Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3047 in Books
• Published on: 2007-09-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Amazon.com Review
Amazon Significant Seven, November 2007: Pretty early on in The Gathering you realize that in her lingering portrait of the Hegarty clan (and this isn't hyperbole--they are a family of 12), Irish novelist Anne Enright will wrestle with all the giant literary tropes that have come before her. Family, of course, is the big one, but with equal intensity she explores death and dying, the sea and its siren song, sex, shame, secrecy, unreliable memories, madness, "the drink," and--always in the shadows--England. That said, it's not like any other novel about the Irish that I've read. The story of the Hegartys is indeed bleak, and hard, but it surges with tenderness and eloquent thought which, in the end, are the very things that help this family (or at least her narrator Veronica) survive. Through her eyes, and in Enright's skillful imagination, those small turning-point moments of life that we all know in some form or another--a petty fight, a careless word, an event witnessed--come together in an unshakeable vision of how you become the person you are. --Anne Bartholomew

From Publishers Weekly
In the taut latest from Enright (What Are You Like?), middle-aged Veronica Hegarty, the middle child in an Irish-Catholic family of nine, traces the aftermath of a tragedy that has claimed the life of rebellious elder brother Liam. As Veronica travels to London to bring Liam's body back to Dublin, her deep-seated resentment toward her overly passive mother and her dissatisfaction with her husband and children come to the fore. Tempers flare as the family assembles for Liam's wake, and a secret Veronica has concealed since childhood comes to light. Enright skillfully avoids sentimentality as she explores Veronica's past and her complicated relationship with Liam. She also bracingly imagines the life of Veronica's strong-willed grandmother, Ada. A melancholic love and rage bubbles just beneath the surface of this Dublin clan, and Enright explores it unflinchingly. (Sept.)
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From Bookmarks Magazine
The Gathering, Irish author Anne Enright’s fourth novel, displays the author’s exceptional skill at exposing dysfunctional family dynamics and the hollow pretense of middle-class life in newly affluent, postmodern Ireland. Her light, elegant prose and rich portrait of the Hegartysâ€"of Veronica, in particularâ€"won praise from the critics. While recognizing that some readers may find the story lacking in plot, they applauded the depth and intensity of this "slow deconstruction of memory and self" (Los Angeles Times). Bleak and unsentimental, Veronica’s interior dialogues are nevertheless lyrical and clever. Though at times Enright may strain to encompass too much of the Irish experience, critics generally agreed that this dark, evocative novel was a worthy recipient of the 2007 Man Booker Prize.

Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Difficulty coming to terms
Anne Enright has written a book that will (and has) spark debates for years to come. Admittedly, this book is not for everyone and more often than not the reader will have to re read it to fully understand what this book is about. I, for one, enjoyed this grim tale of Veronica Hegarty. The backdrop of the story is Irish and we're taken on an arduous journey of a woman trying to escape the Catholic Church. The story unfolds when her brother Liam commits suicide and Veronica is forced to bring the body from England - the scene of his death.

Veronica tells the story of the dark family secrets dating back to her Grandparents and vaulting forward to her present day in an effort to unweave this family tree. We learn of the trouble that harbors deep within her as a result of her childhood. Veronica is lost in her own world and seems to be unable to express her emotions and damages her psyche. Anne Enright has done a remarkable job outlining the troubling life of this thirty something woman who finds difficulty in gripping reality. Another book I would highly recommend is "Sirens by Tin Geo" Sirens:A Novel A great novel that came paired with "The Gathering"

Frustrating
I was very much looking forward to "The Gathering", yet I must say it is my least favourite recent Booker winner. Anne Enright certainly writes well. Her words are well chosen and the book is generally well crafted.

I often enjoy books written on families and the hidden rage and secrets that exist. This book is typical of many others thematically and since Enright is a skillful writer, it should have the basics for a good book.

Her switches back and forth in time are very sloppy. I found myself very frustrated reading this book and didn't enjoy it much at all. I think this could have been very good but ultimately fails to entertain or provide insight. I probably disliked the characters more than I should have because I began to dislike Enright's style and frustration with her translated into frustration with the characters.


The tone reminded a little bit of John Banville's "The Sea", the Booker winner of 2005. While I didn't love "The Sea", I felt it was a much tighter book. Additionally, Banville is poetic at every turn.

I can't recommend "The Gathering". The craftmanship didn't make up for the frustration I felt in reading it.

Won no prizes with this reader
Happy was the day when I gave up on this book a quarter of the way through and returned it to the library. I enjoy literary fiction and looked forward to this Man Booker prize winner, based on a review in the press. The "gathering" in this Irish novel is triggered by the suicide of one in a large family of siblings. What ultimately frustrated me about the narrative was the incessantly negative voice of Veronica, the sister who tells the tale. She is a singularly joyless character, who finds little to animate her in any affirmative way. In the portion I read, neither she (nor the author) contributed any leavening, by way of humor or irony, to this relentlessly unpleasant voice, whether it spoke of current or past events. Darkness is not the problem. Some writers can make dark stories sing -- the Canadian writer Ann-Marie MacDonald in Fall On Your Knees, for example. But I found nothing in either the prose or the story to keep me pushing forward with The Gathering. Life is too short, and there is too much excellent -- and entertaining -- writing out there to spend my time with this book.