"Small Things Like These" by Claire Keegan
- is a recounting of the life of a man in a small Irish town in the late 20th century.
Whilst the dates ae accurate as noted by references to political events, the culture of the people feels maybe 30 years earlier,
and this may be a realistic reference to Ireland playing “catch up” once it had joined the European Union.
The book is very clear about the harsh realities faced by people in satisfying their basic needs of food and drink, safety and security, and of being loved and loving in return.
The “small things” are the minutiae of everyday life; to be able to be pre-occupied by them to the exclusion of other factors is a blessing.
The book also acknowledges that supposed moral institutions can turn a blind eye to the abuse of their power.
Being set in Ireland the book points a critical finger at the Catholic church, but none of the institutions of the Victorian era or the 20th century are immune to such criticism.
Furlong is a character that interacts with many parts of the local community and becomes exposed to some of the institutional wickedness,
and as a consequence is faced with either tackling the issues or ignoring and therefore condoning them, and the consequential personal cost that follows his decision.
He also has the dilemma of not knowing who was his biological father.
Club members generally appreciated the shortness of the text (110pp) although the club member who read this on Kindle on the night bus from Paris to Spain felt somewhat short-changed.
Various detailed comments from club members were noted including:
- The book scored well in the literary reviews.
- The book was essentially about kindness and members appreciated the portrayal of Furlong as a kind and well disposed person, a “good egg”.
- The girl in the coalhouse was a superb way to illustrate the iniquities of institutional life.
- There were embedded metaphors, e.g. the evil crows working together represented the complicity of the community in the evil of the laundry.
But didn't she write a powerful novel now, and didn't she use the lovely Irish language.
Doorly score: 4.2
PC. 30th July, 2023
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