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Staring At Lakes: A Memoir Of Love, Melancholy And Magical Thinking (2013)

by Michael Harding(Favorite Author)

3.48 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

144474349X (ISBN13: 9781444743494)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Hachette Books Ireland

review 1: I left it a bit too long to write my notes and I've forgotten quite a bit of the book. I chose this book because I was interested to find out if he has found "that something" that the book cover was suggesting. Unfortunately, I didn't find what it was and I'm not sure the author did but then that's life, and maybe that's what he wanted to tell us. No sudden enlightments but copying with life and learning a tiny bit as we go through it. I can certainly say though that his wife is a saint putting up with him. |And I'm not sure I got his sense of humour too well.
review 2: I was a bit disappointed that this book didn't live up to my expectations. Three Bord Gáis awards is pretty impressive but maybe this just isn't my kind of book. It felt a bit self-indulgent an... mored dreary.Michael suffers from depression but bravely carries on working through it, travelling around the country with a one man show doped up on medication and getting back into his bed in a darkened room as quickly as possible till the next show is on. There were some passages I really liked, like the one about the dishwasher. He left his wife because they could not agree on the best way to fill it. Small dramas like this can become big issues for couples.Also the part about his daughter's pony and when the time came to sell him to another 'princess' was beautifully written. His description of the Celtic Tiger hitting Mullingar was well done too. Some parts were told a few times over as if the book was made up of individual pieces patched together. That felt a bit unnecessary.For most of the book, his wife is referred to as 'the artist','the dark-haired woman' or 'lady in the amber sari or 'my lady wife' or 'my beloved'. This makes the author sound separate and apart from her and his daughter.I'd like to rate it 2.5/5 if I was allowed. I think Goodreads should adjust their rating system to allow half stars. less

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