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John Il Visionario (2011)

by Peter Murphy(Favorite Author)

3.25 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

8864112081 (ISBN13: 9788864112084)

languge

English

genre

Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction

publisher

Fazi

review 1: Solid debut novel which is not particularly unique subject-wise (rural coming-of-age story told from the point of view of a troubled teenage boy) but what marks this out is the sinister Gothic feel and the quality of writing by Murphy who has a great ear for word combinations that sing together and talent for telling a story very compellingly. I look forward to seeing what he will do in the future.
review 2: A cover blurb by Colm Toibin was enough to get me to read this first novel, and by and large, I enjoyed it. I only kept it out of four-star territory because I think the story was meant to be a deeply profound exploration of the protagonist's relationship with his mother, and that didn't come through for me. I also was put off by Murphy's insistence on incl... moreuding dream excerpts that were really much more amateurish than the rest of the novel.The strong points were his evocation of a small southeastern Irish town and the way the protagonist was drawn to a mysterious new friend, Jamie, who came from a more affluent family and had a gift for writing stories, but who also had a penchant for hanging out with low-level biker criminals, which eventually got them both into serious trouble.The relationship with Jamie was much more interesting and the crisis caused by one drunken night in the local church was a much better pivot point than the protagonist's relationship with his Bible quoting but sickly mother and her bossy friend, Mrs. Nagle.I hope Murphy keeps trying because he has a gift for short stories -- even if he is not quite up to the task of a decent novel yet. less

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