Rating: 
Summary: Symbolically delicious
Review: Seaumus Deane's Reading In The Dark is a captivating novel vividly evoking Irish history and religious differences through the eyes of a young child growing up in the conflict-torn Derry. Symbolically delicious and even historically accurate, a must read for all Irish literature and history fanatics. Although occasionally humorous, Deane ultimately exposes the sad realities of Irish oppression in their own land.
Rating: 
Summary: The Way of Every Flesh
Review: The book of Irish poet Seamus Deane describes a childhood of an unnamed protagonist in Northern Ireland in the 1950s. This gives opportunity to attain impartial attitude to the situation in Derry in order not to blame participants of the conflict but to discern its cause and motives. Old family mysteries' disclosing makes the novel a real pageturner, but it is only a part of author's plot.Seamus Deane masterly reconstructs a wonderful universe of child's fantasies: enigmatic and thrilling adult world appears as an exciting fairy tale with additional heroic or terrifying tinges of local political discord. The child grows up, and fantastic histories lose their charms acquiring outlines of reality in terrors, cowardice and treachery of their personae. Former semigods, parents become ordinary mortals with their fears, pains and guilts; but extra knowledge and futher understanding give both additional strength and pride in never-ending children-parents rivalry and additional yearning after innocence of childhood lost once and for all. We become adults only when in comprehension of our parent's vulnerability we find compassion for them. And hope for future mercy from our own children. An excellent novel!
Rating:
Summary: Will become a classic...
Review: The first time i read the book, I was less than enthused. Though most of the charecters were thoroughly developed I thought that it lacked a sufficient plot. I felt that it was unconnected and confusing. It may have been because I read it during a large time period, perhaps because I was busy with other things, or maybe I was simply mot paying attention. However, I changed my opinion the second time I read it. Since I knew the plot and the charecters, if even on a basic level, I was able to pay more attention to the details in the short passages, and in the dialogue. I found that the plot was twisting and involved, as were all of the charecters. Deane does do a great job with detail and description, this mostly because of his poetry.Though it is not the best book I have ever read, it is worth reading. It is entertaining and also involved. I would be tempted to buy another book by Deane, should he decide to write one. All in all, it is worth reading, but twice at least.
Rating:
Summary: read it twice
Review: The first time i read the book, I was less than enthused. Though most of the charecters were thoroughly developed I thought that it lacked a sufficient plot. I felt that it was unconnected and confusing. It may have been because I read it during a large time period, perhaps because I was busy with other things, or maybe I was simply mot paying attention. However, I changed my opinion the second time I read it. Since I knew the plot and the charecters, if even on a basic level, I was able to pay more attention to the details in the short passages, and in the dialogue. I found that the plot was twisting and involved, as were all of the charecters. Deane does do a great job with detail and description, this mostly because of his poetry.Though it is not the best book I have ever read, it is worth reading. It is entertaining and also involved. I would be tempted to buy another book by Deane, should he decide to write one. All in all, it is worth reading, but twice at least.
Rating:
Summary: Like a Poignant Memoir
Review: This beautiful book reads more like a poignant and heartbreaking memoir than a novel. It's difficult to believe the incidents described are really fiction and not the author's reality...they are described so well and in just the right detail. Reading in the Dark is a story of ghosts, of legends, and most of all, of secrets...Irish secrets. The narrator, whose name we never learn, struggles to unravel the truth of those secrets and as he does, he learns what it really means to grow up in Northern Ireland, surrounded by the shadows of political turmoil. Although I really didn't identify with any of the characters in this book, I found them very engrossing and came to care about them deeply. Some of the characters are quite well-fleshed out while others remain only fragments of the author's imagination. Most make only brief appearances in the novel, although one, Liam, shares the spotlight with the unnamed narrator. Reading in the Dark is a different sort of coming-of-age story. It is beautiful, lyrical, brutal and truly unforgettable. And truly the work of an Irish mind.
Rating:
Summary: mighty
Review: this book just moved me it just touched me words can not descride how i felt after i read the last words of this book.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful literature
Review: This is a book for one who wishes more than the tired prose of Frank Mccourt. Deane explores the conflict in Ireland with economy of words, and clarity of language: it is simple, but with passion. He exposes the ugliness of the Northern Ireland confilct without implicating the parties involved. It is a love story between mother and son. If you like Gabriel Garcia Marquez, you will like Deane.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent writing with a full command of human emotion.
Review: This is a truly inspired book which transcends its Irish setting. Although achingly sad, the reviews do not do the book's humour justice. The chapter on the maths lesson is a masterpiece of surreal humour. There is also no bitterness in this tale despite the tragedy.
Rating:
Summary: A beautiful and haunting story
Review: This is one of the most beautiful and poetic novels I have ever read. The language is so vivid that every scene comes to life. I felt that I could see and feel what it was like to grow up in Derry in the 1950s. Just for the information of the people above who reviewed this book, "Angela's Ashes" is not a novel!
Rating:
Summary: Poetically spellbinding
Review: This novel is a lyrical masterpiece. It gives the reader a window through which to view life in Ireland. From the heart-wrenching death of young Una to the emotional demise of the narrator's mother, this book pulls at every thought and feeling within you. Deane also adds a few old Irish tales. The book does offer some humor, as found in the hilarious chapter "Maths Class." This book is beautiful and won't soon be forgotten. Can't wait for Seamus Deane's next novel!
| 
