Product Description

‘A brave and remarkable novel, the impact of which no reader will shed’ Dermot Bolger, Sunday Independent

Richard Garay lives alone with his mother, hiding his sexuality from her and from those around him. Stifled by a job he despises, he finds himself willing to take considerable risks. Set in Argentina in a time of great change, The Story of the Night is a powerful and moving novel about a man who, as the Falklands War is fought and lost, finds his own way to emerge into the world.

‘The Story of the Night is, in the end, a love story of the most serious and difficult kind. Tóibín has told it with profound artistry and truth’ Tobias Wolff

‘Nobody before Tóibín has made such honesty stand so clearly for political and personal integrity . . . In each of his first three novels he has invented a strong central character but Garay is by far his most memorable’ Edmund White, Sunday Times

‘A remarkable achievement . . . The ease, the fluidity, the economy, the precision of Tóibín’s masterly prose make this novel sheer pleasure to read’ Norman Thomas di Giovanni, The Times

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5541 in Books
• Published on: 2008-03-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

About the Author

Colm Tóibín was born in Ireland in 1955. He is the author of The South, The Heather Blazing, The Blackwater Lightship and most recently The Master, which was shortlisted for the 2004 Man Booker Prize. His non-fiction includes Bad Blood, Homage to Barcelona and The Sign of the Cross. His work has been translated into seventeen languages. He lives in Dublin.

Customer Reviews

Can I stay for a while?
I bought this book by chance, interested in the content and by Toibin's reputation. I never expected to be moved to tears. I read the book in three sittings, something I have never done before, simply because I could not put it down. I think I almost fell in love with Richard Garay and I have only ever once before cried when reaching the end of a novel. The subject matter in the final chapter is particularly close to my heart and I will never forget the emotional journery either in my own life or in the chacters depected here. Thank you for writing this book and portraying real gay characters, not simply laughable, camp shallow characters, and for portraying so poiniantly how two men can fall in love so deeply, the difficulties they can sometimes face coming to terms with their sexuality and the isolation that it can bring. I want to dive back into their lives and share it with them all over again. I am profoundly moved.

Spare, bleak, erotic
A superb novel - the author's style is so pared-down as to be almost minimalist, but he paints vivid pictures and characters through very controlled structures. I found it to be a very erotic novel, in the deepest sense of that word's meaning, and also rather sinister. The last chapter, with its portrayal of tenderness and love, moved me to tears. Definitely not a paperback to throw away - this is one I shall keep and re-read in a year or so's time.

A wonderful novel by an honest writer
I found this quite by chance and probably wouldn't have bought it if I'd been aware of the content. It deals with the coming of age of a young gay man in the Argentina of the generals in the 1980's.
From the very beginning I was absolutely gripped by Toibin's wonderfully straight-forward and honest narrative. I absolutely love the way his characters say real things, are realistically unable to express outwardly whats going on inside them, though Toibin manages to convey their inner lives to the reader. One thing I've found in all of Toibin's novels that I've subsequently read, is that its impossible to dislike ANY of his characters, because he observes them with a marvelously humane dispassion. I love this writer, he's totally incapable of writing a bad novel.