The Spinning Heart by Donal Ryan

My description of this book would have to be summarized as a "wonderful, all-too human, underrated beauty".  I've never heard of it before, and I haven't even seen it in stores (do they even sell it on stores?  I have to check.  I need to buy it!).  I came across this book while searching the lists in GoodReads (I know I mention it a lot, but it's heaven for us avid readers).  I actually stumbled upon it while searching for a specific type of book.  My sister and I tried out the 2015 Reading Challenge (I won, of course).  One of the challenges stated that I had to read a book set in a place I've always wanted to visit.  Ireland came to mind, and I searched high and low for a book set in Ireland.  I came across this book on one of the lists.  It was short, it had a simple plot, and most importantly, it was set in Ireland.  I gave it a go.  I bought it through my Reader and sat down to read it.


Before the actual review, I should write about what the book is about.  As I stated earlier, it is set in Ireland, in a small town, and it shows how the inhabitants of this town try to cope with the aftermath of a financial collapse.

I think this book has one of the most interesting styles of narrative I've ever seen.  One that, if not done correctly, could jeopardize the whole plot and ultimately confuse the reader.  But Donal Ryan did an excellent job.  It's narrated by a collection of characters that, in some way, are intertwined or connected in this small Irish town.  Each chapter is narrated by a different character, which you won't be hearing from anymore for the rest of the book.  You explore the story in the eyes of one character, then move to another, then another, then another... never reading the same character twice, although each of them mention each other from time to time.

I liked that style, it was what kept me hooked until the end.  You get to witness different lives, different events, and the different views on those events.  Some could be gossip, others could be assumptions and some know the truth.  Only you know what is really going on, but there is still some mystery that lingers and keeps you hooked until the very last page.

My experience?

I loved it.  I don't usually read drama or anything on the sort.  Most of the genres I read are either mystery, thriller, horror or even fantasy.  Drama and romance are not my first choice, or my second.  But, I have to say, I'm glad I read this.  It was beautiful, real, and very emotional.

I don't think there is an actual main character, because a handful of them are always mentioned at some point throughout the book.  That being said, I think Bobby Mahone is the main character.  You read his chapter first, and is struggles.  He is dealing with his dying father, who, by no means, is the nicest man in the world.  Despicable, detestable and grouchy... that should cover it.  Bobby visits his father in hopes of finding him dead one day, and his father always disappoints him.

You think Bobby is some kind of evil man waiting for his father's money?  Well no, you're wrong.  In the first chapter, you get to learn why Bobby is like he is, and what he is going through, all in his own words.  Then you go to the next chapter, a completely different person.  By then, you start meeting new characters, and you get to hear how that person sees Bobby and all the neighbors, and how the financial crisis is affecting them all.

The thing I loved about this book is that you get a fresh new pair of eyes seeing the same people and the same events, yet their hearts are elsewhere, and the crisis is affecting them in their own way.  You get to meet the neighbors and the inhabitants of the small Irish town.  You get to witness their own voices, their own thoughts and how others see them.  You start to see a character in a way at the beginning, then it all changes as you keep reading.  by the end, you have met them all, you know them all, and you are sad to finish the book.

To me, it felt like having a conversation, one-on-one, with a stranger.  They almost seem to speak to you directly, desperate to tell you their side of the story, and the way they see the other neighbors.  It almost feel like this when you start a chapter:

"Please, take a seat.  This is what's going on.  Do you know Bobby...?"

It's like that, every chapter.  You meet them, you get to hear how they speak, what's going through their head, how they see other people and events, and how they are coping with the economical collapse.  Then you get a little involved in what they have to say, and you can't let go.  You have fun.  you laugh, you cry, you nod when they make sense and look at them funny when they don't.  You are fascinated either by how they see the world around them, or their side of the story.  Then it's over.  You have to part ways.

You move to the next one, the next chapter and the next person, looking back at the new friend you've just made:

"Don't you dare leave me!  I'm not done with you!"

You want to keep reading in his/her point of view.  You want him/her to keep talking.  But it's over.  Then you meet the next character, and he/she offers something else to add.  You sit down, hear him/her, and you make a new friend.  You stay, you hear him/her... and it starts all over.

By the time you finish the book, you have made around twenty friends (more or less), and had put together an unforgettable story of the small Irish town in the midst of turbulence and trial.  You've met so many people who had their way of coping, and their little grain of sand in a much bigger story.

Too dramatic?  I know, but it deserves such a buildup.  It's really a beautiful book, very real, very funny and will hit home for many of us.  The story-telling, the characters, the story itself... it's all perfect.

Each character has their own voice, their own story, and you will be sucked into this story from the first sentence.

Now, if I'm being honest, the way they "speak" is a little complicated, and makes it hard to read at first.  I think the characters in this book are either a little uneducated (don't have much of an education) or it's some sort of style native from that town.  In any way, it's a little hard to understand.  Give it a few chapters, though, and you will catch up quite fast.  You won't even notice.

Do I recommend it?

Yes, yes, yes!  Even though it's intended for adults given its language and the topics discussed (which are more complex than inappropriate).  Still, it's a book everybody should read.  It's short, sweet, ironic and very raw.  When you see it at a store, pick it up, sit down, start meeting these unique inhabitants, and listen to what they have to say.

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Thank you for reading!  Hope this helped.  I also hope you are reading this on the to the bookstore to purchase this beauty!  If not, then you should go right away!  You are missing on a beautiful, very human, very emotional story that will stick with you long after the last page (my opinion, of course).  Happy Reading!