Thursday, 9 April 2020

Night Boat to Tangier

by Kevin Barry

This book has been on several best seller lists in the past year.  It is a bit of a strange book but I enjoyed it.  It kind of reminded me of writings of Samuel Beckett, particularly Waiting for Godot.

The book centers on two old men, waiting at a ferry terminal.  They are down and out criminals who in the past made a lot of money in the drug trade.  They admit they did some bad things along the way, including murder.  They are waiting at the terminal to try to see if the daughter of one of the men arrives on the ferry.  As they are waiting they gradually revisit their past, they torment young people who arrive, asking them if they know the girl they are waiting for.

Maurice, is the father who is waiting for his daughter.  As the story progresses we learn that he was married to a woman he loved very much.  They did a lot of drugs.  They had a baby girl.  It is a wonder the child survived her parents drug lifestyle.  At one point Maurice abandons his wife and daughter and heads to Spain where he shacks up with a drug dealer contact.

At one point the man's daughter does arrive in the terminal, looks down and sees her father and his friend but decides not to make contact with them.  I personally agree with her decision.  I think the father probably wants forgiveness but I don't really think he deserves it and I think he would likely manipulate her if they did reconnect.

The story might sound uninteresting but the language the author uses, the interplay between the two tragic-comic characters is very interesting.  Even though this too is not a happy book it certainly kept my attention.

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