August book review Milkman by Anna Burns

 

August’s read was Milkman by Anna Burns, this was discussed by a small group at The Coach House in September.

“Milkman” is written in an unusual style, where none of the characters is named, only referred to by titles such as “ first brother-in-law or “maybe boyfriend” . The author writes in the first person about a period of the life of a young woman in 1970’s Northern Ireland during The Troubles. There is a great deal of descriptive prose, and the chapters and paragraphs are very long, making finding stopping places a bit difficult.

There were mixed opinions of the book amongst the group. Some like Anne Marie loved it, enjoying the gritty presentation of the story, while Pauline and Joan found it difficult to get into, though it improved as the second half of the story developed. Joan had listened to much of it on audio, and felt that it was much improved by this, the narrator being an Irish female which helped with the atmosphere.

The book was considered by some members as to be too wordy, with Carole and Pauline admitting to missing some chunks out, and some members not able to finish it or even start it !!. It was , however considered by the group to be strongly evocative of how life must have been to live in this violent era in Ireland. Where fear and suspicion were a part of everyday life for ordinary people.

We gave the book a score of 3.5 ( undermarked in AnneMarie’s  view.)

Written by Pauline.