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kirstenrose22's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this, but didn’t really love it. The Irish stuff was all great. And I really enjoyed the sections on the Canadian frontier. The mysticism kind of lost me, though I liked the parallels between the Irish and the First Nations. And the landlord brothers were a nice touch of comic relief.
ginabyeg's review against another edition
2.0
This book boasts an award and Urquhart is acknowledged as "one of Canada's most accomplished and interesting writers" (Edmonton Journal). Who is in charge of these accolades? I did not find this book interesting or accomplished. Part of the reason likely has to do with my utter lack of interest in history, and thus I had virtually no context of the Irish or even Canadian experience of the late 1800's. I feel I was able to put some of the historical highlights together as I read; what I couldn't wrap my head around, however, was any sense of plot or even a sense of who the protagonist was. Additionally, the story moves back and forth in time--while most is set in the late 1800's, a bit is set in the mid 1900's, in an attempt to link one of the main characters to her descendant. However, I feel like this is an unnecessary piece of the novel. It has seemingly nothing to do with the rest of the story that is set in the late 1800's. There is no meaningful tie. I kept reading this book hoping the pieces would come together, and they did not.
maddy7171's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
catherine888's review against another edition
3.0
I don’t really know why most of the characters in this book did the things they did. I didn’t understand why they loved the people they loved or what their motivations were (after the first section, where the motivation was famine obviously). It felt like a bunch of random people with no inner emotional lives doing random things.
I thought the whole novel was going to explore the Irish mythology and got interested in it and then it turned out that that was a pretty insignificant part of the book. It was a major issue in the novel and then magically it just wasn’t an issue anymore? I don’t understand what the point of that was.
The parts set in Canada felt like a Canadian winter: grey, cold, dry and never-ending. So I guess that captured it well.
I thought the whole novel was going to explore the Irish mythology and got interested in it and then it turned out that that was a pretty insignificant part of the book. It was a major issue in the novel and then magically it just wasn’t an issue anymore? I don’t understand what the point of that was.
The parts set in Canada felt like a Canadian winter: grey, cold, dry and never-ending. So I guess that captured it well.
ldv's review against another edition
3.0
Traces a family line from famine time in Ireland to their settlement in Canada and a few generations beyond. "Away" describes people who have been touched in the head by some other spirit. The book has a dream-like quality to it.
gloriaannwilson's review against another edition
4.0
This was an interesting story. I loved the irish folklore.
vanitar's review against another edition
3.0
Although not my favourite genre and it was a bit of a slog reading through it at times (it felt very slow), this book is a very poetic account of a family across multiple generations and their journey from Ireland to Canada. The writing is eloquent and there are themes highlighted that look at immigration, identity, women, and explores layers of Celtic spirituality woven through the narrative and the characters' experiences.
One of the questions i had coming out of this book is what it means for someone to be "away". I am quick to interpret it through a modern lens of mental illness, but this book seems to highlight the spirit world of Celtic spirituality and also looks at what it might mean to be fully present in one's reality versus elsewhere either mentally or physically.
I enjoyed the ending more than the beginning. The beginning took too long to set up the initial story and had too many different characters and storylines at once that, to me, weren't relevant or helpful for the overarching storyline. Not my favourite book but it also highlights history of Ireland (specifically the potato famine) and the experience of Irish immigrants to Canada.
One of the questions i had coming out of this book is what it means for someone to be "away". I am quick to interpret it through a modern lens of mental illness, but this book seems to highlight the spirit world of Celtic spirituality and also looks at what it might mean to be fully present in one's reality versus elsewhere either mentally or physically.
I enjoyed the ending more than the beginning. The beginning took too long to set up the initial story and had too many different characters and storylines at once that, to me, weren't relevant or helpful for the overarching storyline. Not my favourite book but it also highlights history of Ireland (specifically the potato famine) and the experience of Irish immigrants to Canada.