Bernard MacLaverty
Autore di Cal
Sull'Autore
Bernard MacLaverty lives in Glasgow.
Opere di Bernard MacLaverty
Opere correlate
New Dubliners: Original Stories Celebrating 100 Years of Joyce's Dubliners (2005) — Collaboratore — 26 copie
Etichette
Informazioni generali
- Nome canonico
- MacLaverty, Bernard
- Altri nomi
- Mac Laverty, Bernard
- Data di nascita
- 1942-09-14
- Sesso
- male
- Nazionalità
- UK
- Nazione (per mappa)
- Northern Ireland, UK
- Luogo di nascita
- Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK
- Luogo di residenza
- Glasgow, Scotland, UK
Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK - Attività lavorative
- medical lab technician
English teacher
writer-in-residence
creative writing teacher - Organizzazioni
- Aosdána
University of Aberdeen (writer in residence)
University of Strathclyde (Visiting Writer/Professor) - Premi e riconoscimenti
- The Lord Provost of Glasgow's Award for Literature (2005)
Creative Scotland Award (2002)
Utenti
Recensioni
Liste
Premi e riconoscimenti
Potrebbero anche piacerti
Autori correlati
Statistiche
- Opere
- 21
- Opere correlate
- 8
- Utenti
- 2,072
- Popolarità
- #12,406
- Voto
- 3.7
- Recensioni
- 59
- ISBN
- 173
- Lingue
- 12
- Preferito da
- 9
Reading Bernard MacLaverty is like watching a master craftsman at work. Consider the following description of a busy coffee-shop:
Coffee places were so noisy. This one sounded like they were making the Titanic rather than cups of coffee - the grinder going at maximum volume, screaming on and on - making enough coffee grounds for the whole of Europe while another guy was shooting steam through milk with supersonic hissing. A girl unpacked a dishwasher, clacking plates and saucers into piles. A third barista was banging the metal coffee-holder against the rim of the stainless steel bar to empty it - but doing it with such venom and volume that Gerry jumped at every strike. Talking was impossible. It was so bad he couldn't even hear if there was muzak or not. And still the grinder went on and on trying to reduce a vessel of brown-black beans to dust. Stella had to yell her order.
In a few lines of deceptively simple description, MacLaverty conjures up the scene in uncanny detail, while also giving us an inkling of his protagonists’ thoughts and inner turmoil.
The same keen sense of observation is brought to bear on the couple’s marriage and on the subjects of old age, sectarian violence, alcoholism and faith. These are the catalysts for the couple's drifting apart, even though there is much to show that at heart they do care for each other. As for the author’s attitude towards religion, I liked the fact that, despite no longer being a believer let alone a practising Catholic, he treats Stella’s faith with both understanding and delicacy.
This is, in many ways, a brilliant novel. But be prepared – because of its subjects, I found it also unremittingly bleak… (altro)