Niall Williams
HarperCollins
€16.60
Having established a deserved reputation for the poetic lyricism of his prose with his best-selling Four Letters of Love and As It Is in Heaven, Niall Williams pulls it off again with this latest offering. Although the main character’s name is rarely mentioned, giving him an ‘Everyboy’ status, Boy in the World is about a personal journey.
The story begins on the morning of the boy’s Confirmation, when his grandfather hands him a letter written by his long-dead mother. Already confused by his identity, from the moment he receives the letter, the boy’s world is turned upside-down. His first instinct is to throw the letter into the fire, but his grandfather retrieves it for him, partly burnt, and persuades him to read it. When the letter mentions the unreadable identity of his father, saying that he worked for the BBC in London, his immediate instinct is to find him.
With only his confirmation money, the boy secretly sets out, along the way meeting both blackguards and guardian angels. He learns lessons, and leaves an impact on those he meets. His quest takes him from London, to Paris, Frankfurt and further, at a time when Europe is being terrorised by bomb attacks. Having discovered the probable name of his father, he Googles him, to find he may be Egyptian, and a Muslim, working undercover in terrorist cells. This leads him to seek knowledge about Islam, and to question religion further.
Saved on more than one occasion by Bridget, a novice nun on the run from her own monotonous life, the boy begins to fear for her safety as he realises everyone belonging to him dies. When he reads in the paper that his grandfather has been killed in a car accident, he feels completely alone in the world, with no reason to go home, until he is guided to the next step.
Boy in the World is more than a contemporary rite of passage story. It is more than a tale about a world stricken by urban terrorism, or a meditation on the existence or not of God. In spite of the tragic circumstances of the boy’s life, his journey is ultimately a redemptive one, with coincidences, signs and intuition leading to a life filled with hope and purpose again. While Williams writes with a simple, philosophical insightfulness similar to Paulo Cuelo, his uniquely exquisite imagery and delicacy shimmers on every page.
Afric McGlinchey
Reviewed in The Irish Examiner
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Jennifer Government by Max Barry
Max Barry
Abacus
€15.75
Welcome to Max Barry's hilarious black portrayal of the imminent future: America has amalgamated with Australia, the government and police are publicly-traded firms who invoice individual citizens, and giant corporations have control of the world. One indication of the magnitude of their power is the fact that all employees are named after the company they work for.
In this new-age marketing paradise, no-holds-barred tactics are all the rage. So when Hack Nike, a lowly merchandising officer, meets John Nike and John Nike, executive and chief executive, at the water cooler, and is offered the opportunity to move up into marketing, he is so overcome with gratitude that he signs his contract without reading the small print. Thus he is unwittingly recruited to murder the first 10 teenagers to buy Nike's new $2 500 Mercury trainers, a marketing ploy designed to establish street cred for the latest Nike merchandise. Horrified, our hero goes to the police to explain his dilemma. The police, mistaking his intentions, instead sub-contract the assassinations to the National Rifle Association.
Teenagers begin to die: enter Jennifer Government, a zealous government agent employed by the first victim's parents, with a bar-code tattoo under her left eye. Hard-core and highly motivated, she will stop at almost nothing to get to the bottom of the killings.
Other characters enter the foray: Billy NRA, a none-too-bright would-be tourist who accidentally finds himself playing a key role as a sniper when his talent for shooting is discovered; Buy Mitsui, a soft-hearted, suicidal stockbroker; Violet (unemployed and therefore without a surname) who specialises in developing computer viruses to manipulate major companies into giving her big pay-offs. Continents are now so commercially standardised, they are virtually indistinguishable. The world mind-set is indoctrinated by advertising and consumer frenzy, and fed by credit card wars.
Strong on dialogue, paced like a runaway thriller, and with endearingly eccentric or deliciously black characters, Jennifer Government is Max Barry's considerably lighter version of 1984. A riveting page turner and irresistible smile inducer. Can't wait for the movie. .
Afric McGlinchey
Reviewed in The Irish Examiner
Abacus
€15.75
Welcome to Max Barry's hilarious black portrayal of the imminent future: America has amalgamated with Australia, the government and police are publicly-traded firms who invoice individual citizens, and giant corporations have control of the world. One indication of the magnitude of their power is the fact that all employees are named after the company they work for.
In this new-age marketing paradise, no-holds-barred tactics are all the rage. So when Hack Nike, a lowly merchandising officer, meets John Nike and John Nike, executive and chief executive, at the water cooler, and is offered the opportunity to move up into marketing, he is so overcome with gratitude that he signs his contract without reading the small print. Thus he is unwittingly recruited to murder the first 10 teenagers to buy Nike's new $2 500 Mercury trainers, a marketing ploy designed to establish street cred for the latest Nike merchandise. Horrified, our hero goes to the police to explain his dilemma. The police, mistaking his intentions, instead sub-contract the assassinations to the National Rifle Association.
Teenagers begin to die: enter Jennifer Government, a zealous government agent employed by the first victim's parents, with a bar-code tattoo under her left eye. Hard-core and highly motivated, she will stop at almost nothing to get to the bottom of the killings.
Other characters enter the foray: Billy NRA, a none-too-bright would-be tourist who accidentally finds himself playing a key role as a sniper when his talent for shooting is discovered; Buy Mitsui, a soft-hearted, suicidal stockbroker; Violet (unemployed and therefore without a surname) who specialises in developing computer viruses to manipulate major companies into giving her big pay-offs. Continents are now so commercially standardised, they are virtually indistinguishable. The world mind-set is indoctrinated by advertising and consumer frenzy, and fed by credit card wars.
Strong on dialogue, paced like a runaway thriller, and with endearingly eccentric or deliciously black characters, Jennifer Government is Max Barry's considerably lighter version of 1984. A riveting page turner and irresistible smile inducer. Can't wait for the movie. .
Afric McGlinchey
Reviewed in The Irish Examiner
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