The Dark (edit title)

Shelfari edited the description of The Dark Sunday, August 2 2009.

• 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)

Shelfari edited the first sentence of The Dark Thursday, July 16 2009.

• "SAY WHAT YOU SAID BECAUSE I KNOW."