I recently cited Sebastian Barry as one of the greatest living writers of the English language today. I then realized that I had not posted on his books, my error. He's been long-listed and short-listed for the Man Booker Prize, but in my mind he's been short-changed. He deserved to win. This year's On Canaan's Side is vintage Barry: wonderful writing, great characters and a visceral story. It reminded me of his novel, The Secret Scripture, 2008, one of my faves of all time. Canaan is the reflections of an 89 year old woman, who fled Ireland in 1915 as a teenager with her boyfriend, on the run from the IRA. Much of the novel is the story of her hard scrabble life-in-hiding in Chicago. The most powerful passages are Barry's evocative telling of her terrors of assassins. One scene, in the Chicago Art Institute, is indelibly etched in my memory. Barry vividly evokes the heartbreaks of the Irish War of Independence, without blame or finger pointing.
The Secret Scripture is also based on the memories of an elderly woman, entwined with the inquiries and observations of her doctor, who is trying to discover her story from long ago. This novel begins in the early 20th century, when the young woman, through no real fault of her own, runs afoul of the tough emotions and the black-and-white stances during The Troubles. It's easy to think of The Troubles in terms of Bobby Sands and the 1970-80's, but both of these stories were set 100 years ago! What a long, hard road.
Barry's writing is extraordinary. His prose is more spare than John Banville, another Irish author who I recently praised, and just as artful. I often paused and sighed at how perfectly a sentence or paragraph was turned. Like Banville, Barry never over writes. I recommend both of these novels.
Two of the best living writers of the English language today happen to be Irish: John Banville and Sebastian Barry. Banville's latest novel, Ancient Light, is the third in a loose trilogy which includes Eclipse, 2000, and Shroud, 2002. The novels share some characters, but each book easily stands on its own. The triple-helix story and the characters in Ancient Light are compelling, but the delight to me is Banville's writing. This is not merely great word-smithing, this is high art. His prose is a gourmet meal, without ever being over written. If you love to read the written word, then you will enjoy Banville's works. Some books I read as fast as I can, but, Banville I read slowly, often re-reading paragraphs several times to savor them.
Much of the first half of the book is a retired actor's reflections on his teenage affair with the mother of a friend. I'm not that crazy about this setting, but it served as the basis for observations on a key part of all of our lives...His memories stand on very shaky footings, and it is wonderful to read his uncertainties about the scene and the events themselves. The season, time of day, the weather, people's emotions, all are often unclear or remembered in multiple ways. It's a delightful exploration of memory, especially for those of us having a similar experience with their own! The second strand of the helix is his pondering on the suicide ten years ago of his long troubled daughter. In the third, he is tapped to star in a film about a fraudulent academic, who was a key character in Shroud. Each strand is inter-woven with ease through the book. But, the real joy of this novel is Banville's art of writing.
You might also try his Shroud and The Infinities.
