Review: Milkman

Milkman by Anna Burns
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The main thing that struck me was the style the book was written. Long sentences with little punctuations which can make it hard to read. But it does resemble how thoughts occur in the mind, I think that’s what the author is trying to emulate. This is consistent with the way the main character thinks and narrates the story. The anonymity of all the characters including the narrator perhaps reflect the universality of the issues raised in the book. Even though you don’t get told directly, but you work out this is set in the times of Ireland’s troubles. To me, the theme of the book conveys the persistent paranoia of the times. It shows how insidiously violence creeps into daily life and how it shapes the people’s thinking and relationships.

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