Milkman by Anna Burns

'Hold on a minute,' I said. 'Are you saying it's okay for him to go around with Semtex but not okay for me to read Jane Eyre in public?'

~p. 200

The unnamed heroine known only as Middle Sister in Milkman by Anna Burns is a teenager living in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. She has a boyfriend of sorts, although nothing official, so she refers to him as Maybe Boyfriend. And, she has a job, to which she often walks while reading. After Maybe Boyfriend receives a car part from Over the Water (I think that's right . . . meaning the UK), he's accused of being a sympathizer with the English cause. Shortly after, someone begins following our heroine around and trying to lure her into his vehicle, offering her a ride and noting that it's dangerous the way she walks with her head in a book. 

From there, things escalate. The man who offered her the ride is known as the Milkman. But, he's not the Real Milkman who delivers milk. In fact, nobody's quite sure why he's called Milkman. He begins to show up wherever she goes. Clearly, he's watching her, and as he continues trying to talk her into going with him, he also begins to subtly threaten Maybe Boyfriend with comments like, "A guy who works on cars might easily find himself the victim of a car bomb, yes?" (Not a direct quote)

No matter where Middle Sister goes — work, school, the park to run with her brother-in-law — either the Milkman shows up or she hears clicking noises, indicating that someone is taking her picture. 

As the incidents increase and the most negative spin possible is made on everything she does, even by her family members, Middle Sister begins to believe that it's not just Maybe Boyfriend who's in danger. Who will survive the escalating tensions caused by the Milkman?

Highly recommended - Milkman is funny, tense, complex, and utterly exhausting because of its lack of paragraph and chapter breaks (there are 7 chapters in approximately 350 pages and the pages are dense, with little white space) but it is a mindblowing, unique and exceptional read. I liked Middle Sister and hoped Milkman wouldn't harm her. 

I didn't always understand the subtleties because I found the vast number of factions perplexing. I just don't know enough about the Troubles to know a renouncer from a paramilitary from a hole in the head, although at times I felt like I was getting it. To that end, I'm hoping to read more about The Troubles in the near future (probably 2022 because I can't rush out to buy books about Northern Ireland, right now). Suggestions for books that will help untangle exactly who all the actors were and what they believed, their goals and demands, etc., during the Troubles are welcome. 

As I was finishing up the reading, there were some riots in Northern Ireland, the cause of which I known nothing about, but I found it interesting that the news said a gate was destroyed and that gate was in a literal wall that still exists between the Catholic and Protestant sides of the town where rioting occurred. That surprised me. I had no idea those divisions still existed but it makes the book feel even more meaningful. 

©2021 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Paperboy by Tony Macaulay

Not sure where I've managed to plunk my copy of Paperboy so look here for Paperboy by Tony Macaulay details (that's a link to Amazon).

Paperboy is the memoir of a man who worked as a paperboy in Belfast during "the Troubles," a time when Catholics and Protestants were bombing each other and building up walls to divide their city.  I knew next to nothing about this particular period in Irish history, although I remember the news about bombings very well.  I recall once asking one of my parents what exactly they were fighting about in Ireland and the response was, "The Irish have pretty much been fighting for the last 500 years."  It wasn't quite the answer I'd hoped for.

What's truly wondrous about Macaulay's memoir is that he does an amazing job of keeping the story balanced and staying inside the head of a young boy.  He talks about how he felt, what was required to get the job done in a time when the buses he needed to get around town were often blown up and there was no way home but walking or taking a taxi (which he couldn't afford).  He talks about what he understood and what he did not about the violence, as a peace-loving child.  But, mostly he talks about life as a youngster in Belfast and what it was like to do his job - dealing with his boss, his determination to be the best newspaper boy on the Shankill, the challenges he faced (besides bombings, there were bullies, uptight customers and thieves to deal with) as well as his obsession with the Bay City Rollers and the concert he and the other youngsters looked forward to attending.

The year he focuses on is 1975.  And, don't make the mistake I made of looking up some of those Bay City Rollers songs he mentions, if you read the book.  I thought I'd never get them out of my head (but you should look at their outfits if you want a good laugh - just keep the volume off if you look up one of their videos, seriously).

I thought Paperboy was one of the best memoirs I've read in the last few years and now I'm seeking out more information about "the Troubles".  If you know of any good, readable titles about that time period in Irish history, please let me know!

Highly recommended, especially to those who enjoy memoirs and reading anything at all about Ireland, but honestly . . . just an excellent, well-written memoir, in general. Paperboy gave me that wonderful you were there sensation.  My only complaint would be that it could have used a brief glossary because I had difficulty, at first, in sorting out which soldiers (who were often described in slang terms) belonged to which side.  A little reading, a little googling and I had most of it figured out, though.

©2013 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.