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A review by sde
The Slowworm's Song by Andrew Miller
4.0
A lovely and quiet book about a middle aged British man facing his past demons, with the help of a new connection with his adult daughter. The main character, Stephen, made a fatal mistake when he was a very young man serving with the British army in Northern Ireland. I grew up in Greater Boston during the time of The Troubles, and on reading this book I better understood how my views on the issue were very much from the point of view of the IRA. But, like every conflict, there is a lot of nuance, and the young British men who served in Northern Ireland mostly just did what they were told as part of their job.
The book reinforced the idea that weapons and conflict should not be taken lightly. Stephen's story reminded me of a training I had with a sheriff's department. The officer said that people really underestimate the personal aftermath of doing violence to someone, even when the violence is justified. There was decades of aftermath in this book. I wish we would stress this more in the days when Americans shoot each other over every little fear.
Although my life is a lot different than Stephen's, we are about the same age. I thought Miller did a fantastic job of portraying a person of that age - a little beaten down, but not at all stupid or lazy, thinking a lot about both the past and the future.
The book was very real. What I mean is that there were struggles and joys, but nothing was very dramatic, even when some scenes were turning points in people's lives. It is difficult to make a story move forward and still evoke that feel of real life, but Miller does a great job of it in this book.
The book reinforced the idea that weapons and conflict should not be taken lightly. Stephen's story reminded me of a training I had with a sheriff's department. The officer said that people really underestimate the personal aftermath of doing violence to someone, even when the violence is justified. There was decades of aftermath in this book. I wish we would stress this more in the days when Americans shoot each other over every little fear.
Although my life is a lot different than Stephen's, we are about the same age. I thought Miller did a fantastic job of portraying a person of that age - a little beaten down, but not at all stupid or lazy, thinking a lot about both the past and the future.
The book was very real. What I mean is that there were struggles and joys, but nothing was very dramatic, even when some scenes were turning points in people's lives. It is difficult to make a story move forward and still evoke that feel of real life, but Miller does a great job of it in this book.