Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: The Blackwater Lightship: A Novel by Colm Toibin ISBN: 0-7432-0331-3 Publisher: Scribner Pub. Date: 05 June, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.23 (26 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A Startling Gem Of A Novel On A Family Coping With AIDS
Comment: Quite simply, Colm Toibin's "The Blackwater Lightship" is the finest novel or memoir I've read by a critically acclaimed Irish or Irish-American author. He has a subtle, magical way with prose that will keep you thinking about the tale long after you've finished reading it. I am not surprised that this splendid little novel was short-listed for the British Booker Prize. It's one of the finest explorations of a dysfunctional family I've come across. I strongly commend Toibin for having the determination and talent to write well about AIDS, and making it an important, and sympathetic, part of this tale.
"The Blackwater Lightship" is primarily about Helen and how she becomes emotionally attached again to her mother Lily, when they are confronted with the news that her brother Declan is dying from AIDS. The story moves swiftly from Declan's hospital ward in Dublin to the seaside home of Lily's mother Dora, so Declan can enjoy one last glimpse of the sea. The tale also revolves around Declan's two male friends and their relationship with his sister, mother and grandmother.
Rating: 4
Summary: My First Exposure................
Comment: This was my first exposure to Colm Toibin's writing and I really enjoyed it. This is a beautifully written novel set in the early 1990's in Ireland where three generations of very independent strong-willed women; daughter, mother, and grandmother, have come together to face the tragic illness of Declan who is dying of AIDS. Declan's sister, mother, and grandmother must each deal with this issue. However, what the story is really about is how they must first deal with a decade of estrangement from each other, and how they must now come to terms with each other and maybe become a family again. Is this possible? Or will Helen remain as cold to her mother as she has been the past 10 years? What is revealed about their past will answer these questions.
An easy read, but a story that's filled with lots of detail, emotion, and yes even love. I believe the story pivoting on Helen as the main character was well done. Yes, it could have dealt more with Declan's life and his friends, but that's not what the book was about. The women are the central point, and the author has done a wonderful job in a beautifully written story here. I look forward to checking out his other books now.
Rating: 5
Summary: Love, Family, AIDS and Dysfunction
Comment: Helen O'Doherty lives in Dublin with her husband and two sons. She is a school principal and set with her life. She is happy and even though she may be a bit more reserved in her marriage than her husband would like, all seems well. When school is over she and her hubby plan a large party in their new home to celebrate. Her husband and children will go the next day to visit relatives, and Helen will follow when she clears up her end of school issues. Helen worries about her life and her children. Are they too needy? Is it right that the youngest needs his parents so thoroughly? Helen seems to be a thoroughly modern woman of the 90's- ready to live her life. Helen's family is off and she is ready to go to school when a friend of her brother, Declan, arrives to tell her Declan is seriously ill and needs to see her. And so it goes.. Paul, Declan's friend tells her he has AIDS and has been ill for quite a while. He does not have a serious relationship right now, and he does need a place to go to recuperate. It is decided by Declan that he wants to go to Grandmother's house, but first, would Helen tell Grandmother and mom, Lily about his disease?
No small deed is this one...Helen has had an on -again off-again relationship with her mother and grandmother for years. In fact, she has only seen them at Christmas time, but neither was invited to her wedding nor have they met her family or children. How will she tell them, what will they say and how will they react? Oh, no, what to do...
Mom- Lily, Helen, Paul and Larry, Declan's friends all move into grandmother's house in a desolate spot on the ocean near the Blackwater Lightship. This place and house has particular meaning to the family-they were brought up here. Lily, the mom as a child; Helen and Declan when they father got sick and died and mom left them, or abandoned them, as Helen and Declan remember. This dysfunctional family now has a chance to reclaim their lost relationships. Paul and Larry are gay, as is Declan, and as they reveal their lives, the lives of the others come into semblance. The living and the dying , the coming and the going, the new and the old all take on extra meaning.
Colm Toibin has written a marvelous study of a family entwined in the everyday business of living and dying in his book "The Blackwater Lightship: A Novel". The relationships in this family are not unusual, but so well written in such a cleverly calm but studied manner. Colm Toibin's knowledge of the clinical process of AIDS is well revealed and accurate. You feel like you are in the midst of Declan's fevers and
pain and suffering. The judgment of being Gay and having AIDS in the 90's is explored and well written. This is a book of the ages- always timely, relationships explored, the pain and suffering of lost time with family well documented. A novel to learn from. Colm Toibin was on the short list for the Booker prize for
this novel. He is an author to be recommended- a writer of fabulous ability- to be enjoyed and thought about for days after the novel is finished. prisrob
 |
Title: The Master by Colm Toibin ISBN: 0743250400 Publisher: Scribner Pub. Date: 02 June, 2004 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
 |
Title: The Heather Blazing by Colm Toibin ISBN: 0140175326 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 March, 1994 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
 |
Title: The Story of the Night: A Novel by Colm Tóibín ISBN: 0805058257 Publisher: Owl Books (NY) Pub. Date: 01 May, 1998 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
 |
Title: The South by Colm Toibin ISBN: 0140149864 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 October, 1992 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
 |
Title: Love in a Dark Time: And Other Explorations of Gay Lives and Literature by Colm Toibin ISBN: 0743229444 Publisher: Scribner Pub. Date: 08 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $24.00 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
