I’m not sure that I would have read this book if I hadn’t already read and enjoyed several of Barry’s short story collections, so be prepared to give it a good go to get into its rhythm and language.

Bohane, a city in West coast Ireland, divided into four areas - Back Trace, Northside Rises (Norrie), Smoketown and New Town, with the Big Nothin’ as the rural beyond. Characters include:
• Logan Hartnett (aka the Albino, aka the Long Fella), from the Back Trace, the man of the moment in this mean city
• Gant Broderick, from the Big Nothin’, the gangster returning after twenty five years, whose heart has been hurt
• The Cusacks, from the Northside Rises, gunning for Hartnett
• Miss Jenni Ching, from Smoketown, playing the long game
Set in 2053-54, futuristic Irish noir - is that a thing? Barry makes it so.

It’s very seedy and very foul mouthed, with low down newsmen and middlemen moving the story forward through a year of changing allegiances. With language that sings in its newness but familiarity, and a future time that has degenerated from our own.
And it’s fun, with little conceits and jokes, such as Barry invoking the Norrie tower blocks in chapter 4: Got the MacNiece, the Kavanagh, the Heaney.

It’s just a good time story of the turning of the wheel, in the city Bohane. ( )

fascinating ideas and excellent language ( )

Ulysses meets Clockwork Orange. Quite brilliant. In particular there is a scene where the newspaper editor meets the Gant and a child runner returns from Bohane with news of a gang feud that is hysterical and, at least for me, very reminiscent of Joyce. Not much to say, this book has been widely reviewed. ( )

I don't know how I feel about this book. I may change my rating tomorrow. I really don't know.

update 16 November, 2017: when I first finished this book, I was struck by how little I cared about these characters, how their overwhelmingly negative aspects seemed to outweigh all positive wonder at how unique and interesting a book this is. Really, I'm sooo sick of gangsters.

After thinking about it a while, I decided that the ending, as well as the premise and execution in general, deserve another star. At least. I'm still a little torn.

In some ways, this book bucks expectations (in plot, as well as in generic tropes), but in other ways it seems to go the lazy way forward and that's what's still holding me back from giving it more stars. Right now I'm thinking specifically about Jenni using the "that guy touched me inappropriately" lie to prompt Wolfie to go after Tubby. Booooring. And this book's relationship with women is complicated, which is sometimes useful and intriguing and sometimes just gross. Is it worth it to get through the gross to the end? Sure. I think.

One thing that can be said for it is that it's got me thinking. A LOT.

Update, 7 January, 2017: I'm writing an essay on this and looking through the book I ended up rereading the whole thing. I liked it more this time around. ( )

I liked the swirl of displacement and wonder that I went through trying to get my bearings in this gang-dominated post-apocalyptic coastal Irish city. I'm sure Irish readers would get more from the text than I did but I enjoyed the plunge into unfamiliar territory. By the end I was a little tired of the sartorial details (what economy supported all this fashion action?) and gang leader strategizing. It felt like it was heavily inspired by the 1928 book The Gangs of New York. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gangs_of_New_York_(book)) I read another book that included that work as a mainstay, Helprin's White Horse. A little disappointed by the changing of the guard at the end and the complete disappearance of one of our characters. I would be interested in reading something else by this author. ( )