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Loading... Brooklyn: A Novelby Colm Toibin
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. This book reminded me so much of my mom's journey from Ireland to New York in the '60's. I enjoyed the writing, and especially the characterizations of people from different parts of Ireland, (  ) Cailin | Nov 18, 2009 |  Good story, good character development, thought-provoking. I didn't like the writing style very much. ( ) libq | Nov 12, 2009 | Eilis Lacey lives in a small town in Ireland. As she comes of age, there is no work to be had for her in Ireland, so with the help of a priest, it is arranged that she will move to Brooklyn to work in a department store. She's able to further her education by attending night classes. She meets a nice Italian boy at a church-sponsored dance. Then tragedy strikes in Ireland. Her future is threatened. I was prepared to give this beautifully written book a 5 star rating until the last 50 pages or so. I really can't discuss my disappointments without making it a spoiler in this review, but I felt that some of the decisions might not have been consistent with the ones the girl I'd come to know in the novel would have made. In the end, I settled on 4 stars. I will be looking for other books by Toibin in the future. (  )2  thornton37814 | Oct 25, 2009 | After reading all of the reviews, I was somewhat disappointed with the book. An easy read, not very deep. And in the end, I didn't like the characters very much. Wanted to find out more how Eilis felt about her experience - she leaves Ireland, alone, sails to a new country where she knows no one but she doesn't reflect on this at all. ( ) catarina1 | Oct 24, 2009 | Quite a satisfying read as others have said - lots of questions. Did sister Rose manipulate the whole situation so Eilys had a chance of getting away from stifling small town Ireland that she herself couldn't have? How right was Eilys's final decision to return to America? Should there be a sequel where everything turns to custard in Tony and Eilys's relationship? Her self knowledge and ability to make decisions about her own life was only just beginning. ( ) mairangiwoman | Oct 21, 2009 | 
 Ultimately, Brooklyn does not feel limited. Tóibín makes a single incision, but it’s extraordinarily well-placed and strikes against countless nerve-ends. The novel is a compassionate reminder that a city must be made of people before it can be made of myths. In tracking the experience, at the remove of half a century, of a girl as unsophisticated and simple as Eilis — a girl who permits herself no extremes of temperament, who accords herself no right to self-assertion — Toibin exercises sustained subtlety and touching respect. . . In “Brooklyn,” Colm Toibin quietly, modestly shows how place can assert itself, enfolding the visitor, staking its claim.
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(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:08 -0400)
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