633. Troubles

Troubles
J.G. Farrell
1970
Around 450 pages

We are on a bad run novels lately, and with Samuel Beckett up next, I fear we are surrounded. 

Major Brendan Archer has recently been discharged from the British army post World War I. He stays at a decaying hotel on the coast of Ireland, preparing to marry Angela, the daughter of Edward Spencer. The Spencers are strongly Unionist, so Farrell uses the dysfunction of the family, as well as the dilapidated hotel, to criticize the privilege and denial of the Irish upper class.

So we are stuck in this rundown hotel while very interesting historical events are unfolding. Of course, this is intentional, but I still didn't like how claustrophobic the story was. The characters felt like points of view the writer needed to represent, rather than real people.

A bit of a snore, but Farrell has more time to woo me on this List.

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

Adapted into a 208 minute television film in 1988. Yikes.

UP NEXT: Mercier and Camier by Samuel Beckett