Milkman

I am really stuck on this review. I don't think I have ever been so on the fence with a rating as much as for this book. I have a real soft spot for Ireland, the Irish and Irish authors. I love the language and the phrases, I love the accent. This book contained good things, and things that detracted for me.

There is no plot to be learned from this review, and I have resisted quotes (other than a few words), mainly because the good ones are long (ie laziness).

So in the positives for Milkman, I loved that Ma lowered herself into her chair, then highered herself out of it; that everyone on the outer was beyond the pale; that Middle sister said “Ach,” which depending on the context, can mean anything at all (this is true): I love the oddness of Irish language and phrasing, it is is nice to find it in written form.

I also enjoyed the nonsense of the names - maybe-boyfriend, third brother-in-law, tablets girl's sister, the wee sisters, longest friend... also the traditional women, the women with the issues, and the pious women.

I even enjoyed (some) of the conversational diversions - these are not uncommon in Ireland, where a conversation moves sideways faster than it moves forward. It is very endearing, and I miss that from the four years I lived in Dublin. Yes, this book is set in the north, but these are common Irish traits, both the odd phrasing and the odd conversational circles.

Which leads me to the negatives - and some mitigating factors.
I am not a fan of very long chapters; I am not a fan of very long paragraphs. This book consists of both. There is perhaps justification in this book for both - given the stream of consciousness form - where it reinforces the relentlessness of the internal thoughts of middle sister. I did also struggle with some of the story diversions, particularly in the first half of the book where there wasn't the continuity. That said, I either adjusted to it for the second half, or the diversions became more relevant to the plot, because this was much less of an issue in the second half.
There was also the rambling and circling around, rehashing and changing of opinion - this was obviously purposeful, and another way the author illustrated the emotional pressure and internal analysis that middle sister was dealing with - but man, that was hard to keep reading when it interrupted the flow of the already slow narrative!

So I can see why people would give this up 50 or even 150 pages into it, but I think it is worth persisting with (on balance). There is little doubt that for me this was an exhausting read.

There is a bleakness, and a reality in this book. It says on the blurb on the back cover that in this [...] city, to be interesting is dangerous. To be anything out of the ordinary, to be flamboyant, to stand out, to be different. To be stuck between religion and politics, where each side for the most part have irreconcilable differences of opinion. This must be an unbelievably difficult place to be for anyone, but especially an 18 year old. The claustrophobia, the constant threat of violence, continually being under surveillance. The non-use of names in this book seems to reflect all the above - anonymity and being unidentified can only be a good thing. All the families are touched by the violence, the kangaroo courts, the oppression.

So there we go, and that really leaves me only to apply my middle-of-the-road, fence-sitting three stars to this review. It also continues my very inconsistent relationship with Man Booker prize winners!