ellieeeeeee's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
truly heartwrenching
kelbi's review against another edition
5.0
A beautiful and sensitive book about family relationships. Read perfectly by Niamh Cusack
zoz716's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
elliemcc11's review against another edition
4.0
Another Colm Toibin book I've really enjoyed reading. He writes so well, and it's so easy to slip into the world of the characters of the novel.
The setting is early 1990s Ireland and the majority of the novel is set on the coast, in the house of Dora, mother to Lily and grandmother to Helen and Declan. Declan is unwell, seriously so, and wants to spend time at his grandmother's house with his family and close friends around him. It becomes clear that the relationship between the children, Helen and Declan, and their mother is strained. Helen, particularly, hasn't seen her mother since she left home after college.
The theme of strained mother / daughter relationships appeared in another Toibin novel I read recently [b:The South|6492289|The South|Colm Tóibín|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|1898124], as did the theme of what it meant to be a mother. I really liked the opening to the Blackwater Lightship, describing Helen as a mother, going to her young children as they called out in the night. There is then the description of a party later that day, followed by the clean up the next morning. All very ordinary but designed to show Helen as a doting mother and wife. In contrast, Helen's mother, Lily, seemingly abandons her children when their father is dying, and Helen takes this particularly badly, seeing it as a rejection.
The family come together because Declan, dying of AIDS, wishes them to. He invites his two close friends who themselves mother him and have mothered and protected him during his stays in hospital. Slowly but surely each individual has the opportunity to say their peace / piece, and reconciliation is another strong theme that is evident.
Overall, very well written, and very moving. My list of Colm Toibin books I've read and liked keeps on increasing.
The setting is early 1990s Ireland and the majority of the novel is set on the coast, in the house of Dora, mother to Lily and grandmother to Helen and Declan. Declan is unwell, seriously so, and wants to spend time at his grandmother's house with his family and close friends around him. It becomes clear that the relationship between the children, Helen and Declan, and their mother is strained. Helen, particularly, hasn't seen her mother since she left home after college.
The theme of strained mother / daughter relationships appeared in another Toibin novel I read recently [b:The South|6492289|The South|Colm Tóibín|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|1898124], as did the theme of what it meant to be a mother. I really liked the opening to the Blackwater Lightship, describing Helen as a mother, going to her young children as they called out in the night. There is then the description of a party later that day, followed by the clean up the next morning. All very ordinary but designed to show Helen as a doting mother and wife. In contrast, Helen's mother, Lily, seemingly abandons her children when their father is dying, and Helen takes this particularly badly, seeing it as a rejection.
The family come together because Declan, dying of AIDS, wishes them to. He invites his two close friends who themselves mother him and have mothered and protected him during his stays in hospital. Slowly but surely each individual has the opportunity to say their peace / piece, and reconciliation is another strong theme that is evident.
Overall, very well written, and very moving. My list of Colm Toibin books I've read and liked keeps on increasing.
gorecki's review against another edition
4.0
The Blackwater Lightship is the anatomy of a dysfunctional family trying to make amends and mend shattered relationships. It is a portrayal of the effect miscommunication and lack of thoughtfulness and consideration at a time of loss can have in the years to come. After suffering one such loss handled badly and ending up in the family being torn apart, there is another loss coming, which is their only chance to overcome their differences.
Helen, a young and successful school principal, is visited by a stranger who tells her her brother is dying. She is to meet her estranged mother, with whom she has not been in touch for years, and give hr the news. Helen, her mother and grandmother spend a few days in her grandmother’s house together with her dying brother and two of his friends going through all of the baggage the years of not speaking and avoiding each other have stored for them. Old fights are being revisited, old wounds are being reopened, and conflicts – brought to a closure as the life slowly seeps out of Declan, Helen’s brother. His decision to bring everyone to the house in his final days is probably his final way of mending everything in his family.
I like Toibín’s writing for its honesty, warmth, and ability to tell a story made up solely of dialogues and actions, which at the same time says so much more about what is happening in the background. He is not one to describe and tell you directly what the relationship between two people is, but would much rather show you. You are invited to see how two people talk and behave in each other’s companies, and notice what their relationship is for yourself. In this sense, his writing is much more like screenwriting – how you would imagine a story is being adapted for a movie. It requires a certain amount of empathy and understanding of other people’s emotions.
The only reason I give this book 4 stars is a part of the story, which at some point, to my feeling, got out of hands for a while. A short episode in which the dialogue didn’t make much sense and the characters seemed overly emotional with a sudden change of speed in the story. As when a car is driving lightly and with a constant pace and then suddenly slips on ice for a short second before it resumes its regular light pace again. This was my third book by Toibín and I am still not the least bit disappointed.
Helen, a young and successful school principal, is visited by a stranger who tells her her brother is dying. She is to meet her estranged mother, with whom she has not been in touch for years, and give hr the news. Helen, her mother and grandmother spend a few days in her grandmother’s house together with her dying brother and two of his friends going through all of the baggage the years of not speaking and avoiding each other have stored for them. Old fights are being revisited, old wounds are being reopened, and conflicts – brought to a closure as the life slowly seeps out of Declan, Helen’s brother. His decision to bring everyone to the house in his final days is probably his final way of mending everything in his family.
I like Toibín’s writing for its honesty, warmth, and ability to tell a story made up solely of dialogues and actions, which at the same time says so much more about what is happening in the background. He is not one to describe and tell you directly what the relationship between two people is, but would much rather show you. You are invited to see how two people talk and behave in each other’s companies, and notice what their relationship is for yourself. In this sense, his writing is much more like screenwriting – how you would imagine a story is being adapted for a movie. It requires a certain amount of empathy and understanding of other people’s emotions.
The only reason I give this book 4 stars is a part of the story, which at some point, to my feeling, got out of hands for a while. A short episode in which the dialogue didn’t make much sense and the characters seemed overly emotional with a sudden change of speed in the story. As when a car is driving lightly and with a constant pace and then suddenly slips on ice for a short second before it resumes its regular light pace again. This was my third book by Toibín and I am still not the least bit disappointed.
jdurkan91's review against another edition
This is one I will go back to, but at this time I don’t want to continue. Maybe the book would be a better fit.
taylorlaravia's review against another edition
3.0
The book, from what I remember, had very emotional twists. It's hard to imagine (for some) a life and family relationships like those demonstrated in the book, where as for others it's easy to relate to and it could even hit home. All in all, it's an easy read that has a pretty heavy plot line.
annakorda's review against another edition
4.0
3,5/5
Μυθιστόρημα εσωτερικού χώρου, που διαπραγματεύεται τις διαπροσωπικές σχέσεις 3 γυναικών, κόρης - μητέρας - γιαγιάς, της Ελεν, της Λιλι και της κυρίας Ντεβερο κατά σειρά.
Οι γυναίκες αυτές καλούνται να συνυπάρξουν στον ίδιο χώρο και να διαχειριστούν τις συγκρούσεις τους για χάρη του αδερφού (- γιου- εγγονού), Ντεκλαν, που πεθαίνει από Aids.
Με πρώτη ανάγνωση φαίνεται αρκετά επιφανειακό. Ολοκληρώνοντάς το, νόμιζα πως χρειαζόταν να ειπωθεί κάτι ακόμα, πως οι διαλυμένες σχέσεις που παρουσιάζονται είναι άνευ ουσίας. Όταν το ξαναπερασα από τον έλεγχο, είδα πως πράγματι οι συγκρούσεις είχαν κέντρο βάρους, υπήρχαν βαθύτερα, εσωτερικά αίτια, στο θάνατο του πατέρα της Ελεν, που βίωσε στην παιδική ηλικία, και τη λάθος αντιμετώπιση από τη μητέρα της.
Με έχασε όμως στο ρόλο - γλάστρα του Ντεκλαν, και στη μη ρεαλιστική αντιμετώπιση της κατάστασης. Δέχονται τόσο μα τόσο ψύχραιμα πως ο νεαρός πεθαίνει, και δυσκολεύονται να χωνέψουν πως είναι ομοφυλόφιλος.
Κυλάει πολύ γρήγορα όμως το βιβλίο, και σε ελάχιστα σημεία κουράζει!
Μυθιστόρημα εσωτερικού χώρου, που διαπραγματεύεται τις διαπροσωπικές σχέσεις 3 γυναικών, κόρης - μητέρας - γιαγιάς, της Ελεν, της Λιλι και της κυρίας Ντεβερο κατά σειρά.
Οι γυναίκες αυτές καλούνται να συνυπάρξουν στον ίδιο χώρο και να διαχειριστούν τις συγκρούσεις τους για χάρη του αδερφού (- γιου- εγγονού), Ντεκλαν, που πεθαίνει από Aids.
Με πρώτη ανάγνωση φαίνεται αρκετά επιφανειακό. Ολοκληρώνοντάς το, νόμιζα πως χρειαζόταν να ειπωθεί κάτι ακόμα, πως οι διαλυμένες σχέσεις που παρουσιάζονται είναι άνευ ουσίας. Όταν το ξαναπερασα από τον έλεγχο, είδα πως πράγματι οι συγκρούσεις είχαν κέντρο βάρους, υπήρχαν βαθύτερα, εσωτερικά αίτια, στο θάνατο του πατέρα της Ελεν, που βίωσε στην παιδική ηλικία, και τη λάθος αντιμετώπιση από τη μητέρα της.
Με έχασε όμως στο ρόλο - γλάστρα του Ντεκλαν, και στη μη ρεαλιστική αντιμετώπιση της κατάστασης. Δέχονται τόσο μα τόσο ψύχραιμα πως ο νεαρός πεθαίνει, και δυσκολεύονται να χωνέψουν πως είναι ομοφυλόφιλος.
Κυλάει πολύ γρήγορα όμως το βιβλίο, και σε ελάχιστα σημεία κουράζει!
keatonmcn's review against another edition
5.0
I am truly, utterly, deeply shocked at the love and tenderness this novel made me feel. The casual gentleness of Toibin’s prose illuminates every aspect of the story. The characters have an almost frightening humanness to them, which makes the constant unraveling and re-tying of their histories and emotions all the more gutting. The confusing hurt that Helen, Lily, and Dora each feel is palpable.
I did not expect to be so taken with the book as I was. My mom teaches it (or has in the past) in some of her college-level English classes. We have different tastes so I wasn’t sure if it would resonate with me. But I ended up finishing the book, and over 200 pages of it, in one day.
This is the first time in quite a while I’ve read a book knowing I’ll read it again to find new meaning in it the second time.
I did not expect to be so taken with the book as I was. My mom teaches it (or has in the past) in some of her college-level English classes. We have different tastes so I wasn’t sure if it would resonate with me. But I ended up finishing the book, and over 200 pages of it, in one day.
This is the first time in quite a while I’ve read a book knowing I’ll read it again to find new meaning in it the second time.
greenblack's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5