To Read & To Write

I loved Eilis, I hated Eilis, I felt sympathy towards the story, I felt frustrated with the story, I didn’t necessarily want to finish the book, but I did, indeed, in two days. This was the course of emotions that ran through me while reading Brooklyn by Colm Toibin.  The book is entertaining to say the least, and is deeply moving, especially in the beginning and middle parts of the story, and then very shocking towards the end. Things happen to Eilis, the protagonist, that a reader may not (and probably won’t) suspect, and the contradictions of emotion and action within this very particular young woman are told in such a way by Toibin that is economical perhaps of because of how straightforward his writing is. In otherwords, it’s a quick read. However, there is an aura of mystery as well, which makes this story potent for discussion. Toibin will not tell you why things happen in the story, he tells you the events and hints at certain things, while the reader hypothesizes as s/...