Pearl : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Why Do We Choose To Live?
Review: "Why do we choose to live?", Pearl asks her mother, Maria. Pearl asks this question as she is lying in a hospital bed in Belfast after starving herself for six weeks and chaining herself to a flag pole. Maria thinks and says "Because it seems we are meant to."

Mary Gordon has written a powerful novel asking the questions we sometimes think about. What is life about and why am I here? The story centers around Pearl. A young woman, graduate of Radcliffe who goes to Belfast to study the Irish language. Pearl is the daughter of Maria, a very successful business woman who is loved by her employers. But, a woman who lives alone and has not been successful with relationships in her life. There is Joseph, the man she was brought up with. Maria's mother died when she was very young and her bereaved father brought Joseph's mother into their lives to care for their home. And, she brought her son Joseph. Joseph and Maria feel a bond of brother-sister love and nothing more. Pearl's father died as a young man, and Maria has been alone since that time.

In Belfast, Pearl feels at loose ends. She goes to college, but doesn't really get to know anyone. She meets a young man Finbar at a college pub. Finbar is working with the Irish Republican Army to bring peace to Ireland. He is a rebel. He also studies the Irish language, but his real interest is in freeing Ireland of her English landlords. Pearl is caught up in this quest and becomes involved with "the Troubles". At some point she becomes involved with Mick, an older American who has a young son he left in Ireland. An accident occurs and Pearl holds herself responsible. She feels guilt and that she must pay for this responsibility. She starves herself, and we find her chained to a flagpole at the American Embassy in Belfast. Two notes explain that she is here to die in the memory of Stephen Donegan. Pearl is saved by wonderful physician who becomes her psychiatrist. A woman who tries to save the young who do not want to live any longer. Pearl, at first refuses to see her mother. She wants to die, and she knows her mother will convince her to live. Joseph comes from Rome to be with Maria and somewhere there is a breakthrough for Pearl, her mother, Joseph and the doctor.

This is a novel that explores the role of beauty and art, religion, political action and the relationship of mother and daughter. A beautiful novel that gets to the soul of each of us. This is a novel for all of us to relish and savor. And Pearl asks that question we find difficult to answer; why in a world of sorrow and injustice, should we choose to live? How would you answer? Highly recommended prisrob



Rating:
Summary: Splendid Novel of our Time
Review: This is a powerful novel that makes us think about how we raise our own children. In the case of Pearl, her mother Maria has tried to raise her child to be independent but responsible and to have what I guess you would call an East Coast Liberal view towards life.

Pearl has decided to take these characteristics further, to the limit where she is willing to die, perhaps even wanting to die to make a political statement. This forces everyone involved, especially Maria and her boyhood friend Joseph to review their own lives, philosophies and actions.

In this case, the particular incident is that Pearl stages a hunger strike to protest the troubles in Northern Ireland. But that is less important than the interaction between the characters as they move to a new phase in their lives: growing, perhaps; understanding, yes; with a greater vision of what life is all about, certainly.

In a world of series characters, mindless television, this proves that literature is not dead. And I expect awards, perhaps a movie to come out of this book. Highly recommended.