Colm Tóibín
Tóibín, Colm "Long Island" - 2021
#6Degrees of Separation:
from Long Island (Goodreads) to Croatian War Nocturnal
#6Degrees is a monthly link-up hosted by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. I love the idea. Thank you, Kate. See more about this challenge, its history, further books and how I found this here.
The starter book this month is Long Island by Colm Tóibín.
The best way to deal with books that I haven't read is usually to go by words in the title. So it was this month. The starter word is Long.
As so often, I have not read this one and I doubt I am going to because I really didn't like the author's first book, "Brooklyn". So here is the description:
"From the beloved, critically acclaimed New York Times bestselling author comes a spectacularly moving and intense novel of secrecy, misunderstanding, and love, the story of Eilis Lacey, the complex and enigmatic heroine of Brooklyn, Tóibín’s most popular work, twenty years later.
Eilis Lacey is Irish, married to Tony Fiorello, a plumber and one of four Italian American brothers, all of whom live in neighboring houses on a cul-de-sac in Lindenhurst, Long Island, with their wives and children and Tony’s parents, a huge extended family that lives and works, eats and plays together. It is the spring of 1976 and Eilis, now in her forties with two teenage children, has no one to rely on in this still-new country. Though her ties to Ireland remain stronger than those that hold her to her new land and home, she has not returned in decades.
One day, when Tony is at his job and Eilis is in her home office doing her accounting, an Irishman comes to the door asking for her by name. He tells her that his wife is pregnant with Tony’s child and that when the baby is born, he will not raise it but instead deposit it on Eilis’s doorstep. It is what Eilis does—and what she refuses to do—in response to this stunning news that makes Tóibín’s novel so riveting.
Long Island is about longings unfulfilled, even unrecognized. The silences in Eilis’ life are thunderous and dangerous, and there’s no one more deft than Tóibín at giving them language. This is a gorgeous story of a woman alone in a marriage and the deepest bonds she rekindles on her return to the place and people she left behind, to ways of living and loving she thought she’d lost."
Ingalls Wilder, Laura "The Long Winter" in Little House Books" - 1932-71
Štimec, Spomenka "Croatian War Nocturnal" (Esperanto: Kroata Milita Noktlibro) - 1993
Both the first and last book are written by a young girl/woman and based on their life in harsh circumstances, none of which we would ever wish on a child nowadays but, unfortunately, there are still too many who have to live like that.
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I found comfort during the pandemic in reading Wilder's story of The Long Winter. Wilder's family and friends had no grocery service and they had no great way of heating their homes during the winter that she describes. Somehow it made the pandemic feel a little less daunting.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good thought, Deb. Yes, people have always been living through hard times and managed to get through it, like we have come through the pandemic. Books can help us understand that and lead an easier life.
DeleteThis is actually one of my favourite books from the Little House series, this and Farmer Boy.
Love that you included The Long Winter on this list! I don't know how many times I've read that one; I was a huge fan of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books growing up. :D
ReplyDeleteThat's great to hear, Lark. I never read them as a child, they were not available in our library. But I watched the series and then read the books all in English when I first moved to England. So well written. For children and for adults.
DeleteMy sister totally adored Midnight's Children. I'll have to read it some day. Really interesting chain here.
ReplyDeleteIt's not an easy book, Davida, like most of Rushdie's writings. But it's supposed to be the best Booker prize winner of the first 25 years. Not that I like Booker prizes a lot but this was worth it.
DeleteFunny, one of my commenters was almost shocked I said I was not interested in reading Long island.
ReplyDeleteThen another blogger and you (two bloggers who read my type of books), you both say you were so disappointed by Brooklyn that you won't read this one. lol.
I enjoyed The Winter Palace, many years ago.
I REALLY need to read this one by Rushdie!
True, Emma.
DeleteAs I said to Davida, it's supposed to be the best Booker prize winner of the first 25 years. I am sure you will enjoy it.
Brooklyn, was too shallow, it didn't say much about the topic it was advertising. Just another chick lit. So, why should I read the follow-up?
I'm fairly confident that I have a copy of 'The Winter Palace' in one of the stacks. I've been musing reading 4 books in a row based on the seasons. This sounds like an idea choice for 'Winter'... Obviously!
ReplyDeleteWe read it with our book club, Kitten, otherwise I might not have even found it. But it's a good historic novel about the times of Catherine the Great.
DeleteMy younger daughter adored the Ingalls Wilder books, so of course, I did too. Good to give them an airing here. Other than that, I've only read the Zafón. Nope, not even read the Rushdie. I've got lots of catching up to do!
ReplyDeleteThe Little House books were one of the first I read in English, Margaret, and I remember them all so well. As to having to do a lot of catching up, too many books, too little time. But I hope you get to some of them sometime.
DeleteI love the Little House on the Prairie books but they did not age well. But I love the history. When I was in elementary school my mom and I went on a vacation and visited the homestead in South Dakota. It was so cool.
ReplyDeleteWell, we live in a completely different world today, Sarah. But they are good books to tell about your history.
DeleteYes, of course. That's why they did not age well. It's unfortunate.
DeleteIt's a shame but I still think they should be read by many.
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