Welcome to Litsy!

I decided to check out Edna O‘Brien after the news of her passing. I found this on audible, read by Juliet Stevenson (!). Elegant language. Heaven. Oh, what i didn‘t know. O‘Brien is seriously messing with her reader and i was seriously uncomfortable with it. Effective. But, whoa.

The story opens with a Radovan Karadžić-like character arriving in small Irish town, hiding, posing as a healer and "sex therapist"…

Great last lines: "You would not believe how many words there are for home and what Savage music there can be wrung from it."

"Love is everything...love is sacred...love is your last chance."

Only on page one, and wow! I love writers who can create imagery so vivid you feel it. "A straggling necklace of icicles, bluish in that frosted night". The beauty of real winter as I sit in the Texas summer heat. I know this won't be an easy subject matter in the story so I am preparing for the power of this author's ability to evoke emotion through images. This is a book about war and children.

Picked up this book this weekend, has anyone read it??

Some of my fave #irishauthors are women, but I couldn‘t leave out Sebastian Barry 🍀💚

The Little Red Chairs is set in a small Irish village where our main character falls in love with the mysterious new man in town. She is married but rushes full tilt into a sexual relationship with the man. When she discovers he is a wanted war criminal the town and her husband shame her into moving away to London. And that‘s just the start! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Book 3 for the weekend. It got cold again so, looks like another perfect day to read. 😊

Well this book nearly broke me.

I'll admit I didn't like the first few chapters- the mix of voices felt confusing, and I couldn't follow the plot. However, based on the rest of the book I think this was deliberate- the reader has no more insight than the characters, so the revelation shocks us as much as them. The second part was stomach churning, and I couldn't look away.

Book 25 of #52Booksin2018

The most painful book I‘ve read in a very long time, but a very important book as well. Having lived in the Balkans for several years I am well aware of the history of Bosnia so this twisting of truth was riveting and impossible for me to put down. O‘Brien is masterful and I‘ll be looking for more of her books. I ended this one in tears, but with a heart full of tenderness for all whose lives are touched by war.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

When a man who calls himself a faith healer arrives in a small, west-coast Irish village, the community is soon under the spell of this charismatic stranger from the Balkans. One woman in particular, Fidelma McBride, becomes enthralled in a fatal attraction that leads to unimaginable consequences.

‪Why yes, I did find a “new to me” used bookstore and did need to buy two books‬

Quite a book!

I enjoyed this book, it wasn't what I expected at all. It's hard to describe -- about the nature of evil, how people's can deceive themselves, taking revenge and what it means to be angry, "the sins of the father" or in this case people who know them being forced to answer ... I started it as an audiobook then switched to a physical book and the back to the audio. And I preferred the audio as, the narrator did a fantastic job!

I have just finished The Essex Serpent, I enjoyed it a lot. I liked the main character Cora, for some reason I kept on wondering who would play her if it got made into a film and decided on Rachel Weisz. #books #bookcover #bookworm #booknerd #currentread

Listening to audio for this book club pick (much easier than reading it) and crocheting. Interesting so far!

I finished the audiobook but I still feel completely lost. I won't deny there are beautiful sentences in here, but I kept losing track of the plot but I feel like the plot is important. There is also a very graphic scene that still makes me feel all disgusted so it is not for the faint of heart to listen to.

In a remote Irish village Fidelma falls in love with a strange newcomer to the village, Dr Vlad. He turns out to be 'the Beast of Bosnia' (no spoiler!), his character and crimes based on Karadzic. Fimelda has to deal with what happened between them and follows him to his appearance before the International Tribunal.
All the ingredients for a good novel are in here, but somehow O'Brien fails to deliver.
(Picture: Beach of Tayrona, Colombia)

And this is just the intro...
I wonder what I am getting myself into.
#currentread

"When I read a great poem, or a great novel, or even a chapter of a great novel, I feel so nourished, and so thankful" -- Edna O'Brien

This!!!!

From A great interview with her on Writers and Company http://www.cbc.ca/radio/writersandcompany/edna-o-brien-on-fear-dreams-and-lsd-1....

First half was incredible, 2nd half didn't come together quite as well. Lots here to discuss, including the idea of home and the definition of evil.

" . . .the reason they loved books was because the crimes in people's hearts were rendered more fatefully and more forgivingly in literature."

While it dragged in certain areas overall a thumbs up. An interesting way to tell a story of a war criminal and the wide reaching effects of their actions. To be able to see inside the mind of twisted individuals is eye opening

Happening in my library right now- author Edna O'Brien- speaking to students and signing books. #liveauthor

In two minds about this book, it was beautifully written but there were certain bits I was not expecting at all that were told in great descriptive detail. I was gripped with the need to finish the story and see how it ended. And once finished I would say I enjoyed the story, but I did struggle to stay with it at times. I think it is genuinely a book that you really have to try for yourself to know.

Whoa. Okay. Nope. New mom can't listen to this! 💔💔💔 #audiobook #dnf

Now on to this on my day of reading - it'll be started in between exciting bits of rugby.

Only an hour in and I'm already craving a cozy tavern, scones with jam, and a massage. Well played, Edna. #mommyreads #audiobook #cravings

Next book group read. Bought on a trip to Florence, Italy. :)

I've just a had a job interview 😥 so to treat myself for feeling nervous for 2 weeks I bought books! Obviously 😆

This is a really difficult book to review – on one hand it is an undoubtedly well written and touches deftly on any number of important issues but I also struggled at times with the style and did not warm to many of the characters as appalling as their circumstances were. Ultimately I think a book that I struggle to rate highly but am still glad that I read

Look at this adorable little red chair!!

Seems like it would have worked better as 2 separate novels. Started as though it would be about a community, shifted to an individual, and sporadically swung back to the town. Both are compelling perspectives but I never felt immersed enough in either. I was sickened by the actions described in the book but not otherwise emotionally invested in any of the characters. I definitely want to give other books by this author a try, though. #litsyatoz

"It was all a lie, but lies can be just as persuasive and as palatable as truth in desperate times."

Brutal. That is all I can say. I have no idea how to rate on the 5 star scale. I thought it might be clever to ask Siri to find me an image of the red chairs and she came up with this. I am glad she didn't find what I hoped/feared she would find. #tob2017longlist

Audiobooking with the Juliet Stevenson narration. Looking forward to trying this author. So far, am very impressed with the story telling; that comfort of being in the hands of a talented writer (and of course, excellent narrator).

Really torn on this read just finished today. Some of it I thought was stunning, moving and wonderfully written. Some of it I was left a bit non plussed and distanced from. Need more time to think about it and percolate a bit more. It's one of those. Stunning cover.

Litsyians have given this very bad reviews, but im trying to like it. I'm probably naive in thinking i will have a different opinion but im trying...

something about a "first edition" Iliad doesn't seem accurate

"She had scarcely exchanged a word with him in the bar and yet had a sense of him...."

Boy oh boy. I love Edna O'Brien but I did not love this book. Just no.

"One day he put it to her that the reason they loved books was because the crimes in people's hearts were rendered more fatefully and more forgivingly in literature."

This is a great, well-paced read from one of our favourite Irish writers. 5/5
Don't have an imwge of the book to hand, so here's an image of our shop in Ennis, Ireland :-)
#getindy #bookshop #bookstore

"But she would not tell them that when she got up from that treatment bed and he had left the room, her energy was prodigal, a wildness such as she had not known since her youth, out in the fields when she pissed against trees, the way men did, pissed unashamedly. She would not tell them that." "Upcock Upcock Upcock Upcock." ????? edit to add: the tree-pisser is a nun ???

LONG REVIEW, CONT. IN COMMENTS | I don't talk about books I don't like unless they're inherently problematic bc personal taste varies greatly. At best, this book is boring to me. At worst, this book invalidates or undermines the trauma experienced by victims of the Bosnian War & Srebrenica massacre. Dr. Vlad is a war criminal masquerading as a healer in Ireland & entrances Fidelma, who has an affair w/him & comes under his spell. CONT. 👇🏼

Sigh, we meet again.

Relaxing in Starbucks with some iced tea lemonade and this damn book again. I am too far in to not finish it. 🍹

⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️

I. I just. I just CAN'T. 😧

Edna, is everything okay? I am beginning to worry. At the very least we need to have a chat about your writing style. 😳

#LitsyAfterDark

(In all seriousness, this book is about a very serious topic and it reads like a satire, and that is not okay.)

EDIT | Thanks to @Biljana for explaining the context and meaning of this phrasing & this book's problems re Bosnian War. Scroll to read.👇🏼👇🏼