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Read Wild Decembers (2001)

Wild Decembers (2001)

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Genre
Rating
3.51 of 5 Votes: 5
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ISBN
0618126910 (ISBN13: 9780618126910)
Language
English
Publisher
mariner books

Wild Decembers (2001) - Plot & Excerpts

Edna O'Brien's prose reads like poetry. She conjures images from the mists of Irish mountains and the thick skin of peat bogs, her characters appearing wraith-like in a land of ancient legends and living superstitions. Her style lends a sense of timelessness to her stories and their settings and characters. With a few tweaks of detail, Wild Decembers could be set in late 19th century or pre-World War II Ireland as easily as the end of the 20th century.O'Brien's affinity for lyricism can distance the reader from the flesh and blood reality of her plot, but her skill with dialogue and the gut-wrenching dilemmas into which she plunges her characters ensure that the reader's heart will be caught firmly in her drama. Wild Decembers is a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions: star-crossed lovers separated by an ancient land dispute. At the heart of the conflict are two men who could be as close as brothers, yet who cling stubbornly to blurred maps and barbed wire, destroying with madness and violence all that they most love. O'Brien shows the lunacy of lust and the dark tunnels of depression with spare and sharp detail- there are disturbing scenes that will be long to leave my mind, all the more devastating because of their subtlety. This is a writer who continues to astonish me because of her adoration of beautiful language and her skill at stripping prose to its most primitive and, therefore, most powerful effect.

When Mick Bugler inherits a farm in Ireland on his uncle's death, he leaves his fiancée in Australia. His hope is that he can restore and build up the farm before she joins him. He brings investment, energy and the first tractor, to a neighbourhood struggling to survive the cold harsh conditions on the mountain. Family feuds dating back hundreds of years set the tone of Mick's relationship with his neighbour Joseph and Joseph's sister Breege. When disagreements about rights to land arise, old family arguments come to the surface and both relationships and people start to unravel.This is a poetically written book, painting a stark picture of farm life on the unforgiving mountain. It took me a while to understand this book, as the style is quite different to other books that I have been reading recently. I think I would need to read this book again to get a better feeling for the language and the stark landscape it describes.

What do You think about Wild Decembers (2001)?

Having enjoyed The House of Splendid Isolation, I took O'Brien's Wild Decembers (a quotation from Brontë) to Dublin on a long weekend vacation. Although it provided a pleasant enough counterpoint to my experience of that culture- and history-rich city, this book is distinctly less good. Set in the remote mountain village of Cloontha, it is a story of power, men's power over the land and men's power over women, both of which ultimately prove illusory. The tragedy inherent in this theme is offset by a comic view of lawyers and of Rita and Reena, two floozies who hunt as a pair, exerting their power over men as shamelessly as the men enjoy their power over women. Although well written, the book suffers from a plot that is too one-dimensional.
—Lachlan

What beautiful prose. I'm not fond of Irish lit, but Wild Decembers made me forget I was reading Irish English. I give it three stars solely for the language - if not the language, I would have stopped reading the story. I could not feel a single ounce of sympathy for Bugler who I thought was a smug bastard even as he was in the right. Neither did I feel moved by Breege's plight - I did not understand why she would fall for a callow bugger like Mick, to the extent of going hysterical, and no, the prose did not help me understand. I did feel sad for Joe though - poor Joe, him I could identify with, his loneliness, his sense of entitlement and later betrayal. Poor, poor Joe. I don't think he should have done what he did, but I definitely understood his psyche.Editing to add: Weird shifts in narration - pages where Breege does this and Joe does that, and in some chapters it switches to first person. What gives?
—Chaitra

A few years ago I was fortunate enough to tour parts of Western Ireland. I fell in love with a brief story I read on a momument to Grace O'Malley in Westport. In that town, there were also a few pubs named after her in some way. What a gal. She defeated the balance of the Spanish Armada after the British Navy had warded them off. She was offered titles and rewards by Queen Elizabeth I, but declined them stating she was an Irish Queen and didn't require anything further. This book is a great account of Irish history and the world of Grace in one. It details the oppression indiginous people felt at the hands of their invaders. Horrible twists of history. It is posted as an elongated conversation with Queen Elizabeth I which is rumored to have taken place, but never really proven. It seems a little contrived that QE would sit still long enough to listen to this lengthy yarn. But, hey, who am I to let reality distort a wonderful tale. Again, enjoy. Check out her island, Clare Island, on GoogleEarth. It is just off the shore of the Westport area shore.
—Ruth

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