Robert McLiam Wilson
Paperback | Pages: 396 pages Rating: 4.18 | 2956 Users | 254 Reviews
Specify Epithetical Books Eureka Street
| Title | : | Eureka Street |
| Author | : | Robert McLiam Wilson |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Special Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 396 pages |
| Published | : | February 22nd 1999 by Ballantine Books (first published 1996) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Cultural. Ireland. European Literature. Irish Literature. Historical. Historical Fiction |
Description In Pursuance Of Books Eureka Street
In a city blasted by years of force and fury, but momentarily stilled by a cease-fire, two unlikely friends search for that most human of needs: love. But of course, a night of lust will do. Jake Jackson and Chuckie Lurgan--one Catholic, one Protestant--navigate their sectarian city and their nonsectarian friendship with wit and style. Chuckie, an unemployed dreamer, stumbles into bliss with a beautiful American who lives in Belfast. Jake, a repo man with the soul of a poet, can only manage a hilarious war of insults with a spitfire Republican whose Irish name, properly pronounced, sounds like someone choking. Brilliant, exuberant, and bitingly funny, Eureka Street introduces us to one of the finest young writers to emerge from Ireland in years.Details Books Toward Eureka Street
| Original Title: | Eureka Street |
| ISBN: | 0345427130 (ISBN13: 9780345427137) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Setting: | Belfast, Northern Ireland(United Kingdom) |
Rating Epithetical Books Eureka Street
Ratings: 4.18 From 2956 Users | 254 ReviewsComment On Epithetical Books Eureka Street
I joined Goodreads after a bad experience with a collection of loosely tied short stories that shall remain nameless. That book hit me over the head with a bat, kicked me in the gut, drove over me and dropped what was left in a frozen river from a tall bridge. It was a formative experience, but at the moment I hated it so much -so much- fiercely, with passion. And on top of that I thought it was pretty shitty; the proportion quality/effect it had on me was completely off. So I told myself never4,5/5How does one live in a city scarred by religious riots and terrorist attacks ? Well, just about like anybody else. In Belfast, in the 1990s, Chuckie, Jake and their group of weird friends are going on about their lives, finding and losing jobs, talking about sex and boobs, breaking up and mending up with girlfriends. Anything but being catholic or Protestant. And yet, thats everywhere. Bombs and tags and threats and death. On the tv, on the radio, on the corner of their street. It is a
I loved this book! It was assigned reading in college and I was dreading it. Once I started, I couldn't put it down. The characters lives are so interesting....it leaves you wanting more. A great read!!
Jake and Chuckie are friends, living their everyday lives during the chaos of the "troubles" of the late nineties, just looking for love, and loving their city of Belfast. Wonderfully written and educational (for those like me, who know next to nothing about that time).
Don't know how I stumbled upon this novel--maybe one of those pop-up recommendations from Good Reads?--but I'm really glad I did. I'm not particularly interested in Northern Ireland, but I am interested in great writing, and this is great writing. I can't remember the last time I've been so moved by the VOICE in a novel. It's impossible not to fall in love with first-person Jake.
I loved this book when I started reading it. The first half is incredibly funny (often laugh-out-loud hysterical), with a clear voice that pulls you along effortlessly. It satirizes The Troubles in Northern Ireland brilliantly. But after reaching the half-way point (chapter 11 -- a really moving stand alone story, which by itself is worth reading this book for), it goes downhill immediately. Nothing happens, the jokes become more predictable (i.e. didn't we just read all this?), and everything
The author does a very good job of placing the reader right in the middle of 1990s wartorn Belfast. His book is full of memorable characters with Dickensian names who get into hilarious and sometimes tragic predicaments. A money-making scheme involving giant dildos is truly brilliant (why didn't I think of that?!?). I was riveted by (and I reread twice) the chapter describing in excrutiatingly grotesque detail the scene of a tiny sandwich shop filled with patrons that gets blown up by a 100
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