Mic Breaks Only discussion

***Open discussion of chapters 1 - 10 below, no spoilers needed. Be sure you have read through chapter 10 before reading! Note: if this is your first visit to this topic I recommend you read this post about discussion ideas, then skip down and post your initial response, then read and respond to other people's posts.***

At the very least check in here when you finish chapter 10 and tell us if you are enjoying the book. I'll post specific discussion ideas below, along with some general topics we'll see repeated throughout the book. If you have additional ideas post them and I'll add them to this post.

Chapter 1 - 10 discussions:

1) Is Gerry Fegan haunted or suffering from mental illness? Bonus: if you feel he is mentally ill, what is your psychiatric diagnosis?

2) Do you feel the narrator is biased towards the Loyalists or the Republicans?

General Discussions:

1) Share your favorite quote(s) from this section.

2) Do you have a favorite or most intriguing character at this point in the novel?

Location reminder

If you are returning to this topic after having continued past chapter 10, here is a plot reminder:

Chapter 10 ends with Gerry Fegan and Caffola at a riot, just before the police charge.

GO!

After some early trepidation I'm... really enjoying Ghosts. I was hesitant in the first few pages because it felt like I was stepping in an all too predictable puddle. The book opens page one with a drunk Irishman! Thankfully that's changed a bit as intrigues and various characters have piled up in the subsequent chapters.

I find Stuart Neville's writing style is condusive to easy visualization, which is really fun as I love the images of all the semi-retired thugs interacting.

Gerry: At this point in the book I think Fegan is suffering long term acute Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Fegan grew up in Belfast during The Troubles, essentially a war zone. I think he's been having related hallucinations since childhood. His mom made the accusation "You were talking to someone. Was it your friends? The ones you fib about?". The tone of the conversation made it sound like something more than imaginary friends. Fegan then admitted to having a sensory interaction with his deceased father. A retired hitman with PTSD seems like a swell story, if that isn't what this turns out to be someone needs to write that book!

Bias:I probably have some bias because I spent a lot of this portion of the book jumping to wikipedia articles about The Troubles. I felt strongly for the first 6 chapters or so that the narrator has an anti-Republican stance.

So far we've almost primarily seen Republicans, specifically ex-IRA (I'm generically using IRA here to stand in for the various splinter groups) paramilitary. The people we've met seem driven solely by greed and anger, there is no expression of an underlying drive for justice. McKenna tells Fegan "You'd have been nothing without me, just another Catholic boy on the dole."

As I continued through the final chapters of this section I started to understand more of the stories nuance and the necessity of the characterizations we have seen up to this point. I'm going to revisit this topic later in the book. I can't yet tell if the story is driving a biased perspective or if the narrator is actually biased.

Quotes: Lots of standouts. I won't steal Michelle's because she beat me to them, so here are my two favorites not already noted by her:

"You can't choose where you belong, and where you don't. But what if the place you don't belong is the only place you have left?"

And I LOVE the Irish vernacular and distinct phrasing throughout, like: "You're Gerry Fegan," she'd said. She was small and grey. Her anger burned him. "You're Gerry Fegan and you killed my wee boy."

Characters: I really like the fact that we haven't even met the named detective yet (Jack Lennon) and I'm excited to see his perspective. McGinty doesn't yet interest me, other than that he has also been held back off-page so far.

My favorite is... Ronnie Lennox, the Loyalist woodworker at Maze Prison. I hope he shows up more in the story later.

Final Thoughts:

The story has been well paced and interesting so far. Other than some (possibly alleviated) hesitance about the political point of view of the narrator, my only "gripe" is a shifting perspective. The narrative camera is usually following one character (Fegan in his chapters) but then will shift sidewise to provide a more universal perspective. A good example is in chapter 9 during the discussion of polling cards. Fegan had no way of knowing about the secret bribe Coyle got, even though that seemed to be nestled in a paragraph that was third party perspective following only Fegan.

A riot is like a fire. I'm ready to get back into it!

I'm glad you're enjoying it, Andrew; I am, too! Although I caught on to what the 'Twelve' referred to pretty quickly and I had a moment of doubt about whether or not this would just turn out to be another "Ten Little Indians" type thing, I'm finding that I am enjoying the characters and their struggles quite a lot.

I've always been interested in Irish history, having come from a family of Irish who are still fairly close to The Auld Country (my grandmothers accent was beautiful!), and in addition to just enjoying the characters I'm also finding this a pretty accurate portrayal of what life is like for those who 'belong' in Belfast. The history of the Troubles is so complicated and dark, and those who have been involved in the struggle, on either side, seem to live really dark and brutal lives. I can't imagine being a person who throws Molotov Cocktails at police cars, and can't imagine what life has to be like in order for those who do to actually go through with it. It makes me appreciate all the more the fact that I was lucky enough to be born when and where I was.

I also like Ronnie Lennox. He encapsulates so many facets of the human experience - to be a killer who has reached a place in his mind where he isn't afraid to share his humanity with his enemy; he has realized what is really important in life, and it isn't fighting.

PS - I would tend to sway towards PTSD for Gerry, also, except for his mother pointing out that he talks to people even as a child. His acts as a killer are definitely traumatizing, but there was already something there from a much earlier age that i would like to learn more about. And while I can't say that I've ever seen a ghost or experienced anything ghostly, I've never completely ruled out the possibility of their existence. Where does the energy go when the body is no longer alive; energy never just disappears, right...it just takes another form. I hope that there are ghosts, if only to have a way to hold on to those I love; and I hope that Gerry's ghosts aren't all bad ones...

I am enjoying this book as well. I must admit that I am not super familiar with the Irishman stereotype... Well except for Shenanigan's. Also, I know little about the IRA. There are so many characters I find myself re-reading to ensure I remember exactly how all the pieces fit together.

Fegan - I believe that he is suffering from some type of mental illness. While PTSD would seem appropriate, I tend to shy away from that particular diagnosis. That is a term very easily thrown around. If he was "seeing" people and talking to people as a child, I lean more towards Bipolar or given the early age of drinking, possibly Substance-induced Psychotic disorder. From what I am gathering Fegan is most always intoxicated.

I am not comfortable answering about bias of the narrator because I do not have a firm understanding of the political aspect.

Favorite quote was Fegan speaking to Marie about her comment at the coffin, "You meant it, and you were right." A lot of people think I am "mean" or "cold" because I believe that if you are not liked while alive, there is no reason for me to pretend I liked you once you've died. I appreciate that Marie showed her true feelings, even if she did not intend to be seen.

So far, I am most interested in the ghosts. I want to know their stories and why they are "haunting" Fegan and none of the others... or maybe they are "haunting" the others and someone else will try to take Fegan out.

@Suzie - While we all have different beliefs on where the energy goes once a person dies, I wonder... If the energy took on a ghost form in order to convince Fegan to murder, where did they go once that was complete?

@Andrew - Where are Michelle's favorite quotes? I am not seeing a post from her... If I am missing it, show me where to find them. Otherwise, steal her quotes because I would love to know what they are.

Yay...I finally finished the first 10 chapters. I have to admit I was not sure after the 1st chapter if I was going to finish this book it just didn't make sense to me. Like Suzie I have an Irish heritage too but I am a bad Irish since I am not aware of their history.

Don't judge me but I agree with Melissa that he is being haunted by ghosts because I believe everyone has a little bit of psychic ability that they never know how to tap into.

After finishing the 10 chapters I find myself very intrigued to find out what each of the ghosts stories are.

At this point I don't feel the author has shown bias towards any one side, maybe the further I read my opinion might change.

I don't really have a favorite quote but am intrigued by the language they use, in particular they keep using a name that all the women in my life would cringe at hearing and I think they are using it in a derogatory way but I think it may mean something else I really don't want to google that at work though :)

Happy reading!

@Sally the Bad Irishwoman: I wish more people had supernatural experiences... it would make our job way more interesting! I think that in Great Britain the "C" word is more comparable to how we often use the "B" word here in the United States. Not nice, but not OMG gasp-worthy horrible.

I have been very slow, both at getting through this book and posting on here so I apologize (Andrew) for my delay in participating.

I think Gerry is mentally ill. Although he sees and seems to somewhat interact with the "ghosts" I think they are a manifestation of guilt (as defined by his prison psychologist Dr. Brady). There are multiple conversations about Gerry's "psychological problems", I think his alcoholism also points to probable mental trouble. He may be schizophrenic, although I have no qualification to judge that assessment.

I don't feel the narrator is biased towards the Loyalists or the Republicans. I think the landscape of this issue is complicated and he does a pretty good job mapping it. I was slightly overwhelmed by all of the different group names and abbreviations, however I am uneducated about most of the back-story to start so that may be my own fault.

My VERY favorite quote in this section was in Chapter 1 when McKenna said to Gerry "It's good to have friends, Gerry. You should value them. Listen to them". SOOO scary because Gerry IS listening to his "ghosty" friends. I also like "This city gave the world the biggest disaster ever to sail the sea, and we're proud of it. Only in Belfast, eh?" I am enjoying the liberal use of "shite".

The character I am most intrigued by, thus far, is Dave Campbell. I am particularly interested in his movement from one group of thugs to another. When he hears of Michael McKenna's death "a tingle of excitement sparkled in his stomach. He swallowed and pushed it down." What is with Campbell being so fixated by missing a mobile call...who or what is so important - maybe this is more intriguing to me because I don't have a cell : ) Also he has obvious anger issues as seen by his beating of the poor postal worker.

The one thing that I found myself fixating on during this 10 chapters was how Fegan was "avoiding CCTV cameras on his route home" after killing McKenna. Maybe these cameras are obvious?