How to Build a Boat

by Elaine Feeney

Longlisted for the 2023 Booker Prize  •  Shortlisted for the 2023 An Post Irish Book Awards Novel of the Year •  One of the  Globe and Mail 's "Sixty-Two Books to Read This Fall" A funny and deeply moving novel about a boy, his dream, and the people who lend him a hand, by the acclaimed author of As You Were Jamie O'Neill loves the colour red. He also loves tall trees, patterns, rain that comes with wind, the curvature of many objects, books with dust jackets, cats, rivers and Edgar Allan Poe. At age thirteen, there are two things he especially wants in to build a Perpetual Motion Machine, and to connect with his mother, Noelle, who died when he was born. In his mind these things are intimately linked. And at his new school, where all else is disorientating and overwhelming, he finds two people who might just be able to help him. How to Build a Boat is the story of how one boy and his mission transforms the lives of his teachers, Tess and Tadhg, and brings together a community. Written with tenderness and verve, it's about love, family and connection, the power of imagination, and how our greatest adventures never happen alone.

Genres: Fiction, Ireland, Irish Literature, Literary Fiction, Contemporary, Book Club, Audiobook

304 pages, Paperback

First published April 20, 2023

About the author

Elaine Feeney was born in the West of Ireland and lives in Athenry. She published her first chapbook, Indiscipline in 2007, and has since published three collections of poetry, Where’s Katie? (2010), The Radio Was Gospel (2014) and Rise (2017) with Salmon Publishing.

Feeney’s work has been widely published and anthologised in Poetry Review, The Stinging Fly, Oxford Poetry, Poetry Ireland, The Irish Times, The Manchester Review, Stonecutter Journal and Coppernickel.

Her debut novel, As You Were, was published by Harvill Secker/ VINTAGE in August 2020.

Reviews

[Meike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Longlisted for the Booker Prize 2023
Finally: Someone trying something daring and different on this longlist! Feeney tells the story of Jamie, a neurodivergent kid on the brink of puberty, who dreams of getting to know his dead mother by building an intricate machine that allows him to connect with her. Putting aside the downright absurd focus the list puts on dead parents (because who needs political fiction in times like these?), I truly enjoyed how this particular Irish gem weaves a web of poetic references that, while not bringing back the dead, connects the living: Jamie's mother died in childbirth; he befriends fatherless Terry at school; there's fatherless Tadhg, the woodwork teacher from the islands with a dark family secret; and Tess, a motherless teacher who experiences the breakdown of her marriage, the loss of her father to alcohol addiction and the horrors of an IVF treatment. All of these characters, much like Jamie's father, who always stands up for his son, defy the standards of propriety headmaster Father Faulks sets for his school, and at the heart of book lies the question of how much a person should bend to outside standards...

...which is where the wooden boat comes in: Jamie dreams of building a perpetual motion machine, a machine that stops the chaos of destiny, "a machine for before the falling apart" which, by the standards of physics, is of course impossible - but he believes the energy of it might cross time and space to his mom. Woodwork teacher Tadhg has an idea how Jamie could fulfill his ambition in a feasible manner: He, Tess, Terry and some other students and friends want to help Jamie to build a Currach, a traditional Irish boat, which is made of wood, so a living and moving material that is bent to the vessel's shape (but not too much, or it breaks!), and floats on water, a moving element that relates to Jamie's mother who was a talented swimmer. As Tadhg explains, Currachs are always in motion, "vulnerable, but powerful", boats built by ordinary people - and sure, that's a metaphor, and it works. Even the steps in the building process relate to the characters' experiences.

The point of view moves smoothly, mainly between Jamie with his perceptions that seem to convey that he is on the autism spectrum, and Tess as well as Tadhg, who develop a tender relationship. Motifs like the color red, water, boats, family, as well as the options fight vs. flight are modulated in varying situations, and the developing bonds between the different types of outsiders gradually start to remind readers of the magical bonds of friendship as displayed in the children's books of Astrid Lindgren - still, this novel is clearly aimed at adults, also pondering questions of sexual longing, the protection of children and growing up with familial trauma.

This novel drew me in and kept my interest throughout, it made me root for the characters and ponder their backstories and motivations. I particularly enjoyed Tess' story line (which references The Edible Woman) that depicts the mechanisms of her marriage and the expectations she faces - and despises. I also like me a well thought out structure that is build intentionally and stringently, which Feeney delivers.

This might not be a perfect novel, but it's ambitious, inventive, well composed, and captivating - which is quite a lot. It also screams for a movie adaptation.

[Doug · Rating 3 out of 5]

2023 Booker longlist #6 for me.

This started out so promising, but then it started irritating me about halfway through and I found the final third a bit of a slog. Some of this was due to the structure - it felt like two separate strands competing for attention - one about Tess, the teacher with infertility issues and a bad marriage; the other about Jamie and his navigation of a new school and building a currach with the help of his woodworking teacher Tadhg. This character linked the two threads when he begins a mild flirtation with Tess - but it didn't really seem to gel in any satisfactory fashion.

I thought the intermittent use of first person POV for Jamie, the young protagonist, a definite mistake. These sections came off as artificial and borderline twee - I really don't think a 13-year-old, even one apparently on the neurodiverse spectrum, would be contemplating the philosophy of Jordan Peterson; rather, this seemed like something the author was thinking about, so she just chucked it in.

And the whole portrayal of Jamie I found problematic - I have worked with people on the spectrum, and my BFF has a child with Asperger's Syndrome and has written two books based upon her experience - and this just seemed superficial and not really in tune with the reality of autism by comparison (if such is indeed the intent - it is never made crystal clear that Jamie IS neurodiverse). I'm wondering how this will stack up against All The Little Bird-Hearts, another Booker nominee, whose author is herself autistic, and presumably would bring more verisimilitude to the issue.

My other major complaint is that except for the three principles, all the other characters are fairly one-dimensional - I couldn't differentiate between Terry, O'Toole and Jonesy, Jamie's three cordial classmates (at least they got names - other were just known as Boy One, Two, Three, etc.) - and the stereotypical suspicions about Father Faulks being a pedophile led absolutely nowhere.

Great cover, however!

[Aoife Cassidy McM · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s rare enough for a book to hit you right in the feels but this beautiful new novel from Irish author Elaine Feeney did just that to me. I was completely captivated by it.

Set in the West of Ireland, the novel is an achingly beautiful and real portrayal of love, loss, grief, fitting in and the power of actively choosing what and who you love in the face of society’s expectations. It gave me that same feeling I get reading Louise Kennedy’s writing - just so gorgeous, it almost hurts to read it.

Feeney puts toxic masculinity and the old boys’ club under the microscope, with an institution at the centre of the story that will resonate with any Irish reader - a single sex Catholic boys’ school, the only school in town and the personal fiefdom of its principal, Fr Faulks.

At the centre of the story is Jamie, a 13 year old neurodivergent boy starting secondary school. Jamie is looked after at school by teachers Tess and Tadhg, who generously take him under their wing and help him fulfil his dream of building a perpetual motion machine, while dealing with their own respective unprocessed grief and sadness. Tess and Tadhg are wonderful characters, beautifully realised and so memorable.

The story slowly builds - Jamie’s sections are almost stream of consciousness. He comes across as authentic and real, and very funny. The dialogue in the book is spot on (though there are no quotation marks, if that bothers you). Jamie even skewers Jordan Peterson at one point (here for it).

There’s a tenderness to the book - it’s an ode to teachers and the wonderful job they do of nurturing students, especially in schools that are inhospitable to students who don’t fit within the box. It also speaks to the value of being true to yourself, and having the courage to take the path that’s right for you, as opposed to the one expected of you.

There’s a slowish chapter on boat-building (a currach) which some may find a bit of a slog, but if you can stick with it, the rewards are mighty. Tears rolled down my face for the last couple of chapters. I really loved it. 4.5/5 rounded up. I expect to see this on prize lists. Bravo Elaine Feeney.

*Many thanks to the author, the publisher @harvillsecker and @netgalley for the arc. How To Build A Boat was published on 20 April. As always, this is an honest review.*

[Michael Burke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Navigating to Her

All Jamie O’Neill wants to do is to connect with the mother he lost when she died shortly after giving birth to him. He is 13 years old, neurodivergent, and only has an old online video of his mother swimming in her high school competition.Jaime is convinced he can bridge an attachment with her if he can build a perpetual motion machine.

We see him on his first day at a Catholic all-boys school. He is bullied almost immediately by some of the other students, kids he only refers to as Boy One, Boy Two, etc., and is taken under the protective wing of Tess, the Additional Needs teacher. The new woodwork instructor, Tadhg, also takes an interest in him and pressures Jamie into dropping the impossible dream of the perpetual motion machine, instead arguing that the building of a boat is a good substitution– boats never stop moving.

The personal lives of both Tess and Tadhg are in shambles. Her marriage is past falling apart and he is emotionally stunted and noncommittal. Inevitably and predictably, these two bond, their concern for Jaime faltering into a romance.

And Jaime is the real interest in the book– how he thinks, his dependence on logic, how he struggles to unravel a puzzling and puzzled world. His desperate need to find his mother is heartrending and is the lure to pick up the book. The whole Tess and Tadhg relationship is much less compelling.

The pace was a little slow and things meandered as we spent time learning the technicalities of, well… building the boat. There is, of course, the symbolic teamwork shown in the construction, how everyone rallies around to help, but this development was visible on the horizon early on. These flaws are redeemed, however, by a powerful and moving Epilogue.

“How to Build a Boat” was longlisted for the prestigious Booker Prize, Elaine Feeney being one of four Irish authors in the list of thirteen titles. She has an extensive background in poetry and this is only her second novel. At one point she had a life-threatening experience with sepsis, and her 2021 novel, “As You Were,” emanated from her time as a hospital patient. This was quite a different book and, in my opinion, the stronger of the two. This is 3.5 stars floating up to 4 by the strength of its conclusion.

Thank you to Harvill Secker and Edelweiss for providing a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Matthew Ted · Rating 1 out of 5]

105th book of 2023.

Update: After looking back on the Bookers from this year and last year (and having a revealing discussion with Alan about it) I've decided to be done with the Booker lists in future and stop this year's reading of them here at 9/13. They are, for the most part, a complete waste of time.

1.5. Interesting to read the autistic character at the heart of this book straight after the last, which dealt with the same thing (All the Little Bird-Hearts). Here it is a thirteen year old boy, though, Jamie. I was interested for the first few pages and wondered how it would pan out but as with the aforementioned book, it quickly felt a little soapy and predictable. By the end it felt something like the movie About a Boy. Wholesome at points in a maudlin sort of way. Didn't feel like Booker material, but then not many have.

That's all the Booker books I can get my hands on from the library so far so I can finally have a little rest. I've read 9 out of the 13 and can confidently say of the ones I've read, if In Ascension doesn't win then the world has gone mad. Now back to some classics as detox.

[Flo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Longlisted for 2023 Booker Prize

Does this book idealize what it means to be autistic? I don't know, but it felt that way. And it's not the only problem this book has. Like 'Pearl' (another one written by a poet. What makes someone a poet? Because I doubt that without prior knowledge, people reading the Booker longlist would spot the poets), it is amateurish. It is mediocre at best.

Anyway, I feel like I'm getting too harsh, so I'm going to stop talking about the book. Lets discuss a little bit the Booker.

This was the first and only year that I've read the entire Booker longlist. I wouldn't recommend it. I liked some books (half of them), but the experience of reading all the books makes me doubt even the good ones. Did I liked the good ones because they were good or only because they were in the company of the bad ones? I'm not so sure anymore.

For example, I struggled with 'How to Build a Boat' the most, not because it was the worst one, but because I started it after leaving the Booker bubble. So I'm not going to do it again, at least not in the way I did it this year. I cherish my ability to DNF a book and I don't trust the Booker judges too much either.

[Sofia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listen..........

That's so hard sometimes, to listen to what is being said, to what is not being said, to the silences, to allow others to be.

Feeney explores listening through her various characters and her story and does an excellent job. We can see the disintegration of Tess and her marriage, Jaime, and his dealing with the world. Tadhig and his need to open his wings. Building the boat was a must for them and also for me because through it you see the give and take necessary in all our relationships and all the dealings we have in our everyday lives.

2023 Booker Long List

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

This felt like an odd mash-up of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and Normal People. (For the record, I liked Mark Haddon's novel but remain in the small minority of those who didn't enjoy Sally Rooney's.)

The scenes involving Jamie O'Neill are the most interesting. Feeney's portrayal of a neurodivergent 13-14 year old is both insightful and persuasive. He is charming, intriguing, exasperating, and endearing. I did care about him and his experiences in an unkind, challenging world. The same cannot be said for several of the adults in his life. I liked how Feeney developed the mysterious loner, Tadgh Foley, the most. I'm quite sure I was intended to be similarly drawn to Tess Mahon but was not. The less said about two-dimensional, stock characters like Paul Mahon and Father Faulks, the better.

In the end, I liked the idea of this novel better than the novel itself. It frequently has a YA vibe and that is seldom a selling point for me.

3.5 stars

[Hugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Longlisted for the Booker Prize 2023
This book is currently at the bottom of the Mookse group's rankings for this year's longlist, but that feels unfair to me, as there is plenty to like here. Yes, if you focus on Jamie's story, that is one that has been done before and probably better, but the real heart of the book is Tess, and the portrait of her failing marriage and how she escapes it is beautifully judged. A book for those that are happy to accept a few rough edges and go with the flow.

[Neale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Longlisted for the 2023 Booker.


Jamie's mother died fifty-five minutes after he was born.

Jamie, a teenager who has only ever seen his mother in a video clip of her swimming at a tournament, a clip he watches every day, is starting secondary school. Jamie loves mathematics and obsesses over numbers, the colour red, patterns, and curved surfaces. Although we are never told, it is obvious from his thoughts and actions, that he lies somewhere on the spectrum.

On his first day at school, he is rescued from a trio of bullies by a special needs teacher named Tess. Although he never truly needed rescuing, he and Tess form a friendship which is unusual for an outlier like Jamie.

Jamie, knowing deep down it is an impossibility, is trying to build a perpetual motion machine. A machine that will enable him to reconnect with the mother he has never met. Jamie’s woodwork teacher, Tadhg, inspires Jamie to start his machine by building a boat.

These three characters, while driving the narrative, are all broken to different degrees. Jamie, we know is searching to somehow reconnect with the mother he has never known. Tess is battling with the stress and disappointment of repeated failures, trying to conceive a child through IVF. She is slowly growing apart from her husband. Tess also lost her mother when she was a child. A loss which dropped her father into a sea of alcoholism from which he has never surfaced. Tadhg, who you guessed it, lost his stepfather as a teenager, seems fine, but we learn has problems as well.

While the narrative belongs predominantly to Jamie, the other characters are deeply written as well. The building of the boat brings them together and provides a communal form of healing.

This is a theme Feeny explores. The feeling, the need of “fitting in”, conforming with the rest of what is considered the norm. Christ’s College is an all-boys Catholic school. The headmaster, Faulks, rules the school like a dictator. All students must conform to his ideals, his belief of what a “model” student should be. This conformity extends to the teachers as well and he does not like Tadhg or his teaching methods. He is trying to slowly weed out the special needs students. Unfortunately, Jamie does not meet Faulks’ criteria.

I especially enjoyed the parts in the novel which are told from Jamie’s perspective in the first person. The way his brain works, speeding along, shifting from one subject to another. The facts that he spits out on multitudes of topics. His love of numbers and whether a number is lucky or not.

Whether you believe this novel is Booker material or not it is a most enjoyable read.

[Darryl Suite · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite enjoyable, although there was a bit of tedium in the middle section. But the book never truly lost its way, and it left a lasting impression on me. The two things that most stood out to me was the writing style (loved it) and the memorable cast of characters.

The novel mostly tackles the themes of control, specifically when it comes to characters who are desperate to take/keep control of their own lives. The three main protagonists (Jamie/Tess/Taihg) are all struggling to maintain their identities and come to some understanding of what makes them tick and/or what attributes make them who they are.

As I mentioned before, I loved the writing style; it felt fresh and jittery. And messy (just like the story it was telling). The prologue and epilogue were exceptional pieces of writing; storytelling that stirred up so many evocative emotions and images.

[Ruben · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this because of its Booker longlisting earlier this month. It is the story of 13-year old Jamie and two helpful teachers who go out of their way to make him feel at home at his new school. Jamie is an outlier, maybe slightly autistic, preferring logic over emotion, far ahead of his peers in terms of knowledge, but unable to emotionally connect with them.

It is a sweet novel set on the Irish West Coast about the therapeutic function of building something tangible as a means of dealing with trauma, connecting and fitting in. And there are a LOT of traumas the three main characters have to deal with...

Stylewise, it reads well, but I had expected something more innovative and thought-provoking seeing as the author is a former slam poetry winner. But it is rather straightforward and I don't immediately see why, for the Booker judges, this would have stood out from all the books they read.

I'll admit this is not a book I would've picked up if it wasn't longlisted - I find child protagonists often unbelievable and also here I raised my eyebrows more than once. Making a child both love Edgar Allan Poe and Maryam Mizarkhani feels a bit much. Also, if you choose your protagonist to be a child prodigy, you have to come up with brilliant ideas to sprout from its mind and I was not impressed on that front - but ok, that is beside the point of a novel on fitting in (and my frustration may well stem from the fact that I just read the MANIAC).

Others may well fall in love with it and describe it as 'heartwarming', the small Irish town atmosphere is good (think Claire Keegan or Audrey Magee) and there is a lot there in terms of symbols and themes (religion, infertility, addiction).

[Paula · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just no. The "voice" (Jamie´s ) is not right, and the rest if thinly disguised chicklit.
It annoys me when authors want to jump on the whatever train currently sells (Women in WWII,people on the spectrum,and so on) and do it badly. Here,it´s the spectrum. Awfully done.There are wonderful books on this topic,written accurately and honestly.

[Ari Levine · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5, rounded down.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perhaps there was a little bit of right book- right time in my response to this novel, but regardless, I loved this story. It’s my favourite read from the Booker longlist so far. Perhaps it’s that this is a book set in a school and that always tickles my interest. Really though, I felt this was a novel that was generous but honest about whole cast of flawed characters, in a way that captured my empathy with making this a sob story or one where the characters could completely escape a reader’s critique. It’s honest about a whole raft of challenges and road blocks that are very real in so many people’s lives, and is neither melodramatic, nor avoidant of the way these challenges impact our relationships and connections. I don’t think Feeney necessarily captures the nuanced voice of neurodiversity as well as Lloyd-Barlow in All the Little Bird Hearts- but for this reader, there was more to this novel, and so that didn’t matter so much to me.

[Scott Baird (Gunpowder Fiction and Plot) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book, might reread it once I finish the longlist.

Liked it even more the second time

[Aimee · Rating 5 out of 5]

How to Build a Boat' is Elaine Feeney's highly anticipated second novel. A profound and tender meditation on the nature of grief— the way the same grief affects and changes people in manifestly different ways.

It is also an important exploration of aspects of the Irish education system, particularly those common to single-sex institutions— in this case, an all-boys school. Feeney uses this setting to interrogate the insidious ways that ableism, misogyny and toxic masculinity are not only allowed, but encouraged, to flourish inside of an institution not only in the shadow, but indeed under the thumb of the Catholic Church.

It reads, to me, as a love letter to choice. The choice not to conform to brutality for the sake of an easy life. The choice to be better. To choosing the people you love, and to choosing yourself.

'How To Build A Boat' is a masterclass in writing kindly without being given over to sentimentality, and is rich with the generosity and joyousness that is typical of both Feeney's writing, and the writer herself

I said before I read this book, that I thought it was going to be special, and I was right. This is a triumph of a novel, for which Feeney should be celebrated.

[Elaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Booker Book 8 of 13. 4/10. I don’t think I hate this book, but it seemed entirely episodic and thrown together from many possible other books like a salad with weird ingredients. As others have noted, reading about Jamiie’s neurodiverse behavior from the outside felt a bit thin after reading All the Tiny Bird Hearts. Anyway, a bit of an incoherent jumble but fast and not unpleasant.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

How to Build a Boat was a strange reading experience. Never have I felt so many ups and downs while delving into a novel. The were times when I was thoroughly enjoying the book, then times when the language irritated me, only to be picked up again.

The thing is, there was a lot I appreciated in this novel: I liked the autistic, although never explicitly mentioned, main protagonist, Jamie. The other two characters, Tessa who is in a red flag ridden marriage and Tadhg, a person who can’t seem to belong in society are endearing as well.

The plot is good too. Jamie is starting a new school and due to his condition tends to find difficulties adapting, that is until Tessa and Tadhg help him by building a boat, which in itself is a metaphor for progression, facing fears and atoning for past mistakes. How to Build a Boat is clever in how it manifests it’s themes, that boat is crucial in understanding the three characters.

However, my problem with the book is the language. It bothered me, At best it bears a similarity to Nick Hornby’s blokey friendly style. At worst, I was reminded of Terry Pratchett and Richard Osman – two authors I absolutely cannot stand due to the way they write. The exception is the epilogue which is BEAUTIFUL and made me wish that the rest of the novel was written like that.

Not the worst novel I’ve read but not the best. Solid.

[Krista · Rating 3 out of 5]

The currach’s skeleton of sally and hazel rods is in the middle of the workshop floor and it really does look alive, and the centre laths makes it look like a boat now, I will admit this, and I admit to feelings of excitement just looking at it, maybe a mixture of nerves and excitement, which are perhaps the same thing, and the vast expanse, all the huge space its frame is taking up,

it’s greater than all of us.

My favourite quote from author Elaine Feeney’s interview on the Booker website is: As for my fiction – I write what I know – and then I tell lies. In this spirit, How to Build a Boat is based on Feeney’s real life experience — of living in the west of Ireland during turbulent socio-political times, of having taught in an all-boys’ school, of raising a child with unique abilities (as per that interview: hyperlexia) — and as she has worked primarily as a poet, the best bits of her writing here represent a poetic insight into the human condition as well as a poet’s precision of language (I realise that I’ve chosen quotes that all have poetic line breaks, but it really doesn’t happen all that often). Yet: I don’t know if these disparate bits add up to a totally satisfying novel. The plotline (and its moral) was fairly predictable, I was not moved by the characters’ predicaments, and often, I found that Feeney was using this space as a soapbox (which I understand is what every novelist is ultimately doing, but there was little subtlety to it). This was a fine read, probably three and a half stars, but I’m not moved to round up.

The cathedral bell rang out fast.
Bell | bang | bell | bang
Half past the hour.
It knocked a start out of Jamie who was stood in line behind other boys in blazers and school bags clasped to them. A few leaves whipped up in the rusty gulley at the entrance and a bird perched on the head of a marble statue. A full-sized laminated picture of Jesus was nailed to the main door, his heart plucked out of his chest and rainbow shards of light shooting from him. This was new and it threw Jamie. He memorised it for tomorrow. Eoin warned him that there could be new things. He said not to panic if this happens. But Jamie preferred when Eoin said nothing. Saying not to panic was like telling him not to think of an elephant in a tutu.

As the novel opens, we learn that Jamie is being raised by single dad, Eoin — Jamie’s mother having died in childbirth when his parents were still teenagers — and as Jamie is neurodivergent in some way (from the interview: Feeney refuses to categorise his condition, “the not labelling was an important consideration”), Eoin has always been indulgent and overprotective, but now needs to relinquish some control as Jamie starts secondary school at the local all-boys Catholic college. Jamie is immediately bullied and overwhelmed, but is rescued by his English teacher, Tess — who had provided extra support for special needs students until that program was suddenly cut — and although Tess is under immense pressure in her home life, she has the knowledge and inclination to take a kid in need under her wing. Eventually, Jamie catches the attention of the new woodworking teacher, Tadhg, and with a kind of outsider, folksy wisdom, Tadgh recognises that the boy would benefit from redirecting his obsessive energies into working methodically with his hands. And when Tadgh learns that the math-minded boy dreams of building a perpetual motion machine (that in some quasi-mystical way would connect him with the mother he never knew), Tadgh directs Jamie in the building of a traditional Irish boat (a “currach”) that invokes the ancient concept of “meitheal” (communal effort: many others will join in on the building of this boat, and Jamie will ultimately find a place in the community). POV rotates between Jamie and Tess — with Tadgh serving as the link between their stories — and despite some barely developed background characters attempting to thwart their efforts (while demonstrating all that’s wrong in modern Irish society), the lives of these three were nicely developed.

Stood there, Tess thought about Tadhg walking out to the Forge, alone, about Jamie and his machine, about how fulfilled she was being among them and how naively Jamie was hoping, the bright hope he had, that the energy, wherever it would manifest from, would be enough to connect everyone, the living and the dead. But there was nothing for the half-living, Tess thought —

Nothing at all for the dead walking among them.

There were many things that I didn’t understand in this story: Why was it set from autumn of 2019 to spring of 2020 without any mention of the pandemic? Why would there be an implication that a student shouldn’t be left unchaperoned with the bombastically misogynistic President of the college if nothing ever comes of that? Why would this same President (who warns boys not to work on the boat, because working with one’s hands is “common”) have hired a woodworking teacher in the first place? Why did every main character have to have been raised by a single parent? On the other hand: I did like the experience of being inside Jamie’s and Tess’ heads; these are interesting and complicated characters navigating difficult lives — lives made more difficult by their own decisions and behaviour — and the characters (if not the plot) are worth the read.

[Emma.catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED the feel of this book, from the very beginning.

I don’t know why?…

Maybe because it was based in Ireland and written by an incredibly talented IRISH author; they always gain a special place in my heart.

I instantly fell in love with little Jaime; he was so quirky, and not afraid to be who he was. He loves trees, the colour red, he loves patterns, and books with dust jackets. Winter was his favourite season, November being his favourite month. November was the month because it was predictable nothing much happened but there was a heavy darkness covering the time like a weighted blanket. I’m pretty sure Jaime was autistic as many of you will know by now I am also autistic; which is why I think I connected with him so much so quickly.

As Jaime enters Secondary school, we are also introduced to the Additional Needs teacher, Tess. She could not be nicer, in fact I wish I had her when I was at school. After a few weeks Jaime really bonded with her and she became a real driving force for Jaime. Jaime considered her a friend, a ‘guide, counsellor, teacher, nature lover’. She made school possible for a wonderful kid like Jaime. She also introduces him to this woodworking teacher, who again wants to get Jaime involved in a project he loves; together they come up with and complete the concept of ‘how to build a boat’. It is an all hands in project and a nod to Jaime’s mother, Noelle, whom he never met.

We also learn about Tess’s life. She isn’t having it easy despite the happy face she puts on for Jaime. She is going through IVF with her partner and finding it extremely challenging and exhausting. But despite her own relationship problems, she always makes a place for Jaime and she is determined to make school a good place for Jaime.

Soulful. Heartwarming. Completely absorbing. Wonderfully written. And full of human complexity’s and emotions.

Definitely one of my FAVOURITE reads of 2024!

[Jodi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is quite a beautiful story, though a bit chaotic at times, about a 13-year-old, highly intelligent, neurodivergent boy—Jamie—who was raised alone by his father from birth. Jamie’s mother, Noelle, died only minutes after his birth, and he’s been obsessed with connecting with her ever since. To that end, he’s designed and plans to build a perpetual motion machine that will somehow allow him to connect with Noelle’s energy. It feels a bit vague to the reader, but it’s very real to Jamie.

His father enrols him at his own alma mater, Christs College—a private Catholic high school for boys—but, from day one, Jamie is badly bullied and unable to fit in. He does, however, gain the friendship and respect of two teachers—Tadhg, the woodworking instructor, and Tess, the English teacher. Tadhg explains that, because it's a wood shop, they cannot build Jamie's machine, but they can build something from wood. So, with the help of Tadhg, Tess, and a few other students, Jamie and the team spend the entire school term building a currach (a small wooden boat). Later on in the book, Jamie launches the boat on the river behind the school. These scenes are incredibly moving, and culminate in the final few moments that are really lovely and so memorable.

It’s a coming-of-age story about life and our need to make connections. Very highly recommended!

4 “Life-is-a-balance-of-holding-on-and-letting-go” stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐

[Joy D · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in contemporary Ireland, this book is the story of two main characters. Jamie is a thirteen-year-old neurodivergent student entering a secondary Catholic school. His mother died just after his birth. He wants to build a perpetual motion machine to synchronize their “energies” and perhaps connect with her in some way. Tess is a teacher at the same school. She is undergoing fertility treatments but finds herself in a troubled marriage and wonders whether she should be trying to get pregnant. She develops a liking for a fellow teacher, Tadhg Foley, who helps Jamie build the titular boat. The boat is a traditional Irish vessel called a currach. Tadhg is dealing with his own personal issues but seems to be a positive influence on Jamie.

I liked parts of it, especially the opening few chapters. The main downfall is its muddled structure. At first (due to the book’s description), I expected it to be focused on Jamie, but Tess’s story is given equal, if not more, emphasis. About half-way through, it changes from third to first person perspective, then switches back after a few chapters. This did not help the flow. It slows down substantially toward the end with lots of descriptions of boat building. Due to the author’s background in slam poetry, I expected the writing to be more lyrical, but except for the epilogue, it seems rather ordinary. I read this book due to its longlisting for the Booker Prize, so perhaps my expectations were too high.

[Naseerah]

Beautiful

[zeyneb · Rating 2 out of 5]

hala gemi yapmayı bilmiyorum ama girift hikaye anlatıcılığı ve karakterlere onlara has bir dil vermeyi başarılı bir şekilde gerçekleştirmiş bir kitap biliyorum diyip kendisi AÇLIK OYUNLARI şeklinde size böyle saçmasapan bir çelme takış gerçekleştirmeye hiç gerek yok bazen komik olmaya çalışırken aşılan çizgiler insanda iz bırakıyor anlatabiliyor muyum beni bu zindandan çıkartın kafamda sürekli komik olmaya çalışan biri var

evet, merhaba arkadaşlar, kusura bakmayın mesai çıkışındayım şu anda, bugün alacağınız en zeynep bu zeynep-LİSTE YAPALIM

bazı şeyleri takdir edebilirim, mesela
1. kitap boyunca iki kez hıçkırıklara boğuldum, beni hislendirdin senin yüzünden hislendim
2. Tess için ciğerimi sökerim benden bunu istemesine de gerek yok genel
3. sayın yolcular yani gerçekten ağır bir metafor ve renksel çıkarımlar bölgesindeyiz insan nereye baksa anlam buluyor
4.karakterlerin geçmişleriyle herkesin birbirine bir şekilde bağlı olmasını görüyorum
5. diyaloglar o kadar iyiydi ki uzaklarda bir yerlerde bir peri doğdu odamda tek başıma 10 yazan bir karton kaldırıyorum SKOR ve de GOL artık her neyse bu iyi bir edebiyattır devam

ve takdir etmediğim şeyler var mesela
1. herkesin anne ya da babası ölmüş olamaz, özür dilerim yani 2000lerde herkesin anne babası ölmüş olamaz, kurguyu incelten ve gözümdeki film şeridinin saydamlaştıran bir nokta bu, (metaforumu beğendiniz mi, silaha aldırmayın metaforumu beğendiniz mi)
2. papazın iğrenç biri olduğuna değinip hiçbir şeyi netleştirmeden onu orada bırakamazsın, takdir etmiyorum odamda kafamı iki yana sallıyorum manyak gibi
3. nörodiverjan birini böyle klişe anlattığımız yılları geçtik diye düşünüyorum ben, ben başkarakterimin her şeyini bilmek istiyorum ben onun bedenini eldiven gibi giyip öyle yürüyebilmek istiyorum ve ben Jamie'nin sadece sırtına atlayıp gezebildim anlatabiliyor muyum? (peki bu metaforumu beğendiniz mi, *emniyeti kaldırır* bu baya iyiydi bunu beğendiniz mi)


uzun lafın kısası, hayatımı değiştirecekmiş gibi yapan bir kitaptı ama hayatımı değiştirmedi. bende hayal kırıklığı oluşturabilecek kadar potansiyel ve güven oluşturdu anlatabiliyor muyum? *silahı size doğrultur* anlatabiliyor muyum?

booker listesine girmiş kitapları okumaya devam edeceğim, yasemin hanıma selamla-HÜRMETLER, iyi günler

edit: kitap kulübünden sonra puanlamamı 2 yıldız değiştirdim çünkü ben deli değilmişim, asıl şimdi iyi günler

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

How To Build a Boat is a contemporary Irish novel that deals with people in a community navigating lives complicated by things that have happened or are happening to them, in this case a 13 year old boy Jamie is starting college and it's clear he is being singled out by some of the mean boys (and not for his height or bright red hair).

In a way it reminded me of Sebastian Barry's Old God's Time, in the sense that it relates to the power of connections in the community, the unexpected and the previously unknown, that can help pave the way towards healing and the passing through of the tumultuous hallways of grief.

How can I miss someone I have never met? Jamie said.
Grief was profoundly different for both humans. One felt an intense anger he had never recovered from, the other knew something was missing, a vacuum to where a mother should fit, and he had a fixed determination to fill it.

Jamie's mother Noelle died post childbirth at the age of 15 and he is being raised by his young father Eoin and grandmother. He takes everything literally and is serious minded and ambitious.

Jamie got it. He just didn't want to get it. Noelle had never stopped moving from the first minute he had met her on screen. She was in constant and limited motion.

His one resounding ambition is to invent/create a machine that will be in perpetual motion; in his mind it will somehow allow him to remain connected to his mother, who, though he never knew her, he visualises through the one remaining video that is left of her, competing in a swimming gala.

There had been hundreds of clips. Noelle laughing after school. Noelle walking in the woods. Noelle soaked to the skin on a picnic. Noelle pulling faces outside the cinema. Noelle painted like a Dalmatian at Halloween with a black-and-white hair wig. But after a rare night out with the soccer club, Eoin, angry and lonely and drunk in his small, dark living room, deleted the phone's contents. After which, he placed his phone on the laminate floor of the two-up-two-down and smashed it hard under the heel of his foot. After which, he vomited. After which, he passed out until morning when he woke frantic and pacing about with a dry mouth and a pounding headache, and in a lather of sweat and overwhelmed with the desire to disappear. But Jamie woke, crept downstairs and began asking so many questions that Eoin had no choice but to recover and get on with the getting on a young boy requires. And for years after, Eoin replayed each deleted clip in his mind before he'd fall into a fretful sleep, until the clips grew so hazy and faint and there came a time when Eoin couldn't visualise Noelle's face at all,
and though he tried to (re)build it:
smile, red hair, eyes, freckled nose, wide shoulders
parts of her vanished until it was finally i,possible to recreate her.

At the new school he encounters Tess (Mrs McMahon) the English teacher and Taigh (Mr Foley), the woodwork teacher, whose classroom has been built in what was the old swimming pool.

These two are also in the midst of transition; Tess is married to Paul who has little patience or empathy for his wife's uncertainty. She has come to the end of being able to suppress her feelings and knows that running away is no longer a sustainable solution to her agitated, easily triggered mind.

They were almost a decade married now and to avoid misinterpretations in the way they communicated, they had grown polite and consistent with each other. To Tess, it was as though she had catapulted. She stopped giving Paul her point of view. And Paul stopped worrying about what ailed Tess.

Taigh has left the island where he was raised and keeps his distance from people, avoiding growing close to anyone while he adapts to his newfound independence.

The three are connected through the school and Taigh's suggestion to Jamie that they build a currach (a traditional Irish boat with a wooden frame, over which animal skins or hides were once stretched, though now canvas is more usual). It is a school project that a number of the boys work on and commit time to, though not necessarily supported by the very traditional, linear leadership or parents with single-minded expectations of their protege.

It is a heart-warming, thoughtful novel of the importance of community interactions and the power of imagination and creativity and teamwork to nurture and heal and progress the journey of everyone involved, when obstacles are removed and the way is cleared for out of the box thinking, support and the healing that can result from it.

[Vera Sopa · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Como posso ter saudades de alguém que não conheci?
A dor era profundamente diferente para ambos. Um sentia uma raiva intensa da qual nunca recuperara, o outro sabia que lhe faltava algo, um vazio onde uma mãe deveria estar, e ele estava determinado a preenchê-lo.”

Que maravilha! Um romance que desde o início nos aperta o coração. Escrita apurada e personagens ternas e nada sentimentais ou lamechas (como eu temia). Jamie e Tess.

Este livro é muito especial por vários motivos e vou reservar alguns pelo prazer da descoberta de quem o decidir ler como eu mas a misógina e o discurso de ódio que, continuam insidiosos e perturbadores no desenvolvimento de jovens são dois dos motivos. A evolução das personagens quando vão estreitando laços numa pequena comunidade é o principal motivo para nos entusiasmar e fazer deste um romance enternecedor e memorável.

[Erin Pickering · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5⭐️ rounded up

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

BOOKER PRIZE 2023 LONGLIST

HOW TO BUILD A BOAT by Elaine Feeney

***

Another Irish novel and another novel about lost mothers and a neurodivergent protagonist. HOW TO BUILD A BOAT may be the most mainstream of books on this year’s list, an exploration of broken people finding common purpose and creating community to repair their souls.

The story centres Jamie O’Neil, a teenager still haunted by his mother’s death during childbirth and determined to create a perpetual motion machine to find her at her last moments. As he begins studying at a conservative and religious boys school, Tess and Tadhg, two teacher’s also trying to navigate through emotional losses and traumatic pasts, begin to mentor Jamie and decide to help him create the closest approximation to his machine, a currach boat.

This is a sweet novel that at its best is an endearing look at how those with broken hearts can build bonds together and come out stronger. But as the previous sentences indicates, it is also a bit too twee at times. Compared to thematically similar novels on the longlist, it lacked the tension of ALL THE LITTLE BIRD-HEARTS and the haunting atmospheric prose of PEARL. This was fine but considering some of the works left off the longlist, it is disappointing that this was what replaced much stronger works like BIRNAM WOOD and BIOGRAPHY OF X.

I don’t expect this (nor do I want it to) on the shortlist.

#bookstareadsthebooker2023 #bookstagramreadsthebooker #bookerprize #bookprizes #literaryfiction #igbooks #novels #irishliterature #emotionalnovels

[Sarah ~ · Rating 3 out of 5]

How to Build a Boat - Elaine Feeney


The Booker Prize 2023 Longlist #7

في بلدة ايرلندية، ينتقل جيمي إلى مدرسة جديدة، جيمي ماتت والدته فور ولادته ويحاول التواصل معها ببناء آلة زمنية، مع معلميه: تيس وتادج. جيمي طفل متنوع عصبيًا "لا يذكر تحديدًا ما هو نوع التنوع العصبي، لكنه يظهر على تصرفات جيمي طوال الوقت."،
تبدأ الرواية بداية آسرة لكن سرعان ما تتراخى الأحداث ويخفت الزخم، لكنها تظل رواية مختلفة ودافئة.