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City Of Bohane (2011)

by Kevin Barry(Favorite Author)

3.77 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0224090577 (ISBN13: 9780224090575)

languge

English

genre

Fantasy

publisher

Jonathan Cape

review 1: This book is about a world. Kevin Barry excels at setting a scene or ,in this case building a world. While his cast of characters is indeed colourful and intriguing in their motives, there is no central focus. The story revolves around different power struggles, be it marital or in thugish "Fancy" gang. I struggled to read this book as I didn't really care who came out on top. Characters often serve as set dressing for the futuristic and vaguely dystopian Ireland. This Ireland is not one most would be familiar with. The common language,in the book, is currently that spoken by residents of Limerick city. Even for Irish readers it can be a struggle to interpret the exchanges between characters. Saying that however, this mode of speech is oddly compelling. Barry allows us to ... morelearn the speech and improve our ear for it. Despite my main complaint with the novel, I would recommend it to anyone interested in alien futures. The Irish element adds charm to the piece, distinguishing Barry's work from his contemporaries.
review 2: I really disliked this book. I tried to read it once, and didn't like it, but on the second try I decided it wasn't worth it 15% of the way through. The made-up dialect is harsh and full of try-to-guess-the-rest-of-the-word apostrophes (which I hate.) I know this is supposed to reflect the harsh conditions of Bohane's organized-crime based world, but I like neither this form of language, nor this kind of society. All of the characters are unappealing. Two thumbs down. less

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