| Reading in the Dark | |
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| Author | Seamus Deane |
|---|---|
| Country | Northern Ireland |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Novel |
| Publisher | Jonathan Cape |
| Publication date | 3 October 1996 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 220 pp (first edition, hardback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-224-04405-2 (first edition, hardback) |
Reading in the Dark is a novel written by Seamus Deane in 1996. Seamus Deane (born 1940 in Derry, Northern Ireland) is an Irish Poet, Critic and Novelist. Northern Ireland (Tuaisceart Éireann Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a Country within the United Kingdom, lying in the northeast of English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States A novel (from Italian novella, Spanish novela, French nouvelle for "new" "news" or "short story Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of Literature or Information &ndash the activity of making information available for public view Jonathan Cape was a British Publisher founded in 1919 as Jonathan Page and Company; the name was changed in 1921 and it took over the back list of A hardcover (or hardback or hardbound) is a Book bound with rigid protective covers (typically of cardboard covered with Cloth Paperback, softback, or softcover describe and refer to a Book by the nature of its binding. Seamus Deane (born 1940 in Derry, Northern Ireland) is an Irish Poet, Critic and Novelist. The novel is set in Derry, Northern Ireland and spans more than twenty-five years (February 1945 through July 1971). Northern Ireland (Tuaisceart Éireann Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a Country within the United Kingdom, lying in the northeast of [1]
Plot introduction
The story is told from the point of view of an anonymous young Irish Catholic boy. The Irish people ( Irish: Muintir na hÉireann, na hÉireannaigh, na Gaeil) are a Western European Ethnic group who originate Catholic is an Adjective derived from the Greek adjective '' / 'katholikos' meaning "whole" or "complete". This novel-in-stories is about both the boy's coming of age and the "Troubles" of Northern Ireland from the partition of the island in the early 1920s through the post "Bloody Sunday" violence of the early-mid 1970s. Northern Ireland (Tuaisceart Éireann Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a Country within the United Kingdom, lying in the northeast of Bloody Sunday (Domhnach na Fola is the term used to describe an incident in Derry, Northern Ireland, on 30 January 1972 in which 26 Reading in the Dark was shortlisted for the 1996 Booker Prize. The Man Booker Prize for Fiction, also known in short as the Booker Prize, is a literary prize awarded each year for the best original full-length Novel
The setting mirrors mid-twentieth century Derry leading into the Troubles. Although the setting surrounds the narrator with violence, chaos, and sectarian division, Derry serves as a place for the narrator to grow, both physically and mentally. Despite the external surroundings, the narrator's tone never slips into complete despair, but maintains a sense of hope and humour throughout.
The main focus of the novel is the narrator’s discovery of his family’s "secret" past and the effect that this discovery has on himself and his family.
The book is constructed of dated short stories that are assembled into larger chapters, these chapters are then further divided into smaller "episodes" with titles such as: “Father”; “Mother”; and “Crazy Joe”. This structure provides the reader with brief glimpses of different aspects of the narrator’s life. These short stories share a common theme by involving the narrator's family’s past.
References
- ^ Deane, Seamus. Reading in the Dark. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. New York: 1996. p. 3, p. 240
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