Small Things Like These is a REMARKABLE literary novel
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- Опубліковано 14 сер 2024
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Wholeheartedly agree. This was one of the saddest and also one of the most hopeful novels I've ever read. Humanity and kindness should be the at the very heart of religion and yet reality shows us that it is often a very different story. "Foster" is another fantastic work of hers, and there will be a new novella out later this year.
This book is absolutely heartbreaking, but also very hopeful. And Bill... I mean, such a beautiful soul! Kind and benevolent, which is no less important. Beautiful. Beautiful!
One of the interesting things was that the lady who kept Bills mother employed and allowed her to raise her child in her house, was wealthy, and importantly, Protestant. Her money and her religion meant that the Catholic Church didn’t have much power over her. Bill on the other hand doesn’t have that advantage. He has his own business but it is something that can be affected by a powerful hand, something the woman in the restaurant warns him. As can the education of his daughters.
So when people compare it to Its a Wonderful Life I just don’t think they realise the consequences of his actions. It’s hard to get across how powerful the church was in Ireland, and the reach it had. The book ends on a hopeful note, but realistically his life could be about to be ruined. It’s definitely a book that leaves you angry. Because, while it’s fiction, it’s very much based in things that happened.
Excellent review of a beautiful book. And the dialogue - I love how, even when expressing opinions, the characters often put their thoughts to each other in the form of a question.
I recently came about Claire Keegan's books, too and after reading "Small things like these" and "Foster", I really have to read every word she writes. Such a fantastic author! I loved the conversation between Bill and the Reverend Mother(?) where she states that he must be devastated because he has no son, only daughters. It may not be one of the key scenes of the book, but I really loved Bill's reply.
Yesssss! He mentions his own mother, and I do think the fact that he was a man raised by women, with several daughters, has humbled him and made him more considerate as a person
I just discovered Claire Keegan about a week ago, and I've already devoured Small Things Like These and Foster. I love her compact storytelling and efficiency with words. She can dig deep in about 118 pages while it takes other writers 300 pages to say the same thing in a less impactful way. I'm glad you're back on Goodreads!
Nothing wholesome. It’s dark as hell if hopeful in the sense that it shows that there are individuals willing to take on power at great risk to themselves. Nothing remotely like It’s a Wonderful Life.
Thanks for the great review.
I listened to the audiobook of this last Christmas and the voice actor did such an amazing job. Agreed on this being a great book in the Irish literary tradition.
Loved loved loved this book. The ‘church’ has a lot to answer for, I can’t even go there..🤯 BTW I believe the book is being made into a movie with Cillian Murphy as the MC.
Cillian Murphy??? Omg 😳
The film has been made already. It came out at the Berlin film festival. Emily Watson won best supporting actress playing the mother superior and it stars Cillian Murphy as Bill. There's a clip on UA-cam
Great Review. Loved this novel when I read it last year. Love her book "Foster" as well. She knows how to pack a punch in a limited number of pages.
Enjoyed your review. As a non-goodreads user, I'm really surprised to hear anyone saw this as a happy or twee story. Our last 20 years in Ireland has been an ongoing reckoning with our past. For an Irish person, when you imagine what happens to Bill after the novel's final page is inevidently bad. But i can now see how someone not seeped in that local knowledge could see this as a traditional hero's story where Bill has now saved the day. Very interesting to see it through a different prism
Two minutes into this and I've already ordered the book. I call this "the Willow effect" :)
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Although I didn't like it as much as you did, thank you for this review! Those popular GR reviews always bothered me because they seemed to miss the point (at the risk of sounding pretentious). If anyone's interested in knowing more about the Magdalene Laundries (if you read the book, you know, but I won't elaborate for those who haven't), I'd recommend the film The Magdalene Sisters (2002) and the documentary Sex in a Cold Climate (1998).
Great review as always! You've convinced me to re-read Small Things Like These!
started watching, paused it, ordered the book from the library. I know you said that you wouldn't get in to spoilers but truuuust that I will be back to finish this vid when I'm done with the book. been eyeing this author for a while, now I can't wait to read it- you always give the best recs
yup yup yup 🤩🫶
this is the only review of this book which has ever really sparked in me the want to read it... ur passion for the books u love is so infectious! i really appreciate how deeply and thoughtfully you discuss the themes of ur recommendations without giving too much away.
I've been wanting to get this book for so long and this video is just making me want to read it more!!
Happy to see someone talk about the actual point of this. Being a good person versus being a good "Christian".
After reading this, I had to read Keegan's "Foster" as well. It is also brilliant. I have heard her compared to Chekhov, and I think that comparison is more than earned.
I am much older than you, and am not into fantasy, sci-fi, etc-but I do like you, the way you ad-lib so well, your spirit & soul. I have been a fan I think since very early in your book tube career. I just wanted to let you know…nacho
It was such a beautiful story. It really took my by surprise how moved I felt by it. And it brought to my attention a part of history I'm afraid I wasn't very familiar with. I really enjoyed Foster, but Small Things Like These was STUNNNING.
Goodness me, how could anyone find this like A Wonderful Life? The mother superior in this is one of the most horrifying characters I have read. Devoid of empathy and quietly threatening.
Funny that you mention readers missing the mark, and yet have a positive impression of it. It happened to me when i read Happy Hour from Marlowe Granados. Most people thought it was a really happy, wholesome book, while i thought it was absolutely devastating. This book is about a young woman who is poor but not let that get in her way to have fun. Because she thinks life owns her that. The devastating parts are easy to overlook if you don't know what to look out for. They appear in half sentences and certain expressions which are like codes for people who grew up poor, like myself. Maybe because reading is such a middle upper class thing, they actually don't know what these statements mean. Sorry that i ranted about another book, i very much liked what you said about organized religion. Pardon my french, not a native speaker here.
thanks for the highlight, as someone not middle class, gonna check out the book
I appreciate this video because I have to read this for a college literature class and I can't focus very well so this helped prime the content before I tried to read again.
Don't often comment on reviews but you nailed it, perfect review, I was brought up Roman Catholic and totally agree with your sentiments and a beautiful book
Please check out the film version of her wonderful book Foster. It's called The Quiet girl and it's a remarkable film mainly told in Gaelic.
Only just found you! What a superb find! Spot on with your critique I’m 100% with you on everything you said. I’m currently reading Antarctica. I saw The Quiet Girl - a movie - do watch it. Made from Claire’s book Foster. Incredible book AND film. Enjoy!
I have a good read account but I don’t have a reading challenge I don’t like to feel rushed or feel like I’m competing with anyone. I love this review I think every-time you review a book I go and buy it 😬
Your review tells me this is a book with a message that needs sharing. That organized religions have done so much harm. Too many of us spend our adulthoods recovering from our childhoods surviving under the madness of religious dogma. Thanks for pointing out this unmentioned aspect of this novel that puts it above churches. I'm buying it right away.
I recently read this book and I loved it! It was great listening to your review 😃
You had me at “condemns organized religion”.
I would be interested to hear your thoughts on some books about the horrors of the church-run residential schools in Canada. Five Little Indians by Michelle Good is a good one.
Wonderful review! As someone who practices within an organized religion, I would say that blanket statements about "organized religion" or "the church" are simplistic at best, especially today. I think most people within established religions are rethinking the orthodoxy of their church. It seems, from your review, this book points out the hypocrisy that needs to stop in any religion. Many of us believe that the only way to rehabilitate any church is from the inside. For example, the Catholic Church presently has a pope that is public about his effort to rethink ancient Catholic practices and has publicly stated that there are many pathways to the same creator. Though this has caused him to be a less than popular pope, it does reveal how many people are looking for that change. Organized religion isn't evil but the people who practice it can be and, if the institution supports that evil, it puts a stain on the whole thing. I hope that 200 years from now this kind of book doesn't have to be published except as a historical fiction novel. Unfortunately, today, this book is part of a needed outcry to all who practice any religion to think deeply about whether or not their beliefs and their actions agree. Love your channel! Thanks for another great review!
Very well put!
I read this book because Jack Edwards recommended it, and i didn't get why he thought it was so good. Of course I don't have the same comprehensive skills, and English is my second language. But hearing your analysis makes me want to read it again and I know i'll appreciate it more. Thank you so much for this video. Btw, i really enjoy your videos! Especially the ones where you talked about Frankenstein, Bunny, Klara and the sun, Our wives under the sea, this is how you lose the time war and never let me go.
Also, have you read Sirens and Muses by Antonia Angress? If so, what do you think about it?
Love from Colombia!
I agree. It is not twee at all. It is not even all that warm and fuzzy, if you sink into the undercurrents. I'd recommend Foster by Claire Keegan as well.
Fantastic book! I've read all of her books and my favourite is still Foster. I love that book. Have you read that one too?
Not yet! This was my first of hers and I’m going to read everything else asap
Excellent review and I second the recommendation for Foster. Also a small masterpiece.
I'm glad you decided to review this, otherwise I may have decided to never read it. 😅 Anyway, thanks to your wonderful self, I just placed a hold for the audiobook on the Libby app.
Ups, now i convinced someone to read a book! My life ist complete😊 Have a nice day!
Probably the best new fiction of the past two years. I would disagree slightly about Bill's wife as she's steeped in the mainstream and having 5 kids to look after is probably trying. Of course this all comes to a head on Christmas Eve. I think the chapter where he meets the girl and has that conversation with the head nun is so reminiscent of an iceberg - on the surface the negotiated differences between reality and what powerful people want you to see as reality through banal discourse when you know full well that behind the scenes (underneath the water) they are scurrying around trying to get the story in alignment, making veiled threats about one of his daughters outside school activities and buying him off with money and drink.
Aside from that it is so superbly written I think the style is as good as Heart of Darkness. So you have the writing, the evocation of Christmas (how the novel is `dark` in terms of colour set off by the Christmas lights is quite `hygge`) while the politics of it could be described at once as `proper Christian` and `socially conscious`.
One to read in a few days ending on Christmas Eve.
Reminds me of Assisi by the Scottish poet Norman McCaig
Superb review!
Brilliant review Willow, I’ll be back.
Loved this book….. really good review!! ❤
I loved the book. And I will be reading more!
I haven't read this one yet but I read Foster and it broke my heart!
Twee and wholesome lol. No way. This was an amazing novella.
I loved this so much
Religion poisons everything - Hitchens.
I read this in January and yes i was honestly very impressed by the storytelling, the subtle pace and the way it wraps up at the end. But you know i kinda feel guilty because ive seen so many people be really blown away by it and i cant completely relate, and now after watching your review im thinking if the reason is cultural? Like i was barely aware about christianity growing up and now all these social dynamics and injustices being discussed ofcourse invoke my empathy but somehow im not able to connect to the depth of it?
I don’t think you should feel guilty about that. I’ve had commenters tell me they couldn’t finish a book because it was too heavy or painful, while I happily finished the book. I could tell that it was very good and judge its artistic merit, but I wasn’t struck by it like many people were. These things happen :)
Spot On, Thank you
Bill is the true embodiment of what Christianity should be in complete contrast with the nuns and priests and m at if the townspeople who turn a blind eye to the atrocities taking place under their nose . A very poignant story for the times . A beautiful full circle of life .
There are many people who are good catholics but not good Christians and in this case they were neither at that convent and I think there is a lot of evidence of abuse in the catholic church, but not in all churches. Bill (and others in the book, but not those in this convent) displayed good (Christian) values by being forgiving, kind, loving, forgiving, and didn't have to conform but did good anyway-did the right things. So please don't confuse all "churches" or "Christianity" with Catholocism. And I agree you don't have to be a church-goer or believer to be a good person.
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I also don’t like the hypocrisy of organised religion and I went to a Catholic school in my younger days. My family is of another religion but we weren’t big on religion.
I respectfully disagree with your review and I think I’m in a minority when it comes to my reaction to this book. While I agree it is beautifully written and very atmospheric, I think ultimately it conveys a rather harmful message. The hypocrisy of any organized religion and the argument that the moral compass in us has nothing to do with any religious institution is of course true, but it’s nothing original. Take any work by 19th realists. But the real problem with this book is its depiction of morality in connection with gender. Did you notice that ALL women in this book are either silenced victims, perpetrators or people complicit in the crime? Not a single woman stands up to the church. Not a single woman dares to defend herself. The victims are literally silenced.
While this could be an interesting literary choice, my problem with it is that the only moral person is a while middle-aged man, and he very literally becomes the white savior.
Again, this could be the author’s choice to show how implicated women are in the system. But it didn’t feel this way and I think that in a book about institutionalized violence against women, women should be given more agency. At least a voice to speak.
I think Keegan was going for realism. You have to remember this is a small religious town, takes place in 80s Ireland with the flashbacks in the 40s and people who live there are mostly working class.
I’m not sure why you think morality in the book is split by gender or women are the only victims of the church. Everyone in the town is a victim of the church. Women in the story also do in fact stand up to the church in their own way. The wealthy woman who takes his mother and him in, actively defies the church by doing so and is a good moral thing to do. This would have been incredibly unorthodox, but she is older, has money and isn’t overly religious so she’s not concerned with blowback from the church or community.
The shopkeeper he has a brief interaction with is a woman. They have a conversation about their daughters being in choir. She mentions her daughter was either moved down or removed altogether. In small religious communities this is a big signal to everyone else that you did something wrong in the eyes of the church. She’s being punished for something. Their talk is a roundabout way of warning him about repercussions if he speaks about whatever it is he wasn’t supposed to see. She does this in an attempt to protect him.
It’s also unknown if everyone in the town knows exactly what is going on at the Laundry. It leans more towards willful ignorance, because Mother Superior can explain everything away and people are reacting as they’ve been taught their whole life. Sit down and listen to the nun. The Mother Superior also gives him money, so it’s hinted that anyone who sees something they shouldn’t is also given a “gift”. Which to most would be very much needed.
There’s multiple instances where people can’t pay Bill for their order. This is not a wealthy community. To expect characters to not worry about repercussions of going against the church when they control so much is unrealistic. Education and reputations being the biggest of those things.
Even the girls running to Bill for help IS them defying the church and standing up for themselves. They will be punished for this. Bill is helping a girl in the end just as he was helped by the wealthy woman , despite all the consequences that will inevitably happen to him and his family. Standing up for yourself gets punishment here. Which we see a lot.
It just seems odd to me that your main criticism of this book is that a real life Irish woman who is using her voice to speak out against the real church and shine a light on the real Laundries did not use more fictional woman characters.
Look at what happened to people in the 80s and 90s when they spoke out against the Catholic Church. Sinead O Connor, ripping a photo of the pope on SNL. Death threats and mockery. The journalists who broke the story about the Catholic Church hiding abuse against mostly young boys. Threats. People tried to suppress the story etc. But somehow a working class community, that has a fair amount of women who stay at home and have less resources is supposed to stand up against the thing they’ve been taught is “true and right” their whole lives?
If you think no woman dares stand up for herself in this book, you don’t fully know how strong the hold a strict religion is in smaller communities and what the repercussions look like and how people talk about it.