Michael Hughes’s Country is self-consciously literary in modeling itself on Homer’s Iliad. But it is also very much rooted in the contemporary culture of Ireland. Or at least, the paramilitary culture of the struggle in the 1990s. Often the dialog is coarse, and the plot focuses on the verbal clash between military men. It is rooted in masculinity and virtue, with each man trying to out-man the others. We know that as with the Iliad, it is a tragedy, and the plot is fueled by anger and desperation. Every page is full of energy. It’s an amazing achievement. As with the Iliad too, the violence is explicit, dramatic, and horrifying. On the other hand, there is also a lot of sex, and it is mostly efficient and rather loveless. Occasionally it is funny. Then there are the in-between times, the lives of women and families, as the plot develops. There’s a pretty large cast of characters, but it is not hard to keep them separate, and there is always plenty happening. Set in the context of Armagh in Northern Ireland, the dialog uses plenty of local idioms and phrases that the reader has to figure out for themselves. Released in the UK and Ireland in 2018, Country is the story of the cease fire between the British and the Irish, when the local Irish IRA group is under threat. But the story of the novel is more about the internal battles within the IRA group. There is a lot of plotting and subterfuge on all sides, which provides interest. The unabridged audiobook is performed by the author, Michael Hughes, and he does a great job, bringing life and drama to his text.

© 2019 Christian Perring

Christian Perring teaches in NYC.