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The Thing About December (2013)

by Donal Ryan(Favorite Author)

4 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

1448154049 (ISBN13: 9781448154043)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

Transworld Digital

review 1: I enjoyed this book until the ending, which simply does not ring true. Johnsey is slowly growing into the world, the story slowly gets interesting as he makes friends and begins to confront the world, and then Ryan suddenly goes for a shock value ending and empty literary pyrotechnics. It's as if he wasn't sure where the story was going and couldn't be bothered to find out, so he chopped in a horribly contrived ending and hoped he was making a serious point. Until the final 20 pages or so, this is beautfully observed, touching, funny and well-written. This book could have been wonderful, but it feels like a massive disappointment.
review 2: Best book I read in June, 2014, If you're an ee-jit or averse to local jargon in fiction, you might not take to this shor... moret novel set in a small Irish village. The Thing About December is the story of a challenged Johnny Cunliffe trying to hold onto what is familiar in his life while it slips like sand through his hands. In general, Cunliffe's treatment by the local townspeople ranges from grudging acknowledgement to flat-out physical abuse. So, Johnny finds himself at a brand new low level of disadvantageousness when his mother passes away. The Unthanks, the sneakily motivated proprietors of the village bakery, may be one of the best descriptive names ever in a novel. I suspect they are Irish cousins of the slimy French innkeepers in Les Miserables. They pretend to care about Cunliffe, but they have a whole other agenda going on here. Ryan has a gift in his magnificent ability to write and tell a story. His two books are the best things that have happened in my life in 2014. The Thing About December tells a story of the same small town depicted in The Spinning Heart. Although it was released after The Spinning Heart, it was written before. And tells the story of another young man caught in the grip of forces and small-town incivility. The Thing About December is told in a more standard narrative form than The Spinning Heart and may be an easier introduction to these wonderful stories Ryan tells for us. less

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