Tuesday 26 January 2010

The south (Toibin)


I very much enjoyed reading Brooklyn by Toibin over the Christmas period, I liked his style of prose and was absolutely gripped to the final pages of the novel, and was thus keen to read more by him. In a departure from the norm, I dispatched my partner to the branch library to find me some more books while I was at work, and he came back with two Toibin books for me - The south and Story of the night.

Set in the 1950s, The south tells the story of Katherine Proctor, who leaves Ireland for Barcelona in an attempt to fulfil her desire to become a painter. The reader never really learns why she chose to leave her husband and small son but we follow her in a determination to create a new life for herself. Part of the story is the desire to escape from political troubles, having spent many years being ostracised as a protestant in Southern Ireland. But when she meets Miguel, another painter with whom she has a child, she finds that it is not so easy to escape, since he was involved in the Spanish civil war. When she separates from Miguel she suddenly desires to return to Ireland and find her son and attempts to rediscover Ireland. Painting is one of the ways she tries to do this.

I was a little frustrated by the amount of loose ends in the story, both at the beginning, and at the end - the story did not come to enough of a conclusion for me. However, in some ways that was similar to Brooklyn, where I was left wondering what happened after Eilis returned to America. I will be interested to see if this happens in The story of the night.

Has anyone else read any other Toibin apart from Brooklyn?

11 comments:

  1. A book with a lot of loose ends would have me wanting to organize a group of people together who had read that particular story. I'd be dying to find out what other people thought had happened! I have yet to read any Toibin and must be one of the few not to have read Brooklyn.

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  2. I loved Brooklyn by Toibin but haven't read any of his other books yet. This sounds like an intriguing read.

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  3. I've only read Brooklyn and a short story or two. Hadn't heard of The South before. Either Blackwater Lightship or The Master will be next for me - we'll see which one crosses my path first.

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  4. Darlene - yes, it would be a good idea to discuss what happened next. I think you'd enjoy Brooklyn.

    Naomi - it wasn't quite as good as Brooklyn but still worth reading.

    JoAnn - I look forward to seeing which one you end up with. The master didn't hugely appeal to me.

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  5. I think it is The South that I have at home in Glasgow; I can't remember what prompted me to purchase it (possibly Uni).

    I've heard good things about Blackwater Lightship (I think from Kimbofo) and will pick it up at some point. I loved, loved, loved Brooklyn but I don't plan on reading any more Toibin for a while and will savour the memory of a wonderful book that I emotionally connected with.

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  6. Claire - I think it would be hard for any of Toibin's other books to rival Brooklyn, so maybe that is sensible. I will read the other one from the library though.

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  7. It's sad that it didn't win Costa's overall book of the year as it was thoroughly deserving. I find that it is also a book that I become more attached to with time (I read it in April).

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  8. I read The Master last year, which is the only one I've read, though I am waiting to steal Brooklyn off my mother when she has read it! I did enjoy The Master - I usually don't like novels about real life figures, I'd rather read a biography, but I did enjoy this one very much.

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  9. Escaping - that puts me off too, fictional biography, but if you thought it worth reading then I might give it a go.

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  10. Loose ends might be Toibin's thing. I've read Mothers and Sons (short stories) and thought it was good; not great, but good enough. The Blackwater Lightship though is lovely.. I loved it. Will read Brooklyn someday soon..

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  11. I'm afraid I've only read Brooklyn, but I wasn't a big fan. I doubt I'll read any more - until he turns up on the Booker list again!

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