The 1937 Constitution of the Irish Free State in no uncertain terms assumes and privileges the heterosexual two-parent household as the ideological extension of the paternal state. Article 41 of that constitution reads: Bristling with the threat of violence from the outset, the opening chapter is one of the most disturbing and claustrophobic I have read. The father in the book is a bitter man, his moods uneven and extreme, and as a consequence his children live in fear of him and punish him the only way they can- by shutting him out of their lives as much as possible. His feeling of isolation is something that compounds the misery within the farmhouse walls; it begets isolation in each of his kids, although the book concerns itself chiefly with the son's perspective. A prominent theme is the difficult relationship between father and son, and there is certainly a feeling that Mahoney (the father) is clinging to the strength of youth, and the power over his son, when it is slipping away. His son is strengthening as he himself is becoming older and tired. It is a power struggle that blights many father and son relationships at the time when sons become young men. John McGahern (12 November 1934 – 30 March 2006) was an Irish writer and novelist. He is regarded as one of the most important writers of the latter half of the twentieth century. McGahern is clearly at home in Ireland, and seems to have experienced none of the problems of belonging peculiar to many returning exiles. It was not always so. His second novel, The Dark, published in 1965, was banned in Ireland, and denounced from the pulpit as pornographic. He was forced to quit teaching and left the country that had damned him. He lived in England, France and America before returning five years later. Forty years on, his best-known book, Amongst Women (1990), is taught on the syllabus of the Irish Leaving Certificate. It was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1990. Does he feel vindicated? 'No. I don't think about it in that way. For me, all that matters is whether a book is well written or not. Once a book is published, the less a writer has to say about it the better. That's why I never protested the banning. I thought it was a joke, the Censorship Board, and by protesting I would give them too much honour. Besides, a book has a life of its own. Once it is written, it belongs to its readers. Without readers, it won't live. Without readers, a book is a dead thing, just a bundle of words between covers.' Like John, the reasons behind the continual shifts in point-of-view between first and second and third were a bit of a mystery to me. I think I decided it was meant to reflect the confusions in the boy’s mind, particularly his conflictions between sex and state religion, duty and desire. However, I didn’t find the switches in point-of-view jarring or disturbing; they were masterfully – perhaps too masterfully – handled.

The Dark - John McGahern - Google Books The Dark - John McGahern - Google Books

We haven’t had a word for ages together. People need an outing now and again. You’d like a day out, wouldn’t you? We could go to town together. We could have tea in the Royal Hotel. It’d be a change. It’d take us out of ourselves.” [41]No, not in there,” when [the boy] turned for the room where they both slept together. “Into the girls’ room.” [32]

The Guardian A family touched with madness | Fiction | The Guardian

The following correction was printed in the Observer's For the record column, Sunday September 4 2005His fifth and perhaps McGahern's best-known novel is Amongst Women (1990) which marks a return to the Roscommon/Leitrim setting after two Dublin/London books. It details the story of Michael Moran, an IRA veteran of the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War, who now dominates his family in the unforgiving farmlands of County Leitrim, near Mohill. The book shows a detailed and understanding portrayal of a hardened, and unapologetically idealistic protagonist in the figure of an ageing Moran. An ex-IRA commander, Moran detests the "small-minded gangsters" who now run the country for which he fought. Though Moran's presence surely dominates the novel, the positive attributes of his stern moralism and sense of self-worth are passed on to his children, who become successful adults (both emotionally and financially) in both Dublin and London alike. Once again, it seems to fit into a sequence, with the progressive male character most closely reflected by Luke, who left home, emigrated to London, and refuses to get close to his father again. One may view McGahern's portrayal of the Moran household as the house he left behind with the remaining kids being brought up by his father, his father's remarriage, and his young brother's struggles with his father and school. In 2015 the Guardian listed Amongst Women as 97 in its list of the 100 best novels. [12]