Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5894 in Books
• Published on: 2007-05-03
• Binding: Hardcover
• 260 pages

The Independent
`Discomfiting comedy, flab-free prose render her book far more of a dark delight than it's bleak reputation would allow.'

Guardian
`It is clearly the product of a remarkable intelligence, combined
with a gift for observation and deduction'

Daily Mail
'A compassionate, unflinching gaze...She beautifully describes the way hurt can be inherited...witty, original and inventive...Utterly compelling'

Customer Reviews

The Last Order it is not!
Having read some of the `superlatives' for Anne Enright's `The Gathering' on the paperback edition, I found this novel both anger and dark, which may have been a rationale for its selection; however, having no insight in to what the Man-Booker judges were thinking this is indeed rank speculation. Moreover, it would appear that the central character Veronica was on a rant for two hundred sixty-one pages about the disappointment(s) associated with every aspect of her miserable life. Furthermore, the supporting cast in this story appear rather one-dimensional, which made `The Gathering' overly tedious, additionally efforts to give the narrative a bit of context by moving back in forth historical only served to frustrate. As a polemic on life in the modern era it was fundamentally flawed, namely it was one hundred and sixty-one pages to long, although as a short story I suspect it would have had similar problems.

Incredibly boring
I don't read a lot of books but this really grabbed me when I read the back cover in the book store. I started to read it but it didn't take me very long to decide that it was a very boring book. The text didn't seem to flow at all. I kept checking that this book had received the Booker Prize!! I was incredibly disappointed and will not be looking out for any new titles from this author.

An Engaging Narrator Takes You to Liam's Wake While Shrouding the Past in Mystery
When a book has won a prestigious prize like the Man Booker, readers feel a double challenge: Appreciate the book for what it is and try to figure out what attracted the award panel's approval. I think the former was easier to do than the latter in this case.

Ultimately, The Gathering's subject is the difficulty with trying to pin down the truth of anything, especially things that happened long ago for which there is little or no contemporary evidence. If you've never thought much about that issue, you'll enjoy the subtle philosophical bent of the novel.

That subject is explored in the context of a sister contemplating her brother's death. Veronica Hegerty is a very vivid and appealing character: Much of the book's charm comes from seeing her family through her eyes and memories. In the process, she reveals the kind of "within the family" opinions that all family members express in whispers with one another. Beneath her grief, Veronica also feels a need to share a secret with us . . . but she feels at a loss for how to do so. Her rambling reflections gradually spiral closer and closer to that secret until you realize its full shocking lesson: People may not be who they seem to be, and you need to be careful even where there seems to be no risk.

There's an unedited quality at times in the book that captures what will remind you of the sorts of soliloquies that we've all conducted in our minds. That exposition method is very effective for making Veronica's feelings come across more strongly.

Why did the book win the award? I'm not really sure. I found that the secret wasn't so very interesting as to make the philosophical question and the writing style worth the effort. The book felt like a well decorated cake where the appearance of the icing was a lot better than the taste and freshness of the cake.

But anyone who enjoys good writing will find this book rewarding. We can all learn from a stylist like Anne Enright.