Days Without End (novel)

Last updated

Days Without End
CoverOfSebastianBarryNovelDaysWithoutEnd.jpg
First edition
Author Sebastian Barry
LanguageEnglish
Genre Western fiction
Published2016
Publisher Faber and Faber
Publication place Ireland
Pages259
ISBN 9780571277018
823.92
Preceded byThe Temporary Gentleman 

Days Without End is the seventh novel by Sebastian Barry and is set during the Indian Wars and American Civil War.

Contents

Overview

The novel is narrated by Thomas McNulty, an Irish émigré who flees to Canada and then America to escape the Great Famine. In America he befriends John Cole and the two fall in love, working first, as young boys, as cross-dressing entertainers and then enlisting in the army and taking part in both the Indian Wars and the American Civil War.

Inspiration

The novel follows The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty, The Secret Scripture and The Temporary Gentleman in dealing with the McNulty family history. [1] Thomas McNulty is a fictionalised version of a past relative of Sebastian Barry's who was said to have fought in the Indian Wars. [2]

Reception

According to Book Marks , the book received "positive" reviews based on 7 critic reviews with 5 being "rave" and 1 being "positive" and 1 being "pan". [3] On Bookmarks Magazine May/June 2017 issue, a magazine that aggregates critic reviews of books, the book received a Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg (4.0 out of 5) based on critic reviews. [4]

The novel was awarded the Costa Book Award 2016. [5] The judges of the prize called it “A miracle of a book – both epic and intimate – that manages to create spaces for love and safety in the noise and chaos of history.” [6] It won the 2017 Walter Scott Prize, [7] and was selected by Time magazine as one of its top ten novels of 2017. [8]

In 2019, Days Without End was ranked 74th on The Guardian's list of the 100 best books of the 21st century. [9]

On November 5, 2019, the BBC News listed Days Without End on its list of the 100 most influential novels. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gareth Barry</span> English footballer (born 1981)

Gareth Barry is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Mid Sussex Football League side Hurstpierpoint. He made 653 Premier League appearances for Aston Villa, Manchester City, Everton and West Bromwich Albion, the highest number of Premier League appearances in history. He also represented England at international level.

Sebastian Barry is an Irish novelist, playwright and poet. He was named Laureate for Irish Fiction, 2018–2021.

<i>Dirt Music</i> Novel by Tim Winton

Dirt Music is a 2001 novel by Tim Winton. A 2002 Man Booker Prize shortlisted novel and winner of the 2002 Miles Franklin Award, it has been translated into Russian, French, German, Dutch, and Swedish. The harsh, unyielding climate of Western Australia dominates the actions and events of this thriller.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Costa Book Awards</span> Former annual literary awards

The Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in UK and Ireland. Originally named the Whitbread Book Awards from 1971 to 2005 after its first sponsor, the Whitbread company, then a brewery and owner of pub-restaurant chains, it was renamed when Costa Coffee, then a subsidiary of Whitbread, took over sponsorship. The companion Costa Short Story Award was established in 2012. Costa Coffee was purchased by the Coca-Cola Company in 2018. The awards were abruptly terminated in 2022.

<i>The Road</i> 2006 novel by Cormac McCarthy

The Road is a 2006 post-apocalyptic novel by American writer Cormac McCarthy. The book details the grueling journey of a father and his young son over several months across a landscape blasted by an unspecified cataclysm that has destroyed industrial civilization and nearly all life. The novel was awarded the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction in 2006. The book was adapted into a film of the same name in 2009, directed by John Hillcoat.

<i>The Secret Scripture</i> 2008 novel by Sebastian Barry

The Secret Scripture is a 2008 novel written by Irish writer Sebastian Barry.

<i>Small Island</i> (novel) 2004 novel by British author Andrea Levy

Small Island is a novel written by British author Andrea Levy.

<i>Brooklyn</i> (novel) 2009 novel by Colm Tóibín

Brooklyn is a 2009 novel by Irish author Colm Tóibín. It won the 2009 Costa Novel Award, was shortlisted for the 2011 International Dublin Literary Award and was longlisted for the 2009 Man Booker Prize. In 2012, The Observer named it as one of "The 10 best historical novels".

<i>On Canaans Side</i> 2011 novel by Sebastian Barry

On Canaan's Side is a 2011 novel written by Irish playwright and novelist Sebastian Barry.

<i>Bring Up the Bodies</i> Historical novel by Hilary Mantel

Bring Up the Bodies is an historical novel by Hilary Mantel, sequel to the award-winning Wolf Hall (2009), and part of a trilogy charting the rise and fall of Thomas Cromwell, the powerful minister in the court of King Henry VIII. It won the 2012 Man Booker Prize and the 2012 Costa Book of the Year. The final novel in the trilogy is The Mirror & the Light (2020).

<i>Brooklyn</i> (film) 2015 film directed by John Crowley

Brooklyn is a 2015 romantic period drama film directed by John Crowley and written by Nick Hornby, based on the 2009 novel by Colm Tóibín. A co-production between the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Canada, it stars Saoirse Ronan in the lead role, with Emory Cohen, Domhnall Gleeson, Jim Broadbent, and Julie Walters in supporting roles. The plot follows Eilis Lacey, a young Irishwoman who immigrates to Brooklyn in the early 1950s to find employment. After building a life there, she is drawn back to her home town of Enniscorthy and has to choose where she wants to forge her future. Principal photography began in April 2014 with three weeks of filming in Ireland, which were followed by four weeks in Montreal, Quebec; only two days of filming took place in Brooklyn, one of which was spent at the beach in Coney Island.

<i>City of Bohane</i> 2011 novel by Kevin Barry

City of Bohane is the debut novel by Ireland's Kevin Barry. The book is set in the year 2053, in a world with minimal technology. It received largely positive reviews and won the 2013 International Dublin Literary Award.

<i>Life After Life</i> (novel) Novel by Kate Atkinson

Life After Life is a 2013 novel by Kate Atkinson. It is the first of two novels about the Todd family. The second, A God in Ruins, was published in 2015. Life After Life garnered acclaim from critics.

<i>Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights</i> 2015 novel by Salman Rushdie

Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights is a fantasy novel by British Indian author Salman Rushdie published by Jonathan Cape in 2015.

<i>The Underground Railroad</i> (novel) 2016 novel by Colson Whitehead

The Underground Railroad is a historical fiction novel by American author Colson Whitehead, published by Doubleday in 2016. The alternate history novel tells the story of Cora, a slave in the Antebellum South during the 19th century, who makes a bid for freedom from her Georgia plantation by following the Underground Railroad, which the novel depicts as a rail transport system with safe houses and secret routes. The book was a critical and commercial success, hitting the bestseller lists and winning several literary awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, the National Book Award for Fiction, the Arthur C. Clarke Award, and the 2017 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence. A TV miniseries adaptation, written and directed by Barry Jenkins, was released in May 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sally Rooney</span> Irish author (born 1991)

Sally Rooney is an Irish author and screenwriter. She has published four novels: Conversations with Friends (2017), Normal People (2018), Beautiful World, Where Are You (2021), and Intermezzo (2024). The first two were adapted into the television miniseries Normal People (2020) and Conversations with Friends (2022).

<i>Normal People</i> 2018 novel by Sally Rooney

Normal People is a 2018 novel by the Irish author Sally Rooney. Normal People is Rooney's second novel, published after Conversations with Friends (2017). It was first published by Faber & Faber on 30 August 2018. The book became a best-seller in the US, selling almost 64,000 copies in hardcover in its first four months of release. A critically acclaimed and Emmy nominated television adaptation of the same name aired from April 2020 on BBC Three and Hulu. A number of publications ranked it one of the best books of the 2010s.

The Costa Book Award for Novel, formerly known as the Whitbread Award (1971–2005), was an annual literary award for novels, as part of the Costa Book Awards.

The Costa Book Award for First Novel, formerly known as the Whitbread Award (1971–2006), was an annual literary award for authors' debut novels, part of the Costa Book Awards which were discontinued in 2022, the 2021 awards being the last made.

The Costa Book Award for Children's Book, formerly known as the Whitbread Award (1971–2005), was an annual literary award for children's books, part of the Costa Book Awards, which were discontinued in 2022, the 2021 awards being the last made.

References

  1. Kilroy, Claire (29 March 2014). "The Temporary Gentleman by Sebastian Barry review – the upheaval of war". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 4 February 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  2. Jordan, Justine (21 October 2016). "Sebastian Barry: 'You get imprisoned in a kind of style, I could feel it leaning on me'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 7 February 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  3. "Days Without End". Book Marks . Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  4. "Days Without End". Bookmarks Magazine . Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  5. RTÉ (1 February 2017). "Sebastian Barry "joyful as a 6-year-old" over historic second Costa win". RTÉ. Archived from the original on 7 February 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  6. Doyle, Martin (3 January 2017). "Sebastian Barry wins Costa Novel Award again for Days Without End". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 6 January 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  7. Danuta Kean (19 June 2017). "Sebastian Barry's 'glorious and unusual' novel wins Walter Scott prize". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 19 June 2017. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  8. Begley, Sarah (21 November 2017). "The Top 10 Novels of 2017". Time . Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  9. "The 100 best books of the 21st century". The Guardian. 21 September 2019. Archived from the original on 6 December 2019. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  10. "100 'most inspiring' novels revealed by BBC Arts". BBC News . 5 November 2019. Archived from the original on 8 November 2019. Retrieved 10 November 2019. The reveal kickstarts the BBC's year-long celebration of literature.