WILD DECEMBERS

In turgid prose, badly imitating Joyce and Hardy, this novel relates the earthy, bellicose, and sentimental relations of Irish country folk with the land and one another. The reader could skip over the purple descriptions to get quickly to the lustier scenes, but the poor listener must endure the pretentious and monotonous cadences of narrator Suzanne Bertish, who is near somnolent between passages of dialogue. Yet, a stubborn and characteristically Irish passion for life manages to seep through even the dullest moments. Y.R. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC/JAN 01]