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Loading... The Secret Scriptureby Sebastian Barry
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. The Achilles heel of this Booker favourite had been the unlikely ending. But I suspect that White Tiger, the eventual winner, is unlikely to be a better a novel. The story is a two-hander related in alternate chapters by Doctor Greene, a sympathetic psychiatrist at a mental hospital close to closure in Sligo and one of its long term patients, the clearly sane and remarkably lucid centenarian, Roseanne McNulty. The gentle to-ing and fro-ing of voice is like a beautiful, calming tide in this affecting novel of memory. But yes, the melodrama is a bit overdone and the ending is fairly predictable and you do wish it wasn't going to be true. (  ) dylanwolf | Nov 8, 2009 |  It was after I got two-thirds of the way through this book that it really caught my interest. It tackles big universal issues such as what is constitutes truth or history, and how much anyone can rely on his memory, studying them in the very specific context of Ireland during and after the civil war that followed the break from the United Kingdom of what later became the Irish Republic. There is also what was, to me at least, an unexpected twist affecting two of the main characters that only emerges in the final chapters. ( ) dsc73277 | Nov 2, 2009 | Interesting and well written but a bit predicable , I could work out who was who and the plot basis by the time I was half way through. Decent enough but I can't see why it has won prizes. (  ) wendyrey | Sep 22, 2009 | Full of the heartbreak, poverty, tragedy and perfidy I've come to expect from Irish literature. At least as a 100 year old woman looking back, Roseanne McNulty does remember childhood happiness, never mind that she had her father, her husband and her son all taken from her, and has spent more than half of her lifetime confined to an "asylum" for the mentally ill. As we see her, recording the main events of her life, she seems far from insane. As we learn her story, both from her memory and from the investigation done by Dr. Grene, the superintendent of the mental hospital, it seems remarkable that she retains any coherent faculties at all. I loved the way this book was constructed, and how Roseanne's life story slowly rose to the surface like a developing photograph. It's difficult to discuss specifics without bringing in spoilers, which would...well...spoil it. Excellent use of recurring symbols, and parallel situations. Yes, you can see the ending coming long before it's all spelled out. But I had no objection to that at all. ( )1  laytonwoman3rd | Sep 13, 2009 | Extremely moving story written by an author I would definitely want to read more of. This is a story of a young Irish girl from a poor family on the wrong side of the political divide. Eventually, she is committed to a mental institution just to get rid of her embarrassing presence. It tells of the impact this lady made on a psychiatrist working there as he unravels her secrets. Excellent story by an excellent author (  ) dianemb | Sep 12, 2009 |  no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0670019402, Hardcover)A gorgeous new novel from the author of the Man Booker finalist A Long Long WayAs a young woman, Roseanne McNulty was one of the most beautiful and beguiling girls in County Sligo, Ireland. Now, as her hundredth year draws near, she is a patient at Roscommon Regional Mental Hospital, and she decides to record the events of her life. As Roseanne revisits her past, hiding the manuscript beneath the floorboards in her bedroom, she learns that Roscommon Hospital will be closed in a few months and that her caregiver, Dr. Grene, has been asked to evaluate the patients and decide if they can return to society. Roseanne is of particular interest to Dr. Grene, and as he researches her case he discovers a document written by a local priest that tells a very different story of Roseanne’s life than what she recalls. As doctor and patient attempt to understand each other, they begin to uncover long-buried secrets about themselves. Set against an Ireland besieged by conflict, The Secret Scripture is an epic story of love, betrayal, and unavoidable tragedy, and a vivid reminder of the stranglehold that the Catholic Church had on individual lives for much of the twentieth century. (retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:15 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
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