Amongst Women by John McGahern

This book is about an Irish family ruled by a stiff and sometimes mean patriarch, Michael Moran. Really, the family is held together and almost directed by the women-- Moran's daughters and his wife. But they pretend, and Moran himself probably pretends, that he is the one with all the power who is pulling the strings.

McGahern starts the book at the end of Moran's life and brings the story around full-circle and then some. I appreciate his usage of time and his crafty way of slipping through it so quickly, advancing the plot in leaps and bounds even while using dialogue, for the most part.

I think there's something admirable in that large amount of dialogue. It's a very prosy book, but with so much dialogue going on between characters…it's interesting.

I know I should have some deeper feelings about this book and the meanings and themes, but it just really didn't speak to me. Maybe I'm missing something.

~6/10~