Heart, Be at Peace: A Novel
共同体の声を重ねながら、経済危機後の小さな町に残る傷と回復を描く小説として評価されている。視点の多さが豊かさになる一方、進行の穏やかさをゆるやかに感じる読者もいる。
Work Information
町の記憶を、二十一の声で編み上げる。
経済危機のあとも残る傷と、そこから立ち上がろうとする町の姿を、二十一の視点で描く小説。暴力や不安の影のなかにも、やさしさと連帯が確かに息づく。
Review Summaries
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多声的な構成と、町の空気を細やかにすくい取る筆致が評価されている。静かな進行を魅力とみる声がある一方で、展開の緩やかさを物足りなく感じる読者もいる。
Book Information
- Publisher
- Penguin Books
- Published
- 2026-05-19
- Pages
- 208 pages
- Language
- 英語
- Size
- 13.49 x 1.4 x 20.29 cm
- ISBN-13
- 9780593834664
- ISBN-10
- 0593834666
- Price
- 3122 JPY
- Category
- 洋書/Literature & Fiction/Literary
Winner of the Irish Book of the Year Shortlisted for the Nero Novel of the Year From one of the most acclaimed Irish writers today, a new novel about smalltown Ireland that explores a community on the mend and the power of love and trauma to both bring people together and divide them “ I said it before. Madness comes circling around. Ten-year cycles, as true as the sun will rise. . .” In a small town in Ireland, the local people have weathered the storm of economic collapse and now look to the future: The jobs are back, the dramas of the past seemingly lulled, and although the town bears the scars of its history, new stories have begun to unfold. But an insidious menace now creeps through back-alley shadows and into the lives of the townspeople. Old grudges fester and new ones arise. Young people are lured by the promise of fast money while the generation above them tries to hold back the tide of an enemy beyond their control. And the peace of this town is about to be shattered in an unimaginable way. A stunning, lyrical novel told in twenty-one voices, Heart, Be at Peace reveals a community that together looks to overcome the betrayals, secrets, and grudges that can divide families, neighbors, and entire generations.
Donal Ryan is a novelist and short story writer from Nenagh, County Tipperary, Ireland. He has won several national and international awards for his fiction, and has twice been nominated for the Booker Prize. His work has been adapted for stage and screen and translated into over twenty languages. Donal is a lecturer in creative writing at the University of Limerick, and he lives with his wife, Anne Marie, and their two children.
Reviews
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Sometimes I was swept away in the tide of Oirish slang and verbal constructs but then the unresistable current of the narrative caught and held me. In fact a very good novel
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Absolutely fantastic!
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A deep look into the dark waters of the soul and the purity of the human heart. Only for those willing to face their own demons and longings.
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This is my first foray into Irish writer Donal Ryan’s works, and I am pleased to see he has a strong back catalogue that I can delve into and savour. As the title suggests, the characters in this rather heartfelt novel struggle against unrest in their families, their friends and community, and also within themselves. Each chapter is named after a character and offers an insight into their respective backstories and perspectives of the inhabitants of a small town in County Tipperary. All these disparate vignettes link up to make up the story, and it is delightful to read a multi-character novel that works so remarkably well. Hidden jealousies among childhood friends, family betrayals, and two crimes from the past that that the community still feels the tremors from, drugs and unsavoury characters that plague the neighbourhood, vigilante justice, and love and forgiveness are all parts of this short yet incisive novel. Highly recommended.
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I can’t say I greatly enjoyed this. It is akin to a collection of short stories, presented through the different perspectives of those living in and around a town. Josie, himself a kind-hearted individual, has an awful son Pokey, who is the cornerstone of greed both past and present. Many of the characters are not very nice people. Jason's works for Pokey, and is himself rough around the edges, with a spider web tattoo on his face and wants to get involved with his cousin. Rory stands out as an outlier, being the only genuinely happy chap in the narrative. One of the more memorable characters is Vasya, the eternally honest hobo, whose interactions paint a vivid picture of the community's essence and diverse perspectives. Jim provides a viewpoint on the challenges of being a law enforcer nowadays, with all the rules and immediate recording on phones. The strength of the book lies in how we learn more about each character through the other characters stories. Additionally, the author uses quite a few words I had never heard of which was fun to go and look them up! Overall, while it is a clever way of capturing the essence of a community and the writing is superb, I did not find the story particularly engaging.
Related Literary Awards
- オーウェル賞 Edition 32 (2025) ・Winner