Night Boat To Tangier, Kevin Barry, Doubleday, 2019, 255 pp
Summary From Goodreads:
In the dark waiting room of the ferry terminal in the sketchy Spanish port of Algeciras, two aging Irishmen — Maurice Hearne and Charlie Redmond, longtime partners in the lucrative and dangerous enterprise of smuggling drugs — sit at night, none too patiently. It is October 23, 2018, and they are expecting Maurice’s estranged daughter (or is she?), Dilly, to either arrive on a boat coming from Tangier or depart on one heading there. This nocturnal vigil will initiate an extraordinary journey back in time to excavate their shared history of violence, romance, mutual betrayals and serial exiles, rendered with the dark humor and the hardboiled Hibernian lyricism that have made Kevin Barry one of the most striking and admired fiction writers at work today.
I read this for a reading group. I had no idea what to expect. The summary above does set the scene. If you look on a map, Algeciras, Spain, and Tangier, Morocco, are separated by the narrow Straight of Gibraltar. It sounds swashbuckling and romantic but the ferry terminal where Maurice and Charlie wait is a study in sinister, haunted decrepitude. Well, so are the two man a study in such adjectives.
We do also meet Dilly along about halfway through the story. The wait in the terminal happens over the course of one night but through their conversation and some back story about Dilly, the sad tale of the men's long friendship unspools.
If it weren't for the lyricism, humor and humanity of Kevin Barry's prose, this novel could have put me into a depression. Instead it left me in a state of wonder.
I am so glad I read it.
"sinister,haunted decrepitude": i say!! sounds like a rival to Stephen King!
ReplyDeleteI have not read enough Stephen King to say, but I have read enough to know that this guy is a better writer, in my humble opinion.
DeleteThank you for the review. I like the setting certainly - Morocco somehow always draws me in.
ReplyDeleteIt always seems exotic to me.
DeleteThis sounds interesting, Judy. I love those kind of stories, as you know.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review.
I am pretty sure you would like this one.
DeleteMy sentiments exactly. If only the day had 48 hours, 24 of them just for reading. 😉
DeleteYour description of this one has my so curious now. Of course you know, I'm drawn to dark themes.
ReplyDeleteDark themes abound, that's for sure, in this one.
DeleteI read this one a bit over a year ago and my reaction to it pretty much tracks yours. I agree that Barry is a very talented and creative writer.
ReplyDeleteI thought I remembered that you read it!
DeleteDefinitely more curious about this one now. I've seen posts about it in the last year but haven't gotten around to it. Maybe in 2021!
ReplyDeleteIt was a surprise for me. I can't say I have ever read an Irish writer I did not like!
DeleteThat's good to know. I have not read many Irish writers yet.
DeleteThe title of this one is great. Your comments have made be free curious about the book. Among several things I love atmospheric books.
ReplyDeleteOh I love atmospheric stories too!
DeleteOhh this sounds pretty bleak ... but I am curious about the two's friendship, & this author. I hear he can write buckets! and he has a collection of stories coming out this month ... hmm food for thought.
ReplyDeleteHe sure can write! I saw that upcoming collection on your post today. Not sure if I will read that first or his earlier books.
DeleteThis sounds like my kind of read. Thanks for the review!!
ReplyDeleteI am glad to hear that!
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