A simply wonderful read! Not plot-driven -- young brother and sister spend the summer with two spinster aunts on a small farm in Ireland -- but, oh, the writing is positively lyrical. No doubt this guy is Irish! I carry the bed heat on the surface of my skin and the soft breeze of the night shows a great interest in me, raising the hairs on my ar A simply wonderful read! I carry the bed heat on the surface of my skin and the soft breeze of the night shows a great interest in me, raising the hairs on my arms.
The stones already hot, softened by dawn.
The rain deep in the earth seeps further down, and a lovely linen-like dryness afflicts the land. Grass becomes bright and separate, like a wild cloth. You can almost hear the work of the sun on those long, patient things, the buds of the crab-appple tree, the little hinges of the sycamores. How fresh and alive the leaves even, shouting with green, delighting in life. This starts off slowly -- which isn't a criticism -- spinning its tale and characterization and themes as a spider spins a graceful web. The beautiful, lyrical prose gets better and better as the story goes on.
Jul 08, Carla rated it it was amazing. At least one writer out there is willing to explore the heart and mind of someone who is not a contemporary, college-degreed, high-performing, successful but tormented over consumer who travels to Provence and dabbles in serial mating. Jun 27, Stephen Kiernan rated it liked it.
The Daughters of Durham: Annie the Adventuress - Kindle edition by Anastacia Anderson. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or. The Adventures of the Ultimate Wild West Hero: The Untamed, The Night Horseman, The Seventh Man & Dan Barry's Daughter Max Brand / Frederick Schiller Faust Here he leaned and confidentially whispered in the ear of Pale Annie. over, sighed with relief, and then instantly produced Durham and the brown papers.
I expected this book, which was a gift from a friend, to tap the heart strings of my Irish heritage and make them sound lovely notes of appreciation and perhaps nostalgia. For reasons I can't explain, and despite a character with an Irish anger I recognize from relatives and admittedly sometimes myself , the story didn't grab me. Perhaps the existence of a new and more prosperous Ireland, or the fast evolution in the rural area where I live, made me feel less compelled by the change of dirt roa I expected this book, which was a gift from a friend, to tap the heart strings of my Irish heritage and make them sound lovely notes of appreciation and perhaps nostalgia.
Perhaps the existence of a new and more prosperous Ireland, or the fast evolution in the rural area where I live, made me feel less compelled by the change of dirt roads being paved. Smart people have loved this book. I lasted till page You should not read Annie Dunne for action or a complicated plot. Sebastian Barry is a beautiful writer and tells this slice-of-life tale in the most lyrical way. Annie Dunne and her cousin, Sarah, live on a farm in s Ireland. Day by day, they toil away, trying to understand and adjust to the progress sweeping across Ireland.
This daily routine is upended by the arrival of a girl and her brother, the children of Annie's nephew, who will stay with the two older women for the summer while thei You should not read Annie Dunne for action or a complicated plot. This daily routine is upended by the arrival of a girl and her brother, the children of Annie's nephew, who will stay with the two older women for the summer while their parents look for work.
The unsettling attentions to Sarah by a local man also threatens Annie's security. Sebastian Barry succeeds, when so many male writers don't, in creating the voice of an elderly woman. I'm always impressed when a writer chooses to write about someone completely outside his realm. Annie is feisty and curmudgeonly but her sense of vulnerability shows through that veneer. She is strong but constantly aware of the dangers in her life--from creepy gypsies trying to break into the house, to runaway horses, to a suitor to Sarah who could potentially kick Annie out, leaving her homeless and alone.
That sense of foreboding permeates her daily thoughts. The arrival of the children break the two women out of their rut as they find ways to include them in farm life, as well as entertain them. But then Annie witnesses something disturbing and once more, the darkness descends over her. Let's just say this incident goes above and beyond "playing doctor. But the beauty of Barry's writing truly shines through in this novel.
I just have to share a couple of passages: Perhaps it was cheaper bought without the tick. Clocks for sale, clocks for sale, reduced price, owing to the lack of a tick. They know they are swimming against the tide of progress, but they soldier on anyway. This passage, written about Annie's brother, Willie, who died in WWI, sums up their dilemma perfectly: Jan 10, John Needham rated it it was amazing. I doubt he ever will though. If you want to experience something of what life was like living and eking out a tiny agricultural living in long-ago Simply superb. If you want to experience something of what life was like living and eking out a tiny agricultural living in long-ago s Ireland, read this evocative book.
Annie, her cousin Sarah and the children entrusted to their care for a few weeks are beautifully and so sympathetically drawn. Mr Barry has the ability, as he also showed in The Secret Scripture , to completely inhabit the minds of women, particularly elderly ones, and invite you to join him, and he does so here with sharp insight and great humanity. View all 4 comments. Told in the omniscient first-person voice by Annie Dunne, an elderly spinster living on a farm in County Wicklow, Ireland, with her equally old cousin, Sarah, this is the story of a summer in when she cares for her grand-niece and grand-nephew, age 6 and 4.
The prose is typical Barry, lilting and lyrical, with all the delightful syntax of rural Ireland. His use of the present tense in the narrative creates a sense of immediacy and intimacy. The life of the characters feels as if it is fifty years earlier than , and it is hard to realize that this is rural Ireland in the midth century. Sebastian Barry makes us privy to that neverending internal dialogue we all engage in as we go about our daily doings. In superb prose, which brilliantly evokes Irish speech without the annoying misspellings characteristic of attempts to portray dialects, Barry allows us into Annie's rich internal meanderings: A must for lovers of prose.
I savored every phrase by this uncommonly gifted artist Jul 29, Teri rated it really liked it Recommends it for: I just finished reading this little gem of a book. Lovely and touching in many ways. Set in Ireland, the novel is told form the point of view of a ish "spinster" who lives with a cousin on a farm in County Wicklow. Her nephew leaves his children with her, ages 4 and 6, for the summer. But this isn't a book about plot so much as a constant knowing of someone's very honest mind.
Annie's descriptions are original and evocative, yet reflecting her personality and character. I chose this book I just finished reading this little gem of a book. I chose this book to read, bought it used at Amazon, because I have read 2 other novels by Sebastian Barry. I thought "A Long Long Way" should have won the BOoker Prize a few years ago -- it was shortlisted but I thought it was better than the novel that won.
She is only gentle bones. To think a person is a soul wrapped in this cage of bones.
What an arrangement, how can we possibly be protected? There is a sort of tea-drinking silence that country people have perfected over the centuries. They are the tears of an ageing woman without a mate, I must surmise. But whether Billy Kerr could know this is another matter. The clock seems less anxious to seek the future, its tick more content, slower. I think in the end he understood it too, and gained his salvation from that new courage he found, to go naked and unadorned in the next world.
Even great kingdoms—Ireland, England herself—are subject to this law. How could this simple yard in Kelsha be exempt? You can tell Sebastian Barry is a poet. Every line in this book is beautiful. This is a quiet tale of an aging Irish woman who lives on her cousin's farm, and during one summer in the 's, she takes care of two young children, her great-niece and great-nephew. Though most people would hardly call the events of this summer world-shattering, for Annie Dunne it is a defining experience, and most of it takes place in her own mind. I truly love this author.
An example of Barry's prose: The moon no doubt will be riding to the south, where it sits above the sloping field. Suddenly, in the byre, Billy will fall asleep, just suddenly there where he stands, his guilt evaporating in slumber, like a human. The calves will curl up on the shitty hay and breathe heavily through their stupid noses like old men with colds.
Even the hens will nervously sleep, the night fear o foxes infecting their henny dreams, whatever they might be, I could not say. And we will dry and settle the children in their beds, in their pyjamas aired by the sun on the fuschsia outside, with the good air of Kelsha in the crisp cotton, and they will sleep. And we will go to our bed, and we will sleep. Which seem like good matters. My bones are grateful where they lie in their wear slings. Another fantastic Sebastian Barry novel. As part of a series that follows the fortunes of the Dunne family, this one catches up with Annie Dunne when she is entering her 'old age'and dealing with the insecurity of a woman who is dependent on others for a place to call home.
There is a lot of tragedy in Annie Dunne, but they are tragedies of the smaller kind, ones that stem from the accumulation of years spent with lack of opportunity, lack of acknowledgement for one's contributions, with a growi Another fantastic Sebastian Barry novel. There is a lot of tragedy in Annie Dunne, but they are tragedies of the smaller kind, ones that stem from the accumulation of years spent with lack of opportunity, lack of acknowledgement for one's contributions, with a growing awareness of all that one has missed out on in life because of circumstances beyond one's control.
But Annie Dunne, like most people, is not entirely self-aware. She does not see on how her dwelling on all of this loss has made her bitter and appear as a hardened, sour woman to others. She does not hear her constant whingeing and how other maybe find that unpleasant. The events of the story bring Annie to a breaking point, but most of the turmoil occurs beneath the surface; she suffers - and creates for herself - a lot of inner torment that results in sudden bursts of anger that other people misinterpret or misunderstand.
Still, Barry is such an empathetic writer that you really feel for Annie and what she is going through. This is what I enjoy so much about Sebastian Barry's writing: For much of this book, I did not feel drawn to picking it up but when I did, I had a hard time putting it down. I think the ambivalence is that the writing is so good but it brought me to a very uncomfortable place all the time. It was actually like a scary film, with danger lurking behind every shadow, like when you don't want to look but you can't turn it off either.
I kept thinking, "oh no, don't go there, Annie! And yet it is a very ordinary story of a spinster in rural Ireland of the late fifties. Not at all like a scary film. For me, this book rates 4 stars for its brilliant writing and its emotional impact. Even though I did not enjoy reading it, and did not like the emotions it drew out of me, I have to mark it as one of the most memorable.
For other readers, I think it would be hit and miss depending on what the reader is looking for and whether or not the author touches you with his writing. It is not the story but the telling of it that is so powerful. He brought me to this other world, so foreign, and made me care so much about Annie. Feb 20, Jeff rated it really liked it Shelves: Annie Dunne is a hunchbacked spinster living with her cousin in rural Ireland in the 's.
She is asked to care for her young grand niece and nephew for a summer and as she tells of the mostly mundane events and hours of drudgery of that summer, the reader learns much of her life story, which turns out to be compelling. As much a character study as it is a novel, we learn of her fears and disappointments as well as her hopes and joys. The writing style is almost poetic and the Irish ways of sp Annie Dunne is a hunchbacked spinster living with her cousin in rural Ireland in the 's. The writing style is almost poetic and the Irish ways of speaking add authenticity.
Annie shines through as a sympathetic and three dimensional character, at times petty and short-sighted, but also thoughtful and caring. Sebastian Barry is a gifted writer. It's not easy to make an interesting read out of such a basic story. I don't understand why he isn't more widely known and read.
I can't wait to read more from him. Sebastian Barry does it again! I read The Secret Scripture and knew that I had come across a very talented writer. I have no idea why Irish fiction stirs my soul since I am as Irish as rigatoni with a bolognese sauce but alas it does just that! So does rigatoni with bolognese sauce but that would be for another time and maybe another story! Annie Dunne cracked me up as much as she angered me! The story is non eventful This little treasure took hold of my heart and it will be embedded there for awhile yet! I am ready for another Sebastian Barry! He just does it for me!
The writing is beautiful. The story is of changing times; what once was is no more or quickly fading. Though I found the story slow I enjoyed seeing Annie Dunne's thoughts versus her words. Annie struggles within herself to know her own self and place in the world. She is critical of others until she is shown otherwise, awkward in communicating with others.
Though seemingly gruff I think she has a desire to love and be loved. It seems her own childhood hurts and self-loathing are large factors in The writing is beautiful. It seems her own childhood hurts and self-loathing are large factors in how she has come to view the world. She fiercely loves her great nephew and great niece and struggles with how to best care for them while they are in her charge.
While being the caretaker of the children, she also struggles with her own future and worth. Two aging spinsters barely make a living on a small farm in Ireland in the s. For a summer, Annie gets to care for her neice and nephew while their parents are getting settled in London. Parenting a four year old boy and a six year old girl are challenging, but when a man decides to try to marry her companion Sarah, she finds her world crashing down around her. Sebastian Berry understands the thoughts and feelings of an elderly woman and writes this story using Annie's voice.
Reading it you ca Two aging spinsters barely make a living on a small farm in Ireland in the s. Reading it you can almost hear the Irish accent and see the countryside.
Jan 03, Anne rated it really liked it. She's a fascinating character, but I had that uneasy "I Love Lucy" feeling, that she was going to screw up in some way and make trouble for herself. She was born with enough trouble as it is. There isn't a lot of plot in Annie Dunne, but Sebastian Barry's writing and character development could carry me through anything.
The setting in s rural Ireland is an in-between, awkward place very like Annie herself. Aug 20, Sally Lewis rated it it was amazing. Let me tell you a little about Annie Dunne, a slight and remarkable woman inhabiting a world in rural Ireland that no longer exists outside the imagination of her creator.
In lilting and evocative prose Sebastian Barry brings us into Annie's cottage, her farm yard, her life. We help her make butter and suffer her slights, her spites but mostly the fierce joy and love she feels.
The new owner of the Cleveland Indians puts together a purposely horrible team so they'll lose and she can move the team. But when the plot is uncovered, they start winning just to spite her. An unknown comes seemingly out of nowhere to become a legendary player with almost divine talent. A coach with a checkered past and a local drunk train a small town high school basketball team to become a top contender for the championship.
A dramatization of the Black Sox scandal when the underpaid Chicago White Sox accepted bribes to deliberately lose the World Series.
As the months go by the past slights and betrayals she has felt torment Annie. I savored every phrase by this uncommonly gifted artist In superb prose, which brilliantly evokes Irish speech without the annoying misspellings characteristic of attempts to portray dialects, Barry allows us into Annie's rich internal meanderings: Since so many reviews for Annie Dunne mention the lovely prose, I want to admit that I started this book thinking I may have gotten more lovely prose than I really need. It's all about sex and sport. Annie Dunne and her cousin, Sarah, live on a farm in s Ireland.
The story of Wyatt Earp as he interacts and battles other famous figures of the Wild West era. The Indians are now a World Series contender. But last year's hunger is now replaced with complacency, and bad decisions by the new owner threaten to tear the team apart. Crash is an aging minor league ball player, brought up from another team to mature a young pitcher with maturity problems.
Both of them become involved with Ann, a baseball groupie with her own perspective on the game. I remember the first time I saw this film. I had won tickets from a local radio station and I saw it at a private screening at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. I remember as I was watching it that it was one of the greatest experiences I had in a movie in a long time. This film is not only a great sports film, but it is one of the great all around films I have ever seen. This film has it all from romance to comedy to witty dialogue. Susan Sarandon, Kevin Costner and Tim Robbins all brought Ron Shelton's script to life and the three of them displayed some of the greatest chemistry ever captured on film.
This film is a timeless classic. Start your free trial. Find showtimes, watch trailers, browse photos, track your Watchlist and rate your favorite movies and TV shows on your phone or tablet! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Full Cast and Crew. A fan who has an affair with one minor-league baseball player each season meets an up-and-coming pitcher and the experienced catcher assigned to him. Our Favorite Trailers of the Week. Beyond the Top Top 30 Sports Movies.
Share this Rating Title: Bull Durham 7. Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Favorite Costner sports film? Nominated for 1 Oscar. Learn more More Like This. For Love of the Game Eight Men Out