Book Review - Emerald Germs of Ireland by Patrick McCabe
Category Book Reviews
OK... this is my first exposure to Patrick McCabe, and it's because I was at the library and just happened to pick this up... Emerald Germs of Ireland. It's a rather dark, morbid story, but one that I found strangely fascinating...
Pat McNab is a 45 year old guy who lives (or I should say "lived") with his mother. She's a domineering sort, and Pat was raised in a somewhat feminine fashion. But one day he cracks and ends up killing his mother by "blunt force trauma". To cover up the crime, he buries her out in the backyard. Of course, the small Irish town he lives in notices her absence, and Pat explains it away as her having left to do some traveling. That matricide event starts the unraveling of what's left of his sanity, and also starts a series of murders (and garden additions) needed to prevent others from "discovering" his previous crime. You're never quite sure what's real and what's not in his world, but it's best not to become part of it...
Many books like this would paint everything in a dark, sinister fashion. McCabe goes more for the comically absurd, and slowly paints a picture of McNab's background with each new encounter. While the subject matter isn't something you'd find funny, I couldn't help but laugh at some of the scenes that he painted for the reader. And once the magical mushrooms were introduced, you really didn't have a clue as to where things were going (or what was real vs. imagined). I'm intrigued enough to put him on my list of authors I need to catch up on...
If you liked this review and found it helpful, please click on the Amazon book link in the review and click the Yes (Was This Review Helpful To You?) button at the bottom of my review. Thanks!
OK... this is my first exposure to Patrick McCabe, and it's because I was at the library and just happened to pick this up... Emerald Germs of Ireland. It's a rather dark, morbid story, but one that I found strangely fascinating...
Pat McNab is a 45 year old guy who lives (or I should say "lived") with his mother. She's a domineering sort, and Pat was raised in a somewhat feminine fashion. But one day he cracks and ends up killing his mother by "blunt force trauma". To cover up the crime, he buries her out in the backyard. Of course, the small Irish town he lives in notices her absence, and Pat explains it away as her having left to do some traveling. That matricide event starts the unraveling of what's left of his sanity, and also starts a series of murders (and garden additions) needed to prevent others from "discovering" his previous crime. You're never quite sure what's real and what's not in his world, but it's best not to become part of it...
Many books like this would paint everything in a dark, sinister fashion. McCabe goes more for the comically absurd, and slowly paints a picture of McNab's background with each new encounter. While the subject matter isn't something you'd find funny, I couldn't help but laugh at some of the scenes that he painted for the reader. And once the magical mushrooms were introduced, you really didn't have a clue as to where things were going (or what was real vs. imagined). I'm intrigued enough to put him on my list of authors I need to catch up on...
If you liked this review and found it helpful, please click on the Amazon book link in the review and click the Yes (Was This Review Helpful To You?) button at the bottom of my review. Thanks!
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