The Temporary Gentleman

De: Sebastian Barry

Narrado por: Gerard Doyle

A stunning new novel from the Man Booker shortlisted author of The Secret Scripture.

In this highly anticipated new novel, Irishman Jack McNultyis a "temporary gentleman" - an Irishman whose commission in the British army inWWII was never permanent. Sitting in his lodgings in Accra, Ghana, in 1957, he's writing the story of his life with desperate urgency. He cannot take one step further without examining all of the extraordinary events that he has seen. A lifetime of war and world travel - as a soldier in WWII, an engineer, a UN observer - has brought him to this point. But the memory that weighs heaviest on his heart is that of the beautiful Mai Kirwan and their tempestuous, heartbreaking marriage. Mai was once the great beauty of Sligo, a magnetic yet unstable woman who, after sharing a life with Jack, gradually slipped from his grasp.

Award-winning author Sebastian Barry's The Temporary Gentleman is the sixth book in his cycle of separate yet interconnected novels that brilliantly reimagine characters from Barry's own family.

©2014 Sebastian Barry (P)2014 Blackstone Audiobooks

Grab a box of Kleenex because if you have a heart you will need it.

If you could sum up The Temporary Gentleman in three words, what would they be?

Heartbreaking love story.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Temporary Gentleman?

There are so many memorable moments.The author does such a wonderful job in painting pictures of the characters and Gerard Doyle narration brings them to life so vividly.I would say probably a couple of the most memorable moments would be when Jack first meets his future in-laws.Another would be the scene immediately following the wedding.I believe the one that affected me most though, as the daughter of an alcoholic mother would be when he returned home to find his wife and young daughter outside in the snow.I don't want to say much as I don't want to spoil the story for anyone.

What does Gerard Doyle bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Mr. Doyle has quickly become one of my favorite narrators.I am pretty sure I would listen to him read the Yellow Pages.My first experience with Gerard Doyle was the graves are walking.I think that any book narrated by him is better because of it.

Any additional comments?

I read the Amazon reviews, as there were no Audible Reviews available yet for this book at the time.I was still completely I am prepared for what this book would do to me emotionally.I am still thinking about this book and finding it hard to move onto another after finishing it.It has been a long time since I have read such a sad book and one that has affected me so much I just could not tear myself away from it though.I was thrown for a loop even by the ending.Kind of thought I knew pretty much how it would end, but I was definitely wrong.This book is hard to describe but definitely worth the time taken to read it.I felt so conflicted throughout the book.Both anger and compassion for May and Jack.My heart broke for both of them and of course for the children.This book definitely brings alcoholism, codependency, and to some extent mental illness and secrets and problems that go along with all those things to life for the reader.This is the first book I have read by this author, but will definitely be checking out more of his books.

urelentingly depressing

although Gerald Doyle is an outstanding narrator, he could not elevate this story to a level that inspires sustained interest. it is an unrelenting story of woe.

An Acquired Taste

It was only after I finished the book and did some reading about it that I learned it is the third book in a trilogy by Sebastian Barry about the McNulty men. (There was also an admonishment that the books should be read in order...oops.)

If you like stream-of-consciousness writing, you will love this book. Barry writes beautifully; every word in every sentence is meant to be there. If you don't enjoy this type of writing, you might get a bit impatient as it moves from one time period to another, from one adventure to another, and so tends to wander a bit if you're not paying close attention.

But, when reflecting on what you've just read (or listened to), you will most likely come to the same conclusion I did: this is a searing, engrossing, sad story of one man's life, the mistakes he made, and the intense love he had for his wife.

The narration by Gerard Doyle is spot-on; it's soothing and the Irish accent brings John McNulty's story to life in a realistic way.

I'm not sure I will revisit this book, and I likely won't read the first two books in the trilogy. But, I don't regret reading this one as the prose is so darn beautiful.

Beautiful and wrenching

Has anyone learned how to rip our hearts out like Irish writers? This astonishing tale of small individual lives in the grip of huge events (and private confusions) will do so. Prepare yourself for lyrical, searching prose, as distilled as any poem. The musical, luminous performance by Gerard Doyle matches his finest reading performances, and adds dimensions of understated emotion to this saga of war, love, loss and awareness. Sligo and Dublin, Ghana and the Middle East, come to life in ways that chime with the innermost harmonics of our humanity. Can’t lie, I cried repeatedly as the characters were alternately animated and undermined by their passions, duties, faith, failings, wit, hopes, humor, shame and guilt; by sex, Empire, colonialism, war, alcohol, courage and cowardice. Ireland, Britishness, and indeed the world, are brought to life during and after the World Wars. An extraordinary experience for those who listen to audiobooks with their whole hearts and minds.

Gerard Doyle brings depth to this protagonist

What did you love best about The Temporary Gentleman?

It is an unusual story, artfully told, of a not-particularly attractive protagonist drifting through life. There is something captivating about it that is beyond my comprehension.

Who was your favorite character and why?

None of them.

What does Gerard Doyle bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

If I had read the book instead, I don't think I would have finished it. Gerard Doyle's characterization brought dimension to this character that I would not have read into him.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Disturbing. There was one laugh-out-loud moment near the end of the book.

Stunning

Barry has given us a gloriously poetic, nuanced study of love as it exists woven in the suffering and tragedy of life. That this flawed, tenacious love provides neither salvation or redemption makes the lessons — of penitence, forgiveness, and of a self striving towards its full humanity — all the more compelling. It has touched me more than any book this year.

Made me cry

The language is gorgeous. I loved the insight Jack had into his own failings and I actually wept.

Nice appropriate performance

Narrator Gerard Doyle gives an appropriate performance—a voice inline with characters, modulated and sensitively performed, well paced, and a nice Irish accent and tone. This is a meaningful novel, a story of a husband and wife who are alcoholics and how their excessive drinking damaged their marriage, their roles as parents, their finances, their health, and their assessment of themselves. It also took a tole on their children, parents, siblings, and friends. Barry writes in the first person in the style of a memoir. It works well.

Unrewarding

After listening to Sebastian Barry's 'Secret Scripture' I was excited to listen to his next novel. Though his descriptive language is outstanding, the story was too sad & broken for me to appreciate it.

Interesting Story

I am in two minds about the book. It was masterful story telling. The writing was superb and the narrator was excellent.
Still, I think the main character was very dislikable. He was an alcoholic but couldn’t see his alcoholism only his wife’s. He refused to see how his drinking contributed to hers.
His wife suffered from postpartum depression and when his mother and his wife’s best friend shared their concern he brushed it off.
He had very little relationship with his two daughters and one daughter, given her parents relationship, seems to have ended up in an abusive marriage.
The main character’s end was not surprising and it was difficult to have any empathy for him

I would highly recommend the book because it’s masterful writing. One phrase/idea that will stay wit me is : “drunkenness is a form of human absence, a maelstrom that blanks out the landscape.”