What do You think about Everything In This Country Must (2001)?
This is my first Colum McCann book. After reading this one, I will definitely read more. His writing, while spare, considered and focused, was almost lyrical in its use of language, and drove me to re-read many sentences I found particularly lovely. As an example, I quote this from the first story in the book (**potential spoiler**):"The ticking was gone from my mind and all was quiet everywhere in the world and I held the curtain like I held the sound of the bullets going into the draft horse, his favourite, in the barn, one two three, and I stood at the window in Stevie’s jacket and looked and waited and still the rain kept coming down outside one two three and I was thinking oh what a small sky for so much rain."Wonderful.Both stories and the novella are told from the point of view of children, and all concern the Troubles in Northern Ireland. I think it's particularly difficult to write about Northern Irish politics, and most who do fall into the inevitable pitfalls of sentimentality, outrage, or too closely aligning with one political viewpoint. McCann avoids most of these problems by viewing events through the eyes of those too young to be yet jaded or hysterical. This is particularly true in the stories, which I found more successful than the novella. The novella, Hunger Strike, was the most thought-provoking but the least polished of the stories in this book, for me. It concerns a Derry teenager whose mother has removed him to Galway while his uncle is on hunger strike in prison. I appreciated that McCann didn't feel compelled to give us a history lesson here, and anyone who doesn't know their history can get themselves to Google and figure out who Bobby Sands was on their own. The fury and injustice of this time in history are encapsulated in young Kevin, whose coming of age is marked by his rage and helplessness. He is so angry, and so powerless to do anything. He is relegated to wearing a black armband far from his home and the ongoing riots. While his uncle starves to death and his hometown burns, Kevin plays video games in a Galway arcade and takes up kayaking with an elderly Lithuanian couple. I think, in the end, I wanted more clarification on what Kevin's final act signifies, although perhaps the random violence is an answer in itself.
—Erin
Two stories and a novella. The novella is an absolute stunner, a thing of beauty, and ranks as one if the very best pieces I have had the fortune to read. Think of McCann as Joyce mixed with Hemingway, although this is a stupid way of putting things. But if you liked Old Man and the Sea, you will love this. All three works have an adolescent protagonist. McCann really captures this age of flux perfectly, and in a serious tone. This is quite unlike what others, say David Mitchell, do with their adolescents. They make them fun. McCann, on the other hand, grounds his young ones in the same conflicts as the elders.
—Tanuj Solanki
After thinking about it for a few days I'm changing my rating from 4 to 5 stars. This is a collection of two short stories and a novella, all set in Northern Ireland during "The Troubles" of the late 70's, early 80's and all told from a child's point of view. McCann not only explores the politcal struggles of that time, but the struggles kids face when they feel pulled in two different directions. In the first story "Everything in this Country Must" a young girl struggles with her feelings of gratitude towards a group of British soldiers and her loyalty to her father after the soldiers free their horse from a river.In "Wood" a young boy helps his mother with a job comissioned by the British while keeping it a secret from his father. The novella "Hunger Strike" is about a boy whose uncle has recently joined the hunger strike in the H Block of Long Kesh prison, after Bobby Sands and a few others have already died. The boy's mother has moved them from Northern Ireland to Galway so they can escape the mayhem but he longs to be back there, to be in the thick of things.McCann's writing is sparse, almost terse, but he packs so much into every sentence. Although the subject matter here is sad, McCann manages not to make it depressing, which is quite an accomplishment. A lot of times when the writing is stark, the descriptions bleak, the book becomes heavy and depressing, but not here. I have always loved authors who write they lyrical descriptions, they make me want to savor every word (think Pat Conroy, Amy Tan.) McCann is almost the opposite, he's not flowery, he doesn't go on for pages and pages about the Irish countryside, making you feel as if you're there. McCann writes these short little sentences that squeeze your heart. In the first story (I returned my copy to the library so I'm paraphrasing) he writes "the sky seemed too small for so much rain."I have to read more by McCann.
—Joanie
