Binding: Kindle Edition
Format: Kindle Book
ASIN: B000YAT1MY
Manufacturer: Grove/Atlantic
Release Date: 2007-11-02
Average Customer Review: 
(From 75 total reviews)
List Price: $11.00
Amazon Price: $8.80 (1 new available)
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com:
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
Book Description:
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.
Customer Reviews
More characters doesn’t mean a better story by S. Mathew
I picked is up at the bookstore when in search of something interesting to read and I figured that the Booker Prize emblem was a good sign.
I was disappointed to find it a rather dull and tedious book to read, because I can’t just leave a book unfinished, no matter how much I might not like it.
In all honesty, I was already bored with it by the second chapter. While the author tried to go for the unreliable narrator but she falls flat with Veronica. Everything seems repetitive and disjointed to the point where the main character seems like she doesn’t even care about the story she’s telling.
Another thing would be the disjointed jumping of the story line, back and forth through the past and future. That coupled with an overuse of imagery leaves one with a headache.
Finally, there are the characters. While I’m usually I fan of the sprawling family saga, there was absolutely no character development here. I couldn’t really distinguish any of the Hegarty siblings from each other and they certainly didn’t interact the way you’d expect a family like that too (regardless of how dysfunctional). It was like they were just going through the motions.
In fact, the only to characters I felt any empathy for was Liam (who died before the main plot even began) and the little boy at the end (who barely even said a word).
Disappointing by Marcia Epstein
Veronica Hegarty is the narrator of the story of her very large Irish family and the death of her brother, Liam. I guess this is called literary fiction. It was a bit too literary for me. As an avid reader of “good” fiction, I was truly looking forward to reading this book, but it was disappointing. I found it a difficult read, which in itself isn’t a bad thing, but it was unncesssarily confusing in its plotting and descriptions. I recognize that the unreliability of memory is a part of Veronica’s narration, but half the time I had no idea who I was reading about, whether it was Veronica’s fantasizing or a real occurrence, and what the timeframe was. I found myself becoming annoyed, and very glad when the book ended. This type of writing just isn’t my style, and perhaps that’s just an individual preference. I enjoy a well-written story that I can make heads or tails of. I’d skip this one.
Disjointed… by Tracy L.
I’ll admit that whenever I see books that have won any kind of literary award, I always assume they’re a good, and usually they are, but this one I just don’t get.
My main problem with THE GATHERING is that I found it to be incredibly disjointed. While I understand the stream of consciousness style of writing the author uses (or in this case, has her narrator use,) it did not flow very well.
One of the things that really struck me about this book is the way that almost everything is referred to in a highly sexualized way. The chapter in which Veronica speculates about her grandparents’ sex life was beyond creepy.
A good premise that falls flat. I’ll give it a generous 2 stars.
The Gathering by Jo Lee
Brilliantly written story–in my “top 5″ for this year! If you want a linear story, this one is NOT for you, but if you love lush prose and a story you won’t forget, read THE GATHERING.
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