Hi, I am only just seeing your fb vlog for the first time. I'm a reader from the US who has only just discovered contemporary Irish novelists! So when you talk about a "tired old trope" or however you put it, that is not the case for me. Prior to reading Old God's Time and Claire Keegan's short novel Small Things Like This, I only had the vaguest idea about the extent of the abuses of the Catholic church in Ireland. So for me, the plots of each, and the depth of the trauma that still resides in human beings who were subjected to it as children - all of this was quite a revelation. I was completely surprised at every plot twist. And very emotionally moved. (I thought you might be interested in the reaction of someone who hadn't already read numerous novels on this theme.) I am blown away by Barry's beautiful, poetic prose and his ability to get you inside the main character's sensibility and pain. Just wow! I am very motivated to read more of his work. And Keegan's.
Dude, LOVE your channel! first video I've seen of yours and excited to watch more. beautiful work. I am a sucker for good poetic prose, so much so that it may eclipse the tired old trope of this one. I'll let you know when I get to it.
Just finished this today and I was so mad at it. It had a lot of potential but missed the mark completely as it couldn’t decide whether it was plot or character driven and ultimately failed in both. Love your channel and can’t wait to hear your thoughts on the others.
I agree with most of what you said- while I appreciated the writing, I had to make myself continue reading and actually finished reading 2 other books from the long list in the meantime
I love the idea of reading through the longlist and measuring all of them against Demon Copperhead and Birnam Wood. 😂 You had me very interested in reading Old God's Time until you got to the "what didn't I like?" section. 😂
Haha! Yeah I’m probably not doing the long-list any favours with that comparison. If I was a rational person I’d rate the long list on its own terms…but I’m currently quite bitter hahaha
Just came across your channel and immediately subscribed after this great review! I love the benchmark of Birnham Wood. I so wanted it to be longlisted. It felt like a really fresh story to me. I still need to read Demon Copperhead.
Thank you! My fear is that demon copperhead might be waaaaay too hyped for anyone reading now, might be hard to live up to the sheer amount of praise etc. but I loved it! Be interested to hear your thoughts on it. Thanks for subscribing x
This does sound like an interesting book. I wrote that and then you got to the part where you said you found it boring. 😂I love your Demon Copperhead benchmark, it’s what I would be comparing to as well. Great review.
Yep, I really agree with your comment about lack of originality of the core ideas and themes. OK, the Catholic Church in Ireland and many other places behaved terribly, but how many times do we need to hear or read about it? It's telling that Barry had to set his novel in the past because it would not work very well if set in 2023.
I am feeling similarly about this longlist. I’ve read three: Old God’s Time (excellent, agree with its inclusion), This Other Eden (excellent, agree with its inclusion), and If I Survive You (middle of the road, not even one of the best 50). I will probably read a few of the longlist if I can get them from my library. It’s not so much a question of cost but rather granting them precious space on my library shelves. I tried to give some of last year’s longlist to my local used bookstore and he declined. My library doesn’t want them either. 😂
I'm only about half way through this and I'm 100% in agreement with you about the fact that everything in it has been done before, and better. Speaking as an Irish person, a lot of these themes still loom large in Irish society, so I understand why they still feature a lot, especially in Irish books, but the presence of them alone doesn't make something worth reading. I dont know where it's going in the 2nd half, so it might be an unfair comparison, but the main thing I keep thinking is how amazing someone like Claire Keegan is for being able to tackle some of the same themes, in a much better way, in a fraction of the time in Small Things Like These.
I really liked both "In Ascension" and "Old God's Time" and I think I prefer the MacInnes. Just started "This Other Eden." And enjoyable longlist so far.
I agree that this book is full of covered ground. So many traumatic things have befallen Tom. Beautifully written, sometimes distractedly so. I haven't read Birnam Wood but it doesn't surpass Demon Copperhead for me. I agree with your assessment; i think I'd give it 4 stars.
I have the ebook from the local library, of this one, not my preferred format but I don't want to buy the audiobook, which it sounds like it might lend itself to it. I tend to listen to audiobooks a bit quicker too... also do that with youtube, lol. I read The Secret Scriptures back in the day, it was good premise but it was a bit dull to read about it. In some ways the film was better. I might skim read this one, particularly the first bit by the sounds of it.
I read this after The Bee Sting so it was a bit of a relief. The writing was beautiful, and I was engrossed with the Tom and the whole memory/illness aspect. It's gorgeously written as you discussed, but unlike The Bee Sting, I felt Murray took the character and readers some place interesting. As someone who thinks Demon Copperhead is vastly overrated, I would definitely rate this book higher.
I loved this! How had I not discovered your channel before? I actually DNF’d this book last month, feeling validated in that choice now 😂 Cheers mate 👍🏻
For me personally, this reading experience was quite similar to that of Demon Copperhead. In both cases, I wasn’t interested in reading another book based on the subject matter (abuse in the church, the foster care system, opioid addiction). But in both cases, I ended up really liking the books because of the authors' beautiful writing style. (And I must admit that Barry's style was not something I expected to like.) At this point, I’ve read 7 of 13, and Old God's Time falls right in the middle at #4. So time will tell.
I recently read Days Without End by Sebastian Barry and I HATED it. Maybe I read it wrong, but the book felt mean-spirited to me. I saw Old God’s Time on the longlist and immediately thought that would be the last book I read because I can’t do another Sebastian Barry so soon. After watching your review, maybe it won’t be so bad. I can handle slow books… if they aren’t mean.
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER Im at the chapter six, Tom's son Winnie came visit him but wasn't he dead or am i misunderstanding something. There's something wrong with Tom's memories really
I use a few, audible, Apple Books has loads of sales, xigxag and my local library. Audible gets you 3 books for 18 quid on top of monthly fee…and 6 pound per book is good compared to hardback prices.
Demon copperhead is so tired too tho like thats been done SOOO many times before haha like i dont get that criticism? (Speaking as someone who finds DC a pretty bad novel and barbara k a barely okay novelist so maybe im just biased haha)
Telling (but not surprising) no one here even mentioned the eventual winner, Prophet Song - to me a shockingly underserving win. As the years go by I find myself disregarding the Booker Prize more and more, as I think it’d become less ‘literary’ in essence and more agenda driven.
So glad to have come across your channel. Love how you reviewed this. This was one of the books i definitely wanted to read from the longlist so I'm glad you think it's good and i have been warned about the boring so I'll go in with tempered expectations. But I mean Sebastian Barry is an old-ish white man, so I kinda knew that. 🫣
Hi, I am only just seeing your fb vlog for the first time. I'm a reader from the US who has only just discovered contemporary Irish novelists! So when you talk about a "tired old trope" or however you put it, that is not the case for me. Prior to reading Old God's Time and Claire Keegan's short novel Small Things Like This, I only had the vaguest idea about the extent of the abuses of the Catholic church in Ireland. So for me, the plots of each, and the depth of the trauma that still resides in human beings who were subjected to it as children - all of this was quite a revelation. I was completely surprised at every plot twist. And very emotionally moved. (I thought you might be interested in the reaction of someone who hadn't already read numerous novels on this theme.) I am blown away by Barry's beautiful, poetic prose and his ability to get you inside the main character's sensibility and pain. Just wow! I am very motivated to read more of his work. And Keegan's.
Dude, LOVE your channel! first video I've seen of yours and excited to watch more. beautiful work. I am a sucker for good poetic prose, so much so that it may eclipse the tired old trope of this one. I'll let you know when I get to it.
Thank you!
Just finished this today and I was so mad at it. It had a lot of potential but missed the mark completely as it couldn’t decide whether it was plot or character driven and ultimately failed in both. Love your channel and can’t wait to hear your thoughts on the others.
I agree with most of what you said- while I appreciated the writing, I had to make myself continue reading and actually finished reading 2 other books from the long list in the meantime
I love the idea of reading through the longlist and measuring all of them against Demon Copperhead and Birnam Wood. 😂
You had me very interested in reading Old God's Time until you got to the "what didn't I like?" section. 😂
Haha! Yeah I’m probably not doing the long-list any favours with that comparison. If I was a rational person I’d rate the long list on its own terms…but I’m currently quite bitter hahaha
@@rororeads I am also feeling bitter, so I understand. But it would definitely be a unique approach!
Great channel!
Of course I'm a big fan of Barbara Kingsolver and can understand your frustration at Demon Copperhead being left off the Booker list.
Just came across your channel and immediately subscribed after this great review! I love the benchmark of Birnham Wood. I so wanted it to be longlisted. It felt like a really fresh story to me. I still need to read Demon Copperhead.
Thank you! My fear is that demon copperhead might be waaaaay too hyped for anyone reading now, might be hard to live up to the sheer amount of praise etc. but I loved it! Be interested to hear your thoughts on it. Thanks for subscribing x
This does sound like an interesting book. I wrote that and then you got to the part where you said you found it boring. 😂I love your Demon Copperhead benchmark, it’s what I would be comparing to as well. Great review.
Yep, I really agree with your comment about lack of originality of the core ideas and themes. OK, the Catholic Church in Ireland and many other places behaved terribly, but how many times do we need to hear or read about it? It's telling that Barry had to set his novel in the past because it would not work very well if set in 2023.
I am feeling similarly about this longlist. I’ve read three: Old God’s Time (excellent, agree with its inclusion), This Other Eden (excellent, agree with its inclusion), and If I Survive You (middle of the road, not even one of the best 50). I will probably read a few of the longlist if I can get them from my library. It’s not so much a question of cost but rather granting them precious space on my library shelves. I tried to give some of last year’s longlist to my local used bookstore and he declined. My library doesn’t want them either. 😂
appreciate this 📖🪱💚
I'm only about half way through this and I'm 100% in agreement with you about the fact that everything in it has been done before, and better. Speaking as an Irish person, a lot of these themes still loom large in Irish society, so I understand why they still feature a lot, especially in Irish books, but the presence of them alone doesn't make something worth reading.
I dont know where it's going in the 2nd half, so it might be an unfair comparison, but the main thing I keep thinking is how amazing someone like Claire Keegan is for being able to tackle some of the same themes, in a much better way, in a fraction of the time in Small Things Like These.
I really liked both "In Ascension" and "Old God's Time" and I think I prefer the MacInnes. Just started "This Other Eden." And enjoyable longlist so far.
Listening to a book at double speed is a really impressive talent!
I’ll put it on my CV haha
I'm listening to this one on audio book at the moment and I'm thinking even at x2 speed it'd be slow as a wet week
@@macylightfoot haha!
I agree that this book is full of covered ground. So many traumatic things have befallen Tom. Beautifully written, sometimes distractedly so. I haven't read Birnam Wood but it doesn't surpass Demon Copperhead for me. I agree with your assessment; i think I'd give it 4 stars.
I have the ebook from the local library, of this one, not my preferred format but I don't want to buy the audiobook, which it sounds like it might lend itself to it. I tend to listen to audiobooks a bit quicker too... also do that with youtube, lol.
I read The Secret Scriptures back in the day, it was good premise but it was a bit dull to read about it. In some ways the film was better. I might skim read this one, particularly the first bit by the sounds of it.
totally here for your method of assessment! it shall hereby be known as ‘the Birnam Wood Benchmark’ 😂
I read this after The Bee Sting so it was a bit of a relief. The writing was beautiful, and I was engrossed with the Tom and the whole memory/illness aspect. It's gorgeously written as you discussed, but unlike The Bee Sting, I felt Murray took the character and readers some place interesting. As someone who thinks Demon Copperhead is vastly overrated, I would definitely rate this book higher.
Upon reflection…as I make my way through the long list, this one is starting to sit quite a lot higher than most.
I loved this! How had I not discovered your channel before?
I actually DNF’d this book last month, feeling validated in that choice now 😂 Cheers mate 👍🏻
Hey! Those damn UA-cam algorithms haha. Fortuitously, I’ve recently discovered you Channel as well! Best of luck on your Booker adventures!
@@rororeads right?!
Let the Booker madness begin!!
@@GemofBooks thanks for the share x
@@rororeads you’re very welcome ☺️
For me personally, this reading experience was quite similar to that of Demon Copperhead. In both cases, I wasn’t interested in reading another book based on the subject matter (abuse in the church, the foster care system, opioid addiction). But in both cases, I ended up really liking the books because of the authors' beautiful writing style. (And I must admit that Barry's style was not something I expected to like.) At this point, I’ve read 7 of 13, and Old God's Time falls right in the middle at #4. So time will tell.
I recently read Days Without End by Sebastian Barry and I HATED it. Maybe I read it wrong, but the book felt mean-spirited to me. I saw Old God’s Time on the longlist and immediately thought that would be the last book I read because I can’t do another Sebastian Barry so soon. After watching your review, maybe it won’t be so bad. I can handle slow books… if they aren’t mean.
It's the only book on the list I have read and I also have it 3*. This is my 4th novel by him and I liked all of the others more than this one.
When is the last time if eve a book made women’s prize , booker and Pulitzer shortlist let alone women won multiple that could be why
I am 38% in and yes, I am bored! It is a short book but it feels dragging.
Agree In Ascension was mid. Birnam Wood was great first half but ending made it mid too.
Also listen at x2
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
Im at the chapter six, Tom's son Winnie came visit him but wasn't he dead or am i misunderstanding something. There's something wrong with Tom's memories really
Where do you source your audiobooks from? They cost me a fortune!
I use a few, audible, Apple Books has loads of sales, xigxag and my local library. Audible gets you 3 books for 18 quid on top of monthly fee…and 6 pound per book is good compared to hardback prices.
PLEC
BKR SZN BBY
Demon copperhead is so tired too tho like thats been done SOOO many times before haha like i dont get that criticism? (Speaking as someone who finds DC a pretty bad novel and barbara k a barely okay novelist so maybe im just biased haha)
Telling (but not surprising) no one here even mentioned the eventual winner, Prophet Song - to me a shockingly underserving win. As the years go by I find myself disregarding the Booker Prize more and more, as I think it’d become less ‘literary’ in essence and more agenda driven.
Veeeery interesting video and comments section. I believe I'd like this book. It's time to be bored. And subscribe.
Not sure I will try this book.
plec
I have almost finished it and half of the time I have no idea what it's about. Excruciatingly boring!
So glad to have come across your channel. Love how you reviewed this. This was one of the books i definitely wanted to read from the longlist so I'm glad you think it's good and i have been warned about the boring so I'll go in with tempered expectations. But I mean Sebastian Barry is an old-ish white man, so I kinda knew that. 🫣
Thank you. Look forward to hearing your thoughts on it!
I hated this book. Heard so many great things about this and I totally agree, I was bored 🥱