Rambling Book Review - Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

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Alyssa AKA Nerdy Nurse Reads

Alyssa AKA Nerdy Nurse Reads

Күн бұрын

Пікірлер: 9
@TomBrzezicki
@TomBrzezicki Жыл бұрын
As I was reading “Small Things Like These”, the two major themes that emerged for me were, first, the duties and responsibilities of fatherhood, and secondly, the fragility of the everyday lives we build for ourselves and how susceptible they are to accident and the simple passage of time. We see this in the thoughts and actions of the central figure, Bill Furlong, who worries that his youngest daughter’s fear of Santa Claus might signal she’ll have difficulty coping with the demands of everyday life in years to come, just as he worries that his oldest daughter might be the target of “guff” from the men at the coal-yard after he has to leave her there alone with them to make a delivery. As much as he worries about his five daughters in the present, he knows that they won’t be children for long. As his wife Eileen tells him, “You know we’ll blink a few times and they’ll be married and gone.” He knows that time is working on himself as well. “He was touching forty but didn’t feel himself to be getting anywhere …” There’s also a sense of Bill having a mid-life crisis. He’s given to wondering “what the days were for.” All the small acts of charity and kindness that we see Bill perform throughout the story seem to be his efforts to appease the gods. He sees for himself in the course of his daily fuel deliveries how misfortune and disaster can suddenly strike people from out of the blue, and he seems to think that, as long as he continues to behave as a good, kind, generous-hearted man, God or Fate or the Universe will shield him and his family from the misfortunes it afflicts on others. At the same time, Keegan undercuts Bill’s male saintliness when she has Mrs. Kehoe respond to his comment about having a “few days off” by sarcastically replying, “What it is to be a man and to have days off.” Unfortunately for Bill and his family, the idea that he can somehow make a bargain with God leads him wildly astray by the end of the story. Bill behaves as if he’s in a high stakes game where he must make ever greater sacrifices to fend off disaster, to the point where we see him bringing home the young mother from the convent to his own home in the story’s final scene. We’ve already been given a foreshadowing of the social and business ostracism that likely waits the Furlong family as a result of Bill’s extreme charity when he goes to pick up the shoes he’s bought for his wife, and the woman in the shop, “the wife of one of his good customers, didn’t seem overly eager to serve him …” She’s apparently heard the rumours of his meeting with the Mother Superior the day before and doesn’t approve of his conduct. So although I’ve come across some reviews and commenters who see “Small Things Like These” as another feel-good, comfort-food, warm-and-fuzzy Christmas story, closer examination reveals otherwise.
@NerdyNurseReads
@NerdyNurseReads Жыл бұрын
it's really interesting to me to think of this as a cozy story. Yes, the setting with the quaint Irish village, at Christmas time, complete with snow is very cozy but what's under the surface is quite different. And I guess that's one of the major points of the story. We need to peel back the cozy top layer to see what is festering underneath. Thank you for your thoughts and insight! I appreciate them.
@TomBrzezicki
@TomBrzezicki Жыл бұрын
I appreciate you replying to my reply, and responding so quickly. I see the father/daughter theme running through Claire Keegan's other popular novella, "Foster", as well, but now I really have to go cut some grass. @@NerdyNurseReads
@kidmarine7329
@kidmarine7329 8 ай бұрын
Great book, great author.
@RhiannaVarney
@RhiannaVarney Жыл бұрын
I recently read this book and loved it too! It was great listening to your thoughts 😃
@NerdyNurseReads
@NerdyNurseReads Жыл бұрын
I was reminded the other day that the movie will be coming out in February. I'm interested to see how I like this story as a film.
@RhiannaVarney
@RhiannaVarney Жыл бұрын
I didn't know the film was coming out so soon, that is exciting!@@NerdyNurseReads
@ellenzuckerman7506
@ellenzuckerman7506 2 жыл бұрын
I have this book on my Kindle and need to get to it soon! If you like reading books set in this time period, Factory Girls by Michelle Gallen is excellent!
@NerdyNurseReads
@NerdyNurseReads 2 жыл бұрын
I will find Factory Girls!!! Thank you! I hope enjoy Small Things Like These When you get to it!!
Small Things Like These is a REMARKABLE literary novel
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