Canongate Books Night Boat to Tangier

The Night Boat to Tangier which travels across the strait of Gibraltar is loaded down with some solid sentences. Kevin Barry’s fifth book is peopled with characters pulled out of Ireland like bad potatoes from the field. Maurice and Charlie are sitting in the waiting room of an ageless, dinghy ferry terminal in southern Spain hoping to catch a glimpse of Maurice’s three year gone daughter, who is rumoured to be either coming or going to Tangier sometime on October 23rd. It’s not a lot to go on. Over the span of one day Barry delivers the life of two men, maybe pals, maybe enemies, who have known, blood, betrayal and brotherhood. Barry is a masterful story-by-short sentences writer. There is a lot crammed into this book, just like the night boat itself. Read it and laugh, cry, be shocked and be satisfied. It’s a good book

It's my first time reading Kevin Barry. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The sense of reality through the fictional characters is evident in the novel. The plot of novel is split between past and present. It will take you to another dimension where the stark reality hits you hard in the face. A mixture of brutality, tragic-comic and romance.

Great story well written.

I read Kevin Barry's "City Of Bohane" on my kindle and knew that future Barry books would be hardback. My wife and I loved it. If you're at all like me, you also read the negative reviews to see why people don't like a book. Some people don't like the fact that Mr. Barry does not use quote marks and they felt lost and jumbled between dialog and description. It's true, he does not use quote marks; neither does Cormac McCarthy. If you pay attention to what you're reading, it's easy to tell the difference between dialog and not dialog. If you are a stickler for quote marks, this book will not be pleasant read. Some people felt that the two main male characters were so reprehensible that they could not like them and so could not like the book, some to the point that they could not finish the book. If that is one of your criteria, you may not like this book. I, on the other hand, like Dostoyevsky and I cannot think of a major character in any of his novels that I would describe as pleasant. One person described the people in the book as misogynistic. Knowing that the main characters were part of the criminal class in the British Isles, I had a suspicion what the issue was before I read the book. Now that I've read it, I'm certain: it's the use of the dreaded "C" word. It is used 8 or 9 times . Some people in the UK and Ireland use the C word in largely the same way Americans use the the 7 letter slang term for anus and most of the characters in this book fall into that group of people. For what it's worth all of the female characters in this book are stronger people than the two main protagonists. If the use of the C word in dialog will upset you, this book is not for you. I don't mind lack of quote marks, unpleasant main characters, or the use of the C word. I loved the writing, plot (yes, there is one) , and even the characters. I plan to read it it again at least twice.

I usually don’t give 4 star reviews; hell, I hardly give a 3. But this book deserves a careful read. Its writing and style is reminiscent of James Joyce, Waiting for Godot and Dylan Thomas. It’s thick as Irish stew and you may have to Google the Irish words, but the writing craft is obvious. Don’t expect a great ending; as with Godot, the two washed-up criminals that begin their journey in the ferry terminal, find no soft place to land. It is sad, sparse as a winter landscape and with no redemption offered.