Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan- Booker Longlist Review (Mostly Spoiler-Free)

[@drawyourbook876]

I love how you love all the books

[@BobTheBookerer]

Haha, it’s a gift and a curse 😂

[@starstuffpuff]

I completely agree with you :). I also read it last December and it was one of my favorites of last year. I think the briefness of it makes for a much stronger emotional impact, at least it did for me. I really loved this book and I see myself reading again during the winter months.

[@BobTheBookerer]

Definitely! Occasionally I wonder what it would be like if it were a longer book, sort of 200-250 pages, and I can’t imagine it working. I think it only works because so much is unsaid! I really want to re-read it during the winter too!

[@emmavd]

Thank you, Bob!🌷I’m very much looking forward to reading it.

[@BobTheBookerer]

Thank you! I hope you like it!

[@ioanna.]

Thanks for the review Bob! Far from being hollow, I would say that the ending is a lit fuse!

[@BobTheBookerer]

Thank you! And I absolutely agree- it’s so clever to have an ending that isn’t a big reveal, but rather something quiet and subtle, and that’s when I realised how much I loved this book!

[@iswhat1]

If Claire Keegan doesn't win I will riot. Foster and her two short story collections are also amazing

[@BobTheBookerer]

Haha, yes! I really think it deserves a shortlisting at least! I’ve read one of them, and really enjoyed it, and Foster was stunning!

[@BookishTexan]

I loved this book. It had a similar feel - atmosphere, simple people, powerful emotion- but still distinct, more raw in its descriptions. I liked the ending. I thought it was perfect.

[@BobTheBookerer]

Yes! Absolutely- I love how you describe it! It’s so spare, and that works so well!

[@CharlieBrookReads]

I adored this book and everything that it did. I love the contrast between the heartwarming winter scenes versus the harsh realities inside with the Nuns. I just think it was cleverly done in such few pages. Definitely a personal fave xx Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us Bob 📚

[@BobTheBookerer]

Thank you! And yes- exactly, I think you put it so well! It was a real treasure of a book, I thought, and I’m truly impressed with how much she did in so few words.

[@user-iu4ws6vh5s]

I love the measured quality of your reviews. You highlight issues of possible contention while illuminating what is admirable without hyperbole. While I don’t think this book will or should necessarily win, it wouldn’t be an upset and I do agree that a lot of authors could learn a great deal from her exquisite prose and the Bob-like measured nature of her narrative. 🙂

[@BobTheBookerer]

Ahh, thank you so much- that’s really made my day! I appreciate that a lot- I’m often worried it comes across as a bit woolly, but books are such personal and subjective experiences, so I’m trying to avoid coming across as having some kind of ‘correct’ opinion on it 😂 And yes! Such a spare and powerful book. I agree- as much as I love it, I think there are other books that will probably edge it out for the win.

[@KurtAnderson812]

Read this in the week between Christmas and New Year and absolutely fell in love with it. I didn’t even think about it in terms of the Booker but when I saw it on the list I was so thrilled

[@BobTheBookerer]

Nice! That feels like such a good time to read it- it was about the same for me, and it definitely added a lot to the experience for me!

[@EricKarlAnderson]

I have the same issue of forgetting to consider books for Booker Predictions that were published last year. And, like you, I don't know if I can disentangle my emotional reaction to the book from reading it around Christmas time. You make a good case for why the novel is all the stronger for being so short.

[@BobTheBookerer]

Yeah! I think the October-September bit trips me up every time! But yes, although it has such a seasonal feel, I’m hoping the judges still like it enough during this hot summer to shortlist it! And thank you! It’s weird to think what this book would look like at 250 pages or so.

[@lindysmagpiereads]

I loved Small Things Like These, including the ending. I’ve since picked up Keegan’s short story collection Antarctica. The first story in it is quite unsettling.

[@BobTheBookerer]

Yes! I’ve not read Antarctica yet, but I read another short story collection of hers that I really enjoyed! She’s such a clever writer!

[@heathersneddon8866]

It also won the George Orwell Political Fiction award. This book blew my mind. The prose is so beautiful- reminded me of John McGahern- that it brought a lump to my throat. Went and bought all of her writings, plus bought a whole set for a friend. My winner but I have to admit loved many of them

[@BobTheBookerer]

Oh yes, I keep forgetting that- thank you! And John McGahern is an author I keep meaning to read- I have one of his at home, and he seems like an author who is absolutely beloved by everyone who reads him!

[@adamkhanco]

only just discovered your channel! enjoyed this book and enjoyed your review, i thought you covered pretty much every important aspect of what this books discusses very well 👌

[@BobTheBookerer]

Hello, and welcome! Thank you so much!

[@CestKevvie]

I've heard such wonderful things about this book!!

[@BobTheBookerer]

Oh it’s a gem! I hope you like it if you read it!

[@Phil-p7p]

Nice review. I really enjoyed this one. It has a very authentic feel in its depiction of time, place, character and dialogue. I feel Its brevity enhances the emotional force of the narrative. It's like a beautifully painted miniature and the feel of it has stayed with me.

[@BobTheBookerer]

Thank you! And yes! I love the idea of it as a miniature- it’s really stayed with me too!

[@LOUBAT1]

Rob, my understanding of the Magdalen laundries is that young girls were given no sex education at all and had no contraception. They would have an experience with a boy/ man and end up accidentally pregnant. Their families would disown them because of the social stigma. They would be sent to these ‘mother and baby homes’ where they would be put to work - dawn to dusk - in the laundry for their board and lodging. When the babies were born they were often adopted out to wealthy American families without the girls’ consent and against their wishes. You hear a lot about the cruelty of nuns in these situations - telling the labouring girls that their contraction pains were their punishment from God for the sin they had committed. Poor little things. Just terrible.

[@BobTheBookerer]

Thank you so much for the extra detail- gosh, that’s awful, isn’t it? To go through all of that!

[@bookofdust]

Each year in December I read/listen to Sedaris’ Holidays on Ice as my literary tradition, but of course it’s very dark and cynical. After reading this last January I’ve decided to include it as an annual read as well, something more inline with the spirit and meaning of the holidays and as a perfect work to be read in one sitting on a wintery day. It’s my belief that the Irish writers are the ones to beat this year and both works have been amongst the strongest reads in the past year. I’ll be shocked if they both don’t make it to the short list.

[@BobTheBookerer]

I love that you have an annual read- that sounds like such a nice tradition, and this feels like a good companion to that. I think you’re right- I would love to see The Colony and this both make the shortlist- I think it’s very much deserved.

[@curioushmm9027]

leaving before the spoilers once again..look forward to reading this one.

[@BobTheBookerer]

Thank you! And I hope you like the book!

[@janicemacintosh5804]

Sounds like you need to do a bit more readings about the Magdalene Laundries. Very interesting .

[@NerdyNurseReads]

I read this last night and I was shocked at how much I loved this. I agree that it could have been longer and gone into more depth and detail but I like it how it is. It’s one man dealing with learning about what the church was going, how it relates to his life and how no one seems to care. He’s one man who helps one person. It’s a small impact. He chooses to keep his eyes open to what he was seeing unlike so many others who just ducked their heads and didn’t question (I’m presume out of fear of the church). I don’t think he’s a male savior bc what he does is so quiet and small. He saves one girl. I doesn’t ride in a shut it all down. I love it. I love books that highlight the atrocities committed by the church.

[@BobTheBookerer]

Yes! That’s such a great explanation of it! I love how subtle it all is, and how it just quietly tells this tale and then gets out of the way. So beautiful!

[@drzempf1]

Nice review. The key to the book is precisely in its ending, when we can sense the potentially terrible prospects ahead, but keeping that over the horizon, leaving the reader to imagine. And there’s still a hope, resting in his renewed strength of character. This is a specific character study tracing the subtle shifts in a good man’s nature in responding to something terrible. In this way, I think Chekhov casts a big shadow over the book. Keegan also gives the reader space to consider what they would do under similar circumstances. Would I act the same way he does? How far would I go? Do I overestimate how much of a good act I can deliver? Do I really have the capacity to be a Good Samaritan (which could be the secret title of the book)?

[@BobTheBookerer]

Thank you! And yes, that’s so brilliantly put! And I agree about the Good Samaritan aspect of it! Ooh, I like your point about Chekhov!

[@drzempf1]

@@BobTheBookerer Thanks Bob! In my really loose check of reviews, I hadn’t noticed reviewers making the Chekhov connection with Keegan. In the same way (with another Booker shortlister) I don’t know if people have been noting that rather than ANIMAL FARM, the big influence on GLORY is actually The Bible. Especially The Book of Psalms.

[@xarup]

It is amazing book.

[@BobTheBookerer]

Yes! I totally agree! Glad you liked it!

[@LarryHasOpinions]

i always ask myself what would spanish jesus do?

[@BobTheBookerer]

Watching over us all. What would he do?