The Mookse and the Gripes discussion

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

The only book on the list that I read in 2021, and another fine book that deserves its place.

Yes absolute gem. If it wins it would be the shortest ever winner.

So glad to see this one make the list! It is short and beautifully written. It is nice to see a story about a person of integrity (too rare these days).

I am surprised and delighted to see this on the list. So much packed into such a small number of words. I do think there are better books on this year's longlist, but this one definitely deserves the spot and the attention.

It’s very interesting /topical given the Roe vs Wade issue as well and this book is very nuanced on religion with Institutionalised Christianity the “Villains” but Christian faith very explicitly driving the actions of the “hero”

I will be revisiting this for sure. I'm curious to see if it stands up to a second read.

I "only" rated this 4 stars, but I keep thinking about it and admiring it for its concentrated depth.

Glad to see this on the list. It’s stayed with me. It is very, very short though. Obviously it’s qualified but I wonder if it will hinder its chances of going further. It’s shorter than On Chesil Beach isn’t it?

Surely the length of this one should count for it not against it?

This being on the list does highlight the stupidity (I am tempted to use a less polite term) of the Women’s Prize rule that excluded it.

I think the audio was fantastic - Aidan Kelly did a brilliant job.

I read Small Things Like These today and it works beautifully as a wonderful fable, but I think much of its recognition stems from an ackowledgement of Ireland's Magdalen laundry controversy. It seems to be a minor work in a similar vein with Colson Whitehead's The Nickel Boys - but, hey, he won the Pulitzer for his.

From the reviews I thought it was the quality of the writing that people responded to.

Has anyone seen the film based on her earlier book Foster btw?

Sounds promising:

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022...

I thought this was in a different and higher league altogether than the Nickel Boys, particularly in how it is so well crafted.

Not to hijack this thread but I can't agree that The Nickel Boys was a minor work. Quite the contrary. And quite deserving of its Pulitzer Prize.

Alwynne wrote: "From the reviews I thought it was the quality of the writing that people responded to.

Has anyone seen the film based on her earlier book Foster btw?

Sounds promising:

https://www..."

Not seen it. But I read Foster the other night, and definitely want to see it. Heard plenty of good things about the adaptation.

I disagree, Cindy. Whitehead is one my favorite contemporary writers, even his most recent "lighter" work was fantastic, and I can't wait for the proposed sequel. But The Nickel Boys was a huge disappointment that, for me, hinged on an agenda rather than showcasing his brilliant prose.

To each his own Scott. I thought in many ways it was better than The Underground Railroad -- tighter and more compelling. It has been one of the most talked-about book club selections my library has run and read and loved incredibly widely.

This is of course why we read and why we share our views here. Subjectivity is all.

Good to know. Perhaps when I get through the Booker longlist, it deserves a revisit.

Stewart wrote: "Alwynne wrote: "From the reviews I thought it was the quality of the writing that people responded to.

Has anyone seen the film based on her earlier book Foster btw?

Sounds promisi..."

I haven't read the novella but I read it as a short story in the New Yorker, reminded me a lot of writers like Katherine Mansfield, just so beautifully observed.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...

Has anyone re-read this recently? I did last night and had a very different reaction to it. Letting it sit for a bit.

Alwynne wrote: "Stewart wrote: "Alwynne wrote: "From the reviews I thought it was the quality of the writing that people responded to.

Has anyone seen the film based on her earlier book Foster btw?..."
Thanks for the link. Will have a read at some point to see how it compares.

David wrote: "Has anyone re-read this recently? I did last night and had a very different reaction to it. Letting it sit for a bit."

That's a tease David!

It is a tease, David. I’m not a re-reader but I’ll go back to this one because it’s short and very good.

I am reluctant to read twice as I think it might break the spell.

By contrast I think After Sappho demands a re-read and Maps and Colony would reveal new angles.

I didn't mean to tease - I just didn't want my reaction to color anyone else's. When I read it last year (around the holidays), I thought it was a perfectly constructed Christmas tale that was perfectly paced. When I read it last night, it's still that, but I found it overly sentimental and a bit too "perfect" of an ending. It also struck me as odd that the hero of the story is a man and all the other characters (falling on a continuum of victim to villain) are women.

Gumble wrote: "I am reluctant to read twice as I think it might break the spell."

That's exactly what happened.

I found the dynamic between the protagonist and his wife oddly refreshing. Too often the wife is portrayed as soft-hearted and sentimental and the husband as cool-headed and gruff.

A good point Debra.

I haven't reread but I'm curious if the ending can be very perfect and tidy when you know the reaction he's going to be met with when he arrives home with the girl? The book has emphasized the negative consequences that are likely to follow for his family. This does require extending the story in your imagination beyond the written ending though as Keegan doesn't show us what happens next, but it still prevents it from being sentimental when I read it.

David wrote: "I didn't mean to tease - I just didn't want my reaction to color anyone else's. When I read it last year (around the holidays), I thought it was a perfectly constructed Christmas tale that was perf..."

I haven't read it but could see that as a valid criticism of the short stories of hers I've encountered. It's something I associate with writers like Keegan who also teach creative writing. The emphasis on craft can be a very positive thing but it can also lead to work that can be a little too pat, a little too conventional.

For me it showed the enduring value of conventional storytelling - a lot (by no means all) of “experimental” fiction I find almost vacuous.

I completely agree with your verdict on experimental writing, GY. Which is why The Colony impressed me. Its innovative quality did not come at the cost of its depth.

Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer wrote: "For me it showed the enduring value of conventional storytelling - a lot (by no means all) of “experimental” fiction I find almost vacuous."
Well said. I agree.

Maps is the one that impressed me - the author has said about her writing experience.

“for all the play and ‘fizz’ there were also simple delights that emerged unexpectedly along the way. I learnt that a fully realised character or frank, honest dialogue can be just as poetic as a perfectly constructed metaphor, or a bit of clever word play. This, I think, is growing up. It’s realising that you have nothing to prove. It’s leaving your coat and scarf and pretension in the hall, taking the hands of your characters, and letting them lead you through the house”

https://youtu.be/sR4f7NF_bUs


- This one is a bit dry BUT the next one will make people laugh. I can guarantee that

I found this book utterly dull and undeservedly sentimental, which I guess gives me a useful data point in my continuing quest to map the blind spots and prejudices in my reading life.

I think that’s an understandable reaction though - David’s was not dissimilar on a second read.

Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer wrote: "I think that’s an understandable reaction though - David’s was not dissimilar on a second read."

Yes, very similar. I think David and I also share the feeling that, by having an older man be the focal point, Keegan gives her novel a gauzy remove and protects her readers from needing to dwell on the bleaker aspects of the history.

Robert wrote: "https://youtu.be/sR4f7NF_bUs


- This one is a bit dry BUT the next one will make people laugh. I can guarantee that"

I don't think this one is dry at all!!! Your MT face was brilliant. This was great!

Robert wrote: "https://youtu.be/sR4f7NF_bUs
- This one is a bit dry BUT the next one will make people laugh. I can guarantee that"

Not at all, very amusing! I enjoyed it.

Robert wrote: "https://youtu.be/sR4f7NF_bUs


- This one is a bit dry BUT the next one will make people laugh. I can guarantee that"

No, this was great! Looking forward to the next one! And I share your opinion of the book - and MT

lark wrote: "Yes, very similar. I think David and I also share the feeling that, by having an older man be the focal point, Keegan gives her novel a gauzy remove and protects her readers from needing to dwell on the bleaker aspects of the history..."

For me, the book was important precisely because it was about Furlong and his dilemma, not the Magdalen Laundry girls/women. I don't think that makes the Magdalen girls' story any less important - on the contrary, I found the plight of the girls all the more poignant by seeing them through Furlong's moral dilemma. It made me think about what makes a 'working class hero' in real life.

I thought having a male protagonist in a story like this was actually refreshing, though I understand the counterarguments too.

There are some gorgeous descriptions in this story, and though talking about a story’s “atmosphere” is sometimes too vague of a statement, I could vividly picture the milieu. A powerful short story, not a novel and maybe not even a novella in my view.

And that leads me in the Booker context to consider if The Colony is the better of the two Irish novels on the list – I thought there was probably more to mull over in the Magee, and it’s probably a more rewarding reread. Still, this was a strong four-star read.

I wouldn’t have minded an extra 100 pages or so, but I know this would’ve been heresy for some. ;-)

Wonderfull!! Reminded me very much of Katherine Mansfield. Also shades of James Joyce.

I just read it and liked it very much, but I was expecting to be wowed.
I love Furlong and the townspeople and their folksy interactions.

I didn’t know that people were aware of how awful those laundries were, but lived in fear of the power of the nuns. I knew the church had done a lot of damage to individual lives, but didn’t realize that the church had so much political influence. I was surprised when Mrs Kehoe told Furlong to be careful about crossing the church, insinuating that it could harm his business and his daughters’ future opportunities.

It did end a little too neatly on the one hand, but (view spoiler)[if Ned was his father why didn’t Ned just marry his mother rather than put Bill and his mum through the shame of being an unwed mother and “bastard” child? And, what’s not neatly tied up is the question can a man just take a girl from a convent home to his house without the law getting involved? (hide spoiler)]

It’s a 4 star book, but I don’t know if it’s one of the best books written in English, published in the UK or Ireland.

Well Wendy all I would say is

- it recently won the Orwell Prize on a stunning finalist list which had Assembly, The Colony, Sterling Karat Gold, Passage North on it

- in our very own 2021 Mookse and Gripes rankings for best book of 2021 and using the Paul system (*) it finished third behind a 2021 Booker eligible book and a translated book

So on those two criteria it is very very easily in the top 13 eligible books. It did not get ranked so high in the Listopia (25 I think) or Scott’s compiled predictions but that was only due to concerns the Booker would rule it ineligible.

(*) without getting too technical this ranking works much better than adjusted averages when different people read different books

The Catholic Church comments are interesting Wendy because I think it (the idea that the new independent Irish state had the Catholic Church built into it) is an implicit but slightly overlooked part of The Colony also - one which Audrey Magee has discussed in many interviews or articles about her book - for example

“In Ireland we don’t see ourselves as colonised — it was a long time ago — but those control mechanisms have become more latent and therefore harder to unpick. We don’t write about these things, but what is it to be colonised? Where are the legacies, not only by England, which is obviously the big one, but then by the Church, by Rome? We swapped one system for the other and there were incredible consequences for Irish women, in particular. So many people in Ireland didn’t want to be part of that system.”

Thanks for the comments

I think there's a lot of hidden layers - this was a reread of the book and more themes emerged

An extra 100 pages would have ruined this. Although I suspect it is what 99% of authors would have added and 99% of editors would have demanded. This is why this is such a precious jewel of a novel.