samedi 30 avril 2016

Brooklyn by Colm Toibin.



Brooklyn tells the story of a young Irish girl, who wants to move to New-York. Then, she tries to adapt to the city, to meet new people, to manage her feelings and to deal with many twists and turns. The American ground is a dream for many young people, as a new life was possible at that time. Eilis ends up brutally being propelled on this unknown continent. The historical reconstruction is interesting. Colm Toibin plunges us in this after war years where the envy of a new life and happiness is present. However, I wish there was a little spark to make this novel unforgattable. Besides, I found it very hard to point what's missing. Maybe more explanation, depth and details.
I very much liked the heroine, Eilis. She is hard-headed, she faces reality and she constantly questions herself. She is confronted to an unknown world in which she has to become integrated : a job, new people, a new home and a new way of life. It also tell her transition from being a teenager towards her adult woman life. She has to make choices and to feel gnaw at. The minors characters are very well described. The author has a beautiful writing that embarks us with facility. We discover the work of seller in a departement store, the social diversity in Brooklyn, and a youth with a renewed hope.
It's an interesting novel about a young girl's life between Ireland and America, between her family and her new life, between her culture and her adaptation of the New-Yorker way of life. Ellis succeeded to touch me in spite of a little something more missing.
Fanny.