The Secret Scripture
by Sebastian Barry
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Book Reviews of The Secret Scripture
Book Review: Loved it
Summary: 5 Stars
I absolutely loved this book. I must say I am baffled by the one and two star reviews, but we all have different tastes. I thought this was a beautifully written story. I tended to like Roseanne's story more than doctor Grene's so I wasn't delighted when the book turned to Dr. Grene's diary when I was wanting to hear more from Roseanne, but later in the book I grew to like Dr. Grene's sections almost as much as Roseanne's.
I agree with one point that the low reviewers mention - I don't know that any "real" person would actually write diary entries this detailed but I'm not sure I care. Do we need to take realism that far? If that irritates you then you may not like this story. I found it compelling and lovely and sad and surprising.
For the most part I wanted to keep reading, I didn't find it "slow" at all, but there was a small portion toward the middle of the story that got a bit more detailed about the political situations that dragged for me, but other than that, while certainly not a "thriller", I felt it moved along at an appropriate pace, given the type of story it was.
Book Review: Great tale
Summary: 4 Stars
Elderly Roseanne McNulty is writing her memoirs, her secret scripture, as her days in the Irish insane asylum are ending. The asylum will be closing and Dr. Gaunt's trying to weed through which residents should be let back into society and which will transfer to the newer but smaller facility. Gaunt is a recent widower and is still feeling acute lose as well as regrets for mistakes he made in his marriage. Roseanne and Gaunt begin to spend time together overtly so Gaunt can reach a conclusion about Roseanne's mental health but something about Roseanne really catches Gaunt's curiosity and he begins to seek out the facts of her past. It's soon clear that there's a lot of variance between the `facts' and Roseanne's account. Barry does pull out several plot elements from a magician's cap but I forgive him for that because there are so many engaging parts to this book. Roseanne goes through a lot of loss but no matter which account you believe she keeps loving and stays engaged in her stifled environment. I see this ability to keep loving as the main theme of this book.Book Review: Gorgeous, lyrical writing
Summary: 4 Stars
I read this book after experiencing a great disappointment in Colm Toibin's 'Brooklyn.' This, to me, was by far the more compelling read. Although some readers have complained about a certain contrivance of plot, and although I was aware of that by the end, the writing was so beautiful that I forgave it (still, I had to give this 4 stars rather than 5 for that, but I rarely give 5 anyway). If, as a reader, you appreciate and love language, its rhythms and uses, particularly in the hand of Irish writers, this is a book for you. I would read and re-read sentences with great joy -- not with impatience or frustration, but because Barry's syntax is such that a sentence sort of culminates at its end, and I wanted to go back and savor his style and extraordinary lyricism. I loved the characters and believed in them. I read at night, and had dreams of the sea after reading this. I wished it had gone on and on. This is my first Sebastian Barry novel, and now I'm going to go read them all.Book Review: Impossible to get into
Summary: 1 Stars
I bought this book because of the stellar reviews on Amazon. But I have no idea what others see in this book. I love to read, but this book is impossible to get into. The only reason I kept reading after the first 15 pages is that I couldn't abide the idea of spending the money for a hardcover book that I didn't even finish. Although I normally treasure my time reading in bed before I fall asleep, I chose to simply not read at all several nights instead of forcing myself to pick up this dreadful book.
In my opinion, the stilted language, the unbearably slow plot development, and the way the novel is structured (lengthy, unbelievable "diary entries") make this book completely unreadable and unenjoyable.
I highly recommend that, before buying this book, you read several pages of it in a bookstore (or at the very least online) to see if you can stand the author's style before you make the purchase.
Book Review: This "Scripture" Should Be Part of the Major Canon of Modern Literature
Summary: 5 Stars
The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry is the finest novel I have read in years. Modern literature has gone mad with gazing at its own navel and having lost the gravity of narrative drive, gone flighty with empty self-analysis and self-centered memoir and self-absorbtion stripped of morality and grace which the heart hungers for the way legs need to run. The unbearable lightness of being, so to speak, but here, in this novel, is the weight and heft of multiplicity and otheredness and memory stained and strained with ambiguity because it breathes in community with the atmosphere of crowded litanies of vying truths and dimensional lives lived with real consequence and human realities green with hope, but ripe for ripping and always blown by that larger force which nourishes as it reaps. This is a post-Freudian Dickens with a brogue and all Ireland at his back and poetry in his pocket.