Perhaps my knowing Celine makes me a bit biased but adored this book. I've never been a huge fan of novels about Irish families in general as I often find it very easy to criticize. But this book seemed to capture the essence of the irishness of the characters that both made it familiar to me but also universally accesible. The story is engrossing and I found that I had to slow myself down to fully appreciate all aspects of the novel. It was brilliant and fantastic and awesome and I cannot say enough about this book.