Reading in the Dark
Published on 2. May 2019
Book
Paperback/Softback
256 pages
978-1-78487-553-4 (ISBN)
Description
This is the story of a haunted Irish childhood.
The setting is Derry in the Northern Ireland of the 40s and 50s, fraught with political hatred, family secrets and lethal intrigue. As a young boy tries to make sense of life, poverty and violence shift and obscure the facts; meanwhile his night-time reading of Irish legends weaves enchantment through reality. Claustrophobic but lyrically charged, breathtakingly sad but vibrant and unforgettable, this is one of the finest books about growing up - in Ireland or anywhere - that has ever been written.
See also: The Green Road by Anne Enright
The setting is Derry in the Northern Ireland of the 40s and 50s, fraught with political hatred, family secrets and lethal intrigue. As a young boy tries to make sense of life, poverty and violence shift and obscure the facts; meanwhile his night-time reading of Irish legends weaves enchantment through reality. Claustrophobic but lyrically charged, breathtakingly sad but vibrant and unforgettable, this is one of the finest books about growing up - in Ireland or anywhere - that has ever been written.
See also: The Green Road by Anne Enright
Reviews / Votes
Reading In The Dark is a swift, masterful transformation of family griefs and political violence into something at once rhapsodic and heartbreaking. If Isaac Babel had been born in Derry, he might have written this sudden, brilliant book. * Seamus Heaney * Marvellous...almost impossible to put down -- Blake Morrison * Independent on Sunday * Go into your nearest bookshop and buy Reading In The Dark... A novel that no reader with any concern for their heart or mind should be without -- A. L. Kennedy * Scotsman * A wonderful evocation of childhood; a vibrant, unforgettable fragment that leaves you aching for more -- Robert McCrum * Observer * A profoundly emotive and seamlessly structured exploration of loss and regret. It is also funny and authentic. What more could one ask of a book? -- Antonia Logue * Guardian * This is the work of a master story-teller...a book to buy, read and read again -- Julia Neuberger * Sunday Tribune * In language strikingly lucid and scenes fired by a spare, aching passion, Reading in the Dark combines the intimacy of a memoir with the suspense of a detective story * New York Times *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Vintage Publishing
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 195 mm
Width: 128 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
207 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78487-553-4 (9781784875534)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Seamus Deane
Reading in the Dark
A powerful novel of an Irish childhood shaped by silence, loss, and hidden truths.
E-Book
05/2019
Vintage Digital
€8.99
Available for download
Person
Seamus Deane was born in Derry in 1940. He has published a number of works of criticism and poetry and is the general editor of the Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing. He is currently teaching at the University of Notre Dame.