niamhleonard

Spoliers contained in this review. I loved 'The Art of the Engine Driver' and 'The Time We Have Taken', so snapped this title up on the 'new purchases pile' of our local library eagerly awaiting a fresh title from Steven Carroll. The TS Eliot connection was not revealed until the end and I think for this story, it was a mistake. Had I realised the significance earlier, I would probably have paid more mind. The story was trivial, repetitive and did not develop into a credible story in my opinion. I think the lack lustre development was compounded by the fact that it was read by a woman with a strong accent (Deidre Rubenstein) that grated and I was relieved that it was only 5 CDs in total. I have listened to other books read by Rubenstein but none grated on my nerves as this one. I would have loved the author to read this book and all the way through the reading wondered how the sotry would have developed with the same text written by a male, particularly by the author who was obviously passionate about his subject.I got the impression that this story was very special to him from the interview at the end of the book. I gather that it was a special project for him that he translated from a play, haunted by the story in his head and was not ready to let it go. These factors aside, the descriptive scenes were well set, the reader could jettison back to the Burnt Garden landscape of the 1930's, but the repitition bounced me out of the story, distracted, away from significant directions and milestones which merged into the ordinariness of the rest of the text. I missed a lot of important milestones and had to rewind. I had no idea of the connection to TS Eliot until the end of the story, having not read the synopsis beforehand. Sorry Steven, a bit lack lustre for me.

2023-01-08 13:22