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The Story of the Night
Picador
by Colm Toibin
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List Price: £7.99
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| Product Details |
ISBN/ASIN: 0330340182
Release Date:
Sales Rank: 9535
Average Rating: 
Media: Paperback
Audience Rating:
Product Group: Book
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| Product Description |
| Richard Garay lives alone with his mother, hiding his sexuality from her and from those around him. Stifled by a job he despises, he finds himself willing to take considerable risks. Set in Argentina in a time of great change, this is a novel about a man who, as the Falklands War is fought and lost, finds his own way to emerge into the world. |
| Customer Reviews: Average Rating: 4.5/5 | | Colm TóibÃn - The Story of the Night: Rating: 4/5 |
| Colm TóibÃn has written a deeply moving book that I could not put down. His sensitively drawn characters leap off the page and the explicit homosexual scenes did not detract from my enjoyment of this compelling book. I already want to read it again. | | Now one of my favourite books: Rating: 5/5 |
I'm gutted I didn't discover Toibin sooner - this was an amazing book, with incredible characters and a story that pulled me right in from the start. I felt these to be some of the most believable gay characters I've ever encountered in a novel, yet at the same time the fact that they were gay seemed almost secondary to their personalities, their failings and the way things eventually play out. This is true of the setting of 1980s Argentina as well. Although it definitely does colour the plot, as with the characters themselves the humanness of the story would have been equally gripping even in a less interesting backdrop. As I neared the end I found myself hoping beyond reason for a particular outcome that seemed less and less likely, almost as one would for actual living friends or family.
Highly recommended. | | Compelling story telling: Rating: 4/5 |
| An intrigueing story set amidst the unusual in steamy and latin Argentina. You start off getting introduced to the eccentricities of life in the southern hemisphere and end up being drawn in to the life of Richard, an Anglo-Argentine, with split loyalties and a desire for better things in life. His normality echoes no doubt with many, and his story is one of tragic rise and an ultimate ending which leaves you turning frantically to the last page. Great story telling, description and characterisation, and a tale which should acompany many on their holidays, or to amuse whilst waiting for the snow to clear. Good stuff. | | bowled over by this: Rating: 5/5 |
I borrowed The Story of the Night from a friend, having previously read Blackwater Lightship and Heather Blazing by Colm Toibin. I wasn't aware that the book had a gay theme, but I found myself hooked from the first page. The narrative, set in Argentina in the 1980s and following the life of a gay man, Richard Garay, has such a ring of truth about it that it's difficult to believe it wasn't born of personal experience. I just can't grasp how something so vividly alive and true-to-life could be the product of someone's imagination. The central characters, Richard and Pablo, are very three-dimensional and I found that I cared more and more about them and their fate as the story progressed. I confess I shed a tear as I finished reading - something I haven't done in a long time!
To my mind, Toibin is a genius - I've ordered a hardback copy from Amazon and I know I will revisit The Story of the Night in the months and years ahead. Do read this book, it's completely compelling - I guarantee you wont easily forget it. | | Wasn't expecting this!: Rating: 5/5 |
I was on the prowl for a gripping read and something out of my comfort zone, something different and I certainly got it with this book.
Right from the outset I felt attached to the main character and cared about him and needed to know what happened to him, I related to quite a few of the experiences he was going through and felt comforted throughout the book.
Lots of moments I wasn't expecting (like the sex scenes) but they were handled perfectly in a very grown up writing style. The whole book is a pleasure to read and flows so easily that you really don't want to put it down.
I read it in a few sittings, like most of the other reviewers did too and I loved the last third. Buy this book! | |
