[.ca] The Blackwater Lightship (ISBN 0771085575)

From Amazon.com:
In the opening pages of The Blackwater Lightship, a stranger drives up to Helen O'Doherty's Dublin house to tell her that her brother Declan is in the hospital and needs to see her. At his request, she joins him at the creepy seaside house of their grandmother--where, as children, they awaited news of their dying father. What's more, they're not the only guests. Paul and Larry, friends of Declan who have known about his HIV diagnosis far longer than his family, are the next to arrive. And then comes Helen's estranged mother Lily, whom she hasn't seen in years. Still angry over the emotional abandonment she suffered during her youth, Helen had refused even to invite Lily to her wedding. Now she must come to terms not only with the imminent death of her beloved brother but also with her mother and grandmother--all at once. Colm Tóibín (The Story of the Night) delivers this unsentimental account of a troubled family in spare but suggestive language. He does allow his characters a few high-spirited remarks and the occasional outburst. Otherwise, though, he keeps his tone even, allowing for the perfect integration of a light, unforced symbolism. For Lily, broken hopes and dreams are bound up with the Blackwater Lightship, one of two lighthouses that once stood in the Irish Sea near Ballyconnigar. As a child, she believed that these would always be there: Tuskar was a man and the Blackwater Lightship was a woman and they were both sending signals to each other and to other lighthouses, like mating calls. He was forceful and strong and she was weaker but more constant, and sometimes she began to shine her light before darkness had really fallen. For Helen, on the other hand, it was the house itself that prompted her deepest, happiest fantasies. But now Lily has sold the property and shattered Helen's dream that "it would be her refuge, and that her mother, despite everything, would be there for her and would take her in and shelter her and protect her. She had never entertained this thought before; now, she knew that it was irrational and groundless, but nonetheless ... she knew that it was real and it explained everything." What Declan has done by drawing them all together at Granny's house is to enact this potent, poignant fantasy. Whether it has the power to reconstruct his family is another matter, but in any case, The Blackwater Lightship remains a gripping narrative, deftly delivered by a master storyteller. --Regina Marler

Love, Family, AIDS and Dysfunction:
Helen O'Doherty lives in Dublin with her husband and two sons. She is a school principal and set with her life. She is happy and even though she may be a bit more reserved in her marriage than her husband would like, all seems well. When school is over she and her hubby plan a large party in their new home to celebrate. Her husband and children will go the next day to visit relatives, and Helen will follow when she clears up her end of school issues. Helen worries about her life and her children. Are they too needy? Is it right that the youngest needs his parents so thoroughly? Helen seems to be a thoroughly modern woman of the 90's- ready to live her life. Helen's family is off and she is ready to go to school when a friend of her brother, Declan, arrives to tell her Declan is seriously ill and needs to see her. And so it goes.. Paul, Declan's friend tells her he has AIDS and has been ill for quite a while. He does not have a serious relationship right now, and he does need a place to go to recuperate. It is decided by Declan that he wants to go to Grandmother's house, but first, would Helen tell Grandmother and mom, Lily about his disease? No small deed is this one...Helen has had an on -again off-again relationship with her mother and grandmother for years. In fact, she has only seen them at Christmas time, but neither was invited to her wedding nor have they met her family or children. How will she tell them, what will they say and how will they react? Oh, no, what to do... Mom- Lily, Helen, Paul and Larry, Declan's friends all move into grandmother's house in a desolate spot on the ocean near the Blackwater Lightship. This place and house has particular meaning to the family-they were brought up here. Lily, the mom as a child; Helen and Declan when they father got sick and died and mom left them, or abandoned them, as Helen and Declan remember. This dysfunctional family now has a chance to reclaim their lost relationships. Paul and Larry are gay, as is Declan, and as they reveal their lives, the lives of the others come into semblance. The living and the dying , the coming and the going, the new and the old all take on extra meaning. Colm Toibin has written a marvelous study of a family entwined in the everyday business of living and dying in his book "The Blackwater Lightship: A Novel". The relationships in this family are not unusual, but so well written in such a cleverly calm but studied manner. Colm Toibin's knowledge of the clinical process of AIDS is well revealed and accurate. You feel like you are in the midst of Declan's fevers and pain and suffering. The judgment of being Gay and having AIDS in the 90's is explored and well written. This is a book of the ages- always timely, relationships explored, the pain and suffering of lost time with family well documented. A novel to learn from. Colm Toibin was on the short list for the Booker prize for this novel. He is an author to be recommended- a writer of fabulous ability- to be enjoyed and thought about for days after the novel is finished. prisrob

Touching:
I am part of a newly started book club. The novel "The Blackwater lightship" by Colm Tóibín (shortlisted for the Booker Prize) was chosen as the second book to read (my first - as I have just joined the club). The number of girls attending our dinners vary between 3 and 12, all Australian but me. As I joined late, my friend Rachael had already finished the book. She did not care too much for it, so I started out slightly biased to the book. But that quickly changed, and I hadn't read too many pages before I emailed Rachael and said "I really like this book!!".. The story is set in Ireland in the early 1990'ies, and it starts as a stranger comes to Helen O'Doherty's house to tell her that her brother, Declan, is dying of AIDS. Helen rushes to visits Declan in the hospital in Dublin. Declan tells her that he would like to leave the hospital and spend some time at his grandmother's house by the sea. Helen and Declan spent a lot of time at their grandparent's house as children, but Helen worries that a dying grandson will be to much for their aging grandmother. Nevertheless, they go there, and they all end up living at Dora's place: Declan, Helen, Lily, and two of Declan's friends; Paul and Larry. Helen and her mother Lily have a very distant and (on the surface of things) unemotional relationship. It really impressed me that a man has with such amazing authenticity been able to capture this complex mother-daughter relationship. Although Declan is the one who is dying, the book is first and foremost about Helen and how she accepts and understand the past, forgives what was to forgive, and how she grow to be emotionally attached again to her mother Lily. My favorite character from the book is by far the grandmother, Dora. She is an amazingly strong and strong willed woman. I love how she takes a taxi to town every Wednesday to go shopping, and do her things. I just fell in love with her. My favorite scenes from the book is when Paul is 'having a go' at Lily for not understanding anything - and Dora is on the sideline cheering for Paul. The second scene is when Larry is teaching Dora to drive. Absolutely fantastic!! The ending was lovely too, without being clichéd and predictable or sappy for that matter. The author has an impressive ability to superbly develop characters. His writing style is in many ways similar to Hemingway, sparse but yet luminous. With "The Blackwater Lightship" Colm Tóibín has written a beautiful book. It's one of the finest explorations of a dysfunctional family I've come across. Highly recommended.

The Blackwater Lightship:
Three generations of women who have been apart for many years come together when the youngest woman's brother is dying of AIDS. Sounds good, but so very far from the truth. First of all, the writer is from Ireland and in the book, words are spelled like they are from that country. (Example: pajamas is pyjamas, realized is realised, etc) Even though I tried to put that out of my mind, it bugged me not to see them the way I am used to seeing them spelled in America. Second, the writer has other novels under his belt, but this book seemed like it was written by an inexperienced or rather juvenile person. It did not flow smoothly, and ended rather abruptly. The way he described the scenes and the dialog that went with it, seemed to come from the mind of a 13 year old.....failing miserably at getting the reader into the scene; not allowing them to see or observe what is going on around the characters, but listen only to endless prattle. Unable to paint a clear picture. The one thing I did like, was learning what objects we use everyday are called in Ireland. (Example, the trunk of the car is the "boot", and the grocery cart is a "trolley". Also your bottom is called a "bum", not a homelss person.) But for the rest of it, I should have left it in the bookstore.

A solid, good read:
Toibin has written a sincere, moving account about family frictions and resolutions in a believable manner. It's not easy to do that. The ending was satisfying without being predictable or overly sentimental.

A Gem:
This book has only 288 pages, with its light touch and relaxing statement it can be read in one sitting. But this is a gem indeed. The atmosphere is superb. The story of this struggling family gives me a tranquil, distant, dark and somber ireland beach, with its wind blowing and wave rumbling. It's amazing. And, come back home, the wounded one.