A remarkable book all Irish men and women should read. And other folks, as well.
It has all the faults of mid-nineteenth century fiction—dependence on coincidence, melodrama, speeches never spoken by living beings before the advent of the teleprompter, and some characters too fine to exist anywhere but in Heaven. In addition it goes on forever.
Yet Lever is so fine a storyteller that I was eager to pick it up again after each errand that required it to be set aside. Although I guessed the outcomes of plot and major subplot quite early on, the plotting is sufficiently intricate that I was continually eager to see how the author would manage to work things out.
Leaves a few strands unfinished and a few villains unpunished. Further, I'm uncertain if I want to read any others by Lever, since I doubt he can top this.
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It has all the faults of mid-nineteenth century fiction—dependence on coincidence, melodrama, speeches never spoken by living beings before the advent of the teleprompter, and some characters too fine to exist anywhere but in Heaven. In addition it goes on forever.
Yet Lever is so fine a storyteller that I was eager to pick it up again after each errand that required it to be set aside. Although I guessed the outcomes of plot and major subplot quite early on, the plotting is sufficiently intricate that I was continually eager to see how the author would manage to work things out.
Leaves a few strands unfinished and a few villains unpunished. Further, I'm uncertain if I want to read any others by Lever, since I doubt he can top this.