{"id":125416,"date":"2020-05-19T10:44:14","date_gmt":"2020-05-18T23:44:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/?p=125416"},"modified":"2020-05-27T10:52:58","modified_gmt":"2020-05-26T23:52:58","slug":"review-love-by-roddy-doyle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/2020\/05\/19\/review-love-by-roddy-doyle\/","title":{"rendered":"REVIEW: Love by Roddy Doyle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Love<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Love<\/a><\/strong><\/em> was my first experience with a Roddy Doyle novel and it was nothing like I expected. Dialogue-driven and distinctly Irish, this novel was a welcomed and enjoyable change of pace from what I normally read. <\/p>\n\n\n

\"Roddy<\/a>

Roddy Doyle<\/p><\/div>\n

Love<\/em> is a contemporary, in-depth look at the heart, exploring the many ways that love exists through the friendship between two men. Over the course of an evening, Joe and Davy reconnect over pints as they reminisce about their youth and how their lives have changed over the years. As Joe settles into the story of how he left his wife for Jessica, someone they both know from their early days of crawling through the pubs of Dublin, Davy becomes lost in his own memories of the past. Spanning friendship, family and romance, as well as the love of place in Ireland, this novel beautifully illuminates how love sits in our personal histories, how love and loss are tied together and the uniqueness of each loving experience.<\/p>\n\n\n

One of my favourite things about Love <\/em>is its structure and the way it switches seamlessly between Joe\u2019s story, Davy\u2019s memories and the bustling Dublin pub scene in the background. Additionally, as the characters move from pub to pub and push themselves through pints they once drank like water, they gradually descend into a drunkenness that comes out through their increasing rowdiness, talking in circles and losing coherency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roddy Doyle is good at crafting this kind of dialogue that drives the story with humour and heart – the back and forth between Joe and Davy feels exactly how it would be to step into a conversation with two old friends, filled with the banter and familiarity that only a 40+ year relationship could have. The intimacy between them is fascinating and Doyle coaxes it from seemingly insignificant moments, like when they debate having another pint or forget the name of an acquaintance. Although they frequently clash, Joe and Davy share a brotherly love that bounces between affection and frustration and Doyle captures it with subtle affection. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, Love <\/em>is a heartfelt look at human nature and at the turbulent and rare relationships one can share with other people. Doyle has written a genuine story of friendship that I know will resonate widely. It\u2019s a true achievement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

—Love<\/a><\/em> by Roddy Doyle (Penguin Books Australia) is out now.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“A heartfelt look at human nature.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":125424,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[6678],"tags":[1974,3362,4484,4566],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Love-Social.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125416"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125416"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125416\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":125840,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125416\/revisions\/125840"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}