Three men vow to leave the world behind them. Purchasing Info: Author's Website, Publisher's Website, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo,, Better World Books Published by Audible Audio on August 23, 2022 I will think for a long time about its observations of human nature, hubris, the natural world and the desire for a spiritual life to fill the blanks in our daily life.Source: supplied by publisher via NetGalleyįormats available: hardcover, large print, paperback, ebook, audiobook Looking at previous reviews, though, I see that my enjoyment of it is widely shared. I did wonder if other readers/ listeners might find the pace too slow or the story unengaging, since it is as spare as the monastic rule it describes.
A masterpiece of engagement and suspense and read perfectly, with masterful pace and subtle characterisation. The details of how soil can be made on such a bare surface, how food can be scavenged, how fire can be made or a drystone building constructed, are shown with crystal clarity but without any sense that Donoghue's research is being shoehorned into the narrative. It is the bedrock of their world view, just as Skellig is the rock on which they try to scrape a living. Donoghue does such a good job of showing how Christian thought utterly saturates the thinking of these men, without either mocking or admiring it. The inner life of each is barely touched on, but beautifully shown and until the very end, I had no idea what the conclusion would be. The dynamic between the three men is lightly but convincingly sketched. The drama comes from the tension in their triangular relationship, and the structure of their monastic life. Obviously, there is almost nothing there: that's the point of them seeking it out, as a place of retreat and worship. Emma Donoghue places three deeply Christian (fictional) men on an inhospitable (real) island, around the year 600 CE.
What a feat, to make the story of three men on a rock so utterly engaging and compelling that I couldn't bear to stop listening.
Best audiobook ever, for this listener anyway
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