A review by tsenko2
Days Without End by Sebastian Barry
2.0
Let me preface by saying that I do not enjoy reading dialect. Yes, this is a first person narrative, but the dialect was awkward, choppy, and difficult for me to follow. It was like nails on chalkboard trying to struggle through the prose of this book to follow the story.
I must also disclose that while I am not unaware or indifferent to the brutality of man, I don’t enjoy immersing myself in it. The bleak violence was possibly insightful, but I don’t need to dwell on the ugliness that humans are capable of. If I hadn’t been reading this for a bookclub, I wouldn’t have finished it despite my interest in historical fiction, particularly regarding the American West and the 19th century.
If I had cared about the characters, I might have cared about the book. For example all we know of John Cole is that he is “handsome”. And McNulty accepts himself as transgender with only slight references to fear of the threats that those who are different would have lived with. The book presents their lifestyle as readily accepted by almost all around them. So many other groups faced prejudice in this book, but somehow the bigotry against LGBTQ was almost nonexistent. That puzzled me.
I have not read any other Sebastian Barry books. Based on this one, I am unlikely to.
I must also disclose that while I am not unaware or indifferent to the brutality of man, I don’t enjoy immersing myself in it. The bleak violence was possibly insightful, but I don’t need to dwell on the ugliness that humans are capable of. If I hadn’t been reading this for a bookclub, I wouldn’t have finished it despite my interest in historical fiction, particularly regarding the American West and the 19th century.
If I had cared about the characters, I might have cared about the book. For example all we know of John Cole is that he is “handsome”. And McNulty accepts himself as transgender with only slight references to fear of the threats that those who are different would have lived with. The book presents their lifestyle as readily accepted by almost all around them. So many other groups faced prejudice in this book, but somehow the bigotry against LGBTQ was almost nonexistent. That puzzled me.
I have not read any other Sebastian Barry books. Based on this one, I am unlikely to.