| The Gathering |  | Author: Anne Enright
Publisher: Grove Press, Black Cat
Category: eBooks
In Stock
Rating:  162 reviews
Sales Rank: 19,748
Format: Kindle Book
Media: Kindle Edition
Pages: 260
Number Of Items: 1
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
Publication Date: November 2, 2007
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Review
Amazon Significant Seven, November 2007: Pretty early on in The Gathering you realize that in her lingering portrait of the Hegarty clan (and this isn't hyperbole--they are a family of 12), Irish novelist Anne Enright will wrestle with all the giant literary tropes that have come before her. Family, of course, is the big one, but with equal intensity she explores death and dying, the sea and its siren song, sex, shame, secrecy, unreliable memories, madness, "the drink," and--always in the shadows--England. That said, it's not like any other novel about the Irish that I've read. The story of the Hegartys is indeed bleak, and hard, but it surges with tenderness and eloquent thought which, in the end, are the very things that help this family (or at least her narrator Veronica) survive. Through her eyes, and in Enright's skillful imagination, those small turning-point moments of life that we all know in some form or another--a petty fight, a careless word, an event witnessed--come together in an unshakeable vision of how you become the person you are. --Anne Bartholomew
Product Description
In the taut latest from Enright (What Are You Like?), middle-aged Veronica Hegarty, the middle child in an Irish-Catholic family of nine, traces the aftermath of a tragedy that has claimed the life of rebellious elder brother Liam. As Veronica travels to London to bring Liam's body back to Dublin, her deep-seated resentment toward her overly passive mother and her dissatisfaction with her husband and children come to the fore. Tempers flare as the family assembles for Liam's wake, and a secret Veronica has concealed since childhood comes to light. Enright skillfully avoids sentimentality as she explores Veronica's past and her complicated relationship with Liam. She also bracingly imagines the life of Veronica's strong-willed grandmother, Ada. A melancholic love and rage bubbles just beneath the surface of this Dublin clan, and Enright explores it unflinchingly.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 162
 Confused and poorly written August 10, 2010
Scott Michael Long (Guadalajara, Mexico)
Once again mislead by a Booker Prize selection. "The Gathering" is a confused, poorly written book. It is a pass for me for any other works by Ann Enright.
 very strange and hard to read August 2, 2010
Laura G (Madison, WI)
depressing book to read and hard to keep up with authors strange thoughts and dreams
 my first Enright novel - and I can't get it out of my head July 31, 2010
Euphegenia Arborist
I was given this book and had no preconceptions about the author. But what a writer! She impressed me time after time.
Without spoiling it for you (but while still responding to the undeservedly harsh criticisms here on the Amazon review page) I would say that the protagonist, Veronica, goes through an ironic shift from criticism of her family to self-insights that the author surprises her readers with. The structure of The Gathering is marvellous and must have taken an enormous amount of concentration - I can scarcely imagine the drive Enright clearly possesses.
I would love to discuss more the relationship between Veronica and Liam (her almost-twin brother), but I don't want to take the joy and torment of this book from you.
Let me just say that I finished reading The Gathering a few weeks ago, and am now here on Amazon to buy Enright's other books because I feel forlorn in the evenings without her.
very inconsistent and annoying May 19, 2010
whj
I have had good luck with Booker prize winners but not with this one. It is very annoying when the first few chapters demonstrate interesting writing and good potentials for the plots and then it just stops, not going anywhere. Nothing signficant happens until page 142, and even that is not very interesting at all. Throughout the book, there is numerous unnecessary mentioning of sex, as if it is from one of SNL sketches where it gets mentioned randomly (remember one of the sketches with Tom Hanks where "penis" is said multiple times?). I get that sex is relevant to this story, afterall, perpetual pregnant state of the protagonist's mother is a ubiquitous reminder of sex but in this case, just too random and feels almost too cheap.
Tedious and Obscure May 11, 2010
S. O'Connor (USA)
I did not like this book. The writing is tedious and obscure. The narrator is completely self-absorbed and extremely judgmental -- a thoroughly unlikeable voice to endure for page after page. Nothing was ever really resolved. I really can't say much except I'm relieved to have finished this one so I can move on to read something else. A book shouldn't be something to endure, it should be something to explore and enjoy. This one was neither.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 162
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