Goodreads Ireland discussion

This is the comment thread for our July montlhy read winner, TransAtlantic by Colum McCann.

I look forward to discussing this novel with you all and reading your opinions and insights.

Declan. :)

Think you need to edit the heading :-)

Facepalm!



I'll get right on it, Kate.

That's pretty cool, Allan. Did Photobucket give you the HTML link? I don't have that option on my phone app. :(

I've been reading the book the last couple of nights myself. I really enjoyed the Alcock-Brown section but I absolutely loved the Douglas one. I'm really looking forward to the rest of this book.

I just picked up the novel and I am very taken with his writing as always. I am confident it will be a great read.

Laura wrote: "I just picked up the novel and I am very taken with his writing as always. I am confident it will be a great read."

I don't think you'll be disappointed, Laura. It's been very enjoyable for me, so far.

I'm in the middle of 2 books that I need to finish before Thursday (when my scifi and fantasy book clubs). After that I plan to start TransAtlantic.

The beauty of GI is that it always here, Sara.

I can't wait to start discussing TransAtlantic. I have long admired Frederick Douglass and love the fact McCann included him in the story. At McCann's reading in DC, one African American woman stood to make a comment, saying she had just made her first trip to Ireland. While there, someone (a taxi driver? someone working at her hotel?) pulled her aside and asked if she knew of Frederick Douglass' relationship with O'Connell and Ireland and proceeded to tell her the story. She was bowled over. I had only fuzzy ideas of what Douglass did in Ireland and this book really expanded that for me.

Barbara wrote: "I have long admired Frederick Douglass and love the fact McCann included him in the story. "

Second Facepalm in this thread. I presumed Douglass was one of the fictional characters! I'm a bit of an ignoramus when it comes to history. How could I have not heard about him before though? I almost feel like one of those rumoured teenagers who think Titanic is just a movie.

Anyhoo. I had planned to send in an "initial thoughts" post over the weekend but it all went too fast, and I was half-way through before I knew it. It seems like this book could easily have been much longer.

Anyway my initial thoughts haven't changed much; I'm mostly taken with McCann's prose. What a writer. I think he noticeably hones his craft with every book, which is an amazing feat for someone who was a great writer to start with. Some great turns of phrase in this book.

A lot of writers would have been happy with:
"What she worries about most of all is that he will die at the hands of an assassin."

McCann nails it:
"What she worries most of all, is that he will become the flesh at the end of an assassin's bullet."

I was glued to this book for the last three days. I love the way McCann integrated the stories over time and geography and how it all related back to Ireland in some fashion. Initially I hadn't realized many of the characters would actually be real people. That was fascinating. I think I am a reasonably well educated woman but I never fail to learn more about history and life from good books and this is a very good book indeed. Mccann's best I would say. I particularly liked the strong female characters.

I haven't started this yet, but here's a general question for everyone. Do you think you'd need to have read Frederick Douglass's autobiography to follow the story?

John wrote: "Barbara wrote: "I have long admired Frederick Douglass and love the fact McCann included him in the story. "

Second Facepalm in this thread. I presumed Douglass was one of the fictional characters..."

John - I knew little about Frederick Douglass until I moved south from Boston to Maryland, to work in Washington DC. Douglass was born in Maryland, and he has a wonderful house in DC my link text which is a national monument. It was my first visit there that cemented my admiration for Douglass.

Laura - I loved this book but
Let the Great World Spin will remain my favorite. I think TransAtlantic is more "accessible" to a wide readership, and McCann has some miraculous prose in the book.

John-I grew up learning quite a a bit about Douglas, but I suspect that was (1) A product of what U.S. schools were teaching at the time (late 80s to early 90s) and (2) The fact that I grew up in MD where Douglass is from. I wouldn't at all expect someone from another country to be familiar with him. I'm sure there would be similar figures in Irish history who I am entirely ignorant of.

Barbara- I was just about to link to the same website about Douglass!

Barbara wrote: "John wrote: "Barbara wrote: "I have long admired Frederick Douglass and love the fact McCann included him in the story. "

Second Facepalm in this thread. I presumed Douglass was one of the fiction..."

I really did love the characters of the two brothers in Let the Great World Spin.

Sara wrote: "John-I grew up learning quite a a bit about Douglas, but I suspect that was (1) A product of what U.S. schools were teaching at the time (late 80s to early 90s) and (2) The fact that I grew up in M..."

:) great minds....

Laura wrote: "Barbara wrote: "John wrote: "Barbara wrote: "I have long admired Frederick Douglass and love the fact McCann included him in the story. "

Second Facepalm in this thread. I presumed Douglass was on..."

Absolutely! I admired them both though of course the priest who lived in abject poverty was the most appealing.

I'm enjoying this far more than I enjoyed LTGWS. If it keeps up like this it'll be getting a 5* rating.


Also, I'll open a spoiler thread, shortly.

The spoiler thread is now open for anyone who wants to get cracking.

I just finished the first chapter and am enjoying it so far. If there were just a couple more hours in each day...

I know what you mean, Mo. I fnd it hard to make time to make time to read at the moment, but when I do I don't want to put it down.

John-I grew up learning quite a a bit about Douglas, but I suspect that was (1) A product of what U.S. schools were teaching at the time (late 80s to early 90s) and (2) The fact that I grew up in MD where Douglass is from.

Cool. I just thought he might be well known over here from his visits, maybe not.

- -

So I cracked open upc player last night to see what i had recorded. And I watched the latest Mariella Book Show, and who was on it only the man himself, talking about the good book. It was a great show. Edna O'Brien was on too, who seems like a fascinating woman. I don't think you can watch it online anywhere. http://skyarts.sky.com/the-book-show/...

There are usually plenty of repeats, John, so I'll see if I can root one out when I get home.

Thanks for the share.

John wrote: "John-I grew up learning quite a a bit about Douglas, but I suspect that was (1) A product of what U.S. schools were teaching at the time (late 80s to early 90s) and (2) The fact that I grew up in M..."

thanks John.

I finished it last night in bed. It found engrossing from start to finish, and had I not been so busy, lately, I would have finished in one or two days. I'll be jumping into the spoiler thread soon. I can't wait to get started. :)

I was dithering between four or five stars, but I eventually decided that four would have been an injustice to this book.

Finished this book this morning. Loved it. McCann's story and writing is excellent. A real 5 star read.

I finished this book last weekend, beautifully written, very informative but I don't really like to admit this but even though it contained some beautiful prose, it just wasn't for me.

Well, nothing is for everyone. At least it sounds as though you didn't have to suffer through it.

I'll be jumping into the spoiler thread ,Jane and Rosanne. Maybe we can talk more freely about likes and dislikes?

I just started this book and the writing is lovely. Douglass goes to hear O'Connell speak and McCann says, "as if the whole sponge of Dublin had been squeezed down into a sink." That phrase is so evokative.
In Wexford Douglass meets with the gentry in a large mansion. He asks them about the hunger he has seen in the street. They tell him, "There is always a hunger in Ireland. She was a country that like to be hurt."
Doesn't that just sum up an attitude that the rich have for the poor? I have seen this attitude time and time again.
This book is just so rich.

I thought I would get this from the library, but it turns out there's 78 holds on it already! Downloaded a sample from Amazon, see if I get sucked in by the story.

I haven't finished the book yet, but I have finished the section on George Mitchell. I remember glancing at some newspaper reviews, and one criticism was that section of the book. I'm not sure why the critics thought it was "weaker" than the rest. For everyone who's gotten that far or finished the book, what did you think of that section?

Totally agree Cathleen: I haven't made it past the Mitchell part and find it much less interesting than the previous two parts.

One other criticism is that while the book is obviously very well written, for me, the author does seem to have many overly short sentences.

I personally love short sentences. They seem more realistic to me. I guess that's why I liked Robert Parker's Spencer novels.

Cathleen wrote: "I haven't finished the book yet, but I have finished the section on George Mitchell. I remember glancing at some newspaper reviews, and one criticism was that section of the book. I'm not sure wh..."

I really appreciated the George Mitchell segment of the book. For those of us who are familiar with the intractability of the Northern Ireland Troubles, Mitchell's calm dedication is inspiring.

I finished the book and just loved it. I cannot tell you how thankful I am to read it along with you guys. It really added to my understanding. When I finished the book what stuck with me was the hope everyone had in the book. The pilots made that trip (unbelievable to me that anyone would do so) were filled with hope. George Mitchell and all the people who participated in the peace process were hopeful. Lily made that trip to America full of hope and took everything that happened to her in stride. Fredrick Douglass was hopeful every person could be free. It was there in every chapter. I just feel so happy at the end of it.

Susan wrote: "I finished the book and just loved it. I cannot tell you how thankful I am to read it along with you guys. It really added to my understanding. When I finished the book what stuck with me was the h..."

Susan, I agree with you about how much you enjoyed the book and how much you appreciated reading it with this group. I know that I wouldn't have gotten anywhere near as much from the book if I had read it without the comments, background, explanation provided within this group. I've been thinking a lot about the structure of the book since I've finished reading it---the interplay between the famous, heroic people and the ordinary, heroic people. And culturally--the novel speaks so much to the generosity, resilience, and hope--of people. The characters all did what they needed to do, without a lot of self-aggrandizement or fanfare. And some of them likely didn't even think that what they were doing was out of the ordinary. There's so much to this book that I'm eager to mull over :)

It was a great read, but like all of our popular choices it left us with so much to talk about we sometimes forgot about the contents of the book itself.

You think so, Declan? I thought we actually talked a lot about the content. It was just that sometimes we needed to have some bckground to enjoy it more. I know we talked a lot about Fredrick Douglass and George Mitchell. I think everything related back to the content in one way or another.

Susan wrote: "You think so, Declan? I thought we actually talked a lot about the content. It was just that sometimes we needed to have some bckground to enjoy it more. I know we talked a lot about Fredrick Dougl..."

I think you're right, Susan. We went into such great depth, though. It was a pretty great discussion.

Cathleen wrote: "Susan wrote: "I finished the book and just loved it. I cannot tell you how thankful I am to read it along with you guys. It really added to my understanding. When I finished the book what stuck wit..."

Cathleen - I was also struck with how the story moved from stories of historical figures to stories of ordinary lives. McCann did it so seamlessly that it never came off as contrived. I also think there's a lot to say about women in this novel - in the background (where history tends to put us), but quietly having profound lives.

Another thing about the characters in this book is the number of minor characters I can vividly remember.

From the Dublin beggars to the woman and baby, to Lilly's survivor soldier to Hannah's bank manager. McCann uses characters tremendously well.

Barbara wrote: "Cathleen wrote: "Susan wrote: "I finished the book and just loved it. I cannot tell you how thankful I am to read it along with you guys. It really added to my understanding. When I finished the bo..."

Yes, I did notice that, too, with regard to the women McCann included. It made me think again how any history is the history of all people, not only those who are famous. I realize that the women in the novel are all fictional, but I think they were all authentic representations of women of those times.

Declan, that's another good point about McCann's character development. Even the minor characters were roundly developed. There's so much to appreciate in this novel.

I assume they were fiction because the histories of women like those in the book are all "lost". It reminds me of how remarkable we find stories that haven't been lost like those written by Blasket Islanders. The book "On an Irish Island" by Robert Kanigal tells the story very well, detailing how those stories came to the world, including Peig Sayers autobiography.

Allan wrote: "I thought I'd share this news story from today in the Transatlantic thread..."

Nice to read of good news for a change. All the parties involved seem to be making all of the right noises.

Allan wrote: "I thought I'd share this news story from today in the Transatlantic thread as it features an interview with George Mitchell who's still showing an interest in our problems here!

http://www.bbc.co...."

I love George Mitchell :)

I've go to say, Catherine, I wasn't exactly wowed by this years short-listed novels. TranAtlantic was worth the final cut, at the very least.

Nice review, by the way. Thanks for sharing it.