Books we like ... and books we're not too fussed about
MJ Hyland
Canongate 2007
I read Hyland’s most recent novel, This is How, earlier this year, and thought it very good indeed. Carry Me Down did not disappoint either. As in the later book, the story is told through the eyes of a disturbed outsider – in this case a twelve-year-old boy in early seventies Ireland who is convinced he can tell when people are lying. At times his behaviour and thoughts suggest that he has some sort of mental disorder or is otherwise disturbed; Hyland’s talent lies in never quite revealing whether this is the case. As in This is How, the narrative perspective and sparse prose lends a normality to the boy’s experience, and the reader is left wondering what, if anything, is wrong. Along the way Hyland also paints a convincing,if depressing, picture of rural life and urban poverty. At times this is a grim read, but, despite perhaps being a little too long, I found it involving and original. Hyland is one of the few writers who is able to unobtrusively convey the horror and strangeness of everyday lives. Recommended.
17 September 2010
http://www.mjhyland.com/
See also: How The Light Gets In
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