
Oneworld, 2023
309 p.
ISBN 978-0-86154-686-2
Post hau ingelesez dago.
Prophet Song is Paul Lynch’s fifth novel and on November, 26th it was announced the winner of the Booker Prize 2023. According to the judges “Prophet Song captures the social and political anxieties of our current moment. Readers will find it soul-shattering and true, and will not soon forget its warnings.”
You can join the Donostia Book Club to talk about the book on December, 9th in San Jeronimo.
It took the author four years to write this dystopic novel about Ireland falling deeper and deeper into an authoritarian rule. Critics agree that the paragraph breaks create breathless and claustrophobic atmosphere and the ending keeps on impacting the readers long after they finish reading it.
Eilish, a mother and a scientist, tries to protect her children facing the new tyranny controlling the country. What is she willing to sacrifice? To enrich the story we have another character, Áine, Eilish’s sister who lives in Canada: her being an outsider allows her to have a more objective view of the situation her sister is going through. A diturbing and hunting vision that also makes readers question many things they take for granted.
Here are some of the questions prepared by the Booker Prize team for further discussion:
Prophet Song begins with two epigraphs: one from the Bible, a quote from Ecclesiastes 1:9; followed by one from Bertolt Brecht, the German playwright and poet. What is their significance, and why has Paul Lynch chosen these to open the novel?
Prophet Song is written with an unusual structure. The sentences are long and the author eschews the use of paragraphs. Why do you think he has chosen to write the story in this manner? Is it successful in creating atmosphere around the reading experience?
The story is told from Eilish’s perspective and stays close to her throughout, yet there are no dialogue markers in the text, with Lynch choosing to avoid use of quotation marks. How does this style of prose serve the story? Does it allow you to see the story through Eilish’s eyes?
Prophet Song is set in a dystopian Ireland which is slowly sinking into authoritarian rule. What places and events may have served as inspiration for the novel? And why do you think the author chose to root the novel in a Western country with a democratically elected government, rather than somewhere more volatile? Is Ireland a believable location for the events described in the book?
The Booker judges said the novel captures ‘the social and political anxieties of our moment’. To what extent do you think the novel is prescient, and do you think it is intended to be read as a cautionary tale?
Elish is a woman dedicated to, and immensely protective of her family and children. What battles is she facing, and what may be prohibiting her from leaving Dublin, despite being told by multiple sources she should now leave the city?
Much of the novel offers a commentary on our cultural desensitisation to real-world events, including war, due to over-saturation by the media. What purpose does the media serve in the novel, and do you agree this may be the case?
(Questions source: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/features/reading-guide-prophet-song-by-paul-lynch)