House of Splendid Isolation

House of Splendid Isolation is a 1994 novel by Irish novelist Edna O'Brien. The novel depicts the relations of an Irish Republican Army terrorist and his hostage, an elderly woman.[1] The novel blends an attempt at thriller, with O'Brien's deep exploration of Irish society.[1] It is based on the life of Dominic McGlinchy, whom O'Brien interviewed while incarcerated in Portlaoise Prison.

Reception

The New York Times gave a mediocre review calling the novel both "a brave book, and if it does not altogether succeed, [and an] attempt nonetheless [that] merits praise."[1] The review notes that the novel is a "dramatic departure" from O'Brien's typical novels, and in that context of experiment "we see her audacity fail and her elegant prose run badly out of control."[1] The Independent was decidedly negative, writing "there could hardly be a neater illustration of O'Brien's fatal humourlessness, and of the extent to which too much posing as a tragedy queen has turned her deaf to her own bathetic effects."[2]

Publisher's Weekly was slightly more positive, noting that the scenes about McGreevy the terrorist were unsuccessful, but describing the novel on a whole as "Powerful, however, is the elegiac voice on themes of womanly love, the tale's psychological acuity and the re-creation of a haunted landscape."[3] Kirkus Reviews describes it as successful, its "well worth reading as O'Brien's first concentrated treatment of the troubles--and the pain they visit on the Irish people."[4]

References
  1. L'Heureux, John (June 26, 1994). "The Terrorist and the Lady". New York Times Review of Books.
  2. "BOOK REVIEW / Tears and terror in the wind: 'House of Splendid". The Independent. Retrieved 2016-03-01.
  3. "Fiction Book Review: House of Splendid Isolation by Edna O'Brien". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2016-03-01.
  4. "HOUSE OF SPLENDID ISOLATION by Edna OBrien | Kirkus Reviews". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 2016-03-01.

Further reading
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