I have read other autobiographies of the 1960's but could hardly get through Edna O'Brien's. Raised in a deteriorating country house in Ireland then sent to convent school, we see her spiral into self-pity and loveless marriage before she becomes the darling of the jet-set and American presidents. Her spiral downward continued into alcohol and drugs, despite becoming a mother. That's when I started scanning. I wish that Goodreads had a "liked it as far as I was willing to read" rating. I read Parts 1 and 2, but bailed during Part 3. Several other reviewers complained about the amount of 'name-dropping' in O'Brien's memoir. At first I disagreed because, after all, this was a memoir, and these people were in her life. I became disenchanted with O'Brien when she told about the time she dropped acid with her psychiatrist, of all people! I loved O'Brien's writing during the first part of the memoir - her childhood and her strict Irish Catholic upbringing. The writing in the first 100 - 150 pages was elegant, sharply focused, and lyrical. It reminded me of Louise Erdrich's style. But, as O'Brien came into adulthood, the bloom came off the rose, at least, for me. I began having a hard time separating her life and life choices with the actual writing. O'Brien marries an older man, a writer who tries to keep her under his thumb. He resents her talent, but he's quick to make her sign over her paychecks to him! They have two sons together, and he tries to take them away from her. O'Brien is such an enigma to me - on the one hand, she boldly rebels against the strictness and hypocrisy of Irish society - writing works way ahead of her time - and being criticized from the pulpit for them. Yet, she stays with a tyrannical bully of a husband until she finds the strength to divorce him. She fights hard to regain custody of her sons, yet she takes a huge risk of losing them or even dying when she drops acid. The further I read, the less I admired her choices, and the more I began to be annoyed by the "name dropping." Edna O'Brien was a woman born a good 30 years ahead of her time. I must read some of her prose to see if I can "re-connect" with the writing for which she became famous.
Do You like book Country Girl. Un'autobiografia (2013)?
What a wonderful book! an autobiography that you want to read.. truly a brilliant writer!
—petitchou88
det känns aldrig personligt konstigt nog. jag hade dessutom jättehöga förhoppningar.
—mia_bieber13
couldn't get so interested in this one . . .
—wishyz
