This is a charming novel about two boys and their families in a mill town in Canada, following Paul, the narrator, and his best friend Finnie Walsh through their friendship, starting at age seven. The boys bond over hockey, but this book is about friendship, family, tragedy, guilt, repercussions, eccentricities, love, and loyalty. It also has magical elements: foreseeing the future and making choices based on what is foreseen. It's also about dealing with Ahabs and other dangers, including crazy big brothers. It's about adjusting when horrible things happen, adjusting to life, and growing up. I loved all of it, including the wit and humor, and couldn't put it down.


P.S. It's possible that if I didn't like or understand hockey at all that I wouldn't like this book as much, but I don't think any knowledge of the game itself is necessary to appreciate the novel or its plot, characters, themes, etc.

P.S.P. If you've read and understood Moby Dick, there will also be allusions and other themes for you to recognize and appreciate, but the concepts are clear without having read about Ahab or Starbuck in advance. ( )

Paul Woodward isn't from a wealthy family, so when he sits beside Finnie Walsh, the son of the wealthy owner of the local mill, he doesn't know they shouldn't be friends. They become fast friends over hockey cards and hockey practice. Their friendship even endures beyond an accident involving the loss of Paul's father's arm and into adulthood as the boys pursue their love of hockey. Although I am not much of a hockey fan, I was surprised how much I enjoyed funny and heartfelt book that features quirky characters. This book would be appropriate for teens from grade 9-12, both boys and girls. ( )

Galloway achieved considerable, and well-deserved, success with his novel, The Cellist of Sarajevo. Finnie Walsh is his first novel, and it shows the promise of a first novel without the sophistication in theme and nuance exhibited in The Cellist of Sarajevo.

Paul Woodward lives in a small Canadian mill town where his father works in the mill and his best friend is Finnie Walsh, son of the man who owns the mill and half of all the other businesses in town. The boys are hockey fanatics and the novel traces their lives through adolescence into adulthood when they both have a stint in the NHL. As boys, they have different idols: for Paul it is Wayne Gretzky, for Finnie it is Peter Stasny and later, certain goaltenders as Finnie develops his own expertise in that position. Paul has a younger sister who sees visions of future events and continuously wears a life-jacket because she had a vision at one point that she would drown, which she nearly does in a skating accident that cuts her throat. Finnie’s family is dysfunctional with a distant father, dead mother, and three brothers who run afoul of the law; Finnie’s commitment to hockey is the centerpiece of his life, but this is lost when he defends Paul against one of his own teammates in an on-ice brawl and after that no team will have him.

The novel is told in the first person through the eyes of Paul, and the essence of the novel is summed up in the opening paragraph: “Finne Wlash will forever remain in my daily thoughts, not only because of the shocking circumstances of his absurd demise, but because he managed to misunderstand what was truly important even though he was right about almost everything else. Finne Walsh taught me that those in need of redemption are rarely those who become redeemed.”

I thought the story line wandered a bit and certainly did not have the thematic and action focus of The Cellist of Sarajevo. Finnie is a smart, sensitive kid, but a little too precocious and perceptive for a young kid at times. I also thought Finnie’s death was a too contrived and unlikely in the circumstances and effects built around it. But the writing is good, some good characters, and the reading unfolds smoothly.

YA fiction about Paul and his best friend Finnie, tracks their lives and friendship from childhood through young adulthood, with heavy emphasis on hockey and families.
Sweet and slightly magical. ( )