The Secret Scripture
by Sebastian Barry
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Book Summary Information
Author: Sebastian BarryEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-06-12
ISBN: 0670019402
Number of pages: 304
Publisher: Viking Adult
Book Reviews of The Secret Scripture
Book Review: Lyrical images and language, memorable
Summary: 5 Stars
This was my first Sebastian Barry, but definitely just a beginning as a fan. The language was lyrical, evocative, and captured me right away when I first heard Roseanne's voice. Her story spans 100 years along with all the confusion of Irish history after partition.
Although her surroundings were meant to be dreary and confining, somehow she rose above them and carried me with her. She wasn't into feeling sorry for herself, so I wasn't either--she evoked tremendous empathy and caring. She was luminous and filled with an innocent grace that was not the least bit artificial or learned. It was the way she was written, because her actions certainly didn't gain her that status. She was repressed by others, squashed, controlled, brutalized. But she must have almost absented herself to survive the way she did.
Barry through Roseanne examines the ambiguities and difficulties of remembering over a long life; they compare it to a box room, filled with stuff that gets jumbled. And though we don't know what the truth might be, as her memories compete with the statements of a local priest about her, we know we prefer her version. It's a bit like the Life of Pi--which story do you choose to believe? Does it ultimately matter?
Dr. Grene's tale is almost sadder because he and his wife both had choices, yet made each other suffer. Dr. Grene is drawn to Roseanne's story, but in a halting, 'I don't want to pry' manner strange for a psychiatrist. But she is fragile and worth caring about as he tries to decide what will become of her in the process of shutting down the mental hospital in which she's all but entombed. at age 100.
It's hard today to accept how repressive Irish Catholic society could be in the 1920s to 1940s, and a lot of my friends were somewhat troubled by her passivity, but it seemed to me to fit the times and her situation. Another stumbling block for some was the confluence of some of the story lines, yet i felt they were constructed on a rational basis that allowed me to accept and move on.
There are so many images that will stay with me--feathers and hammers, the Pointing Man, her near-death scene at the sea, the shuffling character of John Kane (a hospital attendant). Brilliant writing that doesn't require any effort but carries you along and perhaps is the main character along with Roseanne.
Apparently Barry has written another book about the McNulty family, The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty, and that's going to be a Must Read for me now. Barry has left me with images and lots to think about. Excellent book for group discussion--we had ours today.
Summary of The Secret Scripture
A gorgeous new novel from the author of the Man Booker finalist A Long Long WayAs a young woman, Roseanne McNulty was one of the most beautiful and beguiling girls in County Sligo, Ireland. Now, as her hundredth year draws near, she is a patient at Roscommon Regional Mental Hospital, and she decides to record the events of her life.
As Roseanne revisits her past, hiding the manuscript beneath the floorboards in her bedroom, she learns that Roscommon Hospital will be closed in a few months and that her caregiver, Dr. Grene, has been asked to evaluate the patients and decide if they can return to society. Roseanne is of particular interest to Dr. Grene, and as he researches her case he discovers a document written by a local priest that tells a very different story of Roseanne's life than what she recalls. As doctor and patient attempt to understand each other, they begin to uncover long-buried secrets about themselves.
Set against an Ireland besieged by conflict, The Secret Scripture is an epic story of love, betrayal, and unavoidable tragedy, and a vivid reminder of the stranglehold that the Catholic Church had on individual lives for much of the twentieth century.
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