Charming Billy

Rating:
Summary: Quiet, but inspiring all the same
Review: I started this books filled with doubts due to all the conflicting reviews. It turned out that they were absolutely unnecessary. In one sentence, Charming Billy was quite a fantastic read. It is not one of those loud in-your-face books, but it rather creeps up to you quietly, and it is only when you finish when you realise the book's true force and the depth of its integrity. I cannot wait to read it again.

Rating:
Summary: Don't look for "big moments," just big insights...
Review: A terrific read. Some people may be put off by the fact that this book has no big moments, no dramatic confrontations. It's more about things that aren't said, perfect little details, and terrific insights about love, life, and self-deception. Read it.

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Summary: Wonderfully Familiar Characters
Review: Ms. McDermott writes beautifully and with such poetry about such ordinary people. It was a pleasure to look into these familiar character's lives. It is a great book.

Rating:
Summary: Horrible book
Review: This was the most aweful book I have ever read. I would NEVER, EVER, EVER recommend it to anyone. Waste of money, waste of time and a waste of an award.

Rating:
Summary: Deepens upon reflection
Review: In April 1984, 47 members of the Lynch Family gather to bury their relative Billy, who died, arguably, either of alcoholism or his own romantic nature. It is a story about an extended Irish family and how the intricate webs of faith and human weakness moves lives. The book raises the question whether love is the shaper of human destiny, or whether "With so many other forces at work in the world, brutal, sly, deceiving, unstoppable forces, what could be more foolish than staking your life on an ephemeral feeling, no more than an idea, really, a fancy, the culmination of which is a clumsy bit of nakedness, a few minutes of animal grunting and bumping, a momentary obliteration of thought, of conscience? " Another theme seems to be an unflinching and unromantic look at what it is to be "one of the many million, just one more". All the characters fight against it, in their unwillingness to look the littleness of their lives in the eye, in their need to glorify Billy. No one character struggles with total success. Characters come into focus slowly. The first Rosemary to be introduced is "another cousin, yet another Rosemary." An intriguing phrase when the reader has not yet met any Rosemarys. Daniel Lynch, one of the largest characters in the book-- in the number of lives he touched, and in his legend after his death--is but one of several Daniel Lynches. Billy returns to Ireland and sees everyone he knows' face repeated over and over again. Even the narrator is anonymous and vague; the book is first person, and yet the narrator, Glory, isn't named until the last ten pages, and her identity is held simply as her father's child for most of the book. McDermott constantly challenges the reader with the point of view and with the telling and retelling of the same events. It is skillfully written, deepens upon reflection, and despite its challenges, not difficult going. A deserving book that lingers after finishing.

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Summary: Here's to all those who interfere in our lives!
Review: This is a tough book. We've all known (and, alas, accommodated) a charming drunk. Billy Lynch is a ubiquitous type with an interesting story, but, above and beyond everything else, he is a drunk. Whatever was fated to happen in his life, he would always be a drunk. His cousin Dennis, who loves him like a brother, decides not to tell him the truth about his Irish love, Eva. This decision will impact upon many lives, not only Billy's. Dennis and Mary's romance will end, Billy will enter into a loveless liaison, and the myth of the Irish girl who died will persist even into the next generation. Dennis's guilt over his lie will hold him in thrall and he will continue to excuse Billy's self-destruction and, at the end, take on an added burden. A very sad tale of lives wasted and unfulfilled and a cutting, cutting look at New York City's Irish-American immigrant class. Thoughtless, dishonest Eva Kavanaugh and well-meaning but interfering Dennis Lynch are equally villains in this short but penetrating tale, but, ultimately, Billy has to bear the responsibility for his own wasted life.

Rating:
Summary: Heart-Rending, what a pleasure to read.
Review: Alice McDermott's story of Charming Billy and his family takes you on a magical journey that envokes both tears and laughter. A story so senistive and realist with it's Irish characationizations that I was drawn back to memories of my youth in New York City and my immigrant parents and family members. If its your desire to take a trip that will both delight and amaze you, discover Charming Billy.

Rating:
Summary: My book group is mad at me.
Review: On the strength of the National Book Award, I recommended this book to my reading group. The feedback from my peers? Depressing, tough to read, can't get into it, etc. Due to the many nuances, I would suggest reading it in one setting if possible--then you're not lost when you pick it up now and then. My opinion? It will be a better read the second time around.

Rating:
Summary: This book deserves NO stars
Review: One reader was absolutely stunned at all the negative reviews. I am absolutely stunned at all the positive reviews. This book put me to sleep. I couldn't even finish it. I would never recommend it to anyone and if I could I would give it NO STARS.

Rating:
Summary: Beautifully Written
Review: A beautifully written book that captures lost love, a charming alcoholic, and lives touched. The attention to detail is astonishing--the reader feels like an eavesdropper. Alice McDermott is the Amy Tan of Irish-American Catholics. My only complaint is of the reviews which reveal a secret from the end of chapter one. I would have preferred not to know beforehand.