Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #668 in Books
• Published on: 2008-03-20
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

The Good Book Guide
'a beautifully written book full of thoughtful and provoking observations'

Irish Independent
At a time when everyone is mirroring everyone else, Enright's style of writing remains singular and instantly identifiable

Daily Mail
She beautifully describes the way hurt can be inherited... Enright is a daring writer - witty, original and inventive... Utterly compelling

Customer Reviews

unjustly maligned
Having just finished this book, I find some of the descriptions of its boredom-inducing qualities in other reviews unwarrented. The central 'plot' is well-described elsewhere - a woman comes to term with her past and that of her recently dead brother in the context of her large Irish family - but it is the peeling back of the onion layers, the gradual revelation, the crystallisation of detail that gives this book its appeal. Yes, it reads as a monologue, first-person narrated, and yes, there may be little traditional characterisation, but I found it compellingly written, in a distilled-down, nothing-wasted kind of style that combines simplicity and depth. If you are prepared to accept ambiguity in what is real, what is unreal, what is half-remembered by the narrator, then it's a rewarding read.

A Family of Saga of Death or a Femist Tract?
Somewhere in the course of lives, I suspect that a need arises to dissect one's life and the life of close relatives and friends. Veronica, the narrator of The Gathering, is prompted to do so on the death of her brother, Liam. Veronica's narrative takes us back and forth in time as she dissect and reveal family relationships and in particular her's and Liam's journey into adulthood.

On publication there was so much hype about The Gathering being a bleak and depressing novel, primarily about the suicide of Liam, that on reading it I felt defrauded. True Veronica's story is bleak and at times depressing but it is so for other reasons beyond the melancholy of suicide. To a large extent, what Anne Enright does is to present a neo-feminist tract in the guise of a family saga.

All that should not suggest that this novel is not an interesting read. Ironically, it is partly interesting because Enright lacked the skills to cover the machination of the novel. Ostensibly, the death of Liam plunges Veronica into a soul searching reverie about life and death. Her musings, sometimes bitter, angry but above all down right honest is a threnody not only to Liam but also and perhaps more importantly to her own life in terms of what could have been possible.

However, a close reading soon reveals that The Gathering is very much a naturalistic novel. It places the Hegarty's in a particular social milieu and partly explores the impact of hereditary and environment upon, at least, three generations of Hegarty's. This approach rendered the novel pessimistic and over deterministic. It is not that I don't enjoy naturalism in the novel, I was and still am a great admirer of the master of naturalism, namely Emile Zola. However, in the hands of Enright, I found her naturalism lacking the pangs of emotions that move me when I come across it the arts.

I found Enright's mataphors and use of language opaque at times. This had me re-reading sentences. Her style did not help to bring the issues of the novel alive. I was therefore not drawn into the family saga and became disengaged. Enright also left no pace between the extremes of black and white. In other words, the novel lacked nuance and subtlety.

Another reason why this novel did not struct a cord with me is that I did not like nor could I sympatise with the main character, Veronica. Her temprement was brooding and she was self serving. Imagine on the night of the wake for a dead brother telling your old and senile mother that he is dead because she sent him to live with his grand parent where he was sexually abused. Then adding that your mother failed to protect her son which sent him on a path to suicide. This would be a supreme act of trying to expunge guilt by extreme selfishness. That is exactly what Veronica does.

When the family do get together not much happens. It is an anti-climax. This is mainly because Veronica has moaned and groaned so much about herself ahd her relationships that there is not much left to surprise us.

It is not the subject of the novel nor its bleakness that makes The Gathering a disappointment. Rather it was that my expectation of what I was going to read about was turned upside down and I was left feeling that I was sold one thing under the guise of another.

Honestly I didn't think it was that bad
But then I loved "We need to talk about Kevin" so I think I quite like books that lean towards the dark side, saying that though I feel a bit gloomy today but that could be the grey clouds or the little wine I had last night.
I bought this book elsewhere knowing nothing of the reviews, except the blurb on the jacket. After reading those here I thought oh no! but I read it anyway.
I did find this book a little hard to read in some places and difficult to get into - I bravely soldiered on. Consequently it grew on me, the writing style was different and I was slightly put off by this - I've only ever let a few books go, the synopsis gives enough of the plot so I wont add further and as a book it meanders, to enjoy I guess you have to meander too. I guess its partly down to personal taste but I don't think it deserved two stars, what a harsh lot you are :-P