Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #102675 in Books
• Published on: 1983-09-18
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Review
The second (The Barracks, 1964, p. 134) novel by this young Irishman has an odd misdirected power. It builds, in a few short pages, to a shattering climactic scene in the third chapter and then, suddenly, it dissipates leaving the reader hung up on a strong thread of energy but going nowhere and, at the end, feeling cheated. The scene is again rural Ireland where the young protagonist (unnamed) must deal with the abnormal, ambiguous relationship he has with his father as well as the attraction he feels for the priesthood vs. that of the physical life. Clouds of Irish Catholicism smother the pages and there are gusts of guilt. And although fantasies of the feminine divine are ever in the boy's mind, the only girl he ever talks to is his sister...and the author never lets the youth off of his level of despair. There is no real plot, no turning point, no revelation. The boy earns a scholarship to the University, but his vague wish to be a doctor is impractical since the scholarship covers only four years. He quits school for a steady job and the hopelessness is so thick you could put a match to it. Nothing has really changed. But there's a sure talent lurking behind The Dark. Let's hope Mr. McGahern decides to let a little light in. (Kirkus Reviews)

Customer Reviews

The Dark - a light on the psyche of 60s Ireland
In this novel, McGahern ably explores the pain of adolescence
in rural Ireland imn the 1960s. Whilst much of the imagery employed by the author may now seem cliched, its power resides
in the sparing prose.

The story is told through the voice of a young Irish boy and the conflict he experiences with his violent widower father.
The priesthood offer one way out of from the seemingly hopeless eternal drudgery on the farm.

Out of such apparently unpromising material McGahern evinces
the inner world of the protagonist.

An aptly titled book
First published in 1965, this aptly titled book is about one boy's painful adolescence and his confused, ambiguous relationship with his violent widower father.

Set in rural Ireland during the 1950s and 60s, the unnamed protagonist longs to escape his father's abusive shadow. But the only real options open to him are the priesthood or the farm.

When he concentrates on his schoolwork and wins a scholarship to university, it looks like he might have found the escape route he was looking for. But how will he explain his decision to his cantankerous and manipulative father? And if he leaves, how will his younger siblings cope without anyone to defend them?

The Dark is McGahern's second novel. It is not quite as accomplished or as complicated as his first (although he does play around with point of view, which adds a level of inventiveness), but it is characterised by the same things that made his debut so striking: the prose is lovingly crafted and poetry-like; the subject matter is stark; the characterisation is painfully realistic; and the atmosphere is claustrophobic and oppressive but brims with possibility.

From the very first page the reader is immersed in a world of domestic violence. By the third chapter the protagonist is sharing a bed with his father where he loathes the strokes and kisses he must endure (whether these are sexual or not is never made explicit). And later there are many grimy descriptions of masturbation. It is not a pleasant read, but it is a riveting one nonetheless.

The Dark is very reminiscent of James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man in its depiction of a young teenager's sexual awakening in a country constrained and constricted by the Catholic Church.

But there's more to this book than 'the sins of the body'. McGahern explores the complex love/hate relationship between his two main characters -- the eager-to-please-but-resentful son and the moody-and-abusive father -- with delicacy and aplomb.

Unbearably painful in places, it is a fascinating portrait of what it is like to be young and forced to make difficult choices that will impact on the rest of your life and your familial relationships.