The Barracks - Softcover

McGahern, John

3.82

683 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0704331713 ISBN 13: 9780704331716

Publisher: Quartet Books, 1977

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(One of the preeminent Irish writers of our time, John McGahern has captivated readers with such poignant and heart-wrenching novels as Amongst Women and The Dark, Moving between tragedy and savage comedy, desperation and joy, McGahern s first novel, The Barracks, is one of haunting power. Elizabeth Reegan, after years of freedom and loneliness as a nurse in London, returns to the Irish village of her childhood. She marries a police sergeant who is struggling to break free from the servile restrictions of the barracks, feuding bitterly with the superintendent, and is step-mother to his three children. Elizabeth is able to balance the small satisfactions of provincial life against the keener joys and sorrows of her past in London. But then she realizes that her very existence is threatened by illness. Moving as it does between tragedy and savage comedy, between desperation and joy, The Barracks has a haunting quality which deservedly won it a famous literary prize. 'The details (of domestic life) are evoked with a scrupulous yet enhancing accuracy that reminds one of the young Joyce ... He is astonishingly successful in penetrating the mind of a mature woman confronted with pain and death. Mr McGahern is the real thing.' David Lodge, Spectator)

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About the Author:

John McGahern was born in Dublin in 1934 and brought up in the West of Ireland. He was a graduate of University College, Dublin. He worked as a Primary School teacher and held various academic posts at universities in Britain, Ireland and America.In the opinion of the Observer, John McGahern was 'Ireland's greatest living novelist'. He was the author of six highly acclaimed novels and four collections of short stories, and was the recipient of numerous awards and honours, including a Society of Authors Travelling Scholarship, the American-Irish Award, the Prix Etrang�re Ecureuil and the Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. Amongst Women, which won both the GPA and the Irish Times Award, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and made into a four-part BBC television series. His work has appeared in anthologies and has been translated into many languages. His last book, Memoir, was published in 2005.

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