Night Boat to Tangier by Kevin Barry showed up on several of the best books of 2019. The book was long listed for the Booker Prize.
Started: 12/26/2019
Completed: 12/27/2019
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: several best books of 2019
Words for which I sought help:
cirrhotic -- characterized by cirrhosis; in this case I think it is a synonym for alcoholic.
Review:
Some of the mental pictures drawn in the book were quite clever and very meaningful, like: "They had an excellent view sitting upon the stack of their years."
Somehow, the book wraps you in its cold, foggy touch and throws in front of you the odd collection of characters who move across decades and between relationships in odd ways. Nothing seems real and, yet, all of it seems ground in the grungy, ugly, sordid lubricant of reality.
I never would have thought that a book which is essentially about a pair of truly unsympathetic drug runners would be even mildly enticing. This is a benefit of checking out books on a top something list. There is usually a reason the book has made this kind of list and I have found that the reason often shows up in the book. In this book, it is just a good yarn. About horrible people. Who all like each other in horrible ways.
Some of the mental pictures drawn in the book were quite clever and very meaningful, like: "They had an excellent view sitting upon the stack of their years."
Somehow, the book wraps you in its cold, foggy touch and throws in front of you the odd collection of characters who move across decades and between relationships in odd ways. Nothing seems real and, yet, all of it seems ground in the grungy, ugly, sordid lubricant of reality.
I never would have thought that a book which is essentially about a pair of truly unsympathetic drug runners would be even mildly enticing. This is a benefit of checking out books on a top something list. There is usually a reason the book has made this kind of list and I have found that the reason often shows up in the book. In this book, it is just a good yarn. About horrible people. Who all like each other in horrible ways.
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