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@Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

19 Mar-15 Apr 24
I cannot recall being as frightened by a book since ‘In Cold Blood‘, which aroused a similar feeling that this could just as easily happen to me. As the book begins, Eilish‘s life seems so normal.
Lynch‘s depiction of a totalitarian Ireland is literally gut-wrenching, particularly the final 100 pages which depict the fear and desperation that lead to millions fleeing for a place of refuge. The ending has left me absolutely shaken.

I am still trying to calm down after reading this. Frightening. Excellent book.

I disliked almost everything about this book. I disliked the writing style, the narrative choices, the audio narration, and most especially the main character.
I should have bailed.

#UnpopularOpinion

Am stuck for words.
I read a lot of speculative dystopia style fiction but this is one of those that is set now but is becoming dystopia because it's seemingly an end to a society we inhabit.
But it's on the brink of possibility. And it's happening in other countries.
The balance of beautiful lyrical prose against the immense terror is incredible. And the greyness throughout, the realms of knowing and speculated fear.
Such talent.

“… history is a silent record of people who did not know when to leave…” Wow. That was a dark ride. The Booker winner never disappoints me. I also tend to have a thing for Irish authors. A dystopian nightmare, set in Ireland, with a toleration government, though it could have been anywhere. And anywhere today. The main character made me so very angry I might never recover. It‘s phenomenal!

This one felt like all those around the world, who feel their worlds ending, were whispering their shared pain into your heart. This one is heavy and carries a message that should not be ignored.

Wow, I'm out of words. This book just left me breathless. It broke my heart over and over and over again. At first I wanted to wait until the German translation would be available, but I'm glad I didn't. This books captures the danger of this time we're living in all too well. This is how it started back then, and this is where we seem to be headed to. This story is a huge warning signal. And shows that it can happen anywhere, everywhere.

A bit of bleak read but quite profound. Situations across the world could really happen anywhere and that's a scary thought

This book was chilling, because it seems so plausible. Tyranny has overtaken the government of Ireland, and “enemies of the state” are disappearing. When Eilish‘s husband is arrested, she struggles to keep her family safe while trying to locate him. Nightmarish and beautifully written. I want to read more by Paul Lynch. This one will make my #bookerdozen for sure, still putting together that list, the idea of which I stole from @vivastory .

It‘s hard to call this book dystopian since (as @TrishB said) this could happen anywhere in the world next week. And in reality people in some places are experiencing things along these lines right now. I loved this book even though it is painful to read. Lynch artfully crafted a story of a life moving from the mundane day to day to a fever dream of disbelief, to a nightmare. 💔

Bleak and brilliant.
Dystopian- sort of, because given the current status of the world I can see this happening anywhere next week.

I read this because it won the Booker Prize, and I had been expecting The Bee Sting, which I loved, to win. I also love this. It deserves the award. Prophet Song is devastating, heart-wrenching, and terrifying. The language conveys the relentless claustrophobia of the situation. In a near-future Ireland an autocratic regime is challenged, and civil war erupts. A woman with four children and an elderly father has to survive the violence. Brilliant.

Next up . . . Leaving Australia for Ireland

(Nothing better for reading than a 🐈‍⬛ warmer)

I just finished and I thought this was fantastic. It took me a while to sink in. But the second half was all a dream. I‘m happy with the book, devastated by it, a little exhausted, and thinking over the paragraph with the title in it near the end, and the opening line.

Just, you know, still here. Reading Prophet Song in quarantine. Happy Festivus 😉

Next book I‘ll start

Pre Christmas Summer Holidays Reading (and travel) all planned
Destination 1 - Prophet Song (Ireland)
Destination 2 - Tiger Work (Nigeria)
Destination 3 - Helena Rubinstein - The Australian Years
Destination 4 - Roman Stories (Rome)
Destination 5 - Those who Saw the Sun (North Carolina)
Destination 6 - Mobility (Azerbaijan)
Destination 7 - The Premonition (Japan)

Lynch was awarded the Booker for this dystopian novel & may be the title‘s seer: just before he won, anti-immigrant riots erupted in his city, Dublin. the apocalyptic scenes mere days before his win-streetcars were set alight and looters struck-recall Prophet Song. It opens with a new right-wing government passing an Emergency Act. Soon, citizens are forced to flee. An unsettling read set in a just-around-the-corner imperiled Western democracy

Wow

The winner of this year‘s Booker Prize

I book I‘ve actually read and given the subject matter I‘m not sure enjoyed is the right word, but it‘s scary and makes you think

Booker prize winner! 🥇https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/nov/26/booker-prize-2023-prophet-song-paul-lynch-novel-wins?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Booker Prize 2023
And the winner is...

https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/features/everything-you-need-to-k...

In Ireland, a new law has been passed giving the new government more power. Larry is a trade unionist who goes missing after a demonstration, leaving his wife to keep the family together and take care of the kids. This might prove harder than imagined as the situation spins out of control and war breaks out.

With everything happening in the world this book shows how it is to live in a war zone and the choices people make.

A frightening novel that expresses how close any of us are from having to escape the terror of civil war and repressive regimes, is also a salutary tale for those who qn motives of immigrants who are forced to leave their home. The story of Eilish + her family is set in a Dublin in which the brutal repression of a union strike leads to a dictatorship that destroys the family. Disturbing but excellent writing that may well win the prize in Nov.

Tempted to send my copy to Suella Braverman.

Prophet Song is what I would describe as an absolute banger. This story of the rapidly accelerating decline of democracy and the emergence of a totalitarian state in Ireland is real heart-in-your-mouth storytelling. As implausible as the premise seems, as the freedoms of democratic citizenship are stripped away in this story, it becomes evident that is really the point- this is happening to people who believe it couldn‘t happen to them, And yet…

The state is supposed to leave you alone, Michael, not enter your house like an ogre, take a father into its fist and gobble him, how can I even begin to explain this to the kids, that the state they live in has become a monster?

#BookReport 38/23

Lots of reading done in the past week and I finished some books that I had been reading for a longer time. Favorite? The Rebecca Wait, despite the two shortlisted ones for the #Booker23 🤷🏻‍♀️

#Booker23 9/13

This book started out as a dystopian novel and ended up being the reality of so many people in warzones, and of refugees trying desperately to cross the Mediterranean in hope of a better alternative. I see and appreciate what Paul Lynch means with his book and it‘s a scary prophecy.

Who's a lucky girl then?! Better get reading! #booker23

Many thanks to @julesG for helping me get the Litsy app back again when I mislaid it! 😘

Set in a very near-future Ireland, which has become a totalitarian police state, Eilish‘s husband is taken by those secret police and she struggles with her family of 4 children and a father descending into dementia.

For about 3/4 of this I loved it, although it is a challenging read, with no breaks between different characters‘ dialogue, and a lot of stream of consciousness narrative.

Towards the end though, the dystopian police state ⬇️