Cal (edition 1998)

McLaverty's novel of "the troubles" in Northern Ireland, first published in 1983, has become a classic. Young Cal McCluskey is haunted by the role he played in the murder of a policeman yet struggles to detach from the IRA. Matters get worse when Cal falls for the local librarian who, he later learns, is the policeman's widow. As their romance heats up, he is saddened by the knowledge that their relationship is doomed: both of them have stated their belief in 100% honesty between partners, but Cal knows that 100% honesty will destroy them.

Cal depicts the horrors of the continuing conflict betwen Catholics and Protestants: beatings, fire-bombings, land minds, shattered families and shattered psyches. Overall, a finely written and very moving novel. ( )

I read this book for school. It was an okay book.

Set against the backdrop of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Cal wants out. He never really wanted in but now he most definitely wants out. He carries around a lot of guilt and has no real way of atoning for his sins without risking not only his own life but also the life of his father. It is a story of internal conflict caused and perpetuated by an external conflict.

I liked the way the author told the story. I found that I wanted to find out what happens to the characters and what happened to them in the past. It is well written with local venacular which leads to the authenticity of the story, however I found the use of Gaelic a bit distracting, I like knowing what I read. However it was mainly used to show the characters ways, it was used as gestures so it helped with the identification of the characters.

I found the main character to be somewhat weak. Although I wanted to know what happened with him I also found him creepy and strange.

I would recommend the book, especially if you have some background knowledge to the Troubles. ( )

I read this one in high-school and did not like it at all. I have a feeling the topic (Northern Ireland) would interest me much more today.

I finished Bernard Mac Laverty’s 1983 novel, Cal, which is closer to a novella than a novel. The story’s setting is in Northern Ireland amidst the Troubles.

Cal, a young man trying to break away from the I.R.A., is the hero of the novel. He lives in a small town where he and his widowed father are the only remaining Catholics of their district, living in what is basically a state of siege. Every page carries a longing for the quite life that its characters can never take for granted. The sense of joy at moments stolen from the Troubles gave the novel a sad, expansive beauty and calls into question the efficacy of all sectarian violence. Cal was a most moving novel whose emotional impact is grounded in a complete avoidance of any sentimentality.

Mac Laverty, who was born in Belfast, is completely objective and takes no sides in Ulster’s political battles. His viewpoint is Christian without being either Catholic or Protestant. Because it is a nonpartisan novel, Mac Laverty does a fine job of capturing the pathos and the madness of both sides. At one point in the book, Cal reflects that Protestants are called “staunch,” while Catholics are “fervent.” Appropriate descriptions for its characters as well as Mac Laverty’s prose.