Product Description
"Bernard MacLaverty's powerful novel is a love story as affecting and tragic as you could want."—USA TodayWhen it was first published, BernardMacLaverty's fiction masterpiece was hailed byMichael Gorra in the New York Times Book Reviewas "a marvel of technical perfection. . . . Cal is a most moving novel whose emotional impact is grounded in a complete avoidance ofsentimentality. . . . [It] will become thePassage to India of the Troubles."

ForCal, a Belfast teenager who, against his will,is involved in the terrible war betweenCatholics and Protestants, some of the choicesare devastatingly simple: he can work in theslaughterhouse that nauseates him or join thedole queue; he can brood on his past or plan afuture with the beautiful, widowed Marcella forwhose grief he shares more than a littleresponsibility.Amazon.com Review
First published in 1983, this lyrical novel, superficiallystraightforward but full of stories within stories, first broughtBernard MacLaverty's work to public attention. In the novel, a youngIrish Republican Army operative who wants to break the cycle ofviolence seeks out a woman whose Ulster policeman husband he helped tomurder. As their relationship grows, so do Cal's guilt and sorrow,until, in the end, he is forced to make a sacrifice of himself inorder to gain redemption. Rich in ideas and history, this book helpsus understand the situation in Northern Ireland--which "is not justthere," MacLaverty has remarked, "as a colorful background." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Cal, a highly recommended book. READ IT!!
First of all, we used about one month reading it. It was a part of this years curriculum. "Cal" consists of a very heavy English language, so if your vocabulary is small, we're not sure if we would recommend it.
But the contents itself were really interesting, surprising and you'll get so involved that you can't lay the book down. You'll become a "readaholic."
The plot involves in Ireland in the late 70's. Cal is the main character, with Marcella, Shamie, Crilly, Skeffington, the Mortons and Dunlop as the other characters.
Cal is a boy in his early twenty's. He lives with his father, Shamie, in a house in a nameless town. The problem is that Cal and his father is Catholics, a hated religion in the protestant town.
Cal gets beaten up and "hanged out" because of his religion.
Cal's "friends," Crilly and Skeffington makes money in a criminal way. They also take part in the I.R.A (Irish Republican Army). Cal hears the name "Marcella somewhere, and remembers something about it. (This is the part when you're supposed to get the picture the things that has happened, some kind of turning point really) He cant remember what, but he is pretty sure that it wasn't a nice thing. He keeps meeting her, and soon remembers what he did......??? We wont tell what.
He eventually starts to work for Marcella's mother in law, and they develop their relationship.

In a few words; Cal is a book full of tension, sex, violence and other cool stuff. And you'll get an insight into the circumstances in Northern Ireland. You cant really imagine the violence and hate that the people had and still have to live with.

Cal!
It was an interesting book, full of tension, violence, crimes, relationships and sex. Very Hard read for a norwegian boy, and I almost made it!!

Simple but elegant.....
I've had this book on my shelves for almost fifteen years, if you can believe it, but never got around to reading it until this week.Now I can't figure out why it took me so long to open it.

"Cal" describes the "troubles" in Northern Ireland in a simple yet elegant manner, with a bare minimum of explicit violence and gore.Most of the violence is implied - the two exceptions being the story of how Marcella Morton became a widow, and what at first glance seems to be a rather pointless episode concerning a land mine and a cow.It seemed pointless, that is, until you read further and discovered exactly how the land mine came to be there.

While the violence is at a minimum, the thoughts, feelings, and philosophies of each side are explored quite thoroughly for such a small book.And while I personally found both points of view quite repellent, I will say that I believed that the characters in this book had these beliefs, and that they were extremely passionate regarding them.

The book is also an interesting psychological study, at least as far as Cal McCluskey (the main character) is concerned.With the help of Marcella, the woman he comes to love, it seems that he is growing up, and coming to realize that there's a lot more out in the world than just Catholics & Protestants fighting and killing each other - but his past will ultimately work against him and nullify all the good that Marcella has done for him - because he was the driver of the car containing the man that killed her husband.

A touching, sad, and very important book.

A Brutal Tale
Bernard MacLaverty's Cal is perhaps on of the saddest books of the last 20 years. The story of a young Catholic man in Northern Ireland, it slowly but surely tears your heart out.

Cal is an unemployed young man who has very tenuous ties to the IRA. He begins to fall for the widow of one of his group's victims as he tries to break free from the IRA's clutches. All the while he is forced to bear the prejudices of his Protestant neighbors.

MacLaverty skillfully writes the tale. He never fools you about how the story will end but none the less he manages to make the reader invest some emotion in Cal so that when the inevitable comes you are just wiped out.

This is a wonderful piece of modern Irish literature.

The story about a young man in Northern Ireland
I confess I didn't know very much about the conflict in Northern Ireland afew weeks ago. "The Catholics built the I.R.A. to drive away theProtestants and to unite Northern Ireland with the catholic Republic ofIreland." That's virtually all I could say about the difficulties inthat region of the world. Then, at school, I got this book. I considered itas my chance to learn more about Irish people, their culture and to get amore detailed answer to the question why there was so much blood-sheddingin the last decades. Let me tell you if this book gave me the answers Iwanted to obtain.

I was quite intrigued by the story of "Cal".An unemployed young Irish Catholic, who has a strong connection to theI.R.A. and who wants to leave it because he doesn't have the guts to commitcrimes in the name of an illusion called United Ireland, falls in love witha widow named Marcella. Cal knows from the first moment he saw her that hehelped making her a widow, and he realizes that their relationship can'tpossibly work out for a long time. It was quite interesting to see Cal'schange from a depressive youth to a man who is able to take theresponsibility for his deeds. He constantly fights against his past and, atthe end, although he suffers to relieve himself from his sins, he loseseverything. The reader can really identify himself with Cal and understandhis behavior. In this point, the author did something you will not findeverywhere. But unfortunately he made some mistakes as well...

The novelis called "Cal". The title alone shows the reader that the storyis completely fixed on the young man. Apart from Marcella who was discribedin as many dimensions as Cal, all other "dramatis personae"seemed to be parts of the stage and had no life in them. The majority ofthem was characterized in a very shallow way, and they had the onlyfunction to show us in a too simple way the life and the problems ofNorthern Ireland. Crilly and Skeffington, the terrorists, particularlydisappointed me. They were the shallowest and the most cliche-like of allof those background people. I expected more of them because they playedsuch an important role in the story.

Another disappointment was theending of "Cal". Reading it, I got the strong feeling that theauthor became bored by his work and wanted to finish it at all costs. Theending was constructed too obviously and appeared unbelievable compared tothe rest of the novel.

There are many symbols and metaphors inside"Cal". Both make the book a bigger challenge to understand. WhatI missed was a trial to explain the conflict and controversialpossibilities to solve it. MacLaverty seems to see the happenings in arather pessimistic way without any thoughts concerning their origins. Ifsomething of this kind was there, it seemed to be quite vague and toosimplified.

"Cal" is certainly worth reading. Even though theremay be a few flaws, the majority of the novel is OK. To be clear: it'swritten by an Irishman for Irishmen; nevertheless every reader willunderstand and and hopefully enjoy it. I, for my part, did the last, andadditionally I got all answers about Ireland I was looking for. ... Read more

Product Description
The luminous novel by one of the finest living Irish writers, which Brian Moore has praised as "in every sense a triumph ... moving throughout and ending triumphantly and joyously in its own special music." Shortlisted for the Booker Prize and the Whitbread Prize and winner of the Saltire Scottish Book of the Year Award, Grace Notes is a compact and altogether masterful portrait of a woman composer and the complex interplay between her life and her art. With superb artistry and startling intimacy, it brings us into the life of Catherine McKenna-estranged daughter, vexed lover, new mother, and musician making her mark in a male-dominated field. It is a book that the Virginia Woolf of A Room of One's Own would instantly understand.Amazon.com Review
Composer Catherine McKenna has more of a gift for music thanhappiness, but she has long been driven beyond harmonies (musical andpersonal) that her Belfast family can understand. Bernard MacLavertyrenders both sides of the equation: Catherine's feminist and aestheticstriving and her mother's more traditional grasp; it's hard not tosympathize with Mrs. McKenna's impatient rejoinder, "You don'tcope with music, you listen to it."

Grace Notes, MacLaverty's first novel since Cal, is as muchabout Irish identity--and possibility--as it is about art. Catherine'snewest piece, a mass, includes the huge drums Protestants play inparades. "It was a scary sound--like thunder. Like the town wasunder a canopy of dark noise." Though her fellow Catholics seethe drums as instruments of threat, Catherine is determined tointegrate them into her composition.

Her return to Belfast for her father's funeral brings back severalghosts, among them an influential professor who spoke of gracenotes--"the notes between the notes." This novel is full ofsuch instances, wry snatches of conversation and unforgettableobservations: the new Chinese restaurant that has had to offer chipsto stay in business, or the pub that's "on a slight hill. Whendogs pissed at the door the dark lines ran diagonally to thegutter." These transcend the occasional passage in whichMacLaverty tries too hard to see into the life and rhythms of a femaleartist. The final section, however, a live radio concert ofCatherine's piece, is a triumph for both woman composer and maleauthor. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

Violas sound like violins with a cold.
Catherine is an Irish woman who is musical. Her parents notice her talent when she's young and find her a wonderful teacher.She becomes a pianist and a composer.Unfortunately Catherine's parents also share their conflicted relationship and throw in some Catholic angst.MacLaverty got the musical bits exactly right in my opinion.Music is hard to describe in words yet he did so with excellence.There were several pieces I'd never heard of before and based on his descriptions I'm going to search them out notably Janacek's "1905".

I don't want to give spoilers so I'll just say there's a mystery relationship that's referred to throughout the first third of the book.It's a pivotal plot element.MacLaverty unfolds this wonderfully well, enough to keep you interested but not so much that you want to throw the book across the room.This is the first of his books I've read and I can see why he was shortlisted to win the Booker.He writes well, so well that I was surprised when I happened upon a disjoint.These disjoints clashed with the seamlessness of most of the book.I'm sure sometimes he meant to do this but other times it was such an unnecessary blip that I felt it had to be an editing problem.Last there was a psychological condition that just didn't ring true to me; not that the condition doesn't exist but not in the way he wrote about it for this character.Overall this was an enjoyable book especially if you enjoy classical music.Here's one of my favorite quotes from "Grace Notes", "Violas sound like violins with a cold".

A convincing work of fiction
Catherine McKenna is a composer and a music teacher. She flies back home to Northern Ireland to attend her father's funeral. She is about to spend a few difficult days with her mother and sisters, a strictly catholic family, who run a pub. This is the occasion for Catherine to remember her childhood, her Granny Boyd, her first piano lesson with Miss Bingham, her musical studies in Belfast and the award she won for the excellence of her work which allowed her to travel to Kiev to visit the famous composer Melnichuck.
She remembers how she met Dave, the father of her daughter Anna aged 18 months, a charming man who became a violent alcoholic. Catherine had to leave him and take refuge with her friend Liz in Glasgow.
Catherine's sad and depressed existence is described with a very elegant delicacy. The 30 or so pages devoted to the way Catherine had to travel to the mainland to give birth to her daughter in the absence of Dave are of exceptional literary quality. Another strength of this novel are the numerous references to famous composers and musicians which are highly instructive without adding any weight to the plot. A highly recommended book.

A rare achievement
This book did something I never encountered before: it allowed me to experience the genesis and creation of a musical composition. The fact that the composer is a woman dealing with estrangement, depression, an abusive relationship, and motherhood, makes her accomplishment even more moving. MacLaverty draws the reader along, using a style that is part narrative, part stream of consciousness. The passages about music taught me things I didn't know, and the description of Catherine's creative process is nothing short of miraculous.

The notes between the notes
This book is a short read, but not as easy at is seems at the first sight.

Catherine McKenna is a young girl, an only child struggeling to be free from the bounds the her Northern Irish parents. She has a very special talent for music, and her music teacher from childhood becomes a very special person in her life. She teaches her to read the notes between the notes, the Grace Notes, and this gives special meaning to Catherine's life and music. And also special meaning to the book. The book can be read as words within words, which makes the book full of grace notes.

What fascinates me most with the book is the way Bernard MacLaverty shows us how to read or look at music just like we read or look at paintings. Having read several books about the stories behind Vermeers painting, MacLaverty also uses a Vermeer painting to show music.

I can fully agree with a the reviewer Tobias Hill from The Times: "The strongest impression left by Grace Notes is that of its central image-og the 'notes between the notes' which seem to compose themselves - of a life happening while it's heroine is busy making other plans...If architecture is frozen music, Grace Notes is the literary equivalnt, full of its own powerful rhythm.

Britt Arnhild Lindland

Subtle and insightful.
This book is not what it seems. First: the subject matter is gloomy: composer Catherine McKenna, recovering from a postnatal depression, is returning to violence stricken Northern Ireland for the funeral of her father. Not a glimmer of humour in sight. Seems depressing, but does not leave you depressed. I find that remarkable.

Second: it may also seem a simple little book, with not much happening. But go to the trouble to read between the lines, and you will get a lot in return. Because grace notes are the unobtrusive notes that seemingly hardly have a function, but that in some subtle and undefinable way make a piece of music into something special. MacLaverty writes in this way. His book has the same effect that a beautiful piece music has: you can't tell exactly why, but you are deeply moved by it.

What does happen in this novel is that Catherine must try to reconcile the Northern-Irish heritage she has tried to leave behind with the motherhood she can hardly cope with and reconcile both with her work. In the end it is the music that makes her whole again. In a beautiful finale we are shown the healing effect of art. Not a book for those who want a page-turner, but warmly recommended for those who like a deeply felt and subtle insight into a woman's soul. It is amazing that it was written by a man. ... Read more

Product Description
Bernard Mac Laverty's beautifully turned stories are full of humour, terse realism and moments of touching or shocking surprise. Nelson plays truant and sees something he wishes he hadn't in the title story, "A Time to Dance". In "Phonefun Limited", Sadie and Agnes, retired prostitutes hit upon an inventive new way of making someone happy with a phone call, while in "My Dear Palestrina'", a remarkable music teacher initiates her pupil into the mysteries of art and maturity. ... Read more

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Now back in print--the masterful and moving first novel by the acclaimed author of Cal. When Brother Sebastian, ne Michael Lamb, runs away from a bleak reformatory, taking with him twelve-year-old Owen Kane, the media and the police call it a kidnapping. For Lamb, though, it is a rescue of a formerly abused boy from a place of no hope, a last grasp at an elusive happiness. But as the outside world closes in, as time and money run out, Lamb finds himself moving towards a solution that is as shocking as it is loving. Lamb was produced as a widely praised film starring Liam Neeson () in the title role. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

A deeply humane first novel
Brother Sebastian, alias Michael Lamb, works at a finishing school for the sons of the Idle Poor in Ireland. There the Brothers teach boys to conform, make their beds, how to hold a knife and fork in order to shoehorn them back into society at an age when, if they commit another offence, they go to the grown-up prison. If they do not conform, the school thrashes them. The Brothers thus teach them a little of God and a lot of fear.
It is to comply with his father's wish that Michael has stayed so long in the Brothers and besides he always wanted to help in whatever way he could the suffering of the world. Like the Lamb of God, he wanted to take away the sins of the world.
There are three reasons which push Michael to leave the Brothers: the death of his father and the money he left him, the values for which the school stands which he can no longer tolerate and his attachment to a boy called Owen Kane (Owen is the Gaelic word for lamb) whom he doesn't see fit for such an institution.
He therefore decides to leave secretly the school and take Owen with him to London with the hope to be the boy's saviour. They pose as father and son but soon the world closes in around them and when time, money and opportunity run out, Michael has no other option than to move towards a solution that is as uncompromising as it is inspired by his love for Owen.
A powerful and deeply humane novel with a breathtaking ending, both dramatic and inevitable.

Lamb
Lamb, by Bernard Mac Laverty, is, at 150 pages, a short read, but its brevity serves only to provide a perfectly told story without padding or exposition. It follows the story of a young priest, Michael Lamb (or Brother Sebastian), who runs away from the Irish Borstal that he works in, takes a deprived boy named Owen Kane with him. But, as his money dwindles, news of the kidnapping closes in on them, and Lamb finds himself running out of ideas on how to save the boy's life, leading to a dark climax borne of both necessity and love.

Beginning in the Borstal, aptly referred as "a finishing school for the sons of the Idle Poor" by its head, Brother Benedict, Lamb observes this to be an accurate statement as he believes it finishes their lives, providing them with little hope for the future. Upon inheriting money from his father's death Lamb resolves to rescue Owen, a misunderstood - and epileptic - boy, often made an example of due his stubborn nature, and give him the life he deserves. They break for London, and spend their time exploring the city and discovering each other, until the time comes when they have so few options that Lamb is required to make the decision that will affect their lives, but he believes to be right.

The characters, throughout, are developed sufficiently to create your own impression of them; although Owen's character could have done with further expansion with regards to his life before Borstal. Lamb, especially, as you would expect a title character, is well conceived and his decisions, at all times, appear believable. Brother Benedict, a sadist at heart, claims that he "was belted black and blue myself what harm did it do me?" without realising that it turned him into the one now administering beatings. Even the fringe characters: conmen, housekeepers, and perverts have enough splashes of colour to make them plausible.

The writing, while not being flowery, is engaging enough to spin the narrative on, making it a book you are not likely to put down until completion. It's a thrill to read as the escapes bond with each other, but watching as their world of opportunity caves in around them. The underlying meanings and symbols that make the book special, the many inferences of the book's title, for example, raise the scope of the novel, adding further richness to it.

Lamb, for its length, covers a number of topics, but the theme that stands out, for me, is love; that, and the things you would do for it. Sometimes, you don't even know you are doing it, Lamb discovers while trying to understand the fugues of Owen's epilepsy. But it's the grim denouement of the novel that questions how far one would really go, and it's this that adds the pièce de résistance to a wonderful and haunting tale.

DARK AND DISTURBING
Bernard MacLaverty�s short novel LAMB is a great example of things going terribly wrong for someone who has the �best of intentions�.The writing is flowing but intense, drawing the reader inexorably into the story � it makes this a hard book to lay aside, even for the night.I was tempted to stay up �too late� to finish it.

Brother Sebastian (née Michael Lamb) is a member of the Christian Brothers, assigned to a bleak reformatory where parents bring boys they can no longer control � it is a way station on the road to troubled adult lives, although it is seen by the parents and the administration as a place of rehabilitation.Unfortunately for the boys, the �rehabilitation� practiced by the headmaster and his staff in mostly made up of beatings and other forms of cruelty.The headmaster � Brother Benedict � at one point refers to the institution as �a finishing school for the Idle Poor�, a telling remark that shows his contempt for those to which he supposedly ministers.Sometimes beatings are administered to boys the headmaster knows in innocent of the transgression at hand, simply as an example to the population in general.It�s a depressing atmosphere, and it weighs heavily upon the already fragile character and emotions of Brother Sebastian.

There is one boy for whom Brother Sebastian feels a special, deep affinity � young Owen Kane, small for his age, quiet, and, as we learn, an epileptic.The boy is plagued by episodes of bedwetting, and his stubborn demeanor singles him out for especially violent �lessons� from the headmaster.Sebastian determines that the only way to save Owen is to take him away.He plots this action only skeletally, acting as he is on his emotions, with his intellectual abilities taking the back seat � and this comes back to haunt the two of them as they steal away from the school and take off on the road to London.Sebastian honestly loves and cares for the boy � this is not a story of sexual abuse by a church figure � but his increased depression, which he doesn�t recognize as such causes them to be in increased danger of discovery, leading to the inevitable and very disturbing conclusion.

The lighter scenes, in which Brother Sebastian manages to bring some rare joy into the childhood of his young charge � and as a result into his own dark life as well � are very moving.They give the reader hope that somehow, in some way, the Brother is successful in starting a new life with the boy, living in peace somewhere with him, as father and son.His intentions, as I mentioned, are completely loving and honorable � the darkness in the book is not in those intentions.There is darkness in the system that allows such a place as the school depicted here to exist in the first place, and to be �managed� in the manner of a prison for incorrigible criminals rather than an institution that would truly give troubled boys a �second chance�.

Lamb - Bernard Mac Laverty
I had to read Lamb by Bernard Mac Laverty as a school projet. At first I was really un-keen as it wasn't my kind of book , but by the second chapter I was totally hooked. the only thing better than this book is the film.

It is shocking, disturbing and moving.
Lamb is a book about a priest (Brother Sebastian aka. Michael Lamb)who runs away from a cold, uncaring children's Home in Ireland with a young boy whom he feels sorry for.They then try to starta new life in England andtry to forget their bleak past.Lamb is trying to come to terms with hisfading belief in his religion and is at conflict within himself throughoutthe book.Lamb's teacher - pupil relationship with the boy changes to afather - son relationship and this strengthens his actions at the end ofthe novel. ... Read more

Product Description
This is nonfiction commentary. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Novels by Bernard Maclaverty, Novels by Bob Shaw, Novels by Brian Moore, Novels by James White, Novels by Paul Kearney, Sector General, Monarchies of God, the Dream Millennium, the Sea Beggars, the Genocidal Healer, Star Surgeon, the Galactic Gourmet, Cal, Mind Changer, Code Blue - Emergency, Black Robe, Land and Overland, One Million Tomorrows, Double Contact, Night Walk, Ambulance Ship, Catholics, Ground Zero Man, the Statement, Star Healer, Orbitsville, I Am Mary Dunne, Final Diagnosis, the Watch Below, the Silent Stars Go By. Source: Wikipedia. Free updates online. Not illustrated. Excerpt:Cal is a 1983 novel by Bernard MacLaverty , detailing the experiences of a young Irish Catholic named Cal, who is involved with the IRA .Plot summary One of the major themes of the novel is the way in which Cal attempts to come to terms with taking part in the murder of a reserve police officer by his friend Crilly, an operation for which he was the getaway driver, while at the same time trying to fend off the murderous anti-Republican "Orangemen ". Making things even worse, Cal finds himself falling in love with the slain man's wife, Marcella.One of the notable characteristics of this novel is that it has five chapters, similar to traditional tragedies, including that of Romeo and Juliet. This is because the story of Cal is in itself tragic, as his downfall is due predominantly to his own choices and mistakes, although the story itself would not be classified as a tragedy.Cal lacks self-esteem, one source of which is the death of his mother, who held him in high regard - following her death, Cal seems to be only capable of thinking of himself in a bad light. Another factor adding to Cal's initial unhappiness is being a Catholic on a mainly Protestant estate and being part of the minority in N... ... Read more

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This volume is part of a series of novels, plays and stories at GCSE/Key Stage 4 level, designed to meet the needs of the National Curriculum syllabus. Each text includes an introduction, pre-reading activities, notes and coursework activities. Also provided is a section on the process of writing, often compiled by the author. ... Read more

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One of a series of fiction titles for schools, this is a selection of ten short stories by Bernard MacLaverty which are all written from the viewpoints of children or young people. ... Read more

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A coming-of-age story of a northern Irish boy getting out from under the thumb of mother, church, and country.

Set in Belfast in the late sixties, Bernard MacLaverty's new novel takes us into Martin Brennan's last semester of high school, when he finds old friendships tested and is forced to face the unknown. Before he can become an adult, Martin must unravel the sacred and contradictory mysteries of religion, science, and sex; he must learn the value of friendship; but most of all he must pass his exams—at any cost. Celebrating the desire to speak and the need to say nothing, The Anatomy School moves from the enforced silence of Martin's Catholic school retreat, through the hilarious tea-and-biscuits repartee of his eccentric elders, to the awkward wit and loose profanity of his two friends—the charismatic Kavanagh and the subversive Blaise Foley.

With characteristic "wise humor" (Publishers Weekly), MacLaverty "moves beyond the cloistered realm of school to capture the rhythms and pressures of provincial life, as well as [Martin's] desire to overcome them." (Denver Post). This absorbing, often funny novel "turns high anxieties and pain into well wrought fiction. MacLaverty has a wider vision, greater depth and technical craft than J. D. Salinger, a more subtle style than William Golding and a moral imagination to match that of James Joyce" ([Toronto] Globe and Mail). Reading group guide included. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Fast paced novel
I picked up this book and I was surprised how fast paced it was. This novel takes place in a catholic community surrounding three teenage boys. The author was great at defining how kids in that type of community grow up.I would reccomend this book.

"Good" Catholic boy... an oxymoron?
This pitch-perfect foray into a young man's agonizing adolescence is made vivid by the small details of his daily life. Living at home with a devout Catholic mother, 1960's Belfast is a tough arena for a young man on the path toward manhood, especially when rigid Catholic school ethics stand sentinel over natural self-expression.

Strict Irish priests are rigorous in their training of young men, using corporal punishment, coupled with the occasional spiritual retreat: three days of silence, prayer and soul-searching. The most effective and lasting discipline is mental, constant drumming lectures concerning the nature of sin, especially when entertained as lascivious thoughts, where a boy's chastity is threatened by self-will. Martin Brennan and his friends survive just such an environment, their sexuality a driving force, as they bond in friendship defined by four-letter words and innuendo. Driven by hormones, conscience runs a close second, carefully nurtured through years of training.

To his shame, Brennan is repeating his last year of high school before seeking employment. Kavanagh, a star basketball player, is Martin's best pal and co-conspirator. When the more sophisticated Blaise Foley boards at their school, the paradigm changes, the three boys forming a lopsided triumvirate, as Blaise challenges Martin to question everything he has been taught. The free-floating anxiety common to boys on the verge of manhood tempers Martin and Kavanagh's natural hubris and enthusiasm.

The iconoclastic Blaise is a perfect foil to the more conscientious Brennan and Kavanagh, pricking holes in their beliefs and expectations. It is Blaise who suggests a scheme for passing exams, critical to each young man's future. Blaise is an antagonist whose best work is done while skating on the thin edge of risk, a practiced con man with a deep distrust of conformity. But ill-conceived interference by a disciplinarian begins a cycle of violence that leaves one boy fighting for his life and shocking the others into adulthood overnight. This injudicious incident changes the course of their futures.

Some harsh lessons burn a hole in the soul, a black mark that cannot be removed, possibly requiring a sojourn in Purgatory. But youthful experience denies the pull of grief and shame, where hope bravely shimmers, a light at the end of the tunnel.

There is a notable scene where Brennan loses his virginity, perfectly capturing the tortuous journey from exploration to intimacy. Unaware of his own charms, Brennan is an attractive young man to the opposite sex. His first foray into sexual adventure is tender and touching. MacLaverty skillfully portrays the difficult terrain of youthful maturity, when young boys perform age-old rituals that mark such significant events.

In a familiar and humorous rendition, MacLaverty's Martin Brennan, carefully tended by a religious mother who surrounds her son with moral values, is the essence of a boy's transition into the next phase of life, his struggles proscribed by universal experience, successfully navigating his path towards the future. Luan Gaines/2003.

simply put, he's one of the best fiction writers out there.
MacLaverty has a great feel for working class life. His characters feel very true, and the rhythms of his writing are incredibly seductive. You can feel his clear-eyed yet forgiving nature hovering over all his characters. Simply put, he's one of the best fiction writers out there. That said, The Anatomy School doesn't delve as deeply as you want it to. I prefer his short stories (see his "Walking the Dog" collection) which, with less words, achieve far richer, more suggestive results. Still, MacLaverty is always worth reading. His best themes are thefailures of the church, and the sympathies between males. Both are treated excellently here. In fact, no one deals with maleness exactly the way MacLaverty does, allowing his male characters to express intense need, love and attraction for each other, without ever crossing over into the sexual. He defines an area of affection between straight men that few have ever explored before.

Growing up Catholic in working-class Belfast.
Confronting the usual thorny, coming-of-age issues of sex, religion, and morality, Belfast teenager Martin Brennan and his friends, with their hormones in high gear, are stunningly naïve, their primary concern, sex, remaining a mysterious, dark realm into which they must feel their own way.Unable to gain much needed knowledge of basic biology from home or school, they try to sublimate their urges, exploring the mysteries of faith, the example of Christ, the meaning of sin, and the importance of family and friends, while privately garnering as much information as they can about the Big Secret.

Brilliantly creating the jokey banter, braggadocio, and innuendoes of teenage conversations, MacLaverty introduces a main character who, while a bit more serious and naive than some of his friends, is still a typical teenager facing typical teenage problems.And that, to me, is both the attraction and limitation of this novel. Many readers will chuckle out loud as they relive their own pasts through Martin, but at the conclusion, some may also ask,"Is that all there is?"The superficial resolution of normal teenage predicaments, no matter how well presented here, may not be satisfying for readers who expect a broader treatment of themes and a deeper exploration of inner conflicts.The author's introduction of the Catholic/Protestant violence at the end of the novel seems gratuitous, an overly strong element used to make a generalized point about morality and religion--Martin is almost untouched by The Troubles.

The book pulses with the drama of teenage life, kooky characters, a wonderful feel for the tenuous relationships between teens and adults, and often hilarious repartee--especially with the "dotery coterie" of Martin's mother, the local priest, and her two friends.These individual delights are not fully integrated into a thematic whole, however, and the reader may be left feeling a bit short-changed at the end--thoroughly entertained, but no wiser.Mary Whipple ... Read more

Product Description
Cal has very few choices in life. He can continue working at the abattoir that sickens him, or join the ranks of the unemployed. He can brood on his past or try to plan a future with Marcella. "Cal" is a haunting love story set against the fear and violence of Ulster, where tenderness and innocence must struggle to survive. ... Read more

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"MacLaverty's tales are poised and beautifully balanced, outward yet intimate, graced by both subtlety and substance."—The IndependentA new book from Bernard MacLaverty is a cause for celebration, but Matters of Life and Death is more than that. It is the finest collection yet from a contemporary master of the form.

Beginning with the sudden terror of a family caught up in shocking sectarian violence, and ending with the whiteout of an Iowa blizzard and the fear of losing your way very far from home, this collection is about bonds made and broken, secret and known. In the extraordinary story "Up the Coast," a landscape painter discovers a place that makes her, finally, feel whole, only to have that communion shattered by an arbitrary act of aggression that will resonate throughout her life.

Written with effortless skill and empathy, these stories are hauntingly real. MacLaverty's perfect attention to every detail, every nuance of idiom and character, remakes the world for us here on the page. ... Read more

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Well-known names and talented new writers are all to be found in this volume of the very best entries to Britain's biggest and most prestigious short story competition - The Scotsman and Orange Short Story Award. Entrants were given a single word - work - to trigger the imagination. Twenty of the best stories from the competition sit alongside specially commissioned stories from Janice Galloway, Duncan McLean and Brian McCabe. Last year's winner of the GBP 7,500 first prize was Kirstin Zhang with her story, "The Enemy Within", a subtle, multi-layered story about the deceptions that affect an Indonesian worker's life. Over one thousand entries were received in 2005. ... Read more

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This collection of 15 short stories, winner of a Scottish Arts Council Award, explores the themes of married love, male friendship, adult grief and the contemplation of infidelity. MacLaverty is the author of "Lamb", "Cal" and "A Time to Dance". ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Secrets--How else can I describe it but "beautiful"
Bernard MacLaverty's prose is absorbing and breathtaking.His stories are beautifully woven to give the reader a glimpse into the lives of intriguing characters at their most intriguing moments.The stories focus on epiphanies, emotions, relationships, and are tender and moving while simoultaneously harsh and biting.I would reccomend this book to anyone who appreciates beautiful short prose.

Secrets
First published in 1983, this lyrical novel, superficially straightforward but full of stories within stories, first brought Bernard MacLaverty's work to public attention. In the novel, a young Irish Republican Army operative who wants to break the cycle of violence seeks out a woman whose Ulster policeman husband he helped to murder. As their relationship grows, so do Cal's guilt and sorrow, until, in the end, he is forced to make a sacrifice of himself in order to gain redemption. Rich in ideas and history, this book helps us understand the situation in Northern Ireland--which "is not just there,"MacLaverty has remarked, "as a colorful background." ... Read more