Prophet Song: WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE 2023

Ok, so it's not perfect, I didn't buy into Eillish being a scientist and wasn't 100% sure about the lack of paragraphs or the lack in differentation between general prose and talking. However, apart from that, this is a timely, relevant, fantastically written, heart breaking rollercoaster of a book. This worked for me in so many levels. It's reality masked as dystopia. The things that occur in this book undoubtedly occur in some form throughout the world. The West is shielded from it all, but one day it could easily happen to us as well. It also works as a warning and it works best for me, due to its focus on the inner family rather than society as a whole (though that is covered to some degree). This gives more gravitas to the situation giving it a claustrophobic quality that kept me reading. Though this book has a high rating at just over four, there are a lot of popular negative reviews on here. Having read them, they just seem to be from people agreeing with their 'friend's who they will never meet in person. One of the regular arguments is that people aren't naive enough to fall into the trap of having phones recorded or listened to (haven't you heard of Snowden they cry) whilst living in a country that voted Trump on for a second time and why didn't Aillesh leave the country when she had the chance whilst those same people moan about immigrants risking their lives to live in the west. This is a very timely and we'll executed novel which I found gripping and 'll too real. Stirring stuff and a future classic without doubt.

A speculative novel about a family torn apart by the sudden takeover by a totalitarian regime in Ireland. This dystopian story is brilliantly crafted and the tension and descent into hopelessness is insidious and relentless. Definitely not an easy read, although the narrative is seamless and flows with lyrical boldness. Lynch’s unconventional writing style plays quite a huge part in delivering this sense of unease: Although there are chapters, the sentences run on unceasingly without paragraphing, marked only by sections. The dialogue is also unmarked, which though hard to follow initially, conveys a sense of immediacy and urgency so that the reader feels he is immersed in the narrative rather than apart from it. What is haunting about this story is the way it shows how rapidly our lives could unravel and disintegrate with little or no warning. Eilish is an ordinary woman who lives a conventional life in an ordinary household with a husband and three children in an ordinary enough neighbourhood who finds her world falling apart when her husband Larry, a teacher and union leader is suddenly arrested by the new regime, even as she tries to protect her children. I was not ready for the way the story progressed and kept holding on to the hope that Eilish would be able to find the help she needs, but it keeps getting darker and darker. The moments with her father, Simon, already battered by dementia, and even more bewildered by the fighting and unrest right outside his doorstep, affected me badly, but it is testament to how convincingly Lynch had painted his characters. Though it is definitely a worthwhile read, I would not recommend plunging into it if the reader is not prepared for a dark and scarily prescient story that may just be too close to our present reality for comfort.

- Prophet Song by Paul Lynch is a gripping dystopian novel that looks at what new laws, new rulers and new anarchy can cause in a country that could be Ireland (I’m not sure if the country is even stated). Seeing events in Ukraine, North Korea, Syria, China, and the USA as well as Afghanistan and Iran (and many others) – it is easier to imagine now than it might have been a few decades ago. Its gripping and holds you tight around the heart – you want to know what will happen to the - “History is full of people who couldn't leave or weren't able to leave” and that line is a good one for explaining this book and it’s plot for this absolutely gripping book. Anybody who doesn't think this couldn't happen has never read a history book about Russia or China or is aware of what's going on in Ukraine right now. The author has an interesting writing style and full of dread and will keep you on the edge of your seat, as one family tried to make sense and what's going on around them. - “Who are these people without their eyes and who are these people with their eyes blinded to the future, these people trapped between the fire and the dark? She closes her eyes and sees how much has been devoured, sees the whole of her love and what little remains”. - Prophet Song is a very gripping interestingly written that talks about the kind of troubles that are now going on in parts of this world and in telling this story, makes you wonder what you would do in a situation where the world just starts to crumble around you and you need to escape.

Heartbreaking and devastating, this novel about the end of the world in our own backyard. It fills you with knowledge about living in war and becoming refugees when seen in West Europian scenery. It could happen to us. Tomorrow.

Brilliant book. Set in the future but so much of the rise of totalitarianism can be recognised with the rise of the conservative far right in so many societies now. Beautifully written and constructed. Well worth reading.

Couverture déchirée sur un coin

Took a while to get into, but intriguing and beautifully written

La Dublino descritta da Lynch è identica ai tanti Afghanistan, Palestina, Ucraina, Sudan ecc. ecc. del mondo. Il libro disturba perché Lynch mostra la precarietà del nostro mondo, quanto sia facile per il nostro pulito e ordinato occident cadere nella barbarie. Libro straordinario scritto molto bene. Indispensabile