing, thought the characters were flat and uncompelling, and thought the whole plot was a mess - lots of threads leading nowhere. There was nothing positive for me to take away from the book except that it was relatively short, so at least it didn't take up too much of my time. I would recommend against reading this, but since there are so many positive reviews, instead I'll say give it a shot, but if you don't like it early on, quit while you're ahead, because it doesn't get any better.
September 11, 2010
I don't understand why this book was written. Darkness and hopelessness are themes I love in my literature, but this seemed pointless and aimless. I also understand that some stories are just stories, that meaning isn't always provided by the writer, or that sometimes there isn't supposed to be meaning at all. But if your going to go that route, you have to make your work worthwhile in other ways, and I'm not really sure this is what the author even meant to do. I feel like this was a story with a message that wasn't conveyed properly.
The language was forced, a little pretentious, at times the dialogue sounded just like the narration, regardless of who was speaking. I also dislike writing that analyzes feelings and life from an overly academic standpoint. Over-thinking does not make one a philosopher, rejecting norms alone does not make you more capable of higher understanding, and an inability to relate to the world is sometimes just that.
I fail to see the "curious claim to divinity" in the young woman the main character falls in love with, which is mentioned on the inside jacket cover. She's a curvaceous, unusual, well-spoken student pursuing her masters degree- like any socially awkward virgin in the city for the first time he puts her on a pedestal, but there is nothing to give her a claim to divinity. She also claims love is nothing personal, that we can't point to our reasons why, love just IS, and that is why she loves the main character. She gets all pissy with the main character when he wants to know why she loves a freak.
The later portion of the book is spent watching the main character die in college, but since he was purposely written without much humanity in him, its hard for a human to care. He's dying of a ridiculously rare disease, essentially premature aging, seemingly chosen for its symbolism. There just isn't much insight here. We are not shown the inherent wrongness of the world which is mentioned in the book, its left as a statement which becomes either true or false depending on the characters mood. We're left to draw our own conclusions about the unusual, mysterious grandfather who makes delusional claims to immortality. There's some nonsense about wings and being an angel in the beginning that never seems to get tied together. For me, this book did nothing but waste my time.
The language was forced, a little pretentious, at times the dialogue sounded just like the narration, regardless of who was speaking. I also dislike writing that analyzes feelings and life from an overly academic standpoint. Over-thinking does not make one a philosopher, rejecting norms alone does not make you more capable of higher understanding, and an inability to relate to the world is sometimes just that.
I fail to see the "curious claim to divinity" in the young woman the main character falls in love with, which is mentioned on the inside jacket cover. She's a curvaceous, unusual, well-spoken student pursuing her masters degree- like any socially awkward virgin in the city for the first time he puts her on a pedestal, but there is nothing to give her a claim to divinity. She also claims love is nothing personal, that we can't point to our reasons why, love just IS, and that is why she loves the main character. She gets all pissy with the main character when he wants to know why she loves a freak.
The later portion of the book is spent watching the main character die in college, but since he was purposely written without much humanity in him, its hard for a human to care. He's dying of a ridiculously rare disease, essentially premature aging, seemingly chosen for its symbolism. There just isn't much insight here. We are not shown the inherent wrongness of the world which is mentioned in the book, its left as a statement which becomes either true or false depending on the characters mood. We're left to draw our own conclusions about the unusual, mysterious grandfather who makes delusional claims to immortality. There's some nonsense about wings and being an angel in the beginning that never seems to get tied together. For me, this book did nothing but waste my time.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 8, 2009
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2244624.html[return][return]Crowe is drawn partly from Oskar in Die Blechtrommel, in that he has a biologically unusual childhood and adolescence, and then like Stephen Dedalus he heads off to university in Dublin. Though in fact his experience is closer to that of the unnamed protagonist of At Swim-Two-Birds, with some turns of phrase particularly in the first half of the book sounding very Flann O'Brien-ish. Crowe goes through sinister medical experiences and emotional trauma with his lover, and does not get a happy ending; and we wonder a little how reliable a narrator he has been. I felt a little let down by the ending, but most of the book was very good, and I am surprised not to have heard more about it.
November 26, 2008
The story is of a socially challenged boy, who feels as if he is a fallen angel. The story begins with his upbringing and then travels with him to the University where he meets a women and falls in love. For this love, he makes a choice that will affect the rest of his life. A little surreal, a little dark, a little raw (language and sexual scenes), but yet a tender coming of age story. Worth reading if into coming of age stories and religious overtones in the books that you read.
November 19, 2011
Epic downer. Pretty, if very inflated at times, language and narration. Incredibly raw, erotic love scenes.
October 15, 2012
Author is from Galway, born in 1965. Writing is unpolished. Poetic in parts, clumsy in others. Characterizations need work.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews