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Ilmetty (2011)

by Neil Jordan(Favorite Author)

3.35 of 5 Votes: 2

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

review 1: Neil Jordan is probably best known for his films but I prefer his work as a novelist. His writing is not to everyone’s taste, some would say that his interweaved plot lines and symbology are contrivances but I really like them; real life is generally quite amorphous and not particularly interesting, when I read a novel I want structure and I want drama. It could be likened to the painting of the pre-Raphaelites, vivid colours, plenty of contrast and considerable detail, often with naturalistic and seasonal embellishments that give the work a sense of time. That said he avoids trite and lazy second-hand symbology that has more place in visual art and focuses on the details that the narrating character notice as significant from their own experiences and expertise. To ... moredate I have read Tunisian Nights, Dream of a Beast, Shade and, most recently, Mistaken and each has been a pleasure to read. I would particularly recommend Mistaken and (even more) Shade. They are both epics of character development with time threads that shift seamlessly to weave together story lines so as to evoke parallels between different events such that the whole structure reflects the components which hold elements of the entirety in microcosm. Jordan’s ability to devise plots and build towards a final denouement through revelation is one of his great talents. Whilst not everyone will agree with me I think that both of these works are like an embodiment of a manifesto of how to write a good novel. Jordan’s use of the English (Irish!) language is lyrical but unpretentious, his observations are sharp and varied and he has a superbly sensual and evocative way of writing. His characters are believable but complex mixtures of good and bad in the manner of a modern day Dostoyevsky.For me a great novel is one that leaves me with a pang of regret when I have to surrogate intrigue and artful melancholia of the imagined world with the mundanity of everyday life. Mistaken and Shade especially have these qualities and I can only hope that he attains the audience he deserves as a novelist so that they may also enjoy the man’s genius. I cannot recommend his work highly enough.
review 2: This was a book that was hard to read in a single sitting. The story is about 2 Dublin boys, one wealthy and one middle class. For their entire lives, they have been mistaken for one another, even though they travel in different circles. They find each other and purposefully step into each other's lives when it suits them, accidently involving themselves in a murder along the way. The story begins at the funeral of one of the men, with the wife and daughter commenting on how similar this stranger is to their husband/father. Meeting after the funeral with the daughter, the surviving "twin" begins to tell her the story of their two lives, his and her father's, and how they were interchangable in each other's lives. Dark, twisted, fatalistic and very Irish in its telling. less

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