Poetic, beautiful but somewhat f***ed up

This books needs a major trigger warning for sexual assault, incest, substance addiction and paedophilia!

I really was not expecting the erotic shagging, the very deep dark issues or anything in between if I'm honest. The Lesser Bohemians is a tough read at first, the swirling poetry makes you feel like you're in a whirl pool of wtf.

However, despite that, it's such an addictive and beautiful book. I absolutely loved the pace of it, the twists and turns, I really felt like I was going through life with the main character. I was listening for up to 4 hours at a time and only put it down because some of the topics were hard for me to manage so I needed a break.

There will be many, many times where you are confused as to what is going on, not a lot is made plain and simple, especially as characters don't have names until right at the very end. The imagery is so vivid though, the highs and lows will hit you hard.

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Beautiful, gentle, shocking. A remarkable book

Beautifully written, so gentle that you don't realise you're in the midst of something shocking
Such a stunning book, so well crafted, so terrible, so clever . Wonderful writing, a remarkable book

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2 people found this helpful

Fast-paced, intimate journey into an emotional personal relationship

I really love this book, and the way the author reads it makes it quite magical. The story feels so authentic and, although it deals with domestic violence, abuse and self harm, the strength of the characters endears them.

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2 people found this helpful

Very touching well told story

Happy ending to this complex love story. Unusual twists about the ' Game of Love'
How silly spites can undermine a relationship. Revelations and self redemption towards the end.

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2 people found this helpful

Captivated

I love how Eimer McBride reads this and have been hooked with these characters, so much so this book has been gobbled down within a few days. There were times I didn't, and couldn't, listen because the story was saddening. However, McBride's unique stream-of-conciousness style narration has allowed scenes that could be trite or too dense to be actually perfectly balanced. Highly recommend.

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3 people found this helpful

Wow!

It was an honour, a great gift, to have Eimear McBride read her extraordinary work herself - my own inner voice would not have been up to the challenge of her unique language. I will go back to the text now, more confidently. Might even try and read aloud (to myself) some passages, which is not a response I’ve ever had on listening to an audiobook. Truly ‘a revolution in poetic language’. Bravo and thank you!

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Perfect for audio

Authors should never read their own books, and that rule is proved by this exception. I bought it with confidence, having heard McBride read from A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing, and she is the ideal reader of her own work.

I'm not perfect, mind, so I put off listening to it, because I knew it would be a difficult listen. It is not. It is in fact easier to listen to than some more conventional books, the flow of words lighting up the scene by seemingly tapping into your own core experiences and drawing them out.

This story of a young woman blossoming through her undergraduate acting course is brought into life from the core of one's own senses. As with her first-published book (though I understand this one was conceived earlier), this evolution of the modernist aesthetic is very welcome, absolutely apt for the subject, and beautifully executed.

I hope and trust McBride has patience, resolution and support enough to write just as she pleases, and can find more, equally engaging subjects to nurture in her instinctive way.

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4 people found this helpful

Not for the prudish !

I loved this ! Brilliant narration by the writer , I felt as if she was telling me her story as a trusted friend who wouldn't moralise no matter how explicit the details she had to tell might be . I really felt I knew her and more than that I became close to her and wanted her chaotic relationship to endure. Highly recommended .

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5 people found this helpful

Blurs the line between piety and prose

Wow, quite a revelation! I see that I am not alone in almost giving up on this book a few minutes in. The almost poetic style with its paucity of articles and auxiliary verbs was a little off putting at first. It soon became the norm and enjoyable to boot.
Two damaged individuals come together in a passionate encounter and find some redemption in each other. A little protracted towards the end, and I admit to becoming rather impatient with both of the main characters (thank you 'flat mate' for bringing some lightness and 'normality'). I will certainly search for more by this author. A refreshing change.

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3 people found this helpful

Love and damage

Whatever you do DON’T listen faster than 1x speed. It would be like listening to sped up poetry. The narrator was AMAZING. It was only at the end that I learned that it was narrated (performed is probably a better description) by MacBride herself; made a lot of sense.

I was recommended the book by a heavy-reading friend and it was captivating. Damaged people learning to love and damage each other and themselves. But the story is compelling, the writing incredibly rich and poetic.

It is set is 1994-5 in Camden/ Kentish Town/ Chalk Farm in pubs and roads that I knew well then as a nineteen year old. I can only imagine that MacBride was too - for it is pitch perfectly captured.

As a warning, it is probably the most sexually explicit book I have read/ listened to. It is not at all sexy, but drags you through the experiences, many of them semi-abusive, sometimes intimate.

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