HOME | BESTSELLERS | NEW RELEASES | PRICE WATCH | FICTION | BIOGRAPHIES | E-BOOKS |
+ PRICE WATCH
* Amazon pricing is not included in price watch
The Deposition of Father McGreevy Book
It is London in the late 1950s. William Maginn is a literary editor who believes he has left the Ireland of his childhood behind when one of his relatives and drinking partners tells him the mysterious story of "a dead village up in the mountains" in County Kerry, involving "a trial that shamed the town". Travelling back to Kerry, Maginn begins to trawl the court records, where he stumbles across the deposition of Father Hugh McGreevy, the unfortunate priest of the village who died. The majority of the rest of the terrible story is told in the words of the priest, who insists that "I kept a Christian community together in its extremity, and prevented it, through the grace of God as conveyed by his sacraments, from falling into barbarity". The story is an unabating one of misery, suffering and ignorance, as over the space of two winters the small rural village first loses all its women to sickness, and then descends into bestial and pagan acts, as Father Hugh tries in vain to keep his flock together, with the Second World War a distant "echo" on the wireless.Short-listed for the Booker Prize, The Deposition of Father McGreevy is an elegant, unrelenting story of the disintegration of an Irish way of life as institutional religion, nationalism and the darker forces of human nature conspire to destroy a people and a place that O'Doherty evokes with great pathos. Musing on the Father's deposition, Maginn ponders "I'm not sure what it tells us beyond the fact that there are some good people, some bad people, and a lot of people who are one or the other depending on the circumstances". The moral may be simple, but as the Irish would say, it's the way that you tell it. --Jerry BrottonRead More
from£14.40 | RRP: * Excludes Voucher Code Discount Also available Used from £3.22
- 1900850486
- 9781900850483
- Brian O'Doherty
- 19 April 2000
- Arcadia Books
- Paperback (Book)
- 313
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. If you click through any of the links below and make a purchase we may earn a small commission (at no extra cost to you). Click here to learn more.
Would you like your name to appear with the review?
We will post your book review within a day or so as long as it meets our guidelines and terms and conditions. All reviews submitted become the licensed property of www.find-book.co.uk as written in our terms and conditions. None of your personal details will be passed on to any other third party.
All form fields are required.