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In the Forest

In the Forest

by EdnaO'Brien (Author)

  • Used

    Hardcover 2002

    $5.76

  • Used

    Paperback 2003

    $23.39
Synopsis

Based on a horrendous true crime, In The Forest si the story of Mich O'Kane - 'not all there in the head' it's said - who shoots three people dead in the woods of Ireland. Edna O'Brien traces the events that lead to such horror. Mich O'Kane hears voices; he cannot stop mourning the death of his mother. Theft and other crimes lead him to a Christian Brothers borstal, then to a British prison. By the time he returns home, he is an institutionalised criminal incapable fo telling the truth even to himself. Single mother Eily lives with her you son Maddie in a house Mich camped out in after his mother's death. One night Mich drags them out of the house and orders Eily to drive to the forest. The third death is that of a priest he entreats to come to the murder site. This tragic an starkly terrible story is told from various points of view, including Eily's, Mich's granny, a priest, but the core of it is Mich, born to fail. Can there be any hope for him?

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
 Pages: 224
 Edition: First Edition
 Publisher: W&N
Published: 22 Apr 2002
ISBN 10: 0297607324
ISBN 13: 9780297607328
Book Overview: Confirmed BBC 2 'Omnibus' documentary on why the crime has attracted a novelist of O'Brien's stature - transmitted on publication. Starred reviews in both 'Kirkus' and 'Publishers Weekly' in the US: 'At once rich and chilling: one of O'Brien's darkest, most accomplished works in years' - Kirkus 'IN THE FOREST is a savage portrait of desolation and rage, brilliantly told, truly shocking' - Harold Pinter

Media Reviews
This is still number 4 in Ireland, which is wonderful news. Edna is attending the Edinburgh Festival on 16 August. Just to remind you of the fantastic reviews the book has received over here: 'The writing is very well judged, for the most part, and is sometimes exceptional'Tom Dunne, The TLS 'The triumph of this book lies in its evocation of the violent adolescent boy... O'Brien isvery accomplished in her portrayal of his crazy scattergun speech.'Barbara Trapido, THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY 'This is a frightening, disconcerting and unforgettable piece of work.'Elizabeth Buchan, THE DAILY MAIL 'Nothing I have read since Blake Morrison's account of the James Bulger Case, AS IF, comes close to O'Brien's insights into the complex web of causes and contexts that make up the 'whys' of murder.'Laurence Warening, The HERALD 'By fictionalising her account, Ms O'Brien allows herself an imaginative freedom which gives thestory a new life, sharpening the sense of horror and the lost opportunity, while at no point allowing us to forget its truth.'The ECONOMIST 'O'Brien's portrayal of a community united in unease is faultless.'Claudia Fitzhebert, THEDAILY TELEGRAPH 'IN THE FOREST is one of her most powerful and effective novels, a model of its kind.'David Robson, THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH 'IN THE FOREST is a hauntingly sympathetic depiction of evil.... For O'Brien this is a Greek tragedy 'that needed to be written'. Fortunately her writing is poetic enoughfor you to feel that, yes, however painful, it also needs to be written.'VivGroksop, THE EXPRESS 'IN THE FOREST is a magnificent book, haunting, instinctive and shocking.... When art is this good, it cannot be afraid to speak out.'Louise Rimmer, SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY 'A spare, compelling and compassionate novel. IN THE FOREST was not just a worthwhile enterprise, but a necessary and successful one.'Ronan Bennett, THE GUARDIAN 'This is an ambitious, important book, dealing with difficult subjects directly and courageously.'Jonathan Heawood, THE OBSERVER 'O'Brien constructs a narrative of the peculiar combination of emotional simplicity and complexity that characterises a successful fairy story.'Jane Shilling, THE TIMES 'IN THE FOREST is a sort of fictionalised inner exploration of an outer horror, beautifully written, but yes, dark.'MaryKenny, THE SPECTATOR 'I read it avidly. O'Brien had done us a service, without diminishing the dead.'Melanie McDonagh, THE EVENING STANDARD 'This novel, splintered in its form but coherent in its potency, is a persuasive representation of a desperado, of one who has despaired.'Lucy Hughes-Hallett, THE SUNDA
Author Bio
Edna O'Brien, one of Ireland's greatest contemporary novelists, made her name with THE COUNTRY GIRLS in 1960. She has also written plays and contributes regularly to the New Yorker.