Name: Tender
ISBN: 9781447252177

Belinda McKeon

Belinda McKeon has created a unique landscape of the most subtle and sensitive examination of the world of a new Irish generation entering adulthood. Tender is a relationship novel and a novel about young people, with the first section set in rural Ireland, the second in Dublin and the third in New York. The characters are artists (a writer and a visual artist), and it's a book about friendship, sexuality, infatuation, fear and finding courage.

Tender

Olivera Mitić

Recenzije su mi obećale Sali Runi, ali dobila sam 60% tihe fakuletske dramice i onda 40% priče iz perspektive maničnog lika čija je jedina osobina izgleda biti štetan za okolinu. 

Prva četvrtina romana mi je zaista bila sjajna i već posle nekoliko prvih stranica je McKeon uspela da izgradi jako relevantne, a opet unikatne likove o kojim je milina čitati. Nažalost, posle mi se čini da se malo pogubila sa zapletom (ili da je uopšte zaboravila da ga napravi) i da se opredelila za zanimljiv stil na uštrb bitnih diskusija i sirovih ljudskih momenata koje je mogla da ubaci umesto toga. 

Sam kraj mi se jeste svideo, ali zbog cele druge polovine knjige mi je Tender ipak ostavio mlak utisak.

A searing novel about longing, intimacy and obsession from the award-winning author of Solace. When they meet in Dublin in the late nineties, Catherine and James become close as two friends can be. She is a sheltered college student, he an adventurous, charismatic young artist. In a city brimming with possibilities, he spurs her to take life on with gusto. But as Catherine opens herself to new experiences, James's life becomes a prison; as changed as the new Ireland may be, it is still not a place in which he feels able to truly be himself. Catherine, grateful to James and worried for him, desperately wants to help--but as time moves on, and as life begins to take the friends in different directions, she discovers that there is a perilously fine line between helping someone and hurting them further. When crisis hits, Catherine , walled off by a truth he feels unable to share. When crisis hits, Catherine finds herself at the mercy of feelings she cannot control, leading her to jeopardize all she holds dear. By turns exhilarating and devastating, Tender is a dazzling exploration of human relationships, of the lies we tell ourselves and the lies we are taught to tell. It is the story of first love and lost innocence, of discovery and betrayal. A tense high-wire act with keen psychological insights, this daring novel confirms McKeon as a major voice in contemporary fiction, belonging alongside the masterful Edna O'Brien and Anne Enright.

A Novel

Leafling

4.5 tho, DAMN.

This is perhaps the least outlandish book that I could ever review on Outlandish Lit. But it was so amazing, that I can't go on not saying anything about it. It's one of those books that's relatively long, and it's not super plot driven, and it sounds simple up front. But it's a novel that you want to stay in for as long as possible. Tender uses stunning writing and a keen sense of what it is like to be college-aged to create a riveting, close look at a relationship between two people.

We follow shy main character, Catherine, as she grows up in small and large ways in college in the 90's. One of the most important moments in her life is meeting her friends' friend James by chance and becoming his closest friend. Meeting a person can be life changing, and James is for her. He soon comes out to her as gay when Ireland decriminalizes homosexuality. After that, their relationship gets even more intense, complicated, strained, and obsessive in fascinating ways. And then Catherine does something really bad. I have to say, this story is like the most nightmarish conglomeration of embarrassing mistakes I've made and people I loved when I shouldn't have.

And Catherine could not understand where those feelings were coming from; she could not understand why they had such a hold over her, gripping her by the hair it seemed sometimes, clasping her by the throat--but she felt them. She felt alone; or she felt, at least, the threat, the specter, of her aloneness. She felt the panic of his going, and the emptiness with which it would leave her. He was not going anywhere, and yet she felt it.

McKeon's perspective on what going through college as a sheltered girl is so real and so cringe-worthy. There were so many moments where Catherine was like "Well, it's second year and I'm grown up now. Look at all these friends I have and these parties I go to, I am very confident" (not a direct quote) and then moments later we see her actually in the context of these friends/parties and she is just the most strange and awkward human. Catherine is so painfully self-involved and highly emotional, and I related way too hard to her odd, fluctuating self-esteem at that time.

How McKeon shows us around Catherine's mind while her relationship with James gets more and more complicated is masterful. At the beginning of the book, it's a straight forward narrative through Catherine's eyes. But as strain grows between the two characters, the format of the book starts to shift. We start to see abrupt, single thoughts instead as she feels her life is falling apart. Her depression is communicated through seeing how stilted her thoughts are on the page itself. It's something I wasn't expecting, but was delighted by.

I don't want to say anything more about what happens in the story. It's a book where it's worth going in blind. Being in Catherine's head can be a nostalgic struggle, but it's worth it for where she takes you in the end. Everything Belinda McKeon captures is true and real and important. I cried. I wish I was still reading this book right now. And this is coming from someone who hates reading about relationships.

Full Review: Outlandish Lit

Jessica 

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  As a note, a printed galley of this novel was sent to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not effect my opinions in any way. 


Belinda McKeon is back with her latest release Tender. I have to say that overall the book wasn’t that astounding to me–it didn’t enthrall me like I’d hope it would and felt rather lackluster at times–but in its highs, it was an incredibly honest release and Belinda’s writing, in all its simplicity, is what made me continue on.

I’ll set the scene for you: 1990s, Dublin and a sense of new found freedom for one of our characters, Catherine. Catherine, in many ways, is not unlike a large sum of leading ladies throughout literature and film. She comes from a modest upbringing and sets the tone of inexperience on a high.

Catherine comes to Dublin, a far cry from the farm she’d grown up on, to study and is faced with many chances and realities by novels end. Let’s put it this way: I’ve read countless stories of countless characters like Catherine and her story isn’t all that unique.

This isn’t to say she’s a horrendous character but it does get a bit repetitive and tiring after our timeline progresses and I longed for something to spice things up further in terms of her growth and plots. 

Continued: BOOKEDJ.

Tender

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