![]() ![]() It’s his own place, a remote and sparsely populated corner of Fenagh, County Leitrim, between Carrick-on-Shannon and the border near Enniskillen. The setting is one McGahern knows completely. McGahern throws some light on this layering and repetition in an interview given to James Whyte, ‘I see the whole function of writing as circling on the image To try to pick the image that’s sharp, that can dramatise or bring to light what is happening, be it a wedding ring, a Coca-cola bottle, or someone rolling an orange across the floor.’ ![]() There are no Chapters or other recognised breaks in the novel – the story slowly evolves and is told in a circular, repetitive manner, a kind of stream of consciousness novel, beautifully crafted and told by a master storyteller. The structure of the novel is unique and yet deceptive. Don, my son, mentioned when he saw me reading it again that he would challenge me to date it – in other words, when exactly is it set? ![]() I recently tucked this gem away in the hand luggage to reacquaint myself with the master’s work. It mirrors McGahern’s own return to his rural roots and is his paean to place. That They May Face the Rising Sun was published in 2001 (published in the United States as By the Lake) and is a portrait of a year in the life of a rural lakeside community. (For those of you who would like to revisit the novel in your own time all page references are from the Faber and Faber paperback edition.) ![]()
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