Days Without End
Ratings14
Average rating4.5
15
Ratings14
Average rating4.5
Winner of the 2016 Costa Book of the Year and longlisted for the 2017 Man Booker Prize.
Sebastian Barry's sensational new novel set in mid-19th Century America.
After signing up for the US army in the 1850s, aged barely seventeen, Thomas McNulty and his brother-in-arms, John Cole, fight in the Indian Wars and the Civil War.Having both fled terrible hardships, their days are now vivid and filled with wonder, despite the horrors they both see and are complicit in. Then when a young Indian girl crosses their path, the possibility of lasting happiness seems within reach, if only they can survive.
Featured Series
2 primary booksDays Without End is a 2-book series with 2 primary works first released in 2016 with contributions by Sebastian Barry.
Reviews with the most likes.
Barry effortlessly constructs a beautiful epic war narrative in Days Without End. The harsh and destructive nature of war is beautifully interwoven with glimmers of camaraderie and humanity. The peppering of the beautiful relationship between John Coles and Thomas McNulty is subtle and adds to the complexity of the war narrative and war trauma on the human psyche. This novel seems to me to have glimmers of Steinbeck's great American narrative within it. I felt a connection with the characters and a connection to the wider narrative. I really enjoyed Barry's Irish dialogue in the novel. I loved the depth of the novel and the conflicted characters of McNulty and Cole. I respected the true and harsh depictions of Americans brutality to the native Indian community at this time as well as the truthful depiction of the American civil war. A very strong and impressive war narrative. Upon reflection a now 5 star read. A must read for fans of war narratives and deep books that conflict and move you. Not a book for the faint hearted.
