Reviews

That They May Face The Rising Sun by John McGahern

moviesnob04's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective relaxing sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

denisevictoria's review against another edition

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5.0

Another surprising read. I had no idea what to expect as I'd never read any of John McGahern's books before and didn't know anyone that had. But he manages (wonderfully so) to describe a year in the life of rural Ireland where, frankly, not much happens. It was a beautiful and slightly melancholy read.

faintgirl's review

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2.0

Isn't Ireland wonderful? Just the very fact that it exists and old men get drunk there makes for endless tales of rural joy and occasional moments of pain that are so intrinsically wonderful to tell in great detail that there is absolutely no need for anything to happen. At all. Kate and Ruttledge move back to Ireland from their nasty awful non Irish lives in London and then they grow a few plants and buy and sell a few sheep and that's pretty much it. But there's a guy called Jamesie who occasionally embarrasses his family when drunk and a loquacious local who may or may not be a rapist so you know, what else do you need? Ugh.

tliddy1997's review

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emotional reflective relaxing sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

joyce_appreciator's review against another edition

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funny hopeful reflective relaxing slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

or a man to bang out a book like this at the age of 70 is absolutely obscene stuff. Most probably my book of the year thus far and having read all of JMcG’s prose works now up there with The Dark for his crowning achievement. 314 pages with no chapter breaks and a complete non-plot and yet the sheer beauty of it is so striking that you can’t put it down. Little narrative threads flicker in and out as an incredible pattern of variation and repetition builds up. Ruttledge might stretch some credibility with how much of a goody two-shoes he is but given the unremitting bleakness of the rest of his canon I’ll let JMcG off

elcashdee's review against another edition

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reflective relaxing slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

lisainbookland's review against another edition

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challenging reflective relaxing slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I picked this up after seeing the film and I really enjoyed it. I would say it’s better to do it in that order though - there’s no plot to spoil and you’ll have an idea whether you’ll enjoy it before investing all the time as it’s a good adaptation, albeit changing a few plot points. Joe (Ruttelage) and Kate have moved back from London to a remote farm and it’s the story of them and all their neighbours in about the 70s over the course of a year. Having known older people who are very like a lot of the characters in this book and living on a farm myself, I loved the setting but it might not be for everyone. A beautiful, magical book.

teokajlibroj's review

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5.0

This is a fantastic book - for what it is. There should be a small note on the book to let people know what they are getting into. This book has essentially no plot and not much happens in it. But that doesn't mean it is one of those dull pretentious literary books where the author spends a whole chapter describing a tree and the reader is bored to death.

This is a book about characters. If you want a book about interesting characters and dialogue, this is for you. Nothing in the book happens other than characters appearing and talking. McGahern brilliantly captures the way people talk and this makes the book very enjoyable.

chipie's review

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mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

ksprokes's review

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adventurous funny hopeful reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75