Stir-Fry

Despite falling into that bitter-sweet lesbian genre also well inhabited by "Oranges are Not the Only Fruit" I was rather seduced by this novel. Its tale of a rural girl discovering possibilities she had never seen before and the tenderness of falling in love without recognising it is worth reading. I was also impressed by the portrayal of Irish spaces and attitudes and pleased to find the characters were a range of well-fleshed out women with differing interests.
I would have liked a little more humour and a little less loneliness but thats a quibble with the story not the writing.
A recommended read but don't expect excitement or avant-garde style.

This book was sort of a relationship driven book. But instead of just the characters individually being what the book was about it was also about the dynamics of all sorts of relationships.

There were 3 main characters, Maria, Jael and Ruth. They all share a flat. Maria's a freshman at University while Jael and Ruth are 29 and 24 respectively and at various points in their college careers. And once we meet them (and the secondary characters) the rest of the novel explores the three womens' relationships and how they change over time.

I really liked that the novel got the feeling of freshman students feeling, a young feeling, the first time away from home, freaking out and trying not to let anyone know that you are. Also the dialogue was show more witty and snappy.

I also like when, like this one, books are about introverts and not just extroverts. Generally introverts in fiction are called weird characters, but here they were just as valid characters as the extroverts.

I think my biggest problem with the book was that I had no idea how to categorize it. Perhaps this is an instance where only 'Literature' works as a category for it.

No matter, it was an interesting book and a very good book. show less

Donoghue's first book is a lesbian coming of age story, at the University of Dublin in 1989. Enjoyable characters and atmosphere, not much for plot.

The writing style is lovely, especially at the beginning, when I could hear in my head the lilting cadence of the Irish speakers, despite no diacritical cues. Lots of slang and other interesting indications of ubiety - in fact, too many, because this is not universal and is already dated. Meaning, that it doesn't feel relevant and therefore interesting, any longer, to me.

The portrayal of the young student was implausible in that she was ever so naive, and ever so disturbed to discover that her roommates were lesbians. I mean, I know this is Ireland, but still. And the lesbians themselves were portrayed oddly, as if to lend credence to the bigots' theories about them. That is to say, one is clingy and has little sense of self, and the show more other is predatory, but as a mask for even deeper insecurity. show less

I drew up a list culled from a Metafilter posting on happy books to read and this was one of them... This was a charming coming-of-age story set in mid 80s Dublin. Maria is a clueless college freshman from the sticks who movies in with two women who end up being a big part of forming her views on life and relationships. Nothing earth-shattering, just sweet and comfortable (as advertised)

Stir-fry charts the beginning of university life for seventeen-year old Maria. Preferring not to stay with her aunt, she looks for another place to stay and ends up with two women, Jael and Ruth. It takes her a while to work out that her flatmates are in fact lovers. Initially, she is slightly uncomfortable but then she begins to see how her presence actually helps Ruth and Jael to stick together. Until everything begins to fall apart - the men Maria fancies, or thinks she does, turn out to be gay. And eventually she has to ask what it is that she wants with Ruth. I liked this book very much.

Eh. I probably would have liked this book more if I'd read it as a teenager. I liked the characters mostly, the story was fine, I liked the writing style, but it just fell flat for me for some reason.