> Book Club, Dec. 2011
> Foreword by Ann Patchett?...."When well done, a small novel can be even more satisfying than a sweeping epic."......."It is the surest sign of a great book; the overwhelming desire to give it away"
>. Setting: Roonatellin, Ireland
> Characters: Enda & Kevin, Father Declan
> p.9..."No sense of its mysteries or feel for the way, in your spine, you canny to where a salmon is lying, patient, in the river's dark undercurrents, and how your human patience connects to the creature"s patience, the determination in yourself and the steel of your concentration alike to the fish's wait and wiliness.". Statement about life
> p.17..."...a murmurous weeping alike to the run of the hillside rivulet outside the house."...lovely
> p.31..."A far, farr different coin of spending was Enda...."......interesting phrase
> p.35..."For us back then, it was like we weren't known as being alive. "
> Vocabulary: 1) yirrol: slang for a year old ewe 2) bourne:an intermittent stream on chalk downs. 3) skurling: #4) autochthonous:
> p.46..."You've seen a good dog when its master's due home, how it'll sit, all the life of it in its ears, trying to catch a hint of a footfall on the sod a mile away...we were like that."...in fear of their father
> p.52..."Not (he spoke to himself) as lust, or as an act rehearsed and wickedly anticipated in the imagination, but as a grave, countering vitality against the rot of despair."...the quality of the act between Enda and Kevin as imagined by Father Declan
> p.76..."Ladled from the same pot of broth."... Meaning o be alike...love the phrase
> p. 79..."Banshee lamentation...that robs a wake of its true grief and turns it wild."....Father Declan's view of having professional mourners
> Father Declan fins Enda irresistable
> p.84..."...nattering on and on, telling me that what I rememberedas a full day's walk was no more than th length of a daisy petal."...Enda on the concept of a map
> p.90..."I can still see us, the way we just stood by the wall looking at the place, our to gues in our pockets for the woe of it.". First sight of their new home
> p. 95..."One thing I've learned, Father--that in this life it's best to the then and the now and the what's-to-be as close together in your thoughts as you can. It's when you let gaps creep in, when you separate out the intervals and dwell on them, that you can't bear the sorrow."
> p.137..."His thoughts rested, sunning, on her name, but not for long, the thorn to such repose being guilt.". Father Declan thinking of Enda
> LibraryThing Review:
Book Club Selection December 2011.........Foreword by Ann Patchett!?........What a gem of a novella! No wonder Ann Patchett calls it one of her favorites! The Irish tale of right and wrong with a twist. Find yourself swept up in the story of Enda, Kevin, and Father Declan. Solitude, love, salmon fishing, loyalty, and compassion...what more could anyone ask for?
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