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The Temporary Gentleman
The Temporary Gentleman | Sebastian Barry
10 posts | 6 read | 8 to read
Jack McNulty is a 'temporary gentleman', an Irishman whose commission in the British army in the Second World War was never permanent. In 1957, sitting in his lodgings in Accra, he urgently sets out to write his story. He feels he cannot take one step further, or even hardly a breath, without looking back at all that has befallen him. He is an ordinary man, both petty and heroic, but he has seen extraordinary things. He has worked and wandered around the world - as a soldier, an engineer, a UN observer - trying to follow his childhood ambition to better himself. And he has had a strange and tumultuous marriage. Mai Kirwan was a great beauty of Sligo in the 1920s, a vivid mind, but an elusive and mysterious figure too. Jack married her, and shared his life with her, but in time she slipped from his grasp. A heart-breaking portrait of one man's life - of his demons and his lost love - The Temporary Gentleman is, ultimately, a novel about Jack's last bid for freedom, from the savage realities of the past and from himself.
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Kazzie
The Temporary Gentleman | Sebastian Barry
Pickpick

So many feelings with this book. Anger and frustration with the protagonist. Sadness about the terrible waste and suffering with the lack of communication. Story about grief and racism and inter generation trauma and substance use and colonialism and war. Enjoyed and recommend

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lauralovesbooks1
The Temporary Gentleman | Sebastian Barry
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Pickpick

This was my first book by Barry, but it won't be the last. I really loved the way the story unfurled -- moving from the present to the past and back again. Jack McNulty is looking back on his past in Ireland in the late 1950's from his post in Africa. He is an unreliable narrator at the beginning, becoming more honest as the book progresses.

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SharonGoforth
The Temporary Gentleman | Sebastian Barry
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Pickpick

Not Barry's strongest novel (IMO), but who cares when it is written with such beautiful prose. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

54 likes2 stack adds
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SharonGoforth
The Temporary Gentleman | Sebastian Barry
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SharonGoforth
The Temporary Gentleman | Sebastian Barry
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Start another book late on a Sunday night? Why, don't mind if I do!

Sace Right there with you... as soon as I decide exactly which book. 8y
SharonGoforth @Sace I hear you - it took me over an hour to pick one! 8y
Sace @SharonGoforth it's an important decision that can't be rushed. Almost like buying a house! 😂 8y
SharonGoforth @Sace 😀😀 8y
62 likes4 comments
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zsuzsanna_reads
Temporary Gentleman | Sebastian Barry
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Pickpick

Just as good as the Secret Scripture, though took me longer to get into it. Looking forward to 2 more McNulty family books!

14 likes1 stack add
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zsuzsanna_reads
Temporary Gentleman | Sebastian Barry
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According to an interview in the Guardian, the narrator of Temporary Gentleman is based on the author's grandfather, who fell out with him over "the literary airing of family secrets".

The fur cushion in the background is in fact a dog.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/feb/01/sebastian-barry-costa-book-award-2...

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Autolycus
The Temporary Gentleman | Sebastian Barry
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3 likes1 stack add
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zsuzsanna_reads
Temporary Gentleman | Sebastian Barry
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Having enjoyed the Secret Scripture, I am really looking forward to this. Although Jack McNulty (the narrator) wasn't exactly a sympathetic character in the earlier book.

Redheadrambles You might need to read his latest after this to get more on the McNulty family. I want to read this one - I quite enjoy his style 8y
zsuzsanna_reads @Redheadrambles I haven't even read the first one about Aeneas McNulty yet. I've got a lot to look forward to :-) The Tom McNulty from days without end has already been referred to in Temporary Gentleman. 8y
11 likes2 comments