Lamb (Norton Paperback Fiction)

This book runs a very tight line between ugly and sinister. The author tries to make the reader believe in the pure love that can occur between adults and a child. The former, Michael beset by demons of the cloth forcing him to transfer what should be his love of God to wayward child Owen who is not only under his care at the boys' home but beset by grand mal fits and a complete disregard for anything. Michael's removal of Owen from the home and his own is the centre piece of the story but whilst the author tries to take us with him, there are so many issues that stretch credibility as to make the relationship incredible. One has to wonder how far this love Michael has for Owen and his welfare can go before it becomes physical. It gets close. Very close. Read to the end. You have to.You may be inspired but I wasn't.

I ignored the several typos/formatting errors/undecipherable words in the sample because I thought the concept interesting and hoped I had hit a bad patch. UNFORTUNATELY, they keep a'coming. The Kindle version is just TURRIBLE. My rating is the average of the content (5) and the version (1).

Dealing with the "kidnapping" of a young boy by a priest, to save the boy. How he saves the boy is very disturbing. "Lamb" is a well-written psychological study.

He had so much unfinished business with his father and his religion. He didn't have a clue what it would be to take care of someone, especially with health issues and for him to make the decision of what the young boys life would turn out like and to take his life was disappointing. We were grateful that there wasn't any sexual abuse in the story.

Michael Lamb a priest decides the only way to save Owen Kane, a youth in the care of the catholic church, is to flee with him to mainland England. With a small legacy inherited from a dead relative they travel as far as London. With no plan and diminishing resources he accepts an invitation to share a squat under the direction of Haddock a man of questionable morals and sexuality who he by chance meets in a bar. The police have started a country wide search and with increasing interest of the media Lamb makes a decision which sets him on a course and a meeting with his destiny.Together with John Boyne, and David Park I also enjoy the writing of Bernard MacLaverty but I found reading Lamb somewhat tedious, there appeared to be no real story and no real direction. Michael Lamb obviously thought that by running away from a desolate home on a wild Atlantic coastline he is saving Owen from the fate and hate of an overzealous regime under the iron rod of the Principal Brother Benedict. He loves Owen, not in a physical or sexual sense but as a protector and friend (although I do question his actions on the occasion he left Owen alone in the squat at the mercy of the morally repulsive Haddock) For all his grandiose ideas Lamb is ultimately portrayed as a weak man who squanders his legacy on an ill thought plan leading to a final journey where hope and redemption fade as the fate of Lamb and Owen is finally revealed.

Bernard Maclaverty's Lamb is a book that should be read with the understanding that the only person we can control in this life is ourselves.When Michael Lamb, a young Religious brother at a home for young wayward boys, witnesses the mistreatment and lack of empathy bestowed on young Owen by his mother, the other boys and the elder brothers he takes matters into his own hands.Owen suffers grande mal seizures because of his epilepsy. He dreams of flying, swimming and seeing his favorite football team play one day.When Michael Lamb inherits some money from his father, the elders of Lamb's religious order expect him to hand it over, poverty being one of their vows. Michael, already in the throes of losing his faith, decides to save young Owen from the torture of "Benny" one of the superiors at the home, and takes him to England.Once the pair are in London Michael Lamb slowly begins to realize that there is only one way to save Owen from the horrific future that faces him if indeed he ends up back at the home for boys or with his own mother, which is what is going to happen when they are found.Michael grants Owen his three wishes, he takes him to a football game where the boy has a seizure. He returns with Owen via airplane to Ireland and grants him wish to fly, which Owen is not too fond of. When he asks Owen to describe for him in detail again the lovely feeling before a seizure it is for a very specific reason which Michael will combine to grant Owen his third wish, to swim.It is a very sad book, but a lesson that I took away from it was we cannot control anything. When Michael Lamb does attempt to control Owen's situation the consequences are dire.

Michael Lamb a priest decides the only way to save Owen Kane, a youth in the care of the catholic church, is to flee with him to mainland England. With a small legacy inherited from a dead relative they travel as far as London. With no plan and diminishing resources he accepts an invitation to share a squat under the direction of Haddock a man of questionable morals and sexuality who he by chance meets in a bar. The police have started a country wide search and with increasing interest of the media Lamb makes a decision which sets him on a course and a meeting with his destiny.Together with John Boyne, and David Park I also enjoy the writing of Bernard MacLaverty but I found reading Lamb somewhat tedious, thereappeared to be no real story and no real direction. Michael Lamb obviously thought that by running away from a desolate home on a wild Atlantic coastline he is saving Owen from the fate and hate of an overzealous regime under the iron rod of the Principal Brother Benedict. He loves Owen, not in a physical or sexual sense but as a protector and friend (although I do question his actions on the occasion he left Owen alone in the squat at the mercy of the morally repulsive Haddock) For all his grandiose ideas Lamb is ultimately portrayed as a weak man who squanders his legacy on an ill thought plan leading to a final journey where hope and redemption fade as the fate of Lamb and Owen is finally revealed.

The writing, of course, a lot more than okay, but the story doom-laden and strangely jarring in places, the ignorance unmatched by the action and the colour of it more fifties than the time in which it was set. Overladen, of course, by the horror of religion's influence.

good

The best of literature.

Incredible. Heartbreaking.

I wasn't as impressed with this book as I hoped and expected I would be. I'd never heard of the author before but he was commended by Hilary Mantel - an author I've admittedly never read - in her recent article for the Guardian. Having browsed his titles this one stood out as having the most exciting storyline and the sample confirmed my interest.The standard of writing is often very good but sometimes lazy, particularly towards the end of the novel - which is more a novella at just 160 pages. I read it in one sitting. I wonder if the author had planned a full length novel but found he lacked the ideas/material necessary to carry it off and lost motivation once that became clear.While the sad storyline was mostly believable I found issue with the idea that Lamb would run off with such a sickly child without first having a plan in place to obtain suitable medication for him. I understand that he perhaps wasn't thinking straight because he was in shock from/morning the loss of his father throughout the entire affair, but would such a kind - if somewhat naive and idealistic - person take such a huge risk? I don't think so.He wasn't prepared to leave Owen in a potentially dangerous situation so it seems unlikely he would have risked the boy's life. And since the rest of the story hinges upon this idea being plausible I found myself unable to fully commit - and thus total absorption in the story became impossible.Other reviewers have mentioned crying while reading this book but I honestly wasn't that touched, even by the ending, which was signposted too much for my liking, and way too tragic. I'm surprised at my lack of empathy towards Lamb and even the child given the themes presented here. It's not a sign of an emotively portrayed story.In fact, it seems to me the entire story was orchestrated to allow the author to write his tragic ending. Had he taken more time to make his characters more realistic then perhaps I'd have cared more about what happened to them. But it was all a bit flat.One other major gripe concerns the cannabis incident. As a long-term user who first smoked aged thirteen - the same age Owen was in the story - I've never known anyone, regardless of age or experience, actually vomit having smoked cannabis, and the fact he'd felt well enough to dance and eat a meal that had meanwhile been prepared for him before doing so simply doesn't ring true.Also, some of the so-called insights and observations toward the end of the book were a bit juvenile. Indeed, the second half of the book in many senses seemed rushed.Good debut in terms of quality of writing but not worthy of its glowing reviews here.3.5 Stars

This book was a good price and was exactly as described. It arrived in good time and was well packaged