book review: Red Sky in Morning by Paul Lynch
The basics: In 1832 in Donegal, Ireland, Coll Coyle wakes with dread. He and his family, including a pregnant wife and young daughter, are being evicted. An unfortunate series of events put Coyle on the run. My thoughts: The book opens with a sense of dread, and Coll Coyle is never able to really shake it. Lynch's prose is sparsely lyrical, and it sets the tone of the novel by matching the mood of Coyle and thus novel as a whole. I first tried to start reading this novel on the bus, and it didn't work. When I picked it up again at home with a full Saturday in front of me, I started it over and didn't pause until I'd read the last page. There's a quiet haunting to this novel that begs the reader to give the novel your undivided intention. There's a magic in its subtlety that demands a close, careful reading. Although Red Sky in Morning is somewhat of a thriller, it's not a novel to be raced through to see how it ends. It's a slowly paced thriller,...