Creatures of the Earth: New and Selected Stories

Wonderful collection by the last great Irish writer. The stories
are beautifully crafted and the people that inhabit them are
realised with perfect details. It's difficult to pick out a favourite
from this book. The two new additions, 'Love of the world' and
'Creatures of the earth' stand easily alongside the earlier works.
Of course a lot of small town Ireland has changed since McGahern
wrote these, but the themes remain the same. He wasn't just a writer
of rural life though - stories such as 'Sierra Leone' 'My love, my umbrella'
capture perfectly for me what living in the city was like, though it's an older Dublin.
A lot of these characters are living under the shadow of unhappiness, a restrictive church,
unhappy family life or difficult show more relationships but they get on with their lives in the best way they can.
McGahern never seems to judge his characters either, if
anything he's sympathetic to their lives of unfulfilled dreams and missed
chances. As you'd expect, the sentences are crisp and full of grace, calm
and distinctive. One of the things I love about McGahern's style is the way he lets the story unfold,
the little details come forth, then occasionally steps in to show something of a larger truth.
A collection that for me is up alongside the greats of the short story genre. show less