hi -this Belfast boy is ready for 9pm chat, :0)

 gleaming | Jun 4 2008, 20:40 pm

I havent' read the book but was interested to see how the discussion worked on line!


 AmandaIngham | Jun 4 2008, 21:00 pm

How did coming from N. Ireland affect your reading - did it colour your judgement?

 burntsugar | Jun 4 2008, 21:01 pm

Hi Amanda - we just 'chat' about our thoughts on the book - doesn't matter how random!

 burntsugar | Jun 4 2008, 21:02 pm

Hi amanda - it's rather cool, I think - not sure I'm the best at giving the expert demo, but here goes

 gleaming | Jun 4 2008, 21:02 pm

I really didn't connect with the book and I think coming from Belfast got inthe way...but I had other problems with it

 gleaming | Jun 4 2008, 21:04 pm

I thought this book was making a political statement about N.Ireland and how it affected 'ordinary' people. That's why I wondered what yous thoughts were, Gleaming.

 burntsugar | Jun 4 2008, 21:05 pm

everyone was a caricature...and for a love-story, I barely liked any of the characters

 gleaming | Jun 4 2008, 21:06 pm

I know what you mean - some bits were a bit far fetched (Max's saintly father) - I did feel that WIlson was quite desperate to convey his anger about how the N.Ireland conflict affected its people

 burntsugar | Jun 4 2008, 21:07 pm

I did, towards the end, get IT, I think, that Robert Wilson's point was that the Troubles in N.I. excluded great swathes of ordinary people - and that this book was about those ordinary people, and how sufficiently complex and diverse their lives are

 gleaming | Jun 4 2008, 21:08 pm