
The Dark
A Critical Edition
John McGahern(Author)
Syracuse University Press
Published on 15. May 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
277 pages
978-0-8156-3861-2 (ISBN)
Description
Bringing John McGahern's 1965 masterpiece back into print in the United States after years of inaccessibility, this new sixtieth-anniversary critical edition includes an introduction aimed at first-time readers, explanatory footnotes, McGahern's own glossary, and four scholarly essays aimed at guiding readers through the novel's famously controversial history. While the text was initially banned in Ireland for obscenity, this edition demonstrates that McGahern's novel of adolescence is not obscene, but revelatory, exposing the corruption underlying authority structures in mid-century Ireland-from the family to the church, to the government's willingness to ignore national and communal trauma. The Dark follows a promising young boy's struggles to break free from the economic and social forces trapping him in a lifestyle that is both familiar and suffocating. At the heart of the novel is the boy's complex and stormy relationship with his abusive, widowed father, who is left to raise a family with little outside aid. The Dark is a story of alarming brutality, surprising tenderness, and poetic lyricism; a reflection of Irish society that maintains historical significance as contemporary Ireland continues to build its national identity.
Reviews / Votes
"This critical edition of John McGahern's controversial second novel, The Dark, is both timely and welcome. It provides an updated American edition of the work, complete with a very helpful and informative Introduction by the editors, good explanatory notes, and essays by four eminent scholars." - Eamon Maher, coeditor of Essays on John McGahern: Assessing a Literary Legacy"Original and very much needed, given the relevance of this novel in the Irish literary canon." - Marisol Morales-Ladron, coeditor of Deirdre Madden: New Critical Essays
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
2 b&w illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 236 mm
Width: 155 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
401 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8156-3861-2 (9780815638612)
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Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Anna Teekell is associate professor of English at Christopher Newport University.
Ellen Scheible is professor of English and director of the honors program at Bridgewater State University.
Ellen Scheible is professor of English and director of the honors program at Bridgewater State University.
Author
Editor
Contributions