The Mookse and the Gripes discussion

How to Build a Boat by Elaine Feeney (Harvill Secker)

Finished this today. Nothing especially innovative to be honest... I am sure some will find this heartwarming, but personally I am not a fan of sweet child geniuses as protagonists.

Will let my thoughts settle a bit before writing a review, because of course I have been reading this with much too critical Booker glasses on...

I’m a little bit stumped by this one to be honest, I don’t see what makes this a Booker-worthy book. It just didn’t have anything going for it that I’d look for in good fiction - clunky prose, no engaging narrative or well-developed ideas, poorly-constructed sentences, interactions between characters that just don’t ring true at all and don’t feel believable. What am I missing? I feel like I’m being a bit harsh on it, but I really do not understand what separates this book from anything you could find for a fiver in a supermarket, there’s nothing particularly literary going on here as far as I can see.

sounds more like a stale biscuit book then

Yahaira wrote: "sounds more like a stale biscuit book then"

In UK law, biscuits are subject to VAT while cakes are not. McVities, manufacturer of Jaffa cakes, successfully argued in a court case that cakes go stale, and biscuits go soggy - therefore, Jaffa cakes (as they go stale rather than soggy), are legally cakes and not biscuits and so not subject to the same VAT as biscuits.
https://www.kerseys.co.uk/jaffa-cakes...

All of this is to say that this book, as a biscuit book, would be a soggy biscuit book rather than a stale biscuit book. Interesting, right? …right?

and this isn't because it's on a boat?

Owen wrote: Interesting, right?"

Actually, learning about the zero-rating of staple food in the UK is easily as interesting as the book....

I am only half way through but this is really quite disappointing.

Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer wrote: "I am only half way through but this is really quite disappointing."

Unlike the longlist theme brought up in the discussion thread, I found that this one actually gets worse rather than better towards the end.

I will actually be quite impressed if it gets worse.

I agree that it was quite disappointing and got worse towards the end.

It’s like she does not know what book she is writing. Just as an example at the start Eoin is a major character and then for a big chunk of the middle it’s as though she has forgotten him.

I think also having this rather cliched boy on the longlist alongside Viktoria Lloyd Barlow’s fresh and literary take on neurodivergence is not doing the book any favours at all.

I finished this today. I thought it was perfectly readable, not that innovative, but I found the epilogue quite moving and poetic.

Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer wrote: "It’s like she does not know what book she is writing. Just as an example at the start Eoin is a major character and then for a big chunk of the middle it’s as though she has forgotten him.

I thin..."

Exactly! I read this right after "All the Little-Bird Hearts", and Sunday's character felt much more authentic. In comparison, Jamie seemed rather cartoonish to me.

I had some structural issues with both books though, but I felt that the representation of autism and characterization were much better in "Bird-Hearts".

I suspect both may be accurate - both writers I believe have neurodivergent children but the V L-B representation is a definitely fresher one (I try to explain that a little in my review) and of course written by someone autistic herself.

I think this was just added to Overdrive in the US. I put a hold on it and canceled my Amazon kindle order.

My very generous review.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

That sounds like an even worse version of Juno Loves Legs.

Ii would say Old God’s Time is closer to the Irish misery pile on of Juno.

Just finished this. It could be that I was reading a copy of an uncorrected proof, but the punctuation was awful, and I often had no clue who was speaking.

Other than that, there were moments of brilliance- the epilogue, for example, but it left a lot to be desired. Which is too bad- it could have been amazing.

Yes the epilogue was great but it was like throwing out a lifebelt several hours after the boat sank.

Finished this 3 days ago and it gets worse and worse as time goes by. I really can't see very much merit in this novel at all and am starting to question the ability of the Booker judges to see a good book at all. I'm actually starting to wonder if they only read the first few pages and the last few pages of each book.
I thought we were getting some kind of Paddy Clarke to start with but it soon unraveled for me. Also what was the point of the confrontation re meeting in the headmaster's office? Went nowhere and added nothing.
The end of the novel is just a mess. It's like the author wanted to chuck in lots of plot lines and sort of ran out of time to finish it properly. The characters were badly drawn and I found them to be just dull. Really didn't care what happened in the end.
Was this even edited?
Perhaps the weakest entry I've read to date.

Maybe this was one of those call-in books for a friend. Like in 2018 with the Belinda Bauer.

I just finished this one, and I agree that it is a bit of a mess. I really liked certain scenes, mostly with Jamie and Tadhg in the woodworking studio. I also thought the sentence-level writing was quite beautiful in places, though very uneven throughout.

It sounds like Elaine Feeney didn’t know what she was writing when she started out. Just as an example, (view spoiler)[ there is a reference to Faulks perhaps inappropriately touching some of the boys, but that plot line went absolutely nowhere. Also, it seems like maybe it was going to be a book about infertility, but I don’t think that really went anywhere either. (hide spoiler)]

My main problem with the book was the character of Tess. She seemed completely incredible as a character, as in her actions were not believable at all. All that running away, and in the fall/winter in Ireland, with no shoes, no less! That was pretty annoying.

Despite all these faults (and they are significant ones), I still mostly enjoyed reading this book and finished it quickly. I would even recommend this to a certain type of reader.

I echo Gwendolyn's comments. I read the first two chapters, was delighted by them, and then quite quickly things seemed to go awry. I wanted to like Tess but didn't, and didn't really understand her. I found the other main characters interesting but I have no idea what story Feeney really wanted to tell and the novel felt completely unfinished to me.

I think I said this on Instagram rather than here but the characters and ideas were enough to produce 2 or 3 good novels. This unfortunately was not one of them.

Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer wrote: "I think I said this on Instagram rather than here but the characters and ideas were enough to produce 2 or 3 good novels. This unfortunately was not one of them."

Agreed on all counts.

https://youtu.be/Nd-bJyPHX_A

This is the 11th book of my re-read and it’s the only one (and will be the only one when I finish) where I have actively considered abandoning the re-read

Actually that’s untrue …. I would just skip to the epilogue.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CxHv-ZyoA...