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The Blackwater Lightship
Helen's brother is dying, and with two of his friends she waits for the end in her grandmother's crumbling old house. Her mother and grandmother, after years of strife have come to an uneasy peace. The six of them, from different generations and beliefs, are forced to come to terms with each other.
273 pages, Hardcover
First published August 13, 1999
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8186 people want to read
About the author
Colm Tóibín
232 books5,441 followersColm Tóibín FRSL, is an Irish novelist, short story writer, essayist, playwright, journalist, critic, and poet. Tóibín is currently Irene and Sidney B. Silverman Professor of the Humanities at Columbia University in Manhattan and succeeded Martin Amis as professor of creative writing at the University of Manchester.
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December 16, 2025
A young man in Ireland is dying of AIDS and he wants to spend his last days in his grandmother's seaside house where he has fond childhood memories. His gay friends visit and more or less live in the house while they care for him.
His female family members hover over the dying man as well: mother, sister and grandmother. The relatives all have "issues" with each other and the main character's illness serves to bring the interrelations among the three women to the fore. The story is told mainly by the sister who had previously been estranged from her mother and grandmother.
The Irish author is openly gay and gay characters are the stars of the novel, winning over the crotchety grandmother, for example, as one man, an architect, designs a new floor plan for her house.
The writing is excellent and the novel was short-listed for the Booker Prize. The novel, first published in 1999 is also a "period piece." I've read in mainstream media reviews of the book that "We have enough novels about gay men dying of AIDS" and "gay men do more than die of AIDS," but it needed to be written at the time.
The author is best known for his novel Brooklyn about a young Irish woman who emigrates to the USA. It was made into a movie in 2015. I’ve read and reviewed a number of his novels including Brooklyn, The South and The Heather Blazing, as well as a short story collection, Mothers and Sons. However, I have most enjoyed his two fictionalized biographies: The Master, about Henry James, and The Magician, about Thomas Mann. Toibin is a professor of writing at Columbia University.
Colm Toibin is one of my favorite authors and I have read many of his novels and a collection of short stories. I enjoyed his fictional biographies best: The Magician about Thomas Mann and The Master about Henry James. Below are links to my reviews of his books I have reviewed.
The Magician
The Master
The South
The Heather Blazing
Brooklyn
Mothers and Sons – Short stories
Top photo: a lightship off the coast of Ireland from irishlighthouses.blogspot.com
The author (b. 1955) from theguardian.uk.com
His female family members hover over the dying man as well: mother, sister and grandmother. The relatives all have "issues" with each other and the main character's illness serves to bring the interrelations among the three women to the fore. The story is told mainly by the sister who had previously been estranged from her mother and grandmother.
The Irish author is openly gay and gay characters are the stars of the novel, winning over the crotchety grandmother, for example, as one man, an architect, designs a new floor plan for her house.
The writing is excellent and the novel was short-listed for the Booker Prize. The novel, first published in 1999 is also a "period piece." I've read in mainstream media reviews of the book that "We have enough novels about gay men dying of AIDS" and "gay men do more than die of AIDS," but it needed to be written at the time.
The author is best known for his novel Brooklyn about a young Irish woman who emigrates to the USA. It was made into a movie in 2015. I’ve read and reviewed a number of his novels including Brooklyn, The South and The Heather Blazing, as well as a short story collection, Mothers and Sons. However, I have most enjoyed his two fictionalized biographies: The Master, about Henry James, and The Magician, about Thomas Mann. Toibin is a professor of writing at Columbia University.
Colm Toibin is one of my favorite authors and I have read many of his novels and a collection of short stories. I enjoyed his fictional biographies best: The Magician about Thomas Mann and The Master about Henry James. Below are links to my reviews of his books I have reviewed.
The Magician
The Master
The South
The Heather Blazing
Brooklyn
Mothers and Sons – Short stories
Top photo: a lightship off the coast of Ireland from irishlighthouses.blogspot.com
The author (b. 1955) from theguardian.uk.com
May 5, 2019
There are three contemporary authors writing in English whom I find extraordinarily engaging: Cormac McCarthy, Tim Winton and Colm Tóibín . They are all stylistically brilliant and all three weave worlds that address significant issues regarding the human condition. All, also, have received significant recognition for the quality of their production. Among that recognition, McCarthy by Pulitzer; Winton and Tóibín , by Man Booker.
Cormac McCarthy’s writing is probably the more unconventional. He is less attentive to traditional grammar, punctuation and style. And the worlds he created are categorically darker, disheartening. Even in the comparatively brighter Border Trilogy (brighter than, say, “The Orchard Keeper”, “No Country for Old Men” or “Blood Meridian”), John Grady Cole and Billy Parham in the final volume are clearly marching into the postapocalyptic future of “The Road”. Hope and redemption dissipate in the ravaged earth.
Hope—or at least thoughtful resignation and conditional redemption—survive in Tim Winton and in Colm Tóibín’s worlds. The futures their people face are not suffocatingly black. It would be difficult to imagine one of McCarthy’s people writing about his life in retrospect as did Bruce Pike in “Breath”: “And though I’ve lived to be an old man with my own share of happiness for all the mess I made….”
Tim Winton, compared to McCarthy is a more academic writer—at least in terms of the mechanics of writing. But like McCarthy, his prose is ultimately lyrical. It is clear and expressive—beautifully poetic that never misses a beat. So is Tóibín’s writing poetic. Tóibín’s writing, however, is also more elliptical than that of the other two writers. It moves quietly—stealthfully—page to page, focusing on what appears to be the mundane, on minutiae. In “The Blackwater Lightship”, Tóibín describes, at the beginning of the novel, Helen’s preparations for a party. The preparations seem to be limited to the delivery and the final pick up of chair and tables. But that economy of description ultimately explodes in the reader more than the words would seem to do. Tóibín , with his words, is a bit like Picasso with his brushes during his cubist period. He throws them out on the page, seemingly disordered and unrelated but re-structured to have them recomposed in the reader’s mind, infused with sudden insights and complex visions.
The physical environment also plays a different role with each of the three. For Winton, the physical environment is integral to his plots. With the exception of “The Riders”, his novels unfold in Western Australia—in the narrow stretch of land sandwiched between the western sea and the eastern desert. It is a within that littoral that the bulk of Western Australians live. But that said, the waters of the ocean and of the rivers that empty into it are a living presence in Winton’s writings. In “Breath”, the ocean and its waters dominate. But they play a role in his other works as well, linked often to the very souls of his characters.
In contrast to Winton, the physical environment for McCarthy and Tóibín are more simply stages on which their stories unfold. McCarthy’s plots play out in specific regions in the United States—in the Appalachians and, starting with Blood Meridian, the American Southwest and Northern Mexico. Tóibín is more varied, with stories set in Argentina, the United States and Europe. But Toíbín and McCarthy’s characters are not entwined inexorably to their environments as are Winton’s. For Tóibín and McCarthy, place helps define the themes but it does not control them.
With their differences, the three writers are similar in regard to their voices. For example, Tóibín’s “Blackwater Lightship”, “Brooklyn” and “The Story of the Night” are more about emotion, thought and communication than about action. But the same is also true of McCarthy and Winton’s novels. All three tell engaging and compelling stories. But those stories engage and compel because they embroil the reader in the very themes of life. They all translate into words the same questions Paul Gauguin asked in paint: Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going?
Cormac McCarthy’s writing is probably the more unconventional. He is less attentive to traditional grammar, punctuation and style. And the worlds he created are categorically darker, disheartening. Even in the comparatively brighter Border Trilogy (brighter than, say, “The Orchard Keeper”, “No Country for Old Men” or “Blood Meridian”), John Grady Cole and Billy Parham in the final volume are clearly marching into the postapocalyptic future of “The Road”. Hope and redemption dissipate in the ravaged earth.
Hope—or at least thoughtful resignation and conditional redemption—survive in Tim Winton and in Colm Tóibín’s worlds. The futures their people face are not suffocatingly black. It would be difficult to imagine one of McCarthy’s people writing about his life in retrospect as did Bruce Pike in “Breath”: “And though I’ve lived to be an old man with my own share of happiness for all the mess I made….”
Tim Winton, compared to McCarthy is a more academic writer—at least in terms of the mechanics of writing. But like McCarthy, his prose is ultimately lyrical. It is clear and expressive—beautifully poetic that never misses a beat. So is Tóibín’s writing poetic. Tóibín’s writing, however, is also more elliptical than that of the other two writers. It moves quietly—stealthfully—page to page, focusing on what appears to be the mundane, on minutiae. In “The Blackwater Lightship”, Tóibín describes, at the beginning of the novel, Helen’s preparations for a party. The preparations seem to be limited to the delivery and the final pick up of chair and tables. But that economy of description ultimately explodes in the reader more than the words would seem to do. Tóibín , with his words, is a bit like Picasso with his brushes during his cubist period. He throws them out on the page, seemingly disordered and unrelated but re-structured to have them recomposed in the reader’s mind, infused with sudden insights and complex visions.
The physical environment also plays a different role with each of the three. For Winton, the physical environment is integral to his plots. With the exception of “The Riders”, his novels unfold in Western Australia—in the narrow stretch of land sandwiched between the western sea and the eastern desert. It is a within that littoral that the bulk of Western Australians live. But that said, the waters of the ocean and of the rivers that empty into it are a living presence in Winton’s writings. In “Breath”, the ocean and its waters dominate. But they play a role in his other works as well, linked often to the very souls of his characters.
In contrast to Winton, the physical environment for McCarthy and Tóibín are more simply stages on which their stories unfold. McCarthy’s plots play out in specific regions in the United States—in the Appalachians and, starting with Blood Meridian, the American Southwest and Northern Mexico. Tóibín is more varied, with stories set in Argentina, the United States and Europe. But Toíbín and McCarthy’s characters are not entwined inexorably to their environments as are Winton’s. For Tóibín and McCarthy, place helps define the themes but it does not control them.
With their differences, the three writers are similar in regard to their voices. For example, Tóibín’s “Blackwater Lightship”, “Brooklyn” and “The Story of the Night” are more about emotion, thought and communication than about action. But the same is also true of McCarthy and Winton’s novels. All three tell engaging and compelling stories. But those stories engage and compel because they embroil the reader in the very themes of life. They all translate into words the same questions Paul Gauguin asked in paint: Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going?
March 21, 2017
It's the story of an Irish family that is as fractured as it could possibly be, brought reluctantly together by the tragedy of a son/brother dying of Aids. Heartbreaking and devastating, and it will leave you drained at the end.
4.5 stars for what may be Toibin's best novel.
4.5 stars for what may be Toibin's best novel.
May 4, 2020
The Blackwater Lightship was my introduction to the work of Colm Tóibín, nearly twenty years ago. I've held onto this book since first reading it in 2002, through moves local and trans-Pacific when hundreds of other books were given away, knowing it was too special to me as a reader, and eventually a writer, to let go. After all these years, I was left with only vague memories of awe and sadness, poignancy, and softness.
In this time of shelter-in-place, when I long ago ran out of library books, I am rereading the few beloved books I have carried with me through all these years and life changes.
What a book to read now. How prophetic, sublime, and sad. Set in the early 1990's, The Blackwater Lightship takes place over a few days at a remote seaside home outside Wexford, Ireland. Helen Breen, her estranged mother, Lily, and her grandmother set aside their hurts and complications to welcome Helen's beloved brother, Declan, who is dying of AIDS. Two of Declan's friends, Larry and Paul, join the small gathering. Their coming together at Helen's grandmother's home is a kind of a limbo, to soothe Declan's beleaguered mind and body.
In the few days they spend in seclusion, Helen and Lily ferret out the hurts and misunderstandings that have kept them apart since Helen's beloved father died twenty years earlier, when Helen and Declan were children. Lily and her mother, no longer able to pretend they don't know Declan is gay, openly overcome their prejudices as they befriend Paul and Larry.
Told from Helen's point-of-view, The Blackwater Lightship is a rich examination of one family facing a pandemic that to this day has no known cure, in a country only just beginning its economic ascent. It's a precious snapshot of a particular time and place that now seems so simple in the light of all that would follow in the years after this story was set, and even after its publication.
But it is timeless in its examination of families, how they can hurt and heal, of an Ireland that exists today no matter how modern and fast it soared. Tóibín writes with such grace and tenderness. His quiets are all the more powerful and resonant for what he leaves out, and trusts the reader to intuit on her own.
A gorgeous, profound book. I'm so very glad to have discovered it anew.
In this time of shelter-in-place, when I long ago ran out of library books, I am rereading the few beloved books I have carried with me through all these years and life changes.
What a book to read now. How prophetic, sublime, and sad. Set in the early 1990's, The Blackwater Lightship takes place over a few days at a remote seaside home outside Wexford, Ireland. Helen Breen, her estranged mother, Lily, and her grandmother set aside their hurts and complications to welcome Helen's beloved brother, Declan, who is dying of AIDS. Two of Declan's friends, Larry and Paul, join the small gathering. Their coming together at Helen's grandmother's home is a kind of a limbo, to soothe Declan's beleaguered mind and body.
In the few days they spend in seclusion, Helen and Lily ferret out the hurts and misunderstandings that have kept them apart since Helen's beloved father died twenty years earlier, when Helen and Declan were children. Lily and her mother, no longer able to pretend they don't know Declan is gay, openly overcome their prejudices as they befriend Paul and Larry.
Told from Helen's point-of-view, The Blackwater Lightship is a rich examination of one family facing a pandemic that to this day has no known cure, in a country only just beginning its economic ascent. It's a precious snapshot of a particular time and place that now seems so simple in the light of all that would follow in the years after this story was set, and even after its publication.
But it is timeless in its examination of families, how they can hurt and heal, of an Ireland that exists today no matter how modern and fast it soared. Tóibín writes with such grace and tenderness. His quiets are all the more powerful and resonant for what he leaves out, and trusts the reader to intuit on her own.
A gorgeous, profound book. I'm so very glad to have discovered it anew.
July 12, 2017
Declan, approaching 30, is dying of AIDS in Southern Ireland. His father had died young too, of cancer. He wants to see that part of the coast he remembers as a child when he and his sister Helen stayed with their grandparents, throughout their father's prolonged final illness at hospital in Dublin. It is in these waters that the Blackwater Lightship once shone, a secondary source of light alongside the more powerful Tusker lighthouse.
His mettlesome granny, Dora, now widowed, is host in her remote and shabby home to Declan and his entourage – 2 gay friends, his mother Lily (Dora's daughter) and sister Helen. The three women have an uneasy relationship, to say the least and those tensions build as Declan's illness progresses. We gain an understanding of the reasons for this as Declan fights for life, reviving memories of his father's death and its effects on his family - bitterness, recrimination and deep misunderstanding.
Laughter and tears will alternate throughout this deeply human situation,particularly in those last days at Granny's, something Toibin excels at portraying. Such are his skills that his words will resonate, I suspect, with most of us. If my own experience is anything to go by it will teach us things about ourselves and those near and far from us. This is why he is one of my very favourite writers.
His mettlesome granny, Dora, now widowed, is host in her remote and shabby home to Declan and his entourage – 2 gay friends, his mother Lily (Dora's daughter) and sister Helen. The three women have an uneasy relationship, to say the least and those tensions build as Declan's illness progresses. We gain an understanding of the reasons for this as Declan fights for life, reviving memories of his father's death and its effects on his family - bitterness, recrimination and deep misunderstanding.
Laughter and tears will alternate throughout this deeply human situation,particularly in those last days at Granny's, something Toibin excels at portraying. Such are his skills that his words will resonate, I suspect, with most of us. If my own experience is anything to go by it will teach us things about ourselves and those near and far from us. This is why he is one of my very favourite writers.
August 19, 2020
Το Καραβοφάναρο στο μαύρο νερό λοιπόν Αυτό το βιβλίο με συγκλόνισε και τείνει να γίνει ένα από τα αγαπημένα μου για το 2017 αν όχι το αγαπημένο μου Από πού να ξεκινήσω την κριτική μου δεν ξέρω...... Σίγουρα είναι το καλύτερο του Colm Toibin από αυτά που έχω διαβάσει ως τώρα με δυνατούς γυναικείους χαρακτήρες όπως πάντα Σίγουρα με συγκλόνισε και μάλιστα με έπιασε απροετοίμαστη Δεν περίμενα να διαβάσω κάτι τόσο δυνατό Προσοχή όταν λέω δυνατό μην περιμένετε κάτι με δράση Όλη η ιστορία εξελίσσεται σε ένα σπίτι Όμως τελικά νομίζω ότι αυτή είναι η μαγεία του συγκεκριμένου συγγραφέα Πολύ θα πουν ότι είναι επιφανειακό,ότι κυλάει πολύ αργά, ότι δε γίνεται τίποτα Όμως πιστεύω ότι ο στόχος του συγγραφέα δεν ήταν να μιλήσει για το AIDS ούτε για τους gay και γι αυτό δεν εμβαθύνει τόσο πολύ στο θέμα αυτό Πιστεύω ότι περισσότερο ήθελε να εστιάσει στις ενδοοικογενειακές σχέσεις φανερές και υπόγειες Μας παρουσιάζει αριστοτεχνικά της δυσλειτουργικές σχέσεις τριών γενιών γυναικών και πως αυτές αντιμετωπίζουν μια τραγική στιγμή και την απώλεια Είναι φοβερό να βλέπουμε το πόσο διαφορετικά εκλαμβάνει ο κάθε άνθρωπος τις συμπεριφορές των άλλων και αυτό που του συμβαίνει Και οι τρεις γυναίκες έχουν έρθει αντιμέτωπες με την απώλεια και οι τρεις την έχουν αντιμετωπίσει διαφορετικά Και οι τρεις κουβαλούν τις δικές τους πληγές και κατάλοιπα από αυτό Ο Toibin χωρίς εξάρσεις,χωρίς τυμπανοκρουσίες, χωρίς φλυαρία μας αποδίδει την τραγικότητα προσώπων και καταστάσεων καθώς οι σχέσεις των γυναικών αλλάζουν και ωριμάζουν μπροστά στα μάτια μας Αδιαμφισβήτητος μαέστρος στην σκιαγράφηση της γυναικείας ψυχολογίας μόλις εδραίωσε την θέση του ως ένας από τους αγαπημένους μου συγγραφείς Εν ολίγοις ένα εξαιρετικό μυθιστόρημα από έναν Μαιτρ του είδους για τις σχέσεις,την οικογένεια,τον πόνο, την συγχώρεση , και τέλος την λύτρωση
“Όταν πέθανε ο πατέρας μου, ο μισός μου κόσμος κατέρρευσε, εγώ όμως δεν το πήρα είδηση. Ήταν λες και μου είχαν τινάξει το μισό μου πρόσωπο στον αέρα, εγώ όμως συνέχιζα να μιλάω και να χαμογελάω, με την ιδέα ότι δε μου είχε συμβεί εμένα αυτό ή ότι με τον καιρό θα επανερχόταν. Όταν πέθανε ο πατέρας μου, η μητέρα μου και η γιαγιά μου με άφησαν μόνη μου. Ξέρω ότι είχαν τα δικά τους προβλήματα, ίσως και να μη μπορούσαν να με βοηθήσουν, άλλωστε μπορεί να είχε γίνει ήδη η ζημιά, αλλά ούτε η μία ούτε η άλλη προσπάθησαν να με παρηγορήσουν ή να μου τονώσουν το ηθικό. Οι δυο αυτές γυναίκες είναι τα κομμάτια του εαυτού μου που έχω θάψει, ναι, αυτό είναι κι οι δυο τους για μένα, γι' αυτό ακόμη θέλω να τις κρατάω σε απόσταση.”
ΥΓ1 Στην αρχή η μετάφραση του τίτλου με ξένισε προχωρώντας όμως κατάλαβα πόσο ταιριαστός είναι ο τίτλος στην υπόθεση
ΥΓ2 Εξαιρετική μετάφραση της Αθηνάς Δημητριάδου καθώς και το επίμετρο
“Όταν πέθανε ο πατέρας μου, ο μισός μου κόσμος κατέρρευσε, εγώ όμως δεν το πήρα είδηση. Ήταν λες και μου είχαν τινάξει το μισό μου πρόσωπο στον αέρα, εγώ όμως συνέχιζα να μιλάω και να χαμογελάω, με την ιδέα ότι δε μου είχε συμβεί εμένα αυτό ή ότι με τον καιρό θα επανερχόταν. Όταν πέθανε ο πατέρας μου, η μητέρα μου και η γιαγιά μου με άφησαν μόνη μου. Ξέρω ότι είχαν τα δικά τους προβλήματα, ίσως και να μη μπορούσαν να με βοηθήσουν, άλλωστε μπορεί να είχε γίνει ήδη η ζημιά, αλλά ούτε η μία ούτε η άλλη προσπάθησαν να με παρηγορήσουν ή να μου τονώσουν το ηθικό. Οι δυο αυτές γυναίκες είναι τα κομμάτια του εαυτού μου που έχω θάψει, ναι, αυτό είναι κι οι δυο τους για μένα, γι' αυτό ακόμη θέλω να τις κρατάω σε απόσταση.”
ΥΓ1 Στην αρχή η μετάφραση του τίτλου με ξένισε προχωρώντας όμως κατάλαβα πόσο ταιριαστός είναι ο τίτλος στην υπόθεση
ΥΓ2 Εξαιρετική μετάφραση της Αθηνάς Δημητριάδου καθώς και το επίμετρο
July 20, 2024
Like all of his novels, this is beautifully crafted. He has a keen eye for characterisation. His sentences are balanced, always clear and a joy to read. He has fascinations that return across his novels – not least the metaphor of an eroding coastline speaking to the impermanence of what we would otherwise wish and expect to last forever and, in the human condition’s cruellest irony, that our misplaced hope assures us despite all evidence to the contrary that these things will be permanent.
This book is in part about how the imminence of death forces us to reappraise how we have come to understand other deaths across our lives. There is a deeply beautiful (and understated) moment in this where a daughter recreates her father using his clothes to get to be present with him one last time. I’m finding I get moved to tears by the simplest things these days, but that these are always the simplest acts of love against impermanence. I went out last night to see once again Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolfe? and had to catch myself not to cry at the act of love that George shows to Martha at the end of that play. As I said, it is always a simple act of love that catches me – even when I know they are coming – I mean, I knew that play well enough to be able to tell the people I saw it with which scenes the producers had inexplicable decided to leave out and to even quote some of the lines cut.
One of the things about love is how often it is associated with shit and cleaning up the shit of others. I mean this literally, but I guess it is also true figuratively. When we have soiled ourselves, we are at our most vulnerable we feel least fully human and so least worthy of the love of others. Vomit and shit and self-loathing and disgust, but those who help us clear it all away in an act of love and care show us a depth of love we hardly believe we deserve. Or how, contrary to this, in our times of most need, sometimes strangers will turn away from us and we will not have the strength to force them to answer even our simplest of questions. This is so nicely shown towards the end when a character can’t bring herself to ask someone in a hospital for directions. Something clearly in their power and that would cost them hardly any effort at all. A friend of mine who worked in a morgue once told me that sometimes you need to find ways to rediscover your empathy, because sometimes the only way you can survive life is to bury your empathy a mile deep.
I thought this was going to be a much shorter review than it has turned out. I’ve liked other of his novels more, but this is still masterful.
This book is in part about how the imminence of death forces us to reappraise how we have come to understand other deaths across our lives. There is a deeply beautiful (and understated) moment in this where a daughter recreates her father using his clothes to get to be present with him one last time. I’m finding I get moved to tears by the simplest things these days, but that these are always the simplest acts of love against impermanence. I went out last night to see once again Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolfe? and had to catch myself not to cry at the act of love that George shows to Martha at the end of that play. As I said, it is always a simple act of love that catches me – even when I know they are coming – I mean, I knew that play well enough to be able to tell the people I saw it with which scenes the producers had inexplicable decided to leave out and to even quote some of the lines cut.
One of the things about love is how often it is associated with shit and cleaning up the shit of others. I mean this literally, but I guess it is also true figuratively. When we have soiled ourselves, we are at our most vulnerable we feel least fully human and so least worthy of the love of others. Vomit and shit and self-loathing and disgust, but those who help us clear it all away in an act of love and care show us a depth of love we hardly believe we deserve. Or how, contrary to this, in our times of most need, sometimes strangers will turn away from us and we will not have the strength to force them to answer even our simplest of questions. This is so nicely shown towards the end when a character can’t bring herself to ask someone in a hospital for directions. Something clearly in their power and that would cost them hardly any effort at all. A friend of mine who worked in a morgue once told me that sometimes you need to find ways to rediscover your empathy, because sometimes the only way you can survive life is to bury your empathy a mile deep.
I thought this was going to be a much shorter review than it has turned out. I’ve liked other of his novels more, but this is still masterful.
June 27, 2017
In 1993, homosexuality was decriminalized in Ireland; and it is also important to note that at this time, the world was in the midst of the AIDS epidemic. This is the backdrop against which The Blackwater Lightship by Colm Toibin takes place.
It was the end of another school year and Helen, a school principal in Dublin, was looking forward to a holiday with her husband and two young children. That holiday, however, would have to wait. Paul, a longtime friend of Helen's brother Declan, arrived on her doorstep and he brought bad news. Declan had sent him to request that Helen come to St. James Hospital. Declan was being treated for one of those opportunistic infections which AIDS patients were often afflicted with. In fact, this infection was the latest of many such infections Declan had battled and his health had seriously deteriorated.
Although Helen was shocked, not only by Declan's illness, but also by his sudden 'coming out' to her, she agreed to drive to their granny's seaside home to make the request that Declan and his two longtime friends and caregivers, Paul and Larry, be permitted to spend time there convalescing in familiar surroundings.. because it was clear that Declan was near the end of his life. IT was to be Helen's responsibility to tell both her Granny Dora and her mother Lily about the seriousness of Declan's illness. On the drive to her granny's house, Helen ruminated on her estrangement from her family and it is through these ruminations that you discover that not only were Helen and Declan not particularly close but Helen's granny and her mother had not been invited to her wedding and they had never met her children.
The three women in this family were strong, stubborn and opinionated... and possessed very long memories. The slights, harsh words and unreasonable expectations that had been exchanged over the years were never far removed from any of them. Helen had been holding tight to her resentment toward her mother, recalling that the family members' estrangement began when she and Declan were children and they had stayed with their granny and granddad while their father had entered the hospital ostensibly for tests. Helen recalled that she and Declan had stayed at the seaside house for weeks, all the while being reassured that her parents would return home soon... but their father never returned.. and her father's death, the subsequent lack of explanation of his death and the total lack of any comfort from her mother marked, for Helen, the beginning of the disintegration of the relationship between them.
I found this book so compelling because it demonstrated so beautifully that no matter how complicated and contentious relationships become between family members... no matter how strained and frayed these bonds may get... there is often the hope and expectation that when a member of this complex unit of people bound together by blood and history, needs assistance and nurturing, that somehow the members find a way to push aside their feelings of resentment and bitterness and rise to the occasion. As this story demonstrated so vividly, this process is never easy or pretty and is almost always quite painful; but Declan was dying and he needed the comfort of his family.
Although Declan was never really developed as a character, there was an obvious childlike quality about him.. a trusting and acceptance of the three difficult women in his life that never wavered, which I believe makes him so essential to this story. Declan's illness and his desire to spend his last days at his granny's house is the catalyst that the three women need to once and for all, put aside their resentment and come together because what they share... a love for Declan... is far greater than all the negativity that has kept them apart all of these years. Just as the death of Helen and Declan's father all those years before had brought silence and resentment, Declan's death might be what finally fixes what has been broken in this family. And just as Granny's house, perched so precariously at the edge of the cliff, had weathered the stormy seas all of those years so too would the family weather its own storms.
The Blackwater Lightship, to me, was a testament to the power of love and the bonds that may be forged by family.
It was the end of another school year and Helen, a school principal in Dublin, was looking forward to a holiday with her husband and two young children. That holiday, however, would have to wait. Paul, a longtime friend of Helen's brother Declan, arrived on her doorstep and he brought bad news. Declan had sent him to request that Helen come to St. James Hospital. Declan was being treated for one of those opportunistic infections which AIDS patients were often afflicted with. In fact, this infection was the latest of many such infections Declan had battled and his health had seriously deteriorated.
Although Helen was shocked, not only by Declan's illness, but also by his sudden 'coming out' to her, she agreed to drive to their granny's seaside home to make the request that Declan and his two longtime friends and caregivers, Paul and Larry, be permitted to spend time there convalescing in familiar surroundings.. because it was clear that Declan was near the end of his life. IT was to be Helen's responsibility to tell both her Granny Dora and her mother Lily about the seriousness of Declan's illness. On the drive to her granny's house, Helen ruminated on her estrangement from her family and it is through these ruminations that you discover that not only were Helen and Declan not particularly close but Helen's granny and her mother had not been invited to her wedding and they had never met her children.
The three women in this family were strong, stubborn and opinionated... and possessed very long memories. The slights, harsh words and unreasonable expectations that had been exchanged over the years were never far removed from any of them. Helen had been holding tight to her resentment toward her mother, recalling that the family members' estrangement began when she and Declan were children and they had stayed with their granny and granddad while their father had entered the hospital ostensibly for tests. Helen recalled that she and Declan had stayed at the seaside house for weeks, all the while being reassured that her parents would return home soon... but their father never returned.. and her father's death, the subsequent lack of explanation of his death and the total lack of any comfort from her mother marked, for Helen, the beginning of the disintegration of the relationship between them.
I found this book so compelling because it demonstrated so beautifully that no matter how complicated and contentious relationships become between family members... no matter how strained and frayed these bonds may get... there is often the hope and expectation that when a member of this complex unit of people bound together by blood and history, needs assistance and nurturing, that somehow the members find a way to push aside their feelings of resentment and bitterness and rise to the occasion. As this story demonstrated so vividly, this process is never easy or pretty and is almost always quite painful; but Declan was dying and he needed the comfort of his family.
Although Declan was never really developed as a character, there was an obvious childlike quality about him.. a trusting and acceptance of the three difficult women in his life that never wavered, which I believe makes him so essential to this story. Declan's illness and his desire to spend his last days at his granny's house is the catalyst that the three women need to once and for all, put aside their resentment and come together because what they share... a love for Declan... is far greater than all the negativity that has kept them apart all of these years. Just as the death of Helen and Declan's father all those years before had brought silence and resentment, Declan's death might be what finally fixes what has been broken in this family. And just as Granny's house, perched so precariously at the edge of the cliff, had weathered the stormy seas all of those years so too would the family weather its own storms.
The Blackwater Lightship, to me, was a testament to the power of love and the bonds that may be forged by family.
March 5, 2025
Colm Toibin has become a must read author for me in the past few months. I started by reading Brooklyn and was hooked on his writing style. He is Irish born and bred writer who writes books predominantly based in Ireland 🇮🇪 - a win in my books!
Quick summary: Helen receives very unexpected news that her beloved brother, Declan, is dying. He is nearing the end of life and all he wants is to be at his grandmother’s house by the sea. And so, Helen is forced to join her mother and grandmother in a crumbling old house by the sea, three generations calling an uneasy truce after years of strife, to be by his side. Together with 2 of Declan’s closest friends, who know more about him than any family, they must all deal with the past and come to terms with each other.
This is an exceptional story. The writing is beautiful, almost poetic in places, and incredibly hypnotic. Colm has us in the palm of his hands as he unravels their past; examining the intricacies of family life - both past and present. I loved the push and pull, from past to present and the deep and direct comparisons made between Helen’s home-life (Husband and 2 sons) and her past family life (mother, father and grandparents). It was a fascinating insight into the difficulties one must overcome throughout life; a timeless examination.
I LOVED so many things about this book: the setting in a remote part of Wexford, Ireland; the time period of the 1990s; how realistic the characters felt; and the exploration of family relationships.
Despite the somewhat somber scenes, this book was not solely based on Declan’s illness, and even down to his last moments, his critical illness did not overshadow the ending of the book. It was the relationships and family bonds that took front and centre.
A beautiful, and rich, snapshot into this family’s life, where the quiet moments are just as powerful as the communicate ones.
🌟🌟🌟🌟
Quick summary: Helen receives very unexpected news that her beloved brother, Declan, is dying. He is nearing the end of life and all he wants is to be at his grandmother’s house by the sea. And so, Helen is forced to join her mother and grandmother in a crumbling old house by the sea, three generations calling an uneasy truce after years of strife, to be by his side. Together with 2 of Declan’s closest friends, who know more about him than any family, they must all deal with the past and come to terms with each other.
This is an exceptional story. The writing is beautiful, almost poetic in places, and incredibly hypnotic. Colm has us in the palm of his hands as he unravels their past; examining the intricacies of family life - both past and present. I loved the push and pull, from past to present and the deep and direct comparisons made between Helen’s home-life (Husband and 2 sons) and her past family life (mother, father and grandparents). It was a fascinating insight into the difficulties one must overcome throughout life; a timeless examination.
I LOVED so many things about this book: the setting in a remote part of Wexford, Ireland; the time period of the 1990s; how realistic the characters felt; and the exploration of family relationships.
Despite the somewhat somber scenes, this book was not solely based on Declan’s illness, and even down to his last moments, his critical illness did not overshadow the ending of the book. It was the relationships and family bonds that took front and centre.
A beautiful, and rich, snapshot into this family’s life, where the quiet moments are just as powerful as the communicate ones.
🌟🌟🌟🌟
January 4, 2018
Τι γίνεται όταν ο Μπεργκμαν συναντά Τον Τσέχωφ?Δράμα μεγατόνων.Μονάχα αυτοί οι μακροσυρτοι μονόλογοι να έλειπαν και θα μιλούσαμε για ένα λιτό αριστούργημα που δημιουργεί μια αποπνικτική ατμόσφαιρα με ελάχιστες μεταφορές και παρομοιώσεις
November 9, 2022
Πρώτη επαφή με Toibin! Από τις πρώτες σελίδες γοητεύτηκα από τη γραφή του, από την αύρα του, από τις μυρωδιές που εξέπεμπαν οι περιγραφικές εικόνες του. Μια αφήγηση που σε ταξιδεύει σε άλλες εποχές πιο όμορφες, πιο ήρεμες.
Είναι ένα δυνατό ψυχογράφημα αφού η αρρώστια ενός μέλους μιας οικογένειας θα αποτελέσει την ύστατη προσπάθεια αποκατάστασης των σχέσεων της οικογένειας.
Δεν υπάρχει δράση, μόνο αφήγηση γεγονότων, κατάθεση συναισθημάτων, ξέσκισμα ψυχών. Δε μαθαίνουμε λεπτομέρειες, το πώς και το γιατί. Δε μας ενδιαφέρει.
Ο αναγνώστης εστιάζει στη συνάθροιση όλων των προσώπων της οικογένειας και στο γεγονός πως σε δύσκολες καταστάσεις οι άνθρωποι έρχονται κοντά, αφήνουν μίση, διχόνοιες κ αντιμετωπίζουν τα προβλήματα ενωμένοι.
Είναι ένα δυνατό ψυχογράφημα αφού η αρρώστια ενός μέλους μιας οικογένειας θα αποτελέσει την ύστατη προσπάθεια αποκατάστασης των σχέσεων της οικογένειας.
Δεν υπάρχει δράση, μόνο αφήγηση γεγονότων, κατάθεση συναισθημάτων, ξέσκισμα ψυχών. Δε μαθαίνουμε λεπτομέρειες, το πώς και το γιατί. Δε μας ενδιαφέρει.
Ο αναγνώστης εστιάζει στη συνάθροιση όλων των προσώπων της οικογένειας και στο γεγονός πως σε δύσκολες καταστάσεις οι άνθρωποι έρχονται κοντά, αφήνουν μίση, διχόνοιες κ αντιμετωπίζουν τα προβλήματα ενωμένοι.
November 5, 2015
In The Story of the Night, Colm Tóibín told the stories of men living with AIDS in New York in the late 80s. In The Blackwater Lightship, he transposes this storyline to Ireland in the late 90s, a vastly different setting. Helen, a school principal, discovers that her brother Declan is in hospital with AIDS. She has to work out how to tell their mother and grandmother about his diagnoses which he's apparently had "for years". Published just six years after Ireland's decision to decriminalise homosexuality, I feel that its effect was more profound and radical in the late 90s than it is now in 2015.
The Blackwater Lightship is somewhat of a companion to The Heather Blazing. They are both set in the same area with the Redmond's from Blazing turning up again here. Both novels perfectly encapsulate 90s Ireland, the sensibilities and the lavishness. Characters are school principals and lawyers, they live in noisy cities while their parents are held up in crumbing houses in the countryside. The clash of the nouveau riche with old Catholic Ireland play central parts in both novels. The character of the grandmother in The Blackwater Lightship is just fantastic, she binds these two generations together with flawless comical insights. She is the typical Irish grandmother, an embracer, a voice of solace.
I do think this is the superior novel to The Heather Blazing, it is a novel about family, whether they be nuclear or non-traditional. It's about who we really go to in our hours of need and who we share our lives with, whether we be stable or crumbling away, into the waves.
The Blackwater Lightship is somewhat of a companion to The Heather Blazing. They are both set in the same area with the Redmond's from Blazing turning up again here. Both novels perfectly encapsulate 90s Ireland, the sensibilities and the lavishness. Characters are school principals and lawyers, they live in noisy cities while their parents are held up in crumbing houses in the countryside. The clash of the nouveau riche with old Catholic Ireland play central parts in both novels. The character of the grandmother in The Blackwater Lightship is just fantastic, she binds these two generations together with flawless comical insights. She is the typical Irish grandmother, an embracer, a voice of solace.
I do think this is the superior novel to The Heather Blazing, it is a novel about family, whether they be nuclear or non-traditional. It's about who we really go to in our hours of need and who we share our lives with, whether we be stable or crumbling away, into the waves.
June 20, 2012
Helen lives a predictable, pleasant life, until suddenly a stranger turns up and tells her that her brother is sick--is, in fact, dying of AIDS in a nearby hospital. Declan wants to stay in their grandmother's cottage while he recuperates from his latest hospital stay. His sister, mother, and grandmother are thus thrown together in a small sea-shore cottage, forced into close quarters after a decade of estrangement. Two of his friends come to keep him company and look after his health, causing further moments of awkwardness.
Basically, six adults hang around a cottage for a few days, constantly splitting off to have one-on-one conversations with each other about the others, and about the past. Helen resents her mother who resents her own mother, and they all talk and think about it endlessly. Maybe these ruminations on what to do when you don't like or emotionally trust your family would feel more poignant or important if I identified with them more. As it was, it was all just really boring. Helen would walk along the shore, think about how cold the water looked, how strong and enduring the cliffs looked, and then come to some minor realization about her feelings for her mother. "I resented her for not being around when my father died," she realizes wonderingly. Rinse, repeat. Thrilling stuff.
My boredom with the complete lack of plot or conflict might have been alleviated if the characters read more believably. But alas, they're written, particularly Declan, Lily, and Dora, with broad strokes mixed with minutia. By the end of the book I knew that Declan liked self-service restaurants as a child, disliked carrots, and feared escalators, but I still had no idea what he did for a living, how he'd made the friends he did, or even his hobbies. It felt like his sole purpose in the story was to suffer and force Helen and their mother to have uncomfortable emotional moments together. He never felt like a person in his own right.
Although I felt Tóibín relied too heavily on the sea and the lighthouse as metaphors, without doing any heavy lifting of his own, some of the writing is lovely. But some is just crap. An example:
I assume he's trying to say something about the mundane details of survival persisting despite looming tragedy, but dear god is it boring to read.
Basically, six adults hang around a cottage for a few days, constantly splitting off to have one-on-one conversations with each other about the others, and about the past. Helen resents her mother who resents her own mother, and they all talk and think about it endlessly. Maybe these ruminations on what to do when you don't like or emotionally trust your family would feel more poignant or important if I identified with them more. As it was, it was all just really boring. Helen would walk along the shore, think about how cold the water looked, how strong and enduring the cliffs looked, and then come to some minor realization about her feelings for her mother. "I resented her for not being around when my father died," she realizes wonderingly. Rinse, repeat. Thrilling stuff.
My boredom with the complete lack of plot or conflict might have been alleviated if the characters read more believably. But alas, they're written, particularly Declan, Lily, and Dora, with broad strokes mixed with minutia. By the end of the book I knew that Declan liked self-service restaurants as a child, disliked carrots, and feared escalators, but I still had no idea what he did for a living, how he'd made the friends he did, or even his hobbies. It felt like his sole purpose in the story was to suffer and force Helen and their mother to have uncomfortable emotional moments together. He never felt like a person in his own right.
Although I felt Tóibín relied too heavily on the sea and the lighthouse as metaphors, without doing any heavy lifting of his own, some of the writing is lovely. But some is just crap. An example:
She put the car into gear and drove it slowly to the barrier. 'You need fifty pence. Do you have a fifty-pence piece?' she asked her mother.
Her mother searched through her bag and found a purse with loose change. She handed Helen a fifty-pence piece and Helen opened the window and put it in the slot. The barrier lifted.
'We should have gone to the other car park,' Helen said. 'You don't have to pay there.'
I assume he's trying to say something about the mundane details of survival persisting despite looming tragedy, but dear god is it boring to read.
November 2, 2017
In the house by a cliff of the southern coast of Ireland, a reluctant family comes together around a brother, son and grandson, who is dying of aids. The three women - sister, mother and grandmother find out about Declan's preference and his illness all at once and try to deal with the facts each in her own way. But the closet seems to be filled with many other skeletons besides Declan's homosexuality. There are memories of the past, the relationships and unresolved conflicts between the three women. The family dynamics with the adored son who can do no wrong, and a daughter who is expected to be of service to everyone. Parents, who left their children with grandparents and never came to visit while father was being tested and finally died of cancer. The mother, who wishes that her daughter be different, and the daughter who most of all wants to be accepted for who she is. The grandmother, who played a role of catalyst in many of the past events. The daughter who having over the years built up a defence wall against her mother doesn’t keep in touch so that she can never be hurt again.
The situation is breathtakingly real. We follow the characters through a psychologically dence weekend to a conclusion that is sufficiently vague to be just as it is in real life. Nothing is black or white and it is up to the participants to draw the conclusions.
It is my second novel by Colm Tóibín. ”The Master” and ”The Blackwater Lightship” could theoretically not be more different, but the authors ability to create complex characters is what they have in common and I can not wait to explore more of his wonderful writing.
The situation is breathtakingly real. We follow the characters through a psychologically dence weekend to a conclusion that is sufficiently vague to be just as it is in real life. Nothing is black or white and it is up to the participants to draw the conclusions.
It is my second novel by Colm Tóibín. ”The Master” and ”The Blackwater Lightship” could theoretically not be more different, but the authors ability to create complex characters is what they have in common and I can not wait to explore more of his wonderful writing.
July 30, 2012
An understated account of how a broken family begins to heal itself in the context of the return of a son dying of AIDS.
Helen, a teacher in the Dublin area, helps install her beloved brother Declan into the care of her mother and grandmother in a seashore village in southeastern Ireland. The occasion makes her deal with the nearly decade-long estrangement dating from the time when her father got cancer and her mother effectively took him away from her and her brother during his months of illness and left her and Declan in the care of the grandmother.
Slowly they begin to resolve the blocks to emotions about the source of the break, aided by the presence of two very different gay friends of Declan's who come to help. The rocky shore, erosion by waves of the cliffs and houses, and a lighthouse provide a great backdrop for reflection and metaphors about life and death and human resilence.
The Blackwater Lightship was a lighthouse that is no longer there, while another remains, no longer sharing signals the one that disappeared. I like the conception of nature telling us that we are almost nothing and not needed, leading us to solving the mysteries on our own. Sort of like the Leonard Cohen line: "We are so small between the stars, so large against the sky." That is just my take on the resonances and waves evoked by this spare family tale.
Helen, a teacher in the Dublin area, helps install her beloved brother Declan into the care of her mother and grandmother in a seashore village in southeastern Ireland. The occasion makes her deal with the nearly decade-long estrangement dating from the time when her father got cancer and her mother effectively took him away from her and her brother during his months of illness and left her and Declan in the care of the grandmother.
Slowly they begin to resolve the blocks to emotions about the source of the break, aided by the presence of two very different gay friends of Declan's who come to help. The rocky shore, erosion by waves of the cliffs and houses, and a lighthouse provide a great backdrop for reflection and metaphors about life and death and human resilence.
The Blackwater Lightship was a lighthouse that is no longer there, while another remains, no longer sharing signals the one that disappeared. I like the conception of nature telling us that we are almost nothing and not needed, leading us to solving the mysteries on our own. Sort of like the Leonard Cohen line: "We are so small between the stars, so large against the sky." That is just my take on the resonances and waves evoked by this spare family tale.
July 12, 2017
3,5/5
Μυθιστόρημα εσωτερικού χώρου, που διαπραγματεύεται τις διαπροσωπικές σχέσεις 3 γυναικών, κόρης - μητέρας - γιαγιάς, της Ελεν, της Λιλι και της κυρίας Ντεβερο κατά σειρά.
Οι γυναίκες αυτές καλούνται να συνυπάρξουν στον ίδιο χώρο και να διαχειριστούν τις συγκρούσεις τους για χάρη του αδερφού (- γιου- εγγονού), Ντεκλαν, που πεθαίνει από Aids.
Με πρώτη ανάγνωση φαίνεται αρκετά επιφανειακό. Ολοκληρώνοντάς το, νόμιζα πως χρειαζόταν να ειπωθεί κάτι ακόμα, πως οι διαλυμένες σχέσεις που παρουσιάζονται είναι άνευ ουσίας. Όταν το ξαναπερασα από τον έλεγχο, είδα πως πράγματι οι συγκρούσεις είχαν κέντρο βάρους, υπήρχαν βαθύτερα, εσωτερικά αίτια, στο θάνατο του πατέρα της Ελεν, που βίωσε στην παιδική ηλικία, και τη λάθος αντιμετώπιση από τη μητέρα της.
Με έχασε όμως στο ρόλο - γλάστρα του Ντεκλαν, και στη μη ρεαλιστική αντιμετώπιση της κατάστασης. Δέχονται τόσο μα τόσο ψύχραιμα πως ο νεαρός πεθαίνει, και δυσκολεύονται να χωνέψουν πως είναι ομοφυλόφιλος.
Κυλάει πολύ γρήγορα όμως το βιβλίο, και σε ελάχιστα σημεία κουράζει!
Μυθιστόρημα εσωτερικού χώρου, που διαπραγματεύεται τις διαπροσωπικές σχέσεις 3 γυναικών, κόρης - μητέρας - γιαγιάς, της Ελεν, της Λιλι και της κυρίας Ντεβερο κατά σειρά.
Οι γυναίκες αυτές καλούνται να συνυπάρξουν στον ίδιο χώρο και να διαχειριστούν τις συγκρούσεις τους για χάρη του αδερφού (- γιου- εγγονού), Ντεκλαν, που πεθαίνει από Aids.
Με πρώτη ανάγνωση φαίνεται αρκετά επιφανειακό. Ολοκληρώνοντάς το, νόμιζα πως χρειαζόταν να ειπωθεί κάτι ακόμα, πως οι διαλυμένες σχέσεις που παρουσιάζονται είναι άνευ ουσίας. Όταν το ξαναπερασα από τον έλεγχο, είδα πως πράγματι οι συγκρούσεις είχαν κέντρο βάρους, υπήρχαν βαθύτερα, εσωτερικά αίτια, στο θάνατο του πατέρα της Ελεν, που βίωσε στην παιδική ηλικία, και τη λάθος αντιμετώπιση από τη μητέρα της.
Με έχασε όμως στο ρόλο - γλάστρα του Ντεκλαν, και στη μη ρεαλιστική αντιμετώπιση της κατάστασης. Δέχονται τόσο μα τόσο ψύχραιμα πως ο νεαρός πεθαίνει, και δυσκολεύονται να χωνέψουν πως είναι ομοφυλόφιλος.
Κυλάει πολύ γρήγορα όμως το βιβλίο, και σε ελάχιστα σημεία κουράζει!
April 25, 2021
Helen gets a call that her brother, Declan, is dying of AIDS and wants to spend time at their grandmother's home on the Irish coast. Declan had never revealed his gay lifestyle or his illness to his mother or grandmother, and he wants Helen to smooth the way and converse with them first. The three generations have had emotional problems since the death of Helen's and Declan's father.
Two of Declan's friends join them at the grandmother's seaside house. His friends have become a family to Declan while his mother and sister have been out of the loop. The estrangement between Helen and her mother is especially severe, but they have to face the past as they also prepare to soon lose someone they love.
The story is set in the early 1990s when AIDS was a new disease with few treatment options. It was a devastating time for the gay community, their friends, and their families. Colm Toibin uses beautiful spare prose to show the troubled relationships and the start of the healing process for this family.
Two of Declan's friends join them at the grandmother's seaside house. His friends have become a family to Declan while his mother and sister have been out of the loop. The estrangement between Helen and her mother is especially severe, but they have to face the past as they also prepare to soon lose someone they love.
The story is set in the early 1990s when AIDS was a new disease with few treatment options. It was a devastating time for the gay community, their friends, and their families. Colm Toibin uses beautiful spare prose to show the troubled relationships and the start of the healing process for this family.
March 7, 2014
Not a good idea to finish the last 20 pages of this story at 5:00 AM before work! I'm wrecked and I look like hell. The novel was wondrous - I loved it and I'll review later.
June 9, 2024
I've had this book for decades - it's a hardcover, so probably ever since it first got published 25 years ago - but had never read it (although I HAD, at some point, seen the Hallmark Hall of Fame adaptation - which I will watch again now I've read the book). After a reread of Brooklyn and then Tóibín's new novel, Long Island, I decided to dust it off and give it a go. Although it shows signs of being an early work (it was the author's 4th novel), it still is quite skillful.
In many ways though, the novel has become dated; it centers around an Irish family coming to term with the younger brother's AIDS diagnosis and the three women in his life/family - sister, mother and grandmother, none of whom get along with any of the rest of them - and how the tragedy of Declan's failing health and imminent death brings them all together. It's a story that has, more or less, been told many times over, and this brings little new or fresh to the table (albeit I am aware that for 1999, it probably did so back then).
It was a quick read, but I had a few quibbles - first off, all three women are rather chilly and unlikeable, which makes them rather poor company - Declan, the center of all the drama, also seems much of a cipher - he feels a bit removed from what SHOULD be HIS story. Also, although one gets satisfaction about the family coming together, it abruptly ends prior to Declan's expiration - and an AIDS drama that doesn't emotionally shatter one seems rather beside the point. Still, it is an involving work, fairly well written, so grudgingly gets 4 stars.
PS: So I DID rewatch the DVD of the film after finishing - and it's very well done - Angela Lansbury is terrific as the grandmother, and all of the casting is rather spot on. Sure, things were cut to fit a 97-minute run time, but nothing essential - Tóibín has been well served in film adaptations of his work.
In many ways though, the novel has become dated; it centers around an Irish family coming to term with the younger brother's AIDS diagnosis and the three women in his life/family - sister, mother and grandmother, none of whom get along with any of the rest of them - and how the tragedy of Declan's failing health and imminent death brings them all together. It's a story that has, more or less, been told many times over, and this brings little new or fresh to the table (albeit I am aware that for 1999, it probably did so back then).
It was a quick read, but I had a few quibbles - first off, all three women are rather chilly and unlikeable, which makes them rather poor company - Declan, the center of all the drama, also seems much of a cipher - he feels a bit removed from what SHOULD be HIS story. Also, although one gets satisfaction about the family coming together, it abruptly ends prior to Declan's expiration - and an AIDS drama that doesn't emotionally shatter one seems rather beside the point. Still, it is an involving work, fairly well written, so grudgingly gets 4 stars.
PS: So I DID rewatch the DVD of the film after finishing - and it's very well done - Angela Lansbury is terrific as the grandmother, and all of the casting is rather spot on. Sure, things were cut to fit a 97-minute run time, but nothing essential - Tóibín has been well served in film adaptations of his work.
April 2, 2022
2001’de basılmış, 2003’te bana hediye edilmiş bu kitabı bunca yıl sonra okudum. colm tóibín’in böyle okumadığım birkaç kitabı daha var üstelik evde.
çok güzel bir roman, olağan ama çok etkili bir hikâye.
romanın başında tanıdığımız helen, kocasıyla mutlu ama aşamadığı bir mesafe olduğunu kabullenmiş durumda, iki oğlu olan ana karakter. aslında romandaki karakterlerin hepsi merkezde ama biz roman boyunca üçüncü tekil şahısla anlatılsa da sadece helen’in düşüncelerini öğreniyoruz. geri kalanları diyaloglar ve aksiyonlarla takip ediyoruz.
helen’in erkek kardeşli declan’ın bir bomba gibi düşen aids olduğu haberiyle aile bir araya gelmek zorunda kalıyor.
ve olağan dediğim konu elbette bu. yüzleşen aileler. ki burada kız çocuk, anne ve anneanne arasında olacak asıl yüzleşmeler. declan onları bir araya getiren bir neden sadece.
bir erkek yazarın bu denli başarılı ana-kız yüzleşmesi yazması gerçekten beni şaşırttı. helen’ın donukluğu roman boyunca sürerken anneanne dora müthiş bir biçimde derinlik kazanıyor. anne lily’i ve pişmanlıklarını ise sona doğru anlıyoruz.
bunlarla ilgili tek bir şey söyleyeceğim, kardeşim diyaloğun önemini nasıl biliyor bu insanlar! bizde küslükler, kızgınlıklar yokmuş gibi davranarak çözülemiyor. romanda açılmanın, konuşmanın ve yüzleşmenin önemi anlatıyor neredeyse.
onun dışında declan’a birkaç yıldır bakan gey arkadaşları romanın bir başka tarafı. aileleri, gençlikleri ve bir yerden sonra birbirlerinin seçilmiş aileleri olmaları çok özenli bir biçimde aktarılıyor.
bugün olsa muhtemelen aids’le yaşayabilecek declan’ın hastalığının 3-5 günlük süreci o kadar gerçekçi ki, ağrılar, yaralar, kusmalar, ishal… yıllardır uzak olduğu annesi lily’e medet umar gibi annecim diye seslenip ağladığı yerde ben de ağladım.
tüm bunların arkasında ise irlanda var. katolik ve protestan ayrımı. irlandaca ve ingilizce ayrımı. ira ve makbul vatandaş ayrımı. ve elbette sütçü’den de bildiğimiz dedikoducu rezil taşra.
vallahi şu an baskısı olmaması büyük kayıp. iyi bir romanmış “deniz fenerindeki ışık.”
çok güzel bir roman, olağan ama çok etkili bir hikâye.
romanın başında tanıdığımız helen, kocasıyla mutlu ama aşamadığı bir mesafe olduğunu kabullenmiş durumda, iki oğlu olan ana karakter. aslında romandaki karakterlerin hepsi merkezde ama biz roman boyunca üçüncü tekil şahısla anlatılsa da sadece helen’in düşüncelerini öğreniyoruz. geri kalanları diyaloglar ve aksiyonlarla takip ediyoruz.
helen’in erkek kardeşli declan’ın bir bomba gibi düşen aids olduğu haberiyle aile bir araya gelmek zorunda kalıyor.
ve olağan dediğim konu elbette bu. yüzleşen aileler. ki burada kız çocuk, anne ve anneanne arasında olacak asıl yüzleşmeler. declan onları bir araya getiren bir neden sadece.
bir erkek yazarın bu denli başarılı ana-kız yüzleşmesi yazması gerçekten beni şaşırttı. helen’ın donukluğu roman boyunca sürerken anneanne dora müthiş bir biçimde derinlik kazanıyor. anne lily’i ve pişmanlıklarını ise sona doğru anlıyoruz.
bunlarla ilgili tek bir şey söyleyeceğim, kardeşim diyaloğun önemini nasıl biliyor bu insanlar! bizde küslükler, kızgınlıklar yokmuş gibi davranarak çözülemiyor. romanda açılmanın, konuşmanın ve yüzleşmenin önemi anlatıyor neredeyse.
onun dışında declan’a birkaç yıldır bakan gey arkadaşları romanın bir başka tarafı. aileleri, gençlikleri ve bir yerden sonra birbirlerinin seçilmiş aileleri olmaları çok özenli bir biçimde aktarılıyor.
bugün olsa muhtemelen aids’le yaşayabilecek declan’ın hastalığının 3-5 günlük süreci o kadar gerçekçi ki, ağrılar, yaralar, kusmalar, ishal… yıllardır uzak olduğu annesi lily’e medet umar gibi annecim diye seslenip ağladığı yerde ben de ağladım.
tüm bunların arkasında ise irlanda var. katolik ve protestan ayrımı. irlandaca ve ingilizce ayrımı. ira ve makbul vatandaş ayrımı. ve elbette sütçü’den de bildiğimiz dedikoducu rezil taşra.
vallahi şu an baskısı olmaması büyük kayıp. iyi bir romanmış “deniz fenerindeki ışık.”
October 22, 2017
Όταν διάβασα μια κριτική για το «Καραβοφάναρο στο μαύρο νερό» αισθάνθηκα πως το βιβλίο αυτό θα γινόταν από τα αγαπημένα μου για το 2017. Περιέργως το έπιασα με πολύ θετικότητα – κάτι που το δεν το κάνω συχνά – και στην αρχή ήμουν πολύ ενθουσιασμένη, η εισαγωγή στην ιστορία ήταν ελκυστική. Όσο όμως περνούσε η ώρα και οι σελίδες που άφηνα πίσω μου πλήθαιναν αισθανόμουν πως κάτι έλειπε από την ανάγνωση και είχα αρχίσει να γίνομαι πιο νευρική. Όταν πέρασα την μέση του μυθιστορήματος αντιλήφθηκα πως αυτό που με ενοχλούσε ήταν ότι ενώ είχαμε μπροστά μας δυο φανταστικά θέματα - την κακή οικογενειακή σχέση των χαρακτήρων και τον επικείμενο θάνατο ενός χαρακτήρα από AIDS - ο συγγραφέας δεν έκανε πολλά με αυτά. Θα μπορούσε να το είχε δουλέψει τόσο καλύτερα, να εμβαθύνει αρκετά στον ψυχισμό των χαρακτήρων και ειδικά ενός γκέι άντρα που πεθαίνει από AIDS αλλά ο συγγραφέας άφησε την ευκαιρία να χαθεί.
Παρόλο που ο Colm Tóibín κινήθηκε σε ασφαλή μονοπάτια η γραφή του ήταν πολύ όμορφη, το βιβλίο το διάβασα στα αγγλικά όποτε ήρθα σε επαφή με το πρωτότυπο κείμενο, και βρήκα τις περιγραφές των τοπίων εξαιρετικές. Μάλιστα, μπήκα στο Google για να κοιτάξω τα μέρη που αναφέρονται στο βιβλίο. Μου άρεσαν και οι διάλογοι ανάμεσα στους χαρακτήρες, βλέπαμε τις σχέσεις τους να αλλάζουν και να ωριμάζουν μπροστά στα μάτια μας.
Δεν δέθηκα με κανέναν από τους χαρακτήρες του βιβλίου και δεν μπορούσα να καταλάβω πως γίνεται να μην μιλούν μεταξύ τους μια ολόκληρη δεκαετία για κάτι που εμένα δεν με έπεισε ποτέ για την σοβαρότητα του.
Στο τέλος χάρηκα που το διάβασα ακόμα και αν δεν κατάφερα να το αγαπήσω όσο θα ήθελα. Είναι ένα ωραίο βιβλίο, μέχρι εκεί όμως.
Παρόλο που ο Colm Tóibín κινήθηκε σε ασφαλή μονοπάτια η γραφή του ήταν πολύ όμορφη, το βιβλίο το διάβασα στα αγγλικά όποτε ήρθα σε επαφή με το πρωτότυπο κείμενο, και βρήκα τις περιγραφές των τοπίων εξαιρετικές. Μάλιστα, μπήκα στο Google για να κοιτάξω τα μέρη που αναφέρονται στο βιβλίο. Μου άρεσαν και οι διάλογοι ανάμεσα στους χαρακτήρες, βλέπαμε τις σχέσεις τους να αλλάζουν και να ωριμάζουν μπροστά στα μάτια μας.
Δεν δέθηκα με κανέναν από τους χαρακτήρες του βιβλίου και δεν μπορούσα να καταλάβω πως γίνεται να μην μιλούν μεταξύ τους μια ολόκληρη δεκαετία για κάτι που εμένα δεν με έπεισε ποτέ για την σοβαρότητα του.
Στο τέλος χάρηκα που το διάβασα ακόμα και αν δεν κατάφερα να το αγαπήσω όσο θα ήθελα. Είναι ένα ωραίο βιβλίο, μέχρι εκεί όμως.
January 19, 2022
Bu kitaba yorum yazmadan önce bir iki gün beklemeek istedim zira etkisinin aynı kalıp kalmayacağını merak ediyordum. Yazardan geçtiğimiz aylarda The Magician kitabını okumuştum ve çok sevmiştim. Bu kitapla da yazarın bundan sonra okuma listelerimde yerini alacağını anlamış oldum. Bence Colm Toibin, azınlıkta olanların, yaralı insanların ve dışlanmışların, özetle ötekilerin hikayelerini çok iyi anlatıyor. Asla ajite etmeden, dram üzerine dram eklemeden; bazı şeyler gerçek hayatta nasıl olursa kitaplarında da öyle oluyor. Kurgularını hikayeleştirmeden oldukça gerçekçi bir şekilde yaratıp sizi de bu gerçekliğin içine çekiyor. Deniz Fenerindeki Işık, Declan'ın AIDSte son dönemece geldiğinde, birbirleriyle bağları güvenli oluşmamış üç kuşak kadını çevresinde toplamasıyla bu bağların nerelerde kırılmış olduğunu, nelerin yanlış gittiğini anlatıyor. Hikayede tek bir ana karakter yok aslında. Her birinin kendi hikayesi aynı önemde akıyor. Anne şefkati ve bunun eksikliği, yaşlılık, eş ve baba kaybıyla farklı bakış açılarında yas süreçleri, eksiklik ve güvensizlik üzerine çok etkileyici bir roman okuyorsunuz. Diğer yandan da aids gerçekliği ile yüzleşirken, toplumsal baskıyı da net bir şekilde görüyorsunuz. Kitap öyle bir son ile bitiyor ki, Helen, Declan, Lily ve Dora zihninizde hayatlarına devam ediyorlar. Çok beğendim.
4,5/5
4,5/5
March 18, 2017
3.5 stars
Helen is a school principal living in Dublin. She is married with two children. She is preparing to go on Holiday with her family in the beginning of the book. Then she learns that her brother Declan has suffered from AIDS for years without telling her. Declan asks her if she would tell their Mother and Grandmother his diagnosis. Helen, who has been estranged from her Mother and Grandmother for years is put in a position to contact the women but to also deal with past issues especially her father's sudden death during her childhood. The women, in fact, have not been invited to Helen's wedding nor have they met her children. Plus, Declan has no place to stay while he recuperates and he requests to spend his time at his Grandmother's home. This is where their Mother, Lily was raised and where Helen and Declan were raised after their father died and their Mother abandoned them (in their eyes). This makes for interesting family dynamics.
The women are forced to come together for Declan's sake. They are joined by Declan's two friends, Paul and Larry, which make for an interesting mix in the home. Everyone must adjust to each other: the past hurts, misunderstandings, Declan's illness, the other men in the home, their own personal issues and each other.
Although, Declan has AIDS this book is mainly about family. How do have contact again after not having contact for so long. How do you slide back into a relationship? We see more of the women's lives. I do wish we saw more of Declan's life. But this book was really about family relationships, dynamics and healing. That ending though...
I liked this book but I was hoping for better. I loved Brooklyn and was hoping to be as invested in this book as I was in that. I had a hard time connecting to anyone in this book. The characters irritated me with the stubbornness. I do think this is what the Author wanted. He wanted the reader to be as frustrated with these characters as they were with each other. This book was a little slow moving for me at times. At other times I thought this book was brilliant. As always his writing was beautiful but at parts it failed to grab me.
See more of my review at www.openbookpost.com
Helen is a school principal living in Dublin. She is married with two children. She is preparing to go on Holiday with her family in the beginning of the book. Then she learns that her brother Declan has suffered from AIDS for years without telling her. Declan asks her if she would tell their Mother and Grandmother his diagnosis. Helen, who has been estranged from her Mother and Grandmother for years is put in a position to contact the women but to also deal with past issues especially her father's sudden death during her childhood. The women, in fact, have not been invited to Helen's wedding nor have they met her children. Plus, Declan has no place to stay while he recuperates and he requests to spend his time at his Grandmother's home. This is where their Mother, Lily was raised and where Helen and Declan were raised after their father died and their Mother abandoned them (in their eyes). This makes for interesting family dynamics.
The women are forced to come together for Declan's sake. They are joined by Declan's two friends, Paul and Larry, which make for an interesting mix in the home. Everyone must adjust to each other: the past hurts, misunderstandings, Declan's illness, the other men in the home, their own personal issues and each other.
Although, Declan has AIDS this book is mainly about family. How do have contact again after not having contact for so long. How do you slide back into a relationship? We see more of the women's lives. I do wish we saw more of Declan's life. But this book was really about family relationships, dynamics and healing. That ending though...
I liked this book but I was hoping for better. I loved Brooklyn and was hoping to be as invested in this book as I was in that. I had a hard time connecting to anyone in this book. The characters irritated me with the stubbornness. I do think this is what the Author wanted. He wanted the reader to be as frustrated with these characters as they were with each other. This book was a little slow moving for me at times. At other times I thought this book was brilliant. As always his writing was beautiful but at parts it failed to grab me.
See more of my review at www.openbookpost.com
December 31, 2022
https://edebiyatdanostalji.blogspot.c...
İyiki okumuşum diyebileceğim eserlere bir yenisini ekledim diyebilirim.
Oldukça derinlikli bir içeriğe sahip olmasına rağmen ; kullanılan dilin sadeliği anlatım tarzındaki yalınlık okunulmasını daha çekici hale getirmiş. (Çevirene bin teşekkür)
Ah! Aile ilişkileri yine !evet evet, ama burada ki biraz daha değişik ; kitabı okurken mutlaka biraz kıyaslamalar yapacağız yada kendimizi onlardan biri yani romanın kahramanlarından biriyle özl.....
İyiki okumuşum diyebileceğim eserlere bir yenisini ekledim diyebilirim.
Oldukça derinlikli bir içeriğe sahip olmasına rağmen ; kullanılan dilin sadeliği anlatım tarzındaki yalınlık okunulmasını daha çekici hale getirmiş. (Çevirene bin teşekkür)
Ah! Aile ilişkileri yine !evet evet, ama burada ki biraz daha değişik ; kitabı okurken mutlaka biraz kıyaslamalar yapacağız yada kendimizi onlardan biri yani romanın kahramanlarından biriyle özl.....
January 16, 2024
Helen tiene una buena vida en Dublín; una profesión que le gusta y una familia feliz llena de amor con su marido Hugh y dos hijos.
El pasado reaparecerá en su vida con la visita de Paul, quien trae un mensaje de Declan, el hermano menor de Helen: está muy enfermo, y le ruega que lo vaya a ver.
Y con ese retorno del pasado, se reabre el recuerdo de viejas heridas y rencores; Helen, su madre Lily, su abuela Deveraux.
Y en la casa costera de la abuela, donde van a dar las tres mujeres y los tres amigos (Declan y sus amigos Paul y Larry), con una ambigua simetría, se desarrolla un complejo ballet de relaciones, un baile de salón lleno de avances y retrocesos, de amenazas de estallidos y salidas imprevisibles, en una rica dinámica de intercambios, sólidamente sostenida por los seis personajes muy bien construidos.
A pesar de lo que puedan hacer suponer los anticipos, el SIDA, y aún más la homosexualidad, como temas, pasan a un segundo plano, limitándose a servir de marco para una rica historia de relaciones humanas.
Una postal imaginaria, deseable, flota sobre esta dinámica: la cabeza de Declan apoyada en el regazo de su madre, que le acaricia amorosamente el pelo y le canta una canción dulce. Tomando en cuenta las dolorosas heridas abiertas, ¿Será posible? ¿O la oportunidad ya ha pasado? ¿Hay esperanza?
Una excelente novela que gira en torno a las secuelas de un pasado inmodificable, en la historia de la vida familiar. Y una historia que, por diversas razones, encontré conmovedora.
A modo de reclamo (comentario tóxico, prescindible)
Sería muy deseable que en algún momento Goodreads (o más probablemente, algunos de sus lectores) deje de darle tanta importancia a las etiquetas. En este caso la de LGTB y sobre todo la horrible Queer, cada vez que hay un personaje homosexual en una historia (¡Hasta se la han aplicado a clásicos como Memorias de Adriano o La muerte en Venecia!); encuentro algunas otras obras, que por falta de perspicacia de los etiquetadores, parecen haberse salvado del rótulo, y no seré yo quien las denuncie a esta nueva inquisición).
Acaso si hubiera un ciego ¿Pondrían la etiqueta Ceguera; o Calvicie si hubiera un calvo? ¿Oficinas, , Lluvia?. No aportan nada a lo que un lector merece conocer antes de elegir un libro. Y más allá de la lógica ofensa que podría significar para muchas personas, lo peor es que pone en evidencia una forma de pensar tal vez demasiado esquemática.
El pasado reaparecerá en su vida con la visita de Paul, quien trae un mensaje de Declan, el hermano menor de Helen: está muy enfermo, y le ruega que lo vaya a ver.
Y con ese retorno del pasado, se reabre el recuerdo de viejas heridas y rencores; Helen, su madre Lily, su abuela Deveraux.
Y en la casa costera de la abuela, donde van a dar las tres mujeres y los tres amigos (Declan y sus amigos Paul y Larry), con una ambigua simetría, se desarrolla un complejo ballet de relaciones, un baile de salón lleno de avances y retrocesos, de amenazas de estallidos y salidas imprevisibles, en una rica dinámica de intercambios, sólidamente sostenida por los seis personajes muy bien construidos.
A pesar de lo que puedan hacer suponer los anticipos, el SIDA, y aún más la homosexualidad, como temas, pasan a un segundo plano, limitándose a servir de marco para una rica historia de relaciones humanas.
Una postal imaginaria, deseable, flota sobre esta dinámica: la cabeza de Declan apoyada en el regazo de su madre, que le acaricia amorosamente el pelo y le canta una canción dulce. Tomando en cuenta las dolorosas heridas abiertas, ¿Será posible? ¿O la oportunidad ya ha pasado? ¿Hay esperanza?
Una excelente novela que gira en torno a las secuelas de un pasado inmodificable, en la historia de la vida familiar. Y una historia que, por diversas razones, encontré conmovedora.
A modo de reclamo (comentario tóxico, prescindible)
Sería muy deseable que en algún momento Goodreads (o más probablemente, algunos de sus lectores) deje de darle tanta importancia a las etiquetas. En este caso la de LGTB y sobre todo la horrible Queer, cada vez que hay un personaje homosexual en una historia (¡Hasta se la han aplicado a clásicos como Memorias de Adriano o La muerte en Venecia!); encuentro algunas otras obras, que por falta de perspicacia de los etiquetadores, parecen haberse salvado del rótulo, y no seré yo quien las denuncie a esta nueva inquisición).
Acaso si hubiera un ciego ¿Pondrían la etiqueta Ceguera; o Calvicie si hubiera un calvo? ¿Oficinas, , Lluvia?. No aportan nada a lo que un lector merece conocer antes de elegir un libro. Y más allá de la lógica ofensa que podría significar para muchas personas, lo peor es que pone en evidencia una forma de pensar tal vez demasiado esquemática.
August 24, 2017
Άλλο ένα πολύ καλό και ποιοτικό βιβλίο, αισθητικά και σε περιεχόμενο, από τις εκδόσεις Gutenberg στην εξαιρετική σειρά Aldina. Γραμμένο το 1999, το "Καραβοφάναρο στο Μαύρο Νερό" είναι ένα βιβλίο για τις οικογενειακές σχέσεις, τις διαφορετικές γενιές (γιαγιά-μητέρα-κόρη) και την αντίδρασή τους καθώς και το δέσιμό τους σε μια δύσκολη κατάσταση. Ένα μυθιστόρημα "δωματίου" όπως επισημαίνει και η μεταφράστρια, καθώς εκτυλίσσεται σχεδόν εξ ολοκλήρου στην κουζίνα της γιαγιάς Ντόρα Ντέβερο, μα δεν είναι καθόλου βαρετό. Με μια απλή, απέριττη πρόζα και μέσω διαλόγων και αναδρομών ο Τομπίν καταφέρνει να καταδείξει τις σχέσεις των προσώπων, τις αντιπαραθέσεις και τις απόψεις τους, καθώς και τις λεπτές αποχρώσεις στις οποίες λανθάνει ένα διαφορετικό νόημα.
Το θέμα στο οποίο ρίχνει φως ο συγγραφέας και με ενδιαφέρει πολύ καθώς το κάνει με εξαιρετικό τρόπο είναι αυτό της "οργανωμένης σιωπής" των οικογενειών και των απωθημένων που απορρέουν από αυτήν. Η κόρη Έλεν, την οποία γνωρίζουμε και ως κεντρική ηρωίδα αν και η αφήγηση είναι τριτοπρόσωπη, κρατάει πολλά που θέλει να πει στη μητέρα της πριν μια εικοσαετία από τότε που πέθανε ο πατέρας της από καρκίνο αλλά τα κρατάει μέσα της, διαιωνίζονται και καταλήγουν σε μια σύγκρουση και μια αποξένωση που έχει ως συνέπεια τη διακοπή επικοινωνίας μεταξύ τους για δέκα χρόνια. Όμως η αρρώστια του αδερφού της Ντέκλαν, πάσχει από AIDS και είναι στα πρόθυρα του θανάτου, θα φέρει όλες τις γενιές κοντά και μ��ζί με δυο (γκέι) φίλους του Ντέκλαν (γκέι κι αυτός) με εντελώς διαφορετικές προσωπικότητες, το σπίτι της γιαγιάς Ντόρα θα γίνει μια ποικιλία προσώπων, γενεών και απόψεων που θα συμπράξουν για να αντιμετωπίσουν την κατάσταση και να επουλώσουν τις πληγές τους. Ένα καθηλωτικό, τρομερό μες στην απλότητά του μυθιστόρημα.
(Ο ρόλος του AIDS είναι δευτερεύων και λειτουργεί σαν το εναρκτήριο λάκτισμα για να ξετυλιχθεί το κουβάρι των σχέσεων).
Το θέμα στο οποίο ρίχνει φως ο συγγραφέας και με ενδιαφέρει πολύ καθώς το κάνει με εξαιρετικό τρόπο είναι αυτό της "οργανωμένης σιωπής" των οικογενειών και των απωθημένων που απορρέουν από αυτήν. Η κόρη Έλεν, την οποία γνωρίζουμε και ως κεντρική ηρωίδα αν και η αφήγηση είναι τριτοπρόσωπη, κρατάει πολλά που θέλει να πει στη μητέρα της πριν μια εικοσαετία από τότε που πέθανε ο πατέρας της από καρκίνο αλλά τα κρατάει μέσα της, διαιωνίζονται και καταλήγουν σε μια σύγκρουση και μια αποξένωση που έχει ως συνέπεια τη διακοπή επικοινωνίας μεταξύ τους για δέκα χρόνια. Όμως η αρρώστια του αδερφού της Ντέκλαν, πάσχει από AIDS και είναι στα πρόθυρα του θανάτου, θα φέρει όλες τις γενιές κοντά και μ��ζί με δυο (γκέι) φίλους του Ντέκλαν (γκέι κι αυτός) με εντελώς διαφορετικές προσωπικότητες, το σπίτι της γιαγιάς Ντόρα θα γίνει μια ποικιλία προσώπων, γενεών και απόψεων που θα συμπράξουν για να αντιμετωπίσουν την κατάσταση και να επουλώσουν τις πληγές τους. Ένα καθηλωτικό, τρομερό μες στην απλότητά του μυθιστόρημα.
(Ο ρόλος του AIDS είναι δευτερεύων και λειτουργεί σαν το εναρκτήριο λάκτισμα για να ξετυλιχθεί το κουβάρι των σχέσεων).
January 13, 2023
You can't go wrong reading one of Colin Toibin's books. His elegant, understated, gorgeous writing style mesmerizes the reader. This book also realistically deals with family and friends dealing with the imminent death of a beloved young man from AIDS. The past and unresolved family issues are dealt with in an organic, natural manner. Loved this book.
March 6, 2024
This was a lovely and oh so humane book. And so tender and funny and sad. Written by Colm Toibin. Set in his home area of Ireland. It was so different then other books of his I’ve read. It spoke to AIDS and to love and family differences and true friendship. For people now who are losing a loved one (no matter the cause) - with the choice to be together or not - this book says so much about love and opening the heart, and forgiving.
I loved his writing and story telling. It is one of my favorite books that I read this year.
I loved his writing and story telling. It is one of my favorite books that I read this year.
July 21, 2022
Η ιστορια αυτου του βιβλιου ειναι αρκετα απλη : ενας νεος, ο Ντακλαν χτυπημενος απο το AIDS, σε μια εποχη που ακομη ουτε ενημερωση, ουτε αποδοχη, ουτε ιδιαιτερη βοηθεια μπορει να υπαρξει για τους πασχοντες, σβηνει μερα με τη μερα και ετσι αναγκαζεται να ενημερωσει την οικογενεια του που πλεον αποτελειται απο 3 alpha fe-males(γιαγια, μητερα, αδερφη) και με τις οποιες δεν εχει τις πιο κοντινες σχεσεις.
Το θεμα του βιβλιου ειναι λιγο πιο βαθυ και περιπλοκο:πώς 3 γενιες γυναικων αντιμετωπιζουν διαφορετικα τα θεματα γυρω τους, την οικογενεια, την απωλεια, τα λαθη τους, αλλα κυριως πώς αντιμετωπιζουν η μια την αλλη...
Τα συναισθηματα που προκαλει αυτο το βιβλιο ειναι ο, τι πιο περιπλοκο και αληθινο. Το πώς θα βρεις τον εαυτο σου να ταυτιζεται με πολλους και διαφορετικους χαρακτηρες, το πώς και κατα πόσον εσυ εχεις λυσει και ξεμπερδεψει με λογαριασμούς και σχεσεις του παρελθοντος. Η συγκινηση, ο πονος, το γελιο, αλλα κυριως ο θαυμασμος για το πώς ενας συγγραφεας παιρνει μια απλουστατη ιστορια και την εμπλουτίζει με τοσο σημαντικα θεματα οπως αυτο της σχεσης μεταξυ μητερας κορης (ή μητερας παιδιων γενικα) και πώς αυτη αφηνει σκληρά καταλοιπα μεσα μας ή πώς μπροστα στο αναποφευκτο του θανατου και τη σκληροτητα της απωλειας, ολα αυτα φανταζουν τοσο μικρα και ασημαντα.ειναι απο αυτη τη σπανια κατηγορια βιβλιων, που για να σου δωσει οσα εχει, πρεπει πρωτα να του δοθεις, να του ανοιχτεις με ειλικρίνεια, εσυ.
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/5 αστερια
"μαμα" εκανε η ελεν "θα μου αρεσε πολυ αν ο ενας απο τους γιους μου γινοταν πραγματικα καλος μουσικος- και στον πατερα του θα αρεσε πολυ, ομως δε θα γινει ουτε ο ενας, ουτε ο αλλος, οποτε πρεπει να συμβιωσουμε μαζι τους οπως ειναι. Επισης θα μου αρεσε αν ο ενας απο τους δυο τους ηταν κοριτσι. Θα μου αρεσε να ειχα μια κορη, αλλα δε το σκεφτομαι. Θα μου αρεσε να νιωσεις καποτε ικανοποιημενη μαζι μου, κι ας μην ειμαι αυτο που ηθελες. Θα μου αρεσε επισης να σταματησεις καποτε να ευχεσαι να ημουν καποια αλλη. "
" παντα σε αποδεχομουν οπως εισαι, ελεν"της ειπε η μητερα της.
" αχ, τι ωραια αυτη η λεξη που χρησιμοποιησες, σευχαριστω"της ειπε η ελεν.
Το θεμα του βιβλιου ειναι λιγο πιο βαθυ και περιπλοκο:πώς 3 γενιες γυναικων αντιμετωπιζουν διαφορετικα τα θεματα γυρω τους, την οικογενεια, την απωλεια, τα λαθη τους, αλλα κυριως πώς αντιμετωπιζουν η μια την αλλη...
Τα συναισθηματα που προκαλει αυτο το βιβλιο ειναι ο, τι πιο περιπλοκο και αληθινο. Το πώς θα βρεις τον εαυτο σου να ταυτιζεται με πολλους και διαφορετικους χαρακτηρες, το πώς και κατα πόσον εσυ εχεις λυσει και ξεμπερδεψει με λογαριασμούς και σχεσεις του παρελθοντος. Η συγκινηση, ο πονος, το γελιο, αλλα κυριως ο θαυμασμος για το πώς ενας συγγραφεας παιρνει μια απλουστατη ιστορια και την εμπλουτίζει με τοσο σημαντικα θεματα οπως αυτο της σχεσης μεταξυ μητερας κορης (ή μητερας παιδιων γενικα) και πώς αυτη αφηνει σκληρά καταλοιπα μεσα μας ή πώς μπροστα στο αναποφευκτο του θανατου και τη σκληροτητα της απωλειας, ολα αυτα φανταζουν τοσο μικρα και ασημαντα.ειναι απο αυτη τη σπανια κατηγορια βιβλιων, που για να σου δωσει οσα εχει, πρεπει πρωτα να του δοθεις, να του ανοιχτεις με ειλικρίνεια, εσυ.
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/5 αστερια
"μαμα" εκανε η ελεν "θα μου αρεσε πολυ αν ο ενας απο τους γιους μου γινοταν πραγματικα καλος μουσικος- και στον πατερα του θα αρεσε πολυ, ομως δε θα γινει ουτε ο ενας, ουτε ο αλλος, οποτε πρεπει να συμβιωσουμε μαζι τους οπως ειναι. Επισης θα μου αρεσε αν ο ενας απο τους δυο τους ηταν κοριτσι. Θα μου αρεσε να ειχα μια κορη, αλλα δε το σκεφτομαι. Θα μου αρεσε να νιωσεις καποτε ικανοποιημενη μαζι μου, κι ας μην ειμαι αυτο που ηθελες. Θα μου αρεσε επισης να σταματησεις καποτε να ευχεσαι να ημουν καποια αλλη. "
" παντα σε αποδεχομουν οπως εισαι, ελεν"της ειπε η μητερα της.
" αχ, τι ωραια αυτη η λεξη που χρησιμοποιησες, σευχαριστω"της ειπε η ελεν.
June 28, 2011
This is a nice easy read but did not find it a page turner. I felt the story was flat in places and I lost interest quite a few times and was glad it was a short read.
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