One great novel, blessed with Edna O'Brien style.
( )

Excellently written in parts, although this is a very grim story (and needs to be) about abuse, murder and the dark age of Ireland. Still, the overall book lacks coherence and also a sense of concept - there is seemingly no analogy, and if this is only about the abuse of the Irish state then I feel other books have managed this with more depth. O'Brien's writing is at times tremendous, but it is not enough to pull this book through for me. ( )

I read this in 2011, it is based on a real event in history set in Ireland. The story is about a man who commits a triple homicide. The story is well told but also was very controversial. It was felt by some that Ms O'Brien was capitalizing on their tragedy. She had stated that when she was taken to the forest where the murders occurred, she had to write the story.

Ms O'Brien writes with economy of style, makes the characters real, the tragedy real and the forest itself is a presence in the story. ( )

O’Brien, en af Irlands kendteste kvindelige forfattere, nu bosiddende i England, vakte forargelse, da hun udgav romanen i 2002. Indholdet er ikke værre end den gennemsnitlige kriminalroman, men historien om Mich O’Kanes frygtelig drab på Eily Ryan og hendes søn var eksplicit inspireret af virkelige begivenheder. Og kunne man egentlig tillade sig at rippe op i gamle sår og bruge tragiske begivenheder for egen vindings skyld?

Juridisk er der ikke noget at komme efter – det er meget vanskeligt at sætte grænser for, hvad forfattere må beskæftige sig med – men jeg synes heller ikke, at der er noget moralsk problem her. O’Brien toner rent flag, og hendes historie er så fint fortalt og så fyldt med psykologisk indsigt, at både ofrenes og gerningsmandens familie kan føle sig set og mindet om det frygtelige, der skete. Tilbage står til gengæld en skarp anklage mod et samfund, der først svigtede Mich, og som ikke havde mod og kraft til at beskytte Eily og andre mod hans voldelige hærgen, da han vendte tilbage.

Romanen følger Mich O’Kane fra start til slut, fra forbrydelsens dybeste rødder til hans død og endelige udfrielse. O’Kane kom fra små kår, og han var dybt præget af moderens død. Inden længe rodede han sig ud i småkriminalitet, og da han ikke havde nogen til at tage sig af ham, blev han sendt ind i institutionsverdenen. Stederne var halvt børnehjem og halvt ungdomsfængsler, drevet af katolske organisationer og ledet af præster og munke, der var mere optaget af kadaverdisciplin end af at bringe de unge mennesker videre i livet.

Mich mishandles og misbruges af både kammerater og voksne, og da han en overgang får lov til at flytte ind hos en almindelig familie, er han allerede på vej ud over kanten. Han finder afløb for sine mørke drifter ved at slå dyr ihjel, så det er ikke mærkeligt, at forældrene alligevel ikke tør adoptere ham, men det er stadig et frygteligt slag. Resultatet er en tilbagevenden til institutioner og kriminalitet, og da han endelig løslades fra et engelsk ungdomsfængsel og vender hjem, er han psykotisk, ustabil og præcis så farlig, som psykologerne frygtede, at han kunne blive.

I et skovhus lige uden for den lille by bor Eily Ryan med sin lille søn. Hun har forladt en mand, forelsket sig i en anden, og nu er hun ved at komme på benene som børnehavepædagog ved den lokale skole. Hun ved ikke, at Mich opfatter huset som hans, men en morgen dukker han op og tvinger hende til at tage barnet med ud i skoven. Eily ved godt, hvad der venter, og hun prøver desperat at appellere til hans menneskelighed og i det mindste at redde barnet, men det er forgæves. O’Brien skåner os for detaljerne om selve drabene, men scenerne i skoven er frygtelige. Man mærker hendes frygt og voldens uundgåelighed, og selvom man kender resultatet, håber man alligevel på en åbning.

Kunne Mich O’Kane være stoppet? Måske havde han volden i sig fra starten. Det er trods alt ikke alle mishandlede børn, der bliver mordere, men O’Brien viser tydeligt, hvordan samfundet igen og igen svigter Mich og alle de andre børn i institutionerne. Om de bliver mordere eller forbrydere står ikke klart, men at tro at de bliver bedre mennesker virker i bedste fald tåbeligt. Og der lægges ikke fingre imellem over for den katolske kirkes lemfældige omgang med pædofile præster, der får sårbare og udsatte unge i deres varetægt.

Den anklagende finger rettes også mod lokalsamfundet. Alle vidste jo, at den var helt gal med O’Kane, da han kom tilbage, og flere bemærker dem faktisk, da Eily kører gennem byen med O’Kane på bagsædet og et gevær i ryggen, men de er så bange for hævn, at de vælger at tie indtil det er for sent. Selv politiet frygter hans glitrende vanvid.

In the Forest er en roman med en samfundskritisk mission, men den er også et velskrevet portræt af et lille samfund, og de mekanismer der driver det. Romanen dissekerer en forbrydelse, dens årsager og dens opklaring, og det gør den mere troværdigt og mere interessant end mange kriminalromaner. ( )

"Darkness is drawn to light but light does not know it, light must absorb the darkness and therefore meet its own extinguishment."

This novel is based on true events. Imelda Riney and her son Liam along with a local priest were murdered by crazed Brendan O'Donnell in 1994. When the book was first published in 2002 it caused some controversy as many people felt that not enough time had elapsed and that O'Brien was exploiting the grief of those involved. However, what a novel does that a newspaper article or court reports can never do is unemotionally look at the circumstances leading up to the crime.

Michan O'Kane, on release from prison in England, returns to his childhood environs. Once there he sets out on a course of delinquency, menacing the inhabitants and leaving a trail of thievery and destructiveness. He cuts an almost mythical presence. All the community's wrong doings seem to have been rolled up into one individual. The locals, including the Guarda, are afraid to either challenge or tackle him even leaving gifts of food outside their homes almost like they were making religious offerings to him.

In contrast the female victim, Eily Ryan, isn't totally a virtuous woman. She is a single mother with a young lover who teaches in a local school but also likes to drink, play pool and generally socialise in the local pub and going skinny dipping in the local lake with a group of youths. When the local Police commander discovers her diary he is rather scandalised by her thoughts about love and sex. Eily, is something of a free spirit in a religiously conservative country.

Eily moves out of a town apartment in to an isolated cottage which was the former hideout of Michan. He is initially infuriated with her but becomes infatuated. Michan lost his mother as a young boy and is schizophrenic, he has been in and out of various institutions most of his young life where he was brutalised by his fellow residents and those in charge alike. Haunted by voices, shunned by those around him, he has no idea to build relationships. He is demented and vicious and a storm is building within him.

This is a grim tale but the author's economic and at times lyrical style means that she manages to portray the horror whilst avoiding glamorising violence. So much so that I ended feeling almost as sorry for the the murderer, who was badly failed by the authorities, as I did the victims. This is my first O'Brien book and I enjoyed her writing style. I found it hard to put down once I got into it yet somehow felt that it lacked that little something which would have really made it stand out in a crowd. ( )