Beatlebone | 
so-soJohn Lennon believes in the power of his subconscious mind, which seems to receive both present, passing flashes of inspiration, and radiating echoes of the past. That antenna-like connection leads to brilliant music; at other times, it leads to noise. In the novel, Lennon seeks the peace of a private island, where he has the space to Scream out trauma and reset. Unfortunately, for artists like Lennon, there is never quiet. He is always tuned in.
pickThis
Wonderful
Book
🤗😱
Read it in one day, almost one sitting but me bum got numb 😂
Immediately goes on to all time list
5/5 from one of Ireland‘s best writers of the 21st century
Follow Kevin Barry closely
pickJohn Lennon journeys to his island off the coast of Ireland in 1978 + magic.
How to read it:
- In big gulps. You can‘t dip in & out whenever (my usual reading style).
- It will take a while to hit the rhythm, but once you‘ve got it DON‘T SLOW DOWN. Keep your eyes moving. Slow down & all is lost.
- Keep a pen handy to mark the lines that sear into your soul.
- When you get to Part 6, pause to be in awe of what the author does.
- Enjoy.
“... it occurred to me that the 1970s is by now essentially an historical fiction. True memory of the era - as in sense memory, as in the precise tang on the air of a new morning back then, or the throb and rumble of a great city rising from its fumes in the early morning back then, or the way a lover‘s dark hair might splay just so on the sheets, and she stretches - has by now succumbed to time and distance...”
#SummerOfShort3
#Starting this novel of magical realism about John Lennon on an adventure in Ireland where he, if I‘m understanding the synopsis correctly, meets a shape-shifter? Or something?
#SummerOfShort3
UPDATE: 43 pages in now and I am in LOVE with this freaking book.
Today's color is red! And what a collection of books... have you read any of these? Most recently I read "Beatlebone" - what a challenging, intriguing read! ❤️??
#red #redbooks #books #bookshelf #kevinbarry #beatlebone #virginiawoolf #woolf #mrsdalloway #fever #marybethkeane #michellesacks #youweremadeforthis
#HeyJune #Cantbuymelove
Odd that the last post abt this book was mine for junetunz!
This book is an imagination of JL's visit in 1978 to visit the island in Ireland that he had bought - a troubled man at that point this book is funny and surreal at points as lennon tries to find some substance to his life- kevin barry is a brilliant writer and id also recommend City of Bohane.
#junetunz #laislabonita
Im a bit out of sync with posts but this was a really good read about the imagining of john lennon's trip to his remote island off the west irish coast, im not sure how pretty it was (definition of bonita duly searched) but it's a good read & even made me laugh out loud as well at pointe.
pickOnly the flimsiest fiber of a plot thread. Can John Lennon make it to his island in the west of Ireland or will he be thwarted by the paparazzi? Half the book is trippy non sequiturs and minimalist dialogue between himself and his local handler, Cornelius. Certainly conjures a time and a place, and made me oh-so-curious about that decade post-Beatles.
Weekend TBR: We are off to the NorCal coast to unplug for a whole week! This is the stack I decided on plus the annual puzzle choice (1000 pieces and 524 things beginning with the B). Have a great holiday everyone! Aloha Friday🌺 #DogsofLitsy
It's four in the morning- the motor idles at a low hum - and the trees have voices, and the river has voices, and they are very old.
Starting this one this evening. I absolutely love Kevin Barry, but hate stickers on books🙈
My current read. Mesmerizing, entirely bizarre. Reads like "Strawberry Fields Forever" sounds. I'm loving it.
so-soSome of the structural experiments in this book didn't work for me, but despite that it was still a fascinatingly original pseudo-history of a great cultural icon. It doesn't hurt that Barry is a sentencesmith of the highest order.
This book is so true to my feelings toward John Lennon: it's wild and original and presents a skewed vision of the world. That world is inviting and peculiar and full of the promises of our fullest potential, but ultimately unattainable.
"An old farmhouse rises up from the hill-ramshackle, ill-kept, a growth on the hill. The van eases to a stop and a slow, deep-breathing silence. The house sits in complete agreement with its sad hill" True story: in the 70s John Lennon bought a tiny island off the Irish coast. He never visited, but (untrue story) Barry tells what an odyssey that journey might have been. Weird and wonderful! Day21 of #augustofpages Image borrowed from www.slate.com
pickUtterly bonkers in the best way. It took me a moment to get into the swing of the book and the mad Irish lilt, but a highly enjoyable way to spend some time with John Lennon.
He read once that the hare augurs darkly in Irish mythology. From what he can remember there is f**k all that augurs brightly in the Irish mythology.
"He sets out for the place as an animal might, as though on some fated migration. There is nothing rational about it nor even entirely sane and this is the great attraction." Some of most gorgeous writing I've ever seen between the covers of a book.
He sits all day until the sun has gone around the building and the room is almost dark again. A day that feels slow as a century - he might be out there still.
Looking for an off-the-beaten-path Irish-themed read? Try Kevin Barry's fantastic, fictional biography of John Lennon escaping to a west Ireland island he bought to counteract a debilitating mid-life crisis. Lyrical, mystical, affecting. ☘
bailed
