Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

" Beautifully written. This book is both a revelation of a harsh reality and the moral dilemma faced by a good, but acquiescent man. Tangled up with his own psychological history, he is compelled to make a choice which may change his life forever......" " This book was recommended to me and I loved it! Book came fine and with a nice dust jacket, no tears. It's a short read but a powerful one, I ended up reading it in one sitting but I'm definitely going to share this. I'm tempted to buy a second copy to gift. You really feel the conflict that Bill has. You're seeing things from his point but in third person, learning about the atrocities with him and him not fully understanding. I noticed a lot of reviews were questioning if this was a novel, I'd say it's a novella at roughly 120 pages, so if you're looking for it to be a 200 page novel, this is not that...."

역사적이고 문화적인 맥락을 생략한 채 읽으면 단순한 이야기다. 크리스마스와 한 남자의 어린 시절의 이야기가 중심이다. 하지만 Ireland, Magdalen laundry 같은 단어들은 혹시나 다른 의미가 있지 않을까 하는 마음으로 작품을 다시 보게 만든다. 문장은 난해하지 않은 편이고 낯선 표현들이 좀 았어도 단편이기에 큰 부담은 없는 거 같다.