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Cargando... Last Days in Cleaver Square (2021)por Patrick McGrath
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A haunting and atmospheric novel from the author of Asylum, Trauma and The Wardrobe Mistress. ___________________________________________ 'An atmospheric novel, with a magnificently unreliable narrator . . . McGrath is a connoisseur of this literary tradition.' Financial Times 'The pleasure in a Patrick McGrath novel is the travelling, not the arrival, and this is a rare novel that has pleasure on every page.' The Times 'Unfailingly deft in his handling of trauma and deceit.' Guardian ___________________________________________ 'Let there be no more of this clucking and wheedling. Oh Pa, are you sure? Or- Oh Francis, is this really a good idea? Let me be clear. I am always sure, and it is always a good idea.' An old man is sleeping fitfully. It's too hot. The air is thick with Spanish Jasmine floating in from his overgrown garden. And he's not sure whether he'll be woken by General Franco sitting on the end of his bed. It's 1975 and Francis McNulty is nearing the end of his life but feeling far from peaceful. A veteran of the Spanish Civil War, he is tormented by grief and guilt about a brief, terrible act of betrayal from that time; and he's started seeing his old nemesis on the street, in the garden and now in his bedroom. Neither he nor his daughter Gillian, who lives with him in Cleaver square, know what to do. When Gillian announces her impending marriage to a senior civil servant, Francis realises that he must adapt to new circumstances - and that the time has come to confront his past once and for all. ___________________________________________ 'McGrath is a conjuror of fine detail . . . a master of the unreliable narrator - the best in the business.' JOHN SELF, The Times 'Wonderful. So atmospheric, engaging and engrossing . . . all the characters and relationships were superb.' CATHY RETZENBRINK 'This is a wonderful, thrilling novel . . . in Last Days in Cleaver Square McGrath has broken through to new depths of insight and emotion.' JOHN BANVILLE 'It has a wonderful otherworldly quality that keeps you turning the pages . . I can't think of anything else quite like it. It weaves a kind of spell.' RACHEL JOYCE No se han encontrado descripciones de biblioteca. |
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 Google Books — Cargando...GénerosSistema Decimal Melvil (DDC)823.00Literature English English fiction By TypeClasificación de la Biblioteca del CongresoValoraciónPromedio: (4.25)
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There is a balance of atonement and revenge here that is nice along with some wry insights into his own character. So much so that I wonder if any man can see inside himself so dispassionately or clearly. Maybe he only wants us to think so. While McGrath does the unreliable narrator very well, Francis is not one of them. Even if the ghoul is a product of his own dementia or delusion, he believes it and tries to explain it. Painstakingly, haltingly he also explains himself. He is tortured by his betrayal of his one true love, another volunteer in the war. Imprisoned and sentenced to die, Francis is no Sidney Carten. The opposite. And while all too human, it is all too heartbreaking as well.
Some choice lines -
(in reference to himself and the ghoul) “But death be not proud, I thought. Take him now before he can do any more damage. Or to be precise, before he can do old Francis McNulty any more damage, for I am frankly haunted.” p 11
(in reference to his older and beloved sister) “Dear God but I despair of these women who abandon their filters in age and just say whatever comes into their heads.” p 20 (not me, I love these ladies and look forward to being one!)
(once more in reference to the ghoul) “And to live in the world and carry within myself this what - mystery - this knot of fog - impossible to articulate without arousing suspicion that I am, yes, going mad - this is now my task as I see it.” p 57
(convinced her father shouldn’t live alone, but come to live with her and her husband she says)
“Oh, Papa, Papa, what does that matter now?
You notice the now? Some freight it carried, that now - when your life is all but over, she meant, when you are so very close to the grave you can practically count the worms.” p 82
Oh and vocabulary word! Persiflage - n. Light and slightly contemptuous mockery or banter.
Wonderful! (