What do you think?
Rate this book
A Slanting of the Sun
Eagerly anticipated first collection of short stories from the author of The Spinning Heart and The Thing About December.
Donal Ryan's short stories pick up where his acclaimed novels The Spinning Heart and The Thing About December left off, dealing with the human cost of loneliness, isolation and displacement. Sometimes this is present in the ordinary, the mundane; sometimes it is triggered by a fatal encounter or a tragic decision. At the heart of these stories, crucially, is how people are drawn to each other and cling on to love, often in desperate circumstances. In a number of the stories, these emotional bonds are forged by traumatic events caused by one of the characters -- between an old man and the frightened young burglar left to guard him which his brother is beaten; between another young man and the mother of a girl whose death he caused when he crashed his car; between a lonely middle-aged shopkeeper and her assistant. Displacement pervades stories involving emigration (an Irish priest in war-torn Syria) or immigration (an African refugee in Ireland). Some of the stories are set in the same small town in rural Ireland as the novels, with names that will be familiar to Donal's readers. In haunting prose, Donal Ryan has captured the brutal beauty of the human heart in all its hopes and failings.
Donal Ryan's short stories pick up where his acclaimed novels The Spinning Heart and The Thing About December left off, dealing with the human cost of loneliness, isolation and displacement. Sometimes this is present in the ordinary, the mundane; sometimes it is triggered by a fatal encounter or a tragic decision. At the heart of these stories, crucially, is how people are drawn to each other and cling on to love, often in desperate circumstances. In a number of the stories, these emotional bonds are forged by traumatic events caused by one of the characters -- between an old man and the frightened young burglar left to guard him which his brother is beaten; between another young man and the mother of a girl whose death he caused when he crashed his car; between a lonely middle-aged shopkeeper and her assistant. Displacement pervades stories involving emigration (an Irish priest in war-torn Syria) or immigration (an African refugee in Ireland). Some of the stories are set in the same small town in rural Ireland as the novels, with names that will be familiar to Donal's readers. In haunting prose, Donal Ryan has captured the brutal beauty of the human heart in all its hopes and failings.
208 pages, Paperback
First published September 10, 2015
About the author
Donal Ryan
13 books943 followersDonal Ryan is the author of the novels The Spinning Heart, The Thing About December, the short-story collection A Slanting of the Sun, and the forthcoming novel All We Shall Know. He holds a degree in Law from the University of Limerick, and worked for the National Employment Rights Authority before the success of his first two novels allowed him to pursue writing as a full-time career.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 101 reviews
October 13, 2015
A true talent, this author makes us see behind the faces that are presented to the public. See behind these lonely displaced, down and out people to their humanity, hopes and failures. All of these stories are very good but a few stood out for me. One of the stories is "Lark" where a woman is, thinking of things to do for her husband, a rather normal life kids, just leaving to go to work and then, well what happens just whacked me in the face, I actually hade to reread the paragraph. Won't soon forget that one. The other one concerns a priest in Syria and a hurling game, another one that surprised me.
Of course since all these stories take place in Ireland, hurley and hurling is mentioned in many of the stories and in some the brogue speech helps make them seem more authentic. I have read both of his books and loved them too. A new favorite author for me.
Of course since all these stories take place in Ireland, hurley and hurling is mentioned in many of the stories and in some the brogue speech helps make them seem more authentic. I have read both of his books and loved them too. A new favorite author for me.
February 10, 2020
(3.5) Donal Ryan, Irish author of the novels The Spinning Heart (winner of the Guardian First Book Award in 2013) and The Thing About December, returns with 20 jolting, voice-driven short stories suffused with loneliness and anger.
Nineteen of the 20 are in the first person, echoing the chorus of voices that made the narration of The Spinning Heart so effective. Many of the narrators speak in thick dialect and run-on sentences, which helps to immerse you in the rhythms of Irish speech. Hallucinations, mental illness, and mythological references provide a varied undercurrent.
Although the themes range from elder abuse to memories of the First World War, it is the strong characters and distinctive voices that bring the collection together. Often the protagonists are coming to terms with the effects of violence, whether their own or others. A young man just out of prison strikes up a surprising relationship with his dead girlfriend’s mother; an old man reflects on the day he and some friends took vigilante justice on a rapist; a serial killer takes a final souvenir from a victim before turning himself in.
Make no mistake; these are bleak tales. There is a sense of fate hanging over the characters, directing their steps into inevitable tragedy: “The ways of some things are set, like the courses of rivers or the greenness of grass,” caused by “the meeting of tiny things wrought by a chance slanting of the sun, things without meaning or rhyme.” As that title phrase proves, though, Ryan’s poetic writing makes even the darkest stories bearable.
In a book full of lonely people, it is the moments of connection – however fleeting – that matter. For example, in “Long Puck,” one of the best stories, a Catholic priest posted to Syria initiates interfaith hurling matches that temporarily lift everyone’s spirits.
By resting an unflinching gaze on unlovable characters – refugees, liars, squatters, travellers, and murderers – Ryan shows admirable curiosity and compassion.
Nineteen of the 20 are in the first person, echoing the chorus of voices that made the narration of The Spinning Heart so effective. Many of the narrators speak in thick dialect and run-on sentences, which helps to immerse you in the rhythms of Irish speech. Hallucinations, mental illness, and mythological references provide a varied undercurrent.
Although the themes range from elder abuse to memories of the First World War, it is the strong characters and distinctive voices that bring the collection together. Often the protagonists are coming to terms with the effects of violence, whether their own or others. A young man just out of prison strikes up a surprising relationship with his dead girlfriend’s mother; an old man reflects on the day he and some friends took vigilante justice on a rapist; a serial killer takes a final souvenir from a victim before turning himself in.
Make no mistake; these are bleak tales. There is a sense of fate hanging over the characters, directing their steps into inevitable tragedy: “The ways of some things are set, like the courses of rivers or the greenness of grass,” caused by “the meeting of tiny things wrought by a chance slanting of the sun, things without meaning or rhyme.” As that title phrase proves, though, Ryan’s poetic writing makes even the darkest stories bearable.
In a book full of lonely people, it is the moments of connection – however fleeting – that matter. For example, in “Long Puck,” one of the best stories, a Catholic priest posted to Syria initiates interfaith hurling matches that temporarily lift everyone’s spirits.
By resting an unflinching gaze on unlovable characters – refugees, liars, squatters, travellers, and murderers – Ryan shows admirable curiosity and compassion.
November 1, 2015
Donal Ryan is back, this time with a short story collection peopled by Irish men and women often on the bitter, hard side of life, sometimes on the receiving end of injury, sometimes on the doling out. The life is often hardscrabble as these people search for food, or companionship, or work, or money, or, perhaps, love. They most often fail or cause others injury. But Ryan brings their lives truly to life.
There are immigrants and emigrants. There is an Irish priest in Syria bridging a cultural divide while he is able. Men seek justice against a rapist. An old man remembers the war. There is evil and fragments of good. The stories are sometimes difficult but they are also sometimes beautiful.
In the title story, Ryan writes:
There was a silence in Michael, like a space where
nothing existed. A hole, kind of, or more than that. A
vacuum, isn't it, where an empty space hasn't even air
in it? Some would just say it was loneliness, a longing
for a sharing of his days with someone besides his
older brother.
Leaving off the final phrase of that sentence, "besides his older brother," I think this description could describe the essence of many of Ryan's characters, the good and the bad. They are all searching.
I do continue to recommend reading Ryan's works and add this to The Spinning Heart and The Thing About December
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.
There are immigrants and emigrants. There is an Irish priest in Syria bridging a cultural divide while he is able. Men seek justice against a rapist. An old man remembers the war. There is evil and fragments of good. The stories are sometimes difficult but they are also sometimes beautiful.
In the title story, Ryan writes:
There was a silence in Michael, like a space where
nothing existed. A hole, kind of, or more than that. A
vacuum, isn't it, where an empty space hasn't even air
in it? Some would just say it was loneliness, a longing
for a sharing of his days with someone besides his
older brother.
Leaving off the final phrase of that sentence, "besides his older brother," I think this description could describe the essence of many of Ryan's characters, the good and the bad. They are all searching.
I do continue to recommend reading Ryan's works and add this to The Spinning Heart and The Thing About December
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.
December 3, 2015
This collection of short stories from Donal Ryan is similar to his novel, The Spinning Heart, which could also have been read as a series of short stories - with each chapter told from the perspective of a different character - albeit one with a unifying theme and plot to tie everything together. Again, there is extensive use of first person (in fact I don't think there's a single story that doesn't use it), present tense, and, of course, Irish dialect. I have to say I preferred this format in The Spinning Heart; the stories are effective individually, but over the course of twenty tales, they begin to blend into one, especially as so many of the narrators have similar voices. A Slanting of the Sun also has rather too many occurrences of salt-of-the-earth characters suddenly coming out with lyrical, poetic, unavoidably literary descriptions - the sort of thing that doesn't seem incongruous in a single story, but starts to become noticeable when it happens again and again.
I really enjoy Ryan's writing, and the things I disliked here were mostly matters of repetition. I think I would have given any and all of these stories higher ratings had I read them in isolation. Nevertheless, I felt lukewarm towards A Slanting of the Sun and was rather glad to come to the end of it.
Favourites:
'The Passion' - just out of prison, a man forms an unexpected relationship with the mother of the girl he killed.
'Tommy and Moon' - a writer reflects on his friendship with an elderly neighbour.
'Trouble' - a girl experiences her first taste of prejudice when her beloved father starts a fight at a scrapyard.
'Long Puck' - a Catholic priest in Syria organises hurling matches to help bridge local divides.
'Losers Weepers' - a group of neighbours search for a woman's missing engagement ring.
'Grace' - a refugee tells the story of how she came to Ireland.
'Crouch End Introductions' - similar to the above, but the narrator is an Irish woman who's trying to make a living in London.
I received an advance review copy of A Slanting of the Sun from the publisher through Edelweiss.
I really enjoy Ryan's writing, and the things I disliked here were mostly matters of repetition. I think I would have given any and all of these stories higher ratings had I read them in isolation. Nevertheless, I felt lukewarm towards A Slanting of the Sun and was rather glad to come to the end of it.
Favourites:
'The Passion' - just out of prison, a man forms an unexpected relationship with the mother of the girl he killed.
'Tommy and Moon' - a writer reflects on his friendship with an elderly neighbour.
'Trouble' - a girl experiences her first taste of prejudice when her beloved father starts a fight at a scrapyard.
'Long Puck' - a Catholic priest in Syria organises hurling matches to help bridge local divides.
'Losers Weepers' - a group of neighbours search for a woman's missing engagement ring.
'Grace' - a refugee tells the story of how she came to Ireland.
'Crouch End Introductions' - similar to the above, but the narrator is an Irish woman who's trying to make a living in London.
I received an advance review copy of A Slanting of the Sun from the publisher through Edelweiss.
October 13, 2015
4.5 stars.
A collection of twenty short stories, from one of Ireland's most loved authors, this is Donal Ryan's third published title. The consecutive successes of The Spinning Heart and The Thing About December were the stuff of dreams. Originally rejected, many times, the author's novels were discovered by an intern in a small publishing house and went on to capture the nations heart and imagination, whilst riding high on the bestseller list for most of 2014. Ryan's lyrical prose and study of a rural Irish community, recovering from economic downturn, showed how the literary form can thrill a reader as much as any contemporary fiction. The author's talent at showing beauty in the everyday, mundane lives of individuals shone from the pages of his books and introduced a bright new voice to the already established, yet unofficial, Canon of Irish literature.
Understandably, there was a fear that this collection may not be as powerful or have the same originality of his earlier work. The fear is unfounded. This is a book of delight. Warm yet sharp, devastating yet memorable, ironic while at the same time believable. Characters are brought to life with concise clarity and a meaningful manner. The reader encounters liars, cheats, victims and the marginalized. There are insights into the minds of the disillusioned, the disenchanted and the desperate. While each story has its own unique narrative, there is a sense of uniformity throughout the collection. The goodness within can be tarnished by the need to function in a modern society, to expected standards and beliefs. The exhaustion of hiding inner-darkness is achingly obvious and the reader is not required to be a judge or jury at any stage. The stories are simply a peek through the keyhole, not a complete picture, but enough to catch a glimpse at the workings of others lives.
In Trouble, we are witness to a young boys heartbreak, when he is once again stigmatized as being part of the travelling community. He is devastated to learn that he may never escape this, that his whole life will be one circle of judgment. In The Squad, we are privy to the memories of an old man, now in a nursing home. There are elements of regret languishing within him and despair at his inability to change the past. Sky is detailed with beautiful prose, showing how much a child can lend to the life of a lonesome adult and that dependence can occur without obviousness.
Hurling is a recurring theme in many of the stories, with A Long Puc standing proudly erect among the tales. An Irish priest brings his love of the game to Syria, and instills the joy of the sliothar and the hurl to the village. Impromptu games and tournaments are arranged and there is a brief moment of joy in the battered land. The collapse of this brief unity is made all the more devastating with the image of an unused, hand-carved hurley, laying in wait against a holy-water font. The pain is raw and real.
This is not a collection which will make you feel comfortable. It is not one that should be devoured in one sitting. Each story deserves its own space, its own time and its own contemplation. While some tales are more shocking than others, some have more 'meat' to them, they all have one thing in common. The don't sugar coat life, they don't shy from the harsh realities of human nature and they all linger for longer than the reader may necessarily want them to.
A powerful collection, which should be savoured. Don't bother putting it away when you have turned the last page. You may just be reaching for it, time and time again...
A collection of twenty short stories, from one of Ireland's most loved authors, this is Donal Ryan's third published title. The consecutive successes of The Spinning Heart and The Thing About December were the stuff of dreams. Originally rejected, many times, the author's novels were discovered by an intern in a small publishing house and went on to capture the nations heart and imagination, whilst riding high on the bestseller list for most of 2014. Ryan's lyrical prose and study of a rural Irish community, recovering from economic downturn, showed how the literary form can thrill a reader as much as any contemporary fiction. The author's talent at showing beauty in the everyday, mundane lives of individuals shone from the pages of his books and introduced a bright new voice to the already established, yet unofficial, Canon of Irish literature.
Understandably, there was a fear that this collection may not be as powerful or have the same originality of his earlier work. The fear is unfounded. This is a book of delight. Warm yet sharp, devastating yet memorable, ironic while at the same time believable. Characters are brought to life with concise clarity and a meaningful manner. The reader encounters liars, cheats, victims and the marginalized. There are insights into the minds of the disillusioned, the disenchanted and the desperate. While each story has its own unique narrative, there is a sense of uniformity throughout the collection. The goodness within can be tarnished by the need to function in a modern society, to expected standards and beliefs. The exhaustion of hiding inner-darkness is achingly obvious and the reader is not required to be a judge or jury at any stage. The stories are simply a peek through the keyhole, not a complete picture, but enough to catch a glimpse at the workings of others lives.
In Trouble, we are witness to a young boys heartbreak, when he is once again stigmatized as being part of the travelling community. He is devastated to learn that he may never escape this, that his whole life will be one circle of judgment. In The Squad, we are privy to the memories of an old man, now in a nursing home. There are elements of regret languishing within him and despair at his inability to change the past. Sky is detailed with beautiful prose, showing how much a child can lend to the life of a lonesome adult and that dependence can occur without obviousness.
Hurling is a recurring theme in many of the stories, with A Long Puc standing proudly erect among the tales. An Irish priest brings his love of the game to Syria, and instills the joy of the sliothar and the hurl to the village. Impromptu games and tournaments are arranged and there is a brief moment of joy in the battered land. The collapse of this brief unity is made all the more devastating with the image of an unused, hand-carved hurley, laying in wait against a holy-water font. The pain is raw and real.
This is not a collection which will make you feel comfortable. It is not one that should be devoured in one sitting. Each story deserves its own space, its own time and its own contemplation. While some tales are more shocking than others, some have more 'meat' to them, they all have one thing in common. The don't sugar coat life, they don't shy from the harsh realities of human nature and they all linger for longer than the reader may necessarily want them to.
A powerful collection, which should be savoured. Don't bother putting it away when you have turned the last page. You may just be reaching for it, time and time again...
May 26, 2021
"It was those days that the truth of myself and of wider things started to come creeping clearly to me: that there was something twisted and cruel existing unwanted inside in me; that the world had neither god nor devil in it or over it; that humankind wasn't commanded or battled over or even thought about by any divine or lowly thing but we were all only accidents of the meeting of flesh, flesh wrought from the meeting of tiny things wrought by a chance slanting of the sun, things without meaning or rhyme."
If nihilistic slice-of-life infused with Irish slang sounds appealing to you, look no further. The matter-of-fact style and aimlessness are clear conscious artistic choices, but sadly they don't make for a compelling experience. A few scattered gems appear when these tendencies are toned down, but digging to find them was unpleasant work.
If nihilistic slice-of-life infused with Irish slang sounds appealing to you, look no further. The matter-of-fact style and aimlessness are clear conscious artistic choices, but sadly they don't make for a compelling experience. A few scattered gems appear when these tendencies are toned down, but digging to find them was unpleasant work.
October 8, 2018
Intriguing stories about the inevitability of fate and chance, determining one’s life. Most of the characters in the stories are fatalistic and accept what was destined for them. The best stories of this collection slowly reveal what is the matter. There a few stories that are too simple, one-dimensional and a few that are overwrought.
December 29, 2018
This enterprising short stories book by Donal Ryan is in my opinion a small wonderful achievement.
Storytelling is absolutely beautiful and this little book is a superb quality in prose.
It's a book written once again with a lot of enthusiasm about heartfelt situations and with absolute lifelike features, and so it gives all these stories really lifelike human pleasures and heartbreak.
The stories describe all these people involved within this book with genuine human feelings and actions, so much so that it will give you a true insight about Irish life, rural and abroad.
All the stories are situated within different kind of circumstances and in different kind of places all over the world, but most are in rural Ireland.
Last but not least I would like to mention that these stories are told with a lot of Irish passion, while its about Irish justice and injustice, as well as Irish life and death situations, and finally about Irish society and its people doing their business and living their lives no matter how hard life can be.
Really recommended, for this author deserves to be read and recognised, and so that's why I call this book "Simply Wonderful Short Stories"!
Storytelling is absolutely beautiful and this little book is a superb quality in prose.
It's a book written once again with a lot of enthusiasm about heartfelt situations and with absolute lifelike features, and so it gives all these stories really lifelike human pleasures and heartbreak.
The stories describe all these people involved within this book with genuine human feelings and actions, so much so that it will give you a true insight about Irish life, rural and abroad.
All the stories are situated within different kind of circumstances and in different kind of places all over the world, but most are in rural Ireland.
Last but not least I would like to mention that these stories are told with a lot of Irish passion, while its about Irish justice and injustice, as well as Irish life and death situations, and finally about Irish society and its people doing their business and living their lives no matter how hard life can be.
Really recommended, for this author deserves to be read and recognised, and so that's why I call this book "Simply Wonderful Short Stories"!
April 19, 2017
Still trying to decide how I felt about Ryan's work after his first two novels, I was excited to read this, his first short story collection. It essentially failed at everything I believe a short story should seek to accomplish. Short stories should still seek to be stories. They can be thought experiments, or places to flesh out ideas, but they need to be stories. If a novel ends without resolution, then this can be argued as an artistic choice - but for a short story, it just feels like an abrupt way to offer something incomplete - and none of these stories bothered to develop plots, characters, or find resolution. They were thoroughly forgettable (literally, moments after finishing some of them I struggled to recollect much of the details), and I often found myself impatiently waiting to get through each one (not good, when considering the stories are short). I'll give Ryan's fourth novel a try, but so far I'm still on the fence in regards to his work.
August 23, 2018
Don't read this unless you are in a happy place, for this a dark dark collection of short stories, that deal with the darker shameful side of human nature. The prose in places is sublime, up there with Ireland's great writers. Each story is powerful and compelling similar is style to the Spinning Heart. Not to be rushed but should be savoured.
November 8, 2023
“He never knew his own soul until that moment; I saw the knowing descend on him. He never knew the distance between the imagining of violence and the doing of it.”
May 23, 2024
A fantastic collection, brutal and gripping. Each story reaches deep into you and changes your perspective. On violence mainly and its various affects, told often from the pov of the violent, the murderer, the rapist, the cruel, the terrorist, the avenger. It's a bracing experience.
September 29, 2015
I know of Donal Ryan through his award winning novel, The Spinning Heart. When I discovered he was publishing a collection of stories, it made sense: Ryan is one of those writers whose prose works in short and long form. The acute observations, the imaginative use of language, his writing brings alive the intricate cruelties and pain of life and offsets these with the moments of kindness, hope, love and humour.
Some of the stories in this collection are snapshots into people’s everyday lives. Others are specific tragedies, for example, death, prison and conflict. I particularly liked: The Passion, which aches with regret and the sense of not knowing how to make a situation better; The Slanting of the Sun, filled with menace and hope; the building tension in Nephthys and the Lark; the sense of completion in Trouble; the irony and humour of Crouch End Introductions.
This has to be one of the most wonderful story collections published. I read two stories a day, one with my breakfast and one in bed. Each one struck me, bam, in my guts and I was momentarily immobilised while my imagination fizzed and spun. Sometimes it was a phrase, a particular word or the way that Ryan conveys an action or emotion which made me think, yes, that is exactly how it is. What I like about short stories is the concentrated experience, the sharp focus. Reading Donal Ryan’s collection is the equivalent of popping a chunk or two of Green & Black’s 85% dark chocolate into your mouth and letting it dissolve from room temperature. It’s a strong and sensual ‘hit’, not too sweet, and definitely to be savoured.
I have been a fan of Irish writing for many years. My collection of Seamus Heaney’s poetry is rarely all on the shelf at the same time, and his depictions of rural life (and its parallels) have been favourites of mine for many years. I adore the stories of William Trevor and Kevin Barry, and Claire Keegan’s work has a similar effect on me as Donal Ryan’s. Increasingly I have been reading Irish crime fiction. Reading Irish writing as a non-Irish person is a particular experience whether it is set in Ireland or not. With its characteristic themes of pain, love, death, conflict and beauty, so much is familiar yet the culture and history in which the pieces are steeped, are not. Irish writing is simultaneously personal and political: humour and strong family bonds provide the backdrop for the details and minutiae which represent years of history and struggle.
In sum, for me, in an era when our worlds are squashed into computer clicks and tablet screens, the stories in A Slanting of the Sun somehow feel extremely important. I am still thinking about them now.
Thanks to the publisher and author for a review copy of the book. Review also posted on my blog at:http://vickynewhamwriter.com/2015/09/...
Some of the stories in this collection are snapshots into people’s everyday lives. Others are specific tragedies, for example, death, prison and conflict. I particularly liked: The Passion, which aches with regret and the sense of not knowing how to make a situation better; The Slanting of the Sun, filled with menace and hope; the building tension in Nephthys and the Lark; the sense of completion in Trouble; the irony and humour of Crouch End Introductions.
This has to be one of the most wonderful story collections published. I read two stories a day, one with my breakfast and one in bed. Each one struck me, bam, in my guts and I was momentarily immobilised while my imagination fizzed and spun. Sometimes it was a phrase, a particular word or the way that Ryan conveys an action or emotion which made me think, yes, that is exactly how it is. What I like about short stories is the concentrated experience, the sharp focus. Reading Donal Ryan’s collection is the equivalent of popping a chunk or two of Green & Black’s 85% dark chocolate into your mouth and letting it dissolve from room temperature. It’s a strong and sensual ‘hit’, not too sweet, and definitely to be savoured.
I have been a fan of Irish writing for many years. My collection of Seamus Heaney’s poetry is rarely all on the shelf at the same time, and his depictions of rural life (and its parallels) have been favourites of mine for many years. I adore the stories of William Trevor and Kevin Barry, and Claire Keegan’s work has a similar effect on me as Donal Ryan’s. Increasingly I have been reading Irish crime fiction. Reading Irish writing as a non-Irish person is a particular experience whether it is set in Ireland or not. With its characteristic themes of pain, love, death, conflict and beauty, so much is familiar yet the culture and history in which the pieces are steeped, are not. Irish writing is simultaneously personal and political: humour and strong family bonds provide the backdrop for the details and minutiae which represent years of history and struggle.
In sum, for me, in an era when our worlds are squashed into computer clicks and tablet screens, the stories in A Slanting of the Sun somehow feel extremely important. I am still thinking about them now.
Thanks to the publisher and author for a review copy of the book. Review also posted on my blog at:http://vickynewhamwriter.com/2015/09/...
December 31, 2015
I first discovered Donal Ryan this time last year, when I read The Thing About December for a Book Club. Earlier this year I read The Spinning Heart and was once again immersed in the familiar colloquial language I grew up with - it's not very often nowadays that I could pick up a book and read words like "foostering" or "quare", and it makes me feel cosy and comfortable despite the dark subject matter.
Donal's writing isn't all sunshine and lollipops. It's bleak, it's dark, it's sad, but it's always beautiful. I love the short story format because he really excels at characters, and having short stories lets us get a really good glimpse at a character.
Stand-outs for me included:
Nephthys and the Lark - the tension was unbearable and the last few paragraphs made me ill, but it's a great example of a well-crafted story.
Trouble was about a young girl and her Dad going to a scrapyard, and contained the line:
" The ways of some things are set like the blueness of the sky.", just beautiful. Sometimes I have to read Donal's sentences a few times because they're so lovely.
The stories are full of loneliness, isolation, tragedy - but some are hopeful too - he just captures Rural Ireland so bloody well.
Highly recommended.
Donal's writing isn't all sunshine and lollipops. It's bleak, it's dark, it's sad, but it's always beautiful. I love the short story format because he really excels at characters, and having short stories lets us get a really good glimpse at a character.
Stand-outs for me included:
Nephthys and the Lark - the tension was unbearable and the last few paragraphs made me ill, but it's a great example of a well-crafted story.
Trouble was about a young girl and her Dad going to a scrapyard, and contained the line:
" The ways of some things are set like the blueness of the sky.", just beautiful. Sometimes I have to read Donal's sentences a few times because they're so lovely.
The stories are full of loneliness, isolation, tragedy - but some are hopeful too - he just captures Rural Ireland so bloody well.
Highly recommended.
November 20, 2015
Last year I read Donal Ryan’s novel “The Thing About December.” I was drawn in by the powerfully distinctive voice he’d created for the central character who is a sensitive loner. Some authors like Richard Ford or Anita Brookner are able to establish an engaging narrative voice which they repeat throughout multiple books and, while it may be consistently impressive, it doesn’t show much variation. I wondered if that would be the case with Ryan so I was somewhat hesitant to start this book of short stories. I was delighted to discover a rich array of characters throughout the many stories in this collection whose voices are all individually distinct. These characters range in age, class, sex and race to create a dynamic and layered portrayal of Irish life. It’s impressive that each story finds its own rhythm to relate a particular character’s point of view. We see the world through each character’s eyes as they see it. Brought together, the engaging voices in “A Slanting of the Sun” give a rich understanding of the world, tell a series of dramatically entertaining stories and honour the diversity of individual experience.
Read my full review on LonesomeReader review of A Slanting of the Sun by Donal Ryan
Read my full review on LonesomeReader review of A Slanting of the Sun by Donal Ryan
September 27, 2017
Somewhere between 3-3.5
There is no denying that Donal Ryan has a unique writing style. It worked a lot better for me here in short story form that it did in All We Shall Know. Some of these stories were great, some were forgettable, but most were good. My main criticism is that reading them all in just a few sittings, and with so many stories (20 stories, and just 240 pages), the voices ended up sounding pretty similar. If you enjoy short stories I'd recommend giving this a try though!
There is no denying that Donal Ryan has a unique writing style. It worked a lot better for me here in short story form that it did in All We Shall Know. Some of these stories were great, some were forgettable, but most were good. My main criticism is that reading them all in just a few sittings, and with so many stories (20 stories, and just 240 pages), the voices ended up sounding pretty similar. If you enjoy short stories I'd recommend giving this a try though!
December 6, 2015
Perhaps not quite up to the standard of his two novels, this haunting and often very dark collection of short stories demonstrates Ryan’s enormous literary talent and unerring eye for the loneliness, inarticulacy and isolation of his characters. I’m not a great fan of short stories, and find that I quickly forget most of the ones I read, but there are one or two in this collection that are truly outstanding and that will long stay with me.
March 5, 2023
The art of the short story, especially the collected short story, is such a difficult thing. The best writers can keep a reader interested. The middling ones will have a story here and there. Donal Ryan, at least in A Slanting of the Sun, is a middling writer, at least in the craft of short stories (the cover, of course, sells Ryan much more positively: “winner of the European Union Prize for Literature,” “author of two international bestsellers”). Sometimes it’s easy to settle into his work as classic Irish literature, and sometimes it’s entirely unclear what exactly the setting is (the back copy was at least helpful in contextualizing the one set in Syria, or maybe I was just being thick). And sometimes it’s just, it feels like an exercise, a writer’s exercise in a writer’s workshop, and I never like when I read something like that. I don’t know, maybe I don’t like it because I’ve never been in a writer’s workshop, much less gotten something published out of it. And maybe it’s jealousy or maybe it’s disdain for some publisher making an easy choice on who to pick because they have some workshop credentials. But I just don’t see the point. I mean, if they have something worth saying, the story will out. If they don’t, the story slogs, the collection slogs. The back copy also suggests Ryan is a master at capturing the quieter moments of life. Which is also to say: when they’re telling you not to judge a book by its cover, maybe it’s not the artwork they’re warning you about.
September 3, 2022
Ryan's stories do not recount a conventional tale; rather, they reveal the state of mind and incidents in the personal history of the often disorderly or desolate narrator. The writing encompasses both lyricism and the effective use of midwestern Irish vernacular, some of which may be unintelligible to those unfamiliar with the idioms. However expansive or elliptical the expression, the structure of the narrative is, typically, tightly controlled. The stories invariably confound their first impression; although I have come to expect the sudden turn in the tale, the significant revelation, often quite casually dropped into the narrative, is never quite what I had anticipated. The effect is explosive, demanding a revision of the reader's assumptions. All the stories are short; some are nasty and brutal, but the brutality is never arbitrary. One of the narrators records his liking for 'the looks I got through the windows opened by drink into the realness of people'. The drink-derived insight into the 'realness' of people, unfortunately, renders some of these people thoroughly objectionable and their stories deeply disturbing.
January 24, 2021
Since reading the Spinning Heart years ago I have flown through Donal Ryan books. However, his short stories have been gathering dust on my shelf for years. They are as deep, colourful and imaginative as his novels. It is amazing how in just a few pages he can have you half in love with a character of one story and then terrified of another just as quickly. I have been struggling to get back to reading regularly and this collection helped ease me back into it. Would highly recommend to anyone who has read his other work, or as an excellent introduction to his writing for those who haven't. Fair warning, some of the themes are very dark.
April 25, 2022
A great collection of twenty deeply-moving and emotional stories centred around the themes of isolation, loneliness and displacement and their effect on the heart and soul of the characters in each of the stories as they narrate their own feelings. Largely dark, some quite shocking in their brutality but occasionally redemptive, these stories bear all the hallmarks of an author at the height of his descriptive powers as I have come to expect now from Mr Ryan. Great read - 9/10.
July 17, 2017
*And I liked the looks I got through windows opened by drink into the realness of people.
March 13, 2019
Finished: 13.03.2019
Genre: short stories
Rating: D
#ReadingIrelandMonth19
Conclusion:
20 short stories and I only really liked 3.
15% is not a good return on investment.
Donal Ryan won best short story award for
A Slanting of the Sun (nr 20).
Not even this could raise the score.
#DidNotLiveUpToHype
Genre: short stories
Rating: D
#ReadingIrelandMonth19
Conclusion:
20 short stories and I only really liked 3.
15% is not a good return on investment.
Donal Ryan won best short story award for
A Slanting of the Sun (nr 20).
Not even this could raise the score.
#DidNotLiveUpToHype
February 10, 2019
Collection of short stories by Irish writer. Very Irish! All set in Ireland and hurling mentioned in most of them. Rather melancholy. All stories have a sudden usually pessimistic twist or angle. All were very similar in that there was no real happiness there. Nice writing in places but very repetitive. Not really very keen on short stories in any case and this book was not for me.
February 17, 2022
note to self: read something cheerier if less gorgeously written in February, for goodness sake
July 19, 2020
An exceptional Irish author.
October 13, 2023
I must make an admission which doesn't say much for my knowledge of literature or my memory and ability to read sentences of three words (one of the implied) - I picked this book up under the impression it was a work by another Irish writer named Ryan, Frank Ryan, and once disabused of that information I nearly didn't read these stories. But I am so glad I did. Donal may not have replaced Frank in my heart but I am convinced the surname Ryan is capacious enough to hold two brilliant writers (a bit like McCabe which provides a roof for Patrick and Eugene authors respectively of (amongst many others), 'Death and the Nightingale' and 'The Butcher's Boy').
For me the stories in 'A slanting Sun' were a revelation of a writer I want to read more of. They are incredibly sharp, perceptive and revelatory. They also, in many cases, have a bleak dark sadness and despair that reminded me of so much of the finest writing of William Trevor - though not in any way imitative - but with bleak honesty that sees clearly through superficialities to a honesty that can't be denied however much it hurts.
These are marvellous stories by an incredible writer I can only encourage you to seek out this collection or, if short stories aren't your thing, anyone of his novels though I recommend 'The Spinning Heart'.
For me the stories in 'A slanting Sun' were a revelation of a writer I want to read more of. They are incredibly sharp, perceptive and revelatory. They also, in many cases, have a bleak dark sadness and despair that reminded me of so much of the finest writing of William Trevor - though not in any way imitative - but with bleak honesty that sees clearly through superficialities to a honesty that can't be denied however much it hurts.
These are marvellous stories by an incredible writer I can only encourage you to seek out this collection or, if short stories aren't your thing, anyone of his novels though I recommend 'The Spinning Heart'.
January 3, 2016
This is a debut collection by the brilliant Donal Ryan. I read a lot of short stories so I was always going to give this collection a hard time!
Donal can write long, emotional sentences and stories. Some of the stories( For example, Slanting of the sun story) were amazing pieces of prose, stories that can hit you in the heart with the language and images that he creates. When he writes stories like this, they are excellent.
But, I felt that because there were too many stories in this collection, some were not as powerful as they should be. I prefer a collection of about 8 stories, with the best, the boldest and the most powerful and proudest stories the author can choose. Everything is in this collection so you do get good value for money!
I also became weary of the first person narrative that was over-used and found the voices of the characters were impossible to differentiate from story to story. Whether Donal realised it or not, a lot of his stories were anti-woman and quite violent terms used towards them. Of course, these are fiction but the fiction a writer chooses to write can reveal the author's preoccupations and themes.
To summarise, this is a very good read but I would have been happier had it been halved.
Donal can write long, emotional sentences and stories. Some of the stories( For example, Slanting of the sun story) were amazing pieces of prose, stories that can hit you in the heart with the language and images that he creates. When he writes stories like this, they are excellent.
But, I felt that because there were too many stories in this collection, some were not as powerful as they should be. I prefer a collection of about 8 stories, with the best, the boldest and the most powerful and proudest stories the author can choose. Everything is in this collection so you do get good value for money!
I also became weary of the first person narrative that was over-used and found the voices of the characters were impossible to differentiate from story to story. Whether Donal realised it or not, a lot of his stories were anti-woman and quite violent terms used towards them. Of course, these are fiction but the fiction a writer chooses to write can reveal the author's preoccupations and themes.
To summarise, this is a very good read but I would have been happier had it been halved.
March 25, 2016
These are stories of people, feelings and incidents that fall beneath the cracks of Irish life. They are raw, disturbing, devastating and oddly hopeful (maybe this odd optimism against the odds was the inspiration behind the title). It struck me how tribal these stories are, many characters are alienated because they have delineated from the set path of Irish life and have become outsiders looking in. He captures the loneliness in Irish life that we tend to sweep under the carpet.
I particularly loved Donal Ryan's use of the Anglo-Irish language, rather than being just colloquial here it is powerful and poetic. He invigorates the short story with twists in the characters that disturb you and that you will never forget. It's all very credible which is part of what makes the stories so affecting.
My favourite story was the Long Puck, a powerful tale of an intercultural encounter that ends sadly. I was extremely disturbed by From a Starless Night and Retirement Do which are now burned on my brain which just shows how powerfully written they are! Can't wait to read more Donal Ryan, he's brilliant.
I particularly loved Donal Ryan's use of the Anglo-Irish language, rather than being just colloquial here it is powerful and poetic. He invigorates the short story with twists in the characters that disturb you and that you will never forget. It's all very credible which is part of what makes the stories so affecting.
My favourite story was the Long Puck, a powerful tale of an intercultural encounter that ends sadly. I was extremely disturbed by From a Starless Night and Retirement Do which are now burned on my brain which just shows how powerfully written they are! Can't wait to read more Donal Ryan, he's brilliant.
November 22, 2015
A slanting of the Sun evokes a modern Ireland with characters emotions being dissected for the reader in slices of despair, violence, sensitivity and other worldness. Each story allows a looking at life from a moment in time which might or might not develop into a full back story. There are a few stories than involve care homes which make me feel very uncomfortable, in particular Nephthys and the Lark. Each story shares the hardship and sometimes difficult ways in which we manage to live in a world that is unequal, where relationships are fractured and the young and elderly are dependent on adults who do not always act as they should. The light cast on these lives shines a glimpse of the age old nature versus nurture argument and throws a shadow on what our lives might be like. Brilliant.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 101 reviews