Reading Contemporary British Literature
YEAR 2016-2017
Group 302
GRACE NOTES
By Bernard MacLaverty
Task 1, Part 1
Comment on your impressions of the 1st part of the book you have read and discussed.
YEAR 2016-2017
Group 302
GRACE NOTES
By Bernard MacLaverty
Comment on your impressions of the 1st part of the book you have read and discussed.
Evaluation
ОтветитьУдалитьI`d like to say a couple of words about my first impression of Bernard MacLaverty`s Grace Notes. When the author describes the main character`s way to the airport, the author doesn`t tell us the main heroine`s name, thanks to that he creates the effect of certain mysteriousness and makes accent on Catherine`s thoughts and her inner world. The events described in the given take place chapters in the town of Belfast in Northern Ireland. This is the place where Catherine grew up. Going through Belfast Catherine sees a lot of places which make her recall something and re-feel something from her past, for example the pub where she lived in her childhood and where her father was a bartender, the place on a hill where drummer`s matches took place, also particular things and places inside of the house belonging to Catherine`s parents like the piano, the safe, Catherine`s old bedroom and so on. Running into them the main heroine recalls her childhood and becomes even more upset because of the death of her father...
Most of all, Catherine`s attention is attracted by places she once knew and which changed much. It`s neccesary to mention that she pays great attention to sounds and thus we can consider her to be either a composer or a music teacher ( "How is the piano playing going?" - the mother asked). Besides, there are quite new places like "a Chinese restaurant", "a new grey fortress of a police barracks". To speak on Catherine`s feelings concerning her coming back home, she understands that would like to come to Belfast in better times; she is upset by the death of such a close person and still is happy to return home and thus Cathering is crying both of sadness and warmness caused by her home town`s closeness (" A mosaic of vivid greens and yellows and browns. Home. She wanted to cry again").
To speak about Catherine`s parents, her father was more concerned with music and literature (" Did you ever hear tell of the writer Lynn C. Doyle", "He thought pop music a kind of noise pollution") than her mother who "slammed the lid of the piano shut so hard it made the whole instrument tingle and hum". Still, she loved her husband very much and was crying about him absoclutely sincerely, I suppose. Catherine`s father was an outstanding man loved by everybody, the owner of a charming voice and a great sense of humor. It`s always a pity when such people should leave us and be gone.
I also noticed for myself certain expressions. They are:
- "I don`t know which end of me is up"
-"A sole survivor"
-"Catch yourselves on"
-"They`re at it again"
I'd like to say some words about " Grace Notes". Opening the novel, Bernard Maclaverty is immersing the readers into characteristic state of mood. We understand that SHE feels herself like this but not like that. The writer uses such attributes as: weather, apparel, types of sounds, style of conversation. According to these attributes, which have negative coloring in general, we can suspect that something negative has happened and we will know about it when read ahead.
ОтветитьУдалитьWhen Catherine comes home her mother is quite reserved. They even don't talk much to each other, only about tea and old friends. Catherine doesn't make an attempt to make the conversation alive.Why? Because she feels big grief of her father, everybody in the house feels the same and .. " world is off ". This way Maclaverty shows psychological reaction of human being to a concrete irritant.
The language of the book is not difficult. You can read it not using a dictionary and nevertheless understand the whole situation. The language is rich in synonyms. In one paragraph I found maybe five or six meanings of the word "бить". And also there is a sense of humor.
I would read and I hope to catch new things.
Bernard MacLaverty uses quite unusual methods of the narration in his novel “Grace Notes”. He greatly conveys the inner feeling of the main character without telling it directly. There is an implication in almost every sentence. And if we get it, we’ll define what the author implies.
ОтветитьУдалитьWhen you read the novel, you feel as if you are mired in a swamp. But I don't mean anything negative. The environment in the novel is seen as something viscous, like honey, flowing down from a wooden dipper. You feel as though you are lost in a small village not far from Belfast, where absolutely ordinary people live their lives. You can feel the atmosphere of calmness which is far away from hustle and bustle of big cities.
MacLaverty applies a peculiar technique of the description of the surroundings. He creates the particular mood. He draws our attention to the sounds around. It seems that Catherine lives in her own world, in the world of music. The novel gives the impression that you are deprived of all senses except for hearing. I believe that in this way MacLaverty tries to play with his readers. Can we perceive the world the way musicians and composers do?
I`d like to describe you my feelings after reeding the 1st part of the book and also to tell you some words about my attitude to the main heroine generally.
ОтветитьУдалитьIn spite of the fact that I`ve faced with the work of that author for the first time, I can say that I`m really delighted that my acquaintance with Bernard MacLaverty began with exactly this book. To be honest, firstly I found that book monotonous and sometimes dull, but gradually I became accustomed to his manner of writing. What I really appreciate in the context is that the author shows us the inner world of the lead character , relationships between Catherine and her parents, Catherine`s remembrances, her feelings and her excitement. That all make us follow her story with sincere interest. Grief, her father`s death led her to her home. Through Catherine`s sorrow an author made us to imagine ourselves inside that story, full of sadness. Only music was able to bring her back, in that real world. Music accompanies Catherine all the time during the reading. And while you read, you unconsciously start to comprehend that all things which happen with the main character are just the same things which happen with real us, readers, now.There is no difference in time. Her life is just an example of a simple life with difficulties, which everyone of us could perceive differently. I can`t say that it was hard to read it, but step by step the language became rather easy for me. Ensure the storylife turned out to be really riveting. And as I prefer thought-provoking books with deep insight into the personalities of the characters, it will be hard to put the book down.