The Spinning Heart

An impressive novel, impressive because it is written in many different voices, but each is convincing and immediately accessible. In parts tender, amusing and horrific. The story unfolds through the different narrators, which might seem tricky reading, but in reality flows naturally. These are voices you hear around you every day. Captures the current feeling in Ireland so well, and puts it in a fictional setting, which is only a few shades from reality.

I was disappointed in this book as there were a lot of characters introduced very early on and I found it hard to remember who was who, also the end was very up in the air, what happened to the main character I cant even remember his name thats how unimpressed I was by the story..................

I read this story because my family lived in Tipperary and owned a farm in this beautiful part of Ireland . I have many relatives who still live there . I was sadly disappointed by this book it was certainly a long way from Tipperary on all accounts . The story began well with the introduction of Bobby and the relationship with his father and his loss of job. As each new chapter was introduced the story evolved through the dialogue of a new character , the thread that held them together and the story became very tenuous and at times some characters totally disappearing as the book progressed . The book tried to be earthy and rich in language but just ended up being crude and at times vulgar and you felt weighed down by each character. I just didn't get the point of the book, was it about the Irish recession or about a group of isolated misfits starring in some sordid Irish soap opera . Life in Ireland is harsh especially in these small communities but there is an amazing resilience that is intrinsic to the core of the Irish spirit and I felt this book in its quest to be earthy and gritty failed in providing a balance between being Irish and the frailties of being human. It would not get my vote for the Booker 2013.

A book of the recession and touched all the issues of today's problems. He understands rural community however the overuse of unsavoury language wasn't appealing to me, I'm aware of its overuse daily but in writing I didn't like it. Standards must be maintained. Otherwise a good read

I bought this book on the basis of some fine reviews. Circumstances dictated that I was unable to consume the book in a short space of time. This may have contributed to the fact that, for me, this book did not gel. It started out very promisingly and the characters were introduced and developed well. However, during the second half of the book I got no sense of a story coming together from the disparate parts. Each chapter being told by a different narrator eventually became too difficult to follow. The blurb says the book explores the effect of the crash in rural Ireland. I certainly failed to detect this as any central theme to the story. Ultimately, I was left wondering what was the point of the book and in that sense, for me at least, it failed to deliver.

I'm sure I missed the point entirely. The beginning Indicated that I was going to both understand it and be able to relate it to current circumstances and therefore get a lot from it. Not so for me. I probably should read it again and see what I missed but I wont.

If I could give this less than one star and still review it I would.
Dreadful book.
Ignoring for a minute the fact the every-chapter-from-a-different-POV structure makes it difficult to know the characters, empathise with them, or even remember their names, the pervasive and ceaseless misogyny that permeates the book means that even if I could have empathised with the characters I would not have. Every female character is either a mother, a whore or both, with no room for anything else, while the males are shallow, base morons.
The ambition of the structure was not matched by the author's talent- and to me, living in Ireland, the 'voice' sounded fake and contrived.

I am so impressed by this remarkable, astonishing novel that touches your heart with its deep meaning and evocative, truth-drawing clarity. Donal Ryan's accomplished writing is stunningly beautiful, as he incorporates a perfectly harmonized balance of compelling narrative, acutely graphic realism and detailed description. This character-driven study of Ireland's history and spirit is exquisite, capturing the essence of the rural remoteness of the picturesque landscape and the deep-rooted culture embedded into the foundations of the earth. Cleverly crafted, the poignancy within is authentic and indisputably one can sense those feelings of the people who have endured such conflict, danger and economic destruction. This haunting, absorbing read exudes such simplicity, as you grasp the full meaning of every single word that conveys so much, by providing such a real perspective and insight. Entrenched rage and heated passion amidst echoes of voices of time past, is encapsulated accurately within arresting prose that is perfection itself.

I envisage `The Spinning Heart' as this year's Bestseller, for it was unexpectedly surprising and magnificent

*I would like to take this opportunity of thanking `New Books Magazine' for sending me a copy of The Spinning Heart to review for them.*

[...]

"My father still lives back the road past the weir in the cottage I was reared in. I go there every day to see is he dead and every day he lets me down."

This novel was the most surprising one to be chosen for this year's Booker Prize longlist, as it was rejected by 47 publishers before Doubleday Ireland decided to accept it. It is set in a rural Irish town during the financial crisis of the last decade, after the local building firm has gone under. The book is divided into short chapters, each narrated by a person in the book that is linked to all of the others. The main character is Bobby Mahon, a handsome young married man who is embittered by the recent loss of his job at the building firm and by the knowledge that his boss, Pokey Burke, has cheated him and his work mates out of their pensions. He also has a difficult relationship with his father, a widowed old drunkard who wasted away the family's savings and seems to hang on to life to spite his son, who will inherit the cottage once his father dies. Bobby's loathing for his father is strong enough that he often thinks about killing him, to gain the property and to be rid of his presence forever.

Through the accounts of the other characters the main theme of the novel comes into focus, similar to a tapestry created by multiple weavers, and the reader learns how the country's economic collapse has ruined the lives and dreams of those who live there. Multiple story lines surround the tragic central one, which ends with a surprising twist.

I found The Spinning Heart to be far less satisfying than most other readers. The characters in this novel are almost all deeply unhappy, bitter, and speak ill about those who are closest to them. I found their rants to be frequently repetitive and gossipy, and I soon lost interest in them and the book as a whole. It is a well written book, but I wasn't engaged by it, and I would be surprised if it was chosen for the Booker shortlist. It is a short novel at just over 150 pages, so I may give it another go to see if I like it better the second time around.

‘I go there every day to see is he dead and every day he lets me down.’

Ireland’s economic crisis, with the crash of the bloated housing market provides the background for Donal Ryan’s first novel which is set in an unnamed rural Irish town. Each of the narrators has been affected in some way by the collapse of the local building firm, which used to be the biggest employer of casual labour in the area. Its owner Pokey Burke has decamped, leaving behind despair. Bobby Mahon is the central character: he had been the respected foreman of Burke’s company, and had been overseeing the rapid construction of a new housing estate.

‘One good thing that happened since the recession started is people will work for less than the minimum wage.’
But, as Bobby and his former labourers discover, the benefits of being paid cash-in-hand are outweighed by a lack of access to any redundancy provision. And the two people living on the half-finished estate are not enjoying it either.

‘Since midsummer things are gone pure haywire.’

There are 21 characters in this novel, each with their own part in a story which draws on the past, dwells in the present and (mostly) fears the future. Each of the characters has their own perspective, each adds to a central story of individuals suffering as a consequence of greed. There are darker and smaller individual disasters in this community as well. The labourers are not the only workers to suffer.

A kidnapping reminds people of other tragedies, and a death bodes badly for Bobby.

‘He was fine except for the drawings all over him and the skinned head. They’ll wash off and his hair will grow back and he’ll forget about the whole thing. May he always be fine and happy, the little darling.’

I could not put this novel down, and at 150 pages I read it in one sitting. Likeable or otherwise, each of the characters has their own individual story and their own interpretation of events. The stories have largely stayed with me.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

This is such a wonderful little book, full of great writing, powerful insights, and sadness. It's set in a small Irish town during the great recession of a few years back, and it describes life there in a short window of time though the eyes of about 20 different characters. They're all connected, either to one another or to events that are taking place. There's unfaithfulness, violence, kidnapping, mental illness, bankruptcies, and various other human failings described, much of it caused either directly or indirectly by the recession.

The Spinning Heart is written in the first person in a chapter by each character. It's fascinating to follow the author's language as it passes through each person's individual 'filter'. There are landowners, teachers, unemployed people, and others from almost every walk of life (though mostly blue collar) involved, and it was a real treat to read not only how different characters interpreted the same event, but also how it sounded as they described it. I got a particular kick out of the Irish version of the English language as spoken by all the characters- so many funny and unique phrases and words

Over all, The Spinning Heart to me was an overwhelmingly sad book. The characters were all struggling in their own ways to put food on the table, get paid for work they did, to find jobs, to make it through the day, to gain the respect of parents, to understand issues, and the whole range of challenges that I'm sure we've all faced or have heard about. At only about 150 pages and with 20+ narrators contributing a chapter apiece, it's a short but extremely powerful read. I can't stop thinking about it.

While I have no doubt the Irish reader will be more apt to love this book than the American one, I think it is a very worthwhile read. I found the language enthralling. Ryan has a deft touch and he not only hears his characters pitch perfectly, he delves deep into their characters. I did not find any of the personages unrealistic or poorly done. The author also has a good touch in telling the story. As a narrative it unfolds at a proper pace, holding the reader's attention.

There will inevitably be comparisons with Faulkner's As I Lay Dying as to format. While there is a clear comparison on the surface, I am not sure that choosing this format was the smartest thing for Ryan to do. While he handles it well enough, Faulkner's use of the soliloquy format is much more tightly controlled and the individual narratives do not need to move the story along quite so clearly as they must in this book. The strain sometimes shows. Bobby Mahon pops up from behind a bush (not literally) a bit too often for my taste. On the other hand, --spoiler avoided-- the fact that one story strand is resolved while another is left somewhat in the air did not disturb me in the least.

This was a very fine first effort by a talented writer.

THE SPINNING HEART is an Irish novel in the style of William Faulkner's AS I LAY DYING. In fact, it is a near imitation of Faulkner's novel, transposed from the American south in the early 20th Century to Ireland in the early 21st Century (specifically, in the wake of their recent financial meltdown).

This book forces me to appreciate Faulkner, a writer whom I have never loved. The different voices in AS I LAY DYING feel utterly authentic and convincing. THE SPINNING HEART fails to achieve the same effect, with many of the voices feeling either contrived or not fully realized.

A particular irritation for me is the fact that the first chapter of THE SPINNING HEART is written much more perfectly than the rest of the book. This defect seems to be endemic in recent publishing, to the point that contemporary fiction often leaves me suffering from a feeling of 'bait and switch'.

THE SPINNING HEART is not a bad novel, but neither is it particularly good. I would recommend it to people who enjoy literature and are interested in contemporary Ireland.

In The Spinning Heart, a small Irish town is suffering under the weight of the late 2000s economic bust that saw industry leave the country and the building boom come to a screeching halt. Unemployment is rampant. Alcohol use, always an issue in Ireland and Irish literature, is also rising. Ryan has chosen to present his portrait of the town and time through snapshots of town residents, spoken in their voices.

Chief among them is Bobby Mahon, product of a rough home, but largely appreciated in the town. He grew up with a cruel father and a mother he loved who was powerless to stop the man. On visiting a friend's house for dinner he sees:

"Their father was wiry and kind-looking. He had a lovely
smile. He'd warm you with it. You knew there was nothing
in him only good nature....It twisted my soul, the pleasure
of that house, the warmth of it and the laughter; it was
nearly unbearable to be there and to have half my mind
filled with the chill and the gloom and the thick silence
of our cottage." (loc 98)

The writing throughout is excellent, often rough, occasionally lyrical. The most lyrical passage for me was an immigrant's view of the land, an unemployed worker from Siberia.

"There is no flatness in this land. It is all small hills
and hidden valleys. Birds sing that I cannot see; they hide
in trees and fly in covered skies. The horizon is close
and small. There is daily rain that makes the earth green.
A short journey in any direction ends at the sea." (loc 308)

Each person reveals another layer of the town's life as well as their own.

Definitely recommended

An advance copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley for the purpose of an unbiased review.

In The Spinning Heart, twenty-one inhabitants of a rural Irish town tell us about their lives after Ireland’s financial collapse.

First to tell his story is Bobby Mahon. He was foreman at the local construction firm, its unexpected closing-down having effects on the whole town. Bobby links the twenty other people who follow, but the more stories we get to read, the harder it gets to remember who is who. There are just too many characters and the Irish names I have never heard before make it a guessing game to find out a character’s gender.

The plot is like a puzzle. In the beginning it seems a bit loose, but the further you read, the more the pieces start to fit together. The individual chapters are like short stories that are just connected enough to make The Spinning Heart a novel. This lack of connection makes the book a bit slow to read. Nevertheless, some of the stories make you want to know more and it is a pity that you have to part ways with the characters so soon. Overall, The Spinning Heart is a nice debut, but if you have to choose, I’d recommend you read The Thing About December.

This is a depressing, one note book. It had no joy, which the Irish are known for, even in the worst of times. As an American I found it very difficult to understand the language. I'd reread passages several times and still was not confident that I truly understood what was being said. Also with only 3 or 4 pages per character, it was difficult to keep track of who was talking. Sorry, I just don't believe that this was a terrific book and any comparison to Faulkner is ridiculous.

No masterpiece can be to everyone's taste, but have no doubt, this is a work that will last and grow in its recognition. There was strong and good reason behind its selection for literary prizes; it is a book that will hold its own over time and among the works of past masters. Yes, the context is that of Irish poverty, but the context is the medium. The human heart, at its best and at its worst, is the essential subject. Indeed, rarely have the inner worlds of a group of lonely, vulnerable, and hurt individuals been brought so fully to life, made so painfully real. Each rings true.

The genius of this short work lies in how intensely, like the work of a Japanese master painter, it evokes great depths of feeling with few strokes and much use of the implications of the white space between the words. There is, certainly, a plot, but it is one that one only slowly infers, not one painted on the surface as in most more perishable works.

Powerfully poignant, this is a stunning success.

This is a well-written and insightful look into the impact of the on-going recession in Ireland. Each chapter is from the perspective of different character in a small village. When a local contractor siphons all of the pensions and benefit money away from the company and leaves the local workers high and dry without any prospects for more work the consequence expand exponentially. Each person must come to terms with how to adjust to their new situations and relationships become strained. When a man is murdered and a child goes missing, tensions sky rocket and the villagers all deal with the stresses in their own ways.

What is so interesting about this book is getting a glimpse inside each character's head. They don't just 'talk' about the central issues in the story, but about their pasts, their prejudices and their fears. In sum, you come away from the book feeling totally immersed in this microcosm of one village.

If there is one fault, it is the ending. The author just stops. There is resolution to one major plot line but not the other, which is very frustrating. After investing so much in these characters it is a huge letdown to be left hanging.

This is definitely a book worth reading and I highly recommend it.

There is a specific sort of quality to a novel that gets it recognized for awards. And this one was nominated for plenty, even Booker. It's a sort of poignancy, wrapped in a viscerally emotionally impressive packaging of precise sentences. Thing is, though, it doesn't necessarily make for a good book, and even if it does, it doesn't necessarily make for an enjoyable reading experience. This is very much the case here, in this one note bleak and dreary multiperson accounts of life and events in a small Irish village affected drastically by the slouching economy. It's basically a collection of interconnected varied narratives, delivered inner monologue style. No dialogue. It would get really old in a larger book, though this volume was just slender enough to get away with it. It's atmospheric, certainly, it very much reminded me of my Irish friend, his vernacular and his stories, but, unlike him, this just doesn't really engage. There is talent here and quality, but it's more award and accolade oriented than readers oriented. Quick read though.

It might just be a skewed thought in my head, but the traditionally the Booker Prize is littered with “historical fiction”. So it was with surprise that I made my way through “The Spinning Heart”, Donal Ryan’s debut novel which is set in Ireland not long after the recent economic crisis. A contemporary novel? Say what?

In this short novel we have twenty one voices (all written in the first person) explaining the impact of the economic crisis on their lives. We have a depressive, a Pixies fan who can’t go out on a date as he has no money, a schizophrenic (he’s actually two voices) one of whom wants to be a solipsist, a face tattooed unemployable larrikin, an apprentice who had his career cut short, a crèche manager, a child who observes her family breaking apart and most importantly Bobby the foreman on the working estate that went under who is the common thread throughout.

Our troubles begin in chapter one (Bobby) where Pokey Burke goes broke after growing too big for his own good and investing in building an island in the Arab States. He leaves all his workers with no pensions, no pay and a whole lot of woe:

For my full review go to [...]

If you are looking for one of those uplifting stories full of Irish resourcefulness, indomitability, and bleak humor, you had best look elsewhere. While [The Spinning Heart] has a few bright moments, overall, it's what I'd call a downer. Ryan tells the story of an economically depressed small town through the distinctive voices of 21 of its inhabitants, each of whom is given a chapter of his or her own in which to comment on the neighbors and their business as well as recent events in the town, most notably the collapse of a local building company whose owner first wiped out his workers' pensions, the disappearance of a small child from a care center, and the arrest of the local golden boy, Bobby Mahon, for the murder of his father. Everyone has his or her own point of view, depending in large part upon their own history with the novel's major players, Bobby Mahon, Pokey Burke (the construction business owner), and Realtin (the single mother of the missing child). What they all have in common is an oppressive sadness, tinged with anger, and a prevailing sense that life is just not fair. Added to this, well, these just aren't very nice folks. Fathers mock their children (when they aren't beating them), bosses rip off their employees, husbands cheat on their wives (when they aren't beating them) and beat up the women they cheat with, children are fearful of their parents' constant quarreling, friends confess to being jealous of one another--well, you get the picture. Hence the "downer" label.

Still and all, I have to give Ryan the technical high marks he has earned. He has created 21 distinctive voices for his 21 characters, ranging from a little girl of about four or five to a number of elderly men and women. And while the town he creates is not one I'd willingly visit, he brings it sharply into view. These stories could veer off into multiple digressions; in fact, sometimes they do. But each returns to the main themes: the essential hopelessness wrought by the economic downturn and, despite their shared experiences, the emotional isolation of the townsfolk. Themes that are depressing, yes; but Ryan skillfully builds his plot around them.

On the title: some have speculated that the rusty, paint-chipped spinning heart set into the Mahon's gate represents the ongoing love these people have for one another in troubled times. I don't see that. For me, the heart spins as we would say "he's spinning his wheels"--it's furious, agitated, spinning, but it really doesn't move. This isn't Eliot's "still point in the turning world." It's stagnation: hearts skewered, stuck on anger and despair.

I should pay more attention to tracking a new genre in contemporary fiction: the post-financial crisis novel. One worthy contribution to this category is Donal Ryan’s debut novel, The Spinning Heart. There’s shock among the twenty one narrators of this novel in the aftermath of the severe economic downturn in Ireland. A construction company was the major employer in a small town. The multiple voices contribute individual perspectives on what happened and the impact on all lives in the town. Ryan’s prose captures the unique voices and I found both his dialogue and descriptive language to be entertaining despite the bleak subject matter. Readers willing to try out a debut novelist will find a lot to enjoy in this finely written book.

Rating: Four-star (I like it)

(4.5 stars) Though he is one of the best-liked and most admired young men in the rural Irish village in which he lives, Bobby Mahon hates his father, and the feeling is mutual. Still, he visits him every day at his cottage "to see is he dead and every day he lets me down...He stays alive to spite me." Bobby, like the other employees of Pokey Burke, has been out of work for two months now, having lost everything in the financial troubles that hit Ireland after the economic "bubble" collapsed. To make things even worse, Pokey has absconded with all the funds that his employees had contributed for their pensions.

Using Bobby Mahon as the central character around whom most of the action revolves, debut novelist Donal Ryan writes a dramatic and affecting experimental novel in which the story and its symbols, such as the "spinning heart" on his father's gate, evolve through the points of view of twenty-one different characters, all of them living in the same town, knowing the same people, and contributing to the network of rumors and innuendos as members of "the Teapot Taliban," as one character calls them.

The village's young men, in particular, have especially serious problems during the recession, since they often feel that their efforts have been betrayed and their manhood compromised. One has decided to move to Australia, where he will try to find work. Three men have serious mental problems, made worse by the economic trauma. Among the women Lily has slept with half the town, but has somehow managed to put her son through college; Realtin, a woman whose small son Dylan becomes a major character in the action, shows the effects of the recession on building projects - only two of the 44-units where she lives are now occupied. A daycare owner has hired a male Montessori teacher to work for her, and she and has now taken advantage of a program which provides free childcare for a year to parents whose children are of pre-school age, and her business has taken off. Even a child mentions how her parents have been fighting because her father is out of work and her mother does not get enough hours working at Tesco's.

The breezy, casual, and often confidential stories the characters share with the reader range from darkly humorous to frightening, reflecting the uncertainties of life itself and the often dominating role played by the church and by the characters' unresolved issues regarding sex. The murder of one person and the kidnapping of another, while initially shocking, develop inexorably from the psychic atmosphere the author has created, and there is potential for even more violence. Ultimately, the novel broadens its scope from the small village to larger considerations of how we all become who we are, the roles of parents, their goals for us, how they communicate with us, the lessons they teach (sometimes inadvertently), and the role of institutions within the community (church, school, work, and even the pub). Author Donal Ryan's sense of the telling detail, the revealing comment, and the inner dialogues we have with ourselves creates a memorable novel which shows "from the inside" how the very fabric of a rural community is affected by unexpected acts of fate.

A bleak look at a small place in Ireland after the demise of the Celtic Tiger. All of the characters were brought down by their lives, rather than engaged by it. The most positive person was probably Realtín's father (if that is the spelling of her name?). It was a good, not a great book - his use of language is good and he definitley has a feel for the way people speak. But so many characters that you nearly needed to make a family tree to remember who was married to whom, and who was friends or enemies with whom!
I went to hear Donal Ryan speak about his next book, and he came over as a lovely, ordinary, very sound character, with his feet firmly on the ground. Was therefore looking forward to reading his next book 'The Thing about December'. Just read it in a 'real' book - it was wonderful, would give it 5 stars if reviewing for Kindle. Beautiful writing, especially the description of 'loneliness' - reminded me of Joyce's description of the 'snow falling all over Ireland' from 'The Dead'. Very sad tale again, but he really got inside the head of Johnsey, a child in a man's body. Look forward to whatever else he may write.

I just returned from Ireland. In preparation for the trip, I read a lot of Irish literature. I was wowed by William Trevor. And now I am back, still intoxicated by Ireland, and I read this perfect novel. Each voice is real and true. The idiom is joyous. This book is an emotional visit to the spinning heart of Ireland (the west in particular). This is on a par with the finest literature I have ever read: bold, dazzling, shocking, loving. There is scarcely a wasted word in the entire novel; it's staggering in its economy. What an amazing voice. Thrilled to have read this and look forward to more. A+

A story told through constantly different points of view. Some children, adults; all about a town going through an economic recession, in Ireland. Very witty, funny, sometimes dark, not too much, but a very complete feeling of character. Each is different, each adds to the story mentioning the plot vaguely so as to continue it along. Their is false-murder, senile delinquents, shaggers, and all sorts to make the world, and town, go round. A very easy to read once you get into the dialogue, very compelling too.

Glad that Donal Ryan persevered after 47 rejections to see The Spinning Heart published. His is a wonderful new voice of Modern Ireland. His story is told in many voices, but he knows his characters well and finds love or explanation for each one's part in the developing tale.
It is said to be an Angry novel, but I think the author plumbed deeper into the angst showing the part that Religion and family Pride plays in every character.
While brief, each word and phrase is perfectly honed and a joy to read.
Happy to hear another novel is in process by this exciting new Irishman.

This is not a long book, yet like all great pieces of writing, it contains a world. Each "chapter" is a short story told from a different character's point of view. As you read along, some characters recur, and you begin to have a sense of the people who compose an Irish town, and what has happened to them. Some characters emerge as leaders, looked up to by many, and others as morally compromised. By telling the tale from so many different points of view, Donal Ryan truly weaves a tapestry for the reader. The book does require some effort from the reader. It is not a book for the person who needs to know immediately who all the characters are and what's going on. The story reveals itself gradually., and the revelation is well worth the effort and the wait.

Each voice tells the story of the 1980's financial meltdown in Ireland. And they all add up to a community hit hard. But it's also about the strangeness behind the personas, the murky relationships, the demons that reside in people's hearts. I loved the variety of voices, but I was taken aback by the sickness that seems to overtake these families once the financial safety net disappears. Yikes!

This is one of the few books I've read where, when I finished it, I immediately turned to the first page and started it again. Ryan has an astonishing talent for diving deep into the interior lives of each character and pulling out gems. The story unfolds with a such a light touch--a casual comment, an offhand observation--that you reach the "spinning heart" of it with a wrenching sense of inevitability. This author is now on my watch list.

The novel is set in a small Irish town during the summer of 2010, following Ireland’s economic collapse.
Each of the 21 chapters has a separate first person narrator. Ryan succeeds in giving each narrator a distinctive voice and personality. While a murder and a kidnapping occur, the chapters focus on how each narrator is coping with the financial and psychological impact of the economic distress. The chapters also touch upon each characters past, including successful or failed relationships, happy or abusive (more common) childhoods and past successes or failures. Aptly compared to :”As I Lay Dying,”the book is absolutely brilliant, the best I have read about the Great Recession (though Tana French’s “Broken Harbor” is also outstanding). The quote at the start of this summary? Read the book and you will find out. You won’t be sorry you did.

Donal Ryan is an Irishman and who better to capture the experience of ordinary people at a time when luck seemed to have run out for everyone in a remote village in Ireland. The recession has hit a small community very hard and families are trying to make sense of their world turned upside down with such devastating consequences, so quickly. Ryan has a sharp pen, but an even sharper ear for dialogue and the way real people speak. So the voices he has assembled to retell a set of interlocking stories are genuine and they capture in equal measure the humour and the heartbreak that the Irish are so famous for. Magical writing that draws you in so that by the end you feel you know everyone personally. A sparkling and humane book. Watch out for more from this talented young man.

I loved this book. The characters were so well drawn, their voices so utterly believable, the plot and storylines engrossing from start to finish. If I had one criticism it would be that I wouldn't have minded a little light relief now and again - the tone is stark and dark, the narrative unflinching - but it's a small quibble, and probably says more about my inadequacies as a reader of literary fiction than Donal Ryan's work! Hard to believe this is a debut novel - the writer's voice is so assured and strong. Five solid stars, and looking forward to his next book.

I wonder how the writer decided on the multi-voiced structure for the novel and how difficult it was to execute the way the characters talk at one another from chapter to chapter. As a poet, I admire the chapter endings in particular. The chapter endings are haunting and echo the way the last lines of good poems do. And then there is the story, a sad one told with humor that captivates and speaks the truth.

The book is a series of monologues which reveal a picture of life in an Irish village which has been re-vitalized, then destroyed, by the boom and bust economy of the Celtic Tiger. The monologue form allows the writer, Donal Ryan, to display a unique and startling voice - almost like Martin Mc Donough in prose form - the muscular, thrusting, desperate, driven, destroyed voice of deeply rural Ireland. It is a fairly miserable read - many of the characters seem wounded beyond repair, fractured, tortured, brought to their knees by the simple circumstances of their birth, desperate, ignorant and profane. Such depictions, although skillfully drawn, create a problem, because the couple at the center of the story, Triona and Bobby Mc Mahon, who have had as much bad luck as anyone, stand so far apart that they are like characters from a different planet. We never understand why circumstances in a small town could produce such opposites and Mr. Ryan makes no attempt to explain. No character is ever allowed more than one monologue. The result - a long stream of monologues from different characters- means that the reader has to ingest and interpret the voice of a new character every couple of pages. This is unnecessarily distracting - it is like constantly being interrupted. It becomes more and more difficult to see the structure of the story proceeding naturally from the inclinations or actions of the characters, rather than as a writing contrivance. At times, I felt I was assembling a jigsaw and that my intellect was being provoked at the expense of my feelings.
That said, Mr. Ryan has a beautiful voice and a unique one. His use of language is stunning and his ability to create a character which a few strokes of his pen is a great gift. I look forward to the book where he will allow his characters deliver the story and change and develop and surprise us. The structure of this novel had the effect of making the characters roll inexorably towards their destiny like lemmings going over a cliff.

I grew up in Nenagh, Co. Tipperary and I have been waiting for somebody to tap into the sub-conscious of our people in some way. Well Mr. Ryan has done just that. The language; the emotions; the frustrations, are spot on. Bravo and looking forward for his next book.

The Spinning Heart is by far one of the best books I have ever picked up. The author does such a fantastic job to give each of the characters a distinctive unique voice which really helps give the overall story strength, usually with books like this the reader can get tired but Donal Ryan keeps the reader glued to each page with his witty banter and fantastic story telling ability. Also, the fact that Donal Ryan won Best Newcomer in the Bord Gais Irish Book Awards really says volumes about his writing ability. I hope he has a long and successful literary career.

I loved this book The Spinning Heart because it captured the spirit of Irish life in the country very well.The characters in this book come to life immediately and his descriptions of people places and events are all too real.Sometimes it is the ordinariness of this book which makes it so appealling.It is also good to read about times post Celtic Tiger for a change as not many authors are dealing with this subject at the moment

a slow moving quiet story that sucked me in. genius writing if you are looking for a book that you will think about well after you have finished. an honest portrayal of Irish lives without the bland stereotypes we expect to find in Irish novels. well surprised and delighted to have read it. favourite book for 2014

From the opening chapter to the last word this is possibly the finest and most poignant book that I have read in a very long time.Every character is believeable and they are people that we all know and meet in our daily lives.A stunning first effort.

Loved this book it was like reading the running thoughts in all our heads. Was shocked when it ended i could not believe it was so short but that was probably another challenging aspect of this book. Loved the style really accessible and engaging.

Probably the book had a very good story to tell, but the fact that each chapter was different person (and there were a lot of chapters) to me was confusing and I did not feel as a fluid story. This is only my opinion ;o)

This marvellous small novel by Donal Ryan is in my view an achievement of astounding calibre.
The storytelling is absolutely wonderful and it gives this book a certain top-notch quality.
The book describes the feelings of people, 21 in all, in very fine details and the author has the ability to put his characters in a real humanly fashion.
It tells us a tale of a particular historic event, the first big financial crisis of the 21st Century, with great conviction about the hearts and minds of a group of people in rural Ireland where this financial crisis ruled and influenced the lives of these people enormously.
This piece of Irish history also pictures the surroundings of the people in this part of rural Ireland in a real-like way during the time of recession and disturbing unsettling circumstances, and thus also how people try to cope with it all.
A book which has been written with a heartfelt passion, for it brings to life the hard and unjust times that each of us had to endure, the common people in particular, in trying to survive this crisis.
This is a most wonderful little novel with a strong character and thus certainly one that I want to call as "A Very Promising Debut"!