Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6359 in Books
• Published on: 2004-01-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 432 pages

Customer Reviews

A modern classic
I loved this book! I was not expecting this book to be as good as the reviews but was surprised. The characters were superb, each one jumping out of the page. The writing flowed beautifully throughout the book. There are not many boooks that I would read again, but Star of the Sea is the exception to that rule.

A very well built story
I did really enjoy the reading of this book. A captivating story set back at the time of the Great Famine, one of the darkests periods in Irish history. Very well defined characters and a plot that entangles you until the end. Maybe a few reduntant pages, from time to time, but overall a book I strongly recommend.

Enjoyable froth
Star of the Sea is a good old fashioned tale of adventure and romance on the high seas. Most of the passengers of the eponymous ship are fleeing Ireland, a country brought to its knees by potato blight and famine, for a new life in America, the promised land. In the first class cabins, aristocrats, servants and writers play out their own personal dramas, while down below in steerage, a mysterious club footed passenger roams the decks, contemplating the terrible choice he has before him. The ship's captain, Lockwood, fills in many of the gaps with his matter of fact Captain's Log.

Much of the story is told in flashbacks, as we learn more about teh characters' past lives and the events that led up to their decision to sail to America. Lord Merridith's privileged life is sharply contrasted with the grinding poverty of the Irish peasants. No holds are barred in O'Connor's descriptions of the degradations they suffered in order to survive.

It's a gripping yarn in places, a nicely inconsequential page turner that rips satisfyingly along to its conclusion. Where it fails is, occasionally, in the characters' voices - Merridith's somewhat affected, aristocratic speech is sometimes uneasily grafted upon other characters. The frequent references to "Chas" Dickens are irritating at best and frankly ridiculous at worst. And the ending, while overlong, is frustratingly vague, discursive and inconclusive. But if you're looking for a fun, forgettable way to while away the time, this novel should do the job.