'The Country Funeral' witnesses three brothers, John, Philly and Fonsie Ryan, as they travel west from Dublin to Gloria Bog - the heart of the territory where so many of McGahern's stories take place - to attend the funeral of their uncle. Depicting the customs and rituals of the day, McGahern exquisitely traces how the brothers react to the area in unexpected and tender ways, and face their own feelings about the transience of life.
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After Fonsie Ryan called his brother he sat in his wheelchair and waited with growing impatience for him to appear on the small stairs and then, as soon as Philly came down and sat at the table, Fonsie moves his wheelchair to the far wall to wait for him to finish.- THE COUNTRY FUNERAL
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(@FaberBooks, 7 March 2019, e-book, 43 pages, bought from @AmazonKindle)
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I liked this story a lot. I enjoyed the way the story portrays the relationship between the brothers, their banter, and the occasional peeks into their shared pasts. The funeral is not really the focus of the story but the events the characters move around. The story is really about what defines family and life. This is a powerful piece.