'Days Without End' by Sebastian Barry

FTC disclaimer: I was not sent this product. I am not affiliated with the companies mentioned. All opinions are my own.

Overall Rating: 6/10

Plot Introduction Written By Me:

Thomas McNulty fled Ireland during The Great Famine looking for a new world. But the America he finds is far from a safe haven. Doing any work to get by, Thomas stumbles into John Cole (another nobody in the vast country) and together they sign up for the army. First it’s eradicating the ‘Indians’, then its fighting in America’s Civil War. Thomas just does as he’s told. But in the confines of his heart, he begins to question everything.

Review:

Starting with the good, I loved how LGBT lives were woven into a tale of army men in the 1850’s; very original. Barry didn’t advertise it as LGBT historical fiction, because it is a tale of human nature as opposed to an advertisement for human rights (which I appreciated). This theme just burns slowly in the background. Additionally, Barry’s beautiful, reminiscent language really made this novel different from anything I’ve read. In a way, the book read like a very long poem.

However, I felt that we only ever skimmed the surface of each character. There was a sense of being removed, despite our first person narrator. This social distancing between story and reader limited my investment in the story, as did the rare changes in tone. We never got to know anyone; it felt like Barry was telling a shocking, brave story just for the sake of telling it rather than actually creating characters I could know.

I end my review discussing the novel’s ending: Happily Ever After just didn’t suit this novel. A tragic one is only just narrowly avoided, but I think it would have complemented the story better.

My Favourite Quotations:

• “Things just go on. Lot of life is just like that. I look back over fifty years of life and I wonder where the years went. I guess they went like that, without me noticing much. A man’s memory might have only a hundred clear days in it and he has lived thousands. Can’t do much about that. We have our store of days and we spend them like forgetful drunkards. I ain’t got no argument with it, just saying it is so.”

• “There’s no hospital yet further up the country so it’s now or never. Anything that can be bandaged is wrapped tightly. At the end of the surgeon’s table the pile of arms and legs grows. Like the offered wares of some filthy butcher.the fires have been stoked and the irons is pushed against the wounds and the screaming men are held down. We know in our hearts they can’t survive. The old rot will set in and though we may bump them back north they won’t see another Christmas. First the vile black spot and then all hell to pay. We seen it a hundred times. Still the surgeon works on just in case.”

• “I asked him did he see anyone eat another in the ship’s hold and he says he didn’t see that but he seen worse. He says when they opened the hatches in Quebec they drew out the long nails and the light came into the hold for the first time in four weeks. All they had gotten on the journey was water. Suddenly in the new light he seen the corpses floating everywhere in the bilge-water and then the dying and then everyone to the last a skeleton. That’s why no one will talk because it’s not a subject. It makes your heart ache.”

Review Written On: 06/09/2021

Book Discovery: Found it whilst browsing in Waterstones.