From the Bookshelf of NYRB Classics…
Find A Copy At
Group Discussions About This Book
No group discussions for this book yet.
What Members Thought
Beautifully written, but (and?) glum, glum, glum and grim. Slightly reminiscent of Jean Rhys, except even more hopeless and drab -- Moore's prose style is good, but not as diamond-hard and faceted as hers, and the Rhys women at least get to rebel. This is the story from the other side, a life crushed into conformity. One of the few books I've read that manages to thoroughly de-mythologize Ireland (which also means un-Joyceing it, altho you can see a bit of Dubliners peeking out now and then). On
...more
Sep 29, 2023
Bronwyn
rated it
liked it
Shelves:
author-j-r,
european,
nyrb-books,
title-j-r,
ebook,
novels,
2023-reads,
by-men,
about-women,
2020-tbr
Oof, what a book. It wasn’t bad, it was just rough. Judith is so difficult to like, but not really in a compelling way. She’s hard to watch, a bit delusional, and then falls off the wagon because she let her imagination get away from her… The afterword and pointing out the pulls of family and religion helped bring things into focus.
After being clued in to that there was a movie (starring Maggie Smith!) I planned on watching once I’d finished, but I was struggling through and so watched it when ...more
After being clued in to that there was a movie (starring Maggie Smith!) I planned on watching once I’d finished, but I was struggling through and so watched it when ...more
I adored this closely observed character study. By the end, my heart broke for Judith Hearne, which was not what I expected from the first two chapters.
ETA 1/2021: This deeply sad, horribly bleak novel remains pitch-perfect on a reread.
ETA 1/2021: This deeply sad, horribly bleak novel remains pitch-perfect on a reread.
The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne (1955) was not the debut novel by Brian Moore, but was the first of his twenty serious novels. Those before were entertainments written under pseudonyms.
Miss Hearne, the eponymous anti-heroine, is a forty-something spinster that has wasted much of her life caring for an aunt and now lives off a small annuity in the boarding houses of post-war Belfast, topping up her funds with occasional piano lessons. There’s not much to her life, beyond Mass on Sundays and v ...more
Miss Hearne, the eponymous anti-heroine, is a forty-something spinster that has wasted much of her life caring for an aunt and now lives off a small annuity in the boarding houses of post-war Belfast, topping up her funds with occasional piano lessons. There’s not much to her life, beyond Mass on Sundays and v ...more
I think I'm not as into reading about Irish people suffering as the rest of the world is?
...more
Ten out of ten spinster rating, though I didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted to. The spinsterishness is not in itself compelling, but a finely wrought religious crisis and harrowing depiction of alcoholism makes this book a strong read.
...more
Jun 16, 2010
Abby
marked it as to-read
Jan 30, 2011
Ryan
marked it as to-read
Tragic.
Dec 29, 2014
Earl M.
marked it as to-read
Jun 25, 2015
Nicholas During
added it
