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So Late in the Day
After an uneventful Friday at the Dublin office, Cathal faces into the long weekend and takes the bus home. There, his mind agitates over a woman named Sabine with whom he could have spent his life, had he acted differently. All evening, with only the television and a bottle of champagne for company, thoughts of this woman and others intrude - and the true significance of this particular date is revealed.
From one of the finest writers working today, Keegan's new story asks if a lack of generosity might ruin what could be between men and women.
From one of the finest writers working today, Keegan's new story asks if a lack of generosity might ruin what could be between men and women.
47 pages, Hardcover
First published August 31, 2023
About the author
Claire Keegan
19 books5,850 followersClaire Keegan was raised on a farm in Wicklow. She completed her undergraduate studies at Loyola University, New Orleans, Louisiana and subsequently earned an MA at The University of Wales and an M.Phil at Trinity College, Dublin.
Her first collection of stories, Antarctica, was a Los Angeles Times Book of the Year. Her second, Walk the Blue Fields, was Richard Ford’s book of the year. Her works have won several awards including The Hugh Leonard Bursary, The Macaulay Fellowship, The Rooney Prize for Irish Literature, The Martin Healy Prize, The Olive Cook Award, The Kilkenny Prize, The Tom Gallon Award and The William Trevor Prize, judged by William Trevor. Twice was Keegan the recipient of the Francis MacManus Award. She was also a Wingate Scholar. She lives in Wexford.
Her first collection of stories, Antarctica, was a Los Angeles Times Book of the Year. Her second, Walk the Blue Fields, was Richard Ford’s book of the year. Her works have won several awards including The Hugh Leonard Bursary, The Macaulay Fellowship, The Rooney Prize for Irish Literature, The Martin Healy Prize, The Olive Cook Award, The Kilkenny Prize, The Tom Gallon Award and The William Trevor Prize, judged by William Trevor. Twice was Keegan the recipient of the Francis MacManus Award. She was also a Wingate Scholar. She lives in Wexford.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,907 reviews
January 6, 2024
A taste of cut grass blew in, and every now and then a warm breeze played with the ivy on the ledge. When a shadow crossed, he looked out: a gulp of swallows skirmishing, high up, in camaraderie. Down on the lawns, some people were out sunbathing and there were children, and beds plump with flowers; so much of life carrying smoothly on, despite the tangle of human conflicts and the knowledge of how everything must end.
From the beginning, despite the lovely, almost idyllic evocation of Dublin on a sunny day in high summer, a sense of foreboding suffuses So Late in the Day: no doubt, this will end in tears.
Following Cathal from his work in the office to his flat and cat in Arklow, Claire Keegan builds up the tension masterfully, feeding the reader tidbits of Cathal’s troubled mind, only dropwise letting the inconvenient truth trickle through, leading up to a painful illustration how one can shoot oneself in the foot and be one’s own worst enemy in love.
Recapitulating the relationship between Cathal and Sabine, the ugly manifestations of blatant misogyny Keegan exposes made the story less potent to me than if brought somewhat more subtly. However understandable the need to address it so directly within the short span of this elseways well-paced story, the vehemence of it was put forward too bluntly in order to provoke a shift in the reader’s sympathy. Nevertheless the story leaves me (again) with the question where such misogynistic attitude comes from – in the story’s context Keegan alludes on nurture, Cathal as a young boy witnessing the bad example of his father treating his mother badly.
Keegan shows how a lack of generosity can backfire in a relationship. Frugality, both with love and with money, eventually can cost you dearly - particularly being stingy with empathy and affection. At times, seeing ourselves through someone else’s eyes we risk not being able anymore to stand our own company, holding up a mirror in which we see the monster we are.
(Eric Wayne, The Monster in the Mirror)
The story can be read here.
(*** ½)
From the beginning, despite the lovely, almost idyllic evocation of Dublin on a sunny day in high summer, a sense of foreboding suffuses So Late in the Day: no doubt, this will end in tears.
Following Cathal from his work in the office to his flat and cat in Arklow, Claire Keegan builds up the tension masterfully, feeding the reader tidbits of Cathal’s troubled mind, only dropwise letting the inconvenient truth trickle through, leading up to a painful illustration how one can shoot oneself in the foot and be one’s own worst enemy in love.
Recapitulating the relationship between Cathal and Sabine, the ugly manifestations of blatant misogyny Keegan exposes made the story less potent to me than if brought somewhat more subtly. However understandable the need to address it so directly within the short span of this elseways well-paced story, the vehemence of it was put forward too bluntly in order to provoke a shift in the reader’s sympathy. Nevertheless the story leaves me (again) with the question where such misogynistic attitude comes from – in the story’s context Keegan alludes on nurture, Cathal as a young boy witnessing the bad example of his father treating his mother badly.
Keegan shows how a lack of generosity can backfire in a relationship. Frugality, both with love and with money, eventually can cost you dearly - particularly being stingy with empathy and affection. At times, seeing ourselves through someone else’s eyes we risk not being able anymore to stand our own company, holding up a mirror in which we see the monster we are.
(Eric Wayne, The Monster in the Mirror)
The story can be read here.
(*** ½)
July 9, 2024
It often happens in life that life slips away from us as the seemingly inconsequential moments slide away from the grasp of our hands and when the seeds of remorse take birth to haunt you in the future, you invariably look back to reflect upon those petty moments to realize where really you let the life slipped away. It makes you to think whether you lost life somewhere through these little moments or something else. Perhaps these seemingly insignificant moments constitute what life is all about. So late in the Day starts in the beautiful Dublin afternoon infused with scenic natural charm and elegance however, despite the serene ease sends across by the lovely prose you feel a sense of trepidation and disquiet as if a picture too perfect might conceal something sinister underneath it.
link: source
The protagonist of the story, Cathal is a middle age, mean- spirited man, who finds it hard to comprehend what goes in his life, what forced his fiancé to change her mind when everything seemed to fall in place. The sheer indifference of our male protagonist towards the feelings and demands of his fiancé brings forth his frustration over incomprehension and indignation towards the woman he planned to marry. We are made to understand by the nuanced prose of the author the way, things are said to our counterparts in life, makes a huge difference, and in fact, demarcates the thins line between romanticism and dullness which may give rise to our inability to perceive why things do not go as we want them to.
The tale of misogyny, insensitivity and indifference is told in the form of little reflections by our Cathal over how things have turned up in his life. Though the themes it deals with are linked to misogyny, but the way Keegan has handled them and the treatment she provided with her distinctive and remarkable prose does not throw it to stereotype of acrid and resentful world wherein the misogyny sends the waves of toxicity. Rather, the author quite deftly builds up the gradual tension which makes you to understand the ingrained misogyny of the protagonist by peeling off his consciousness layers by layers through his self-doubts, disbelief and remorse. The delicate and measured prose of the author takes you through the feelings of Cathal by understanding them than to just judge him on the premise of misogyny.
The sharp tale also makes the readers to contemplate upon the effects of our upbringing on our lives, though we may not always succeed to comprehend those effects but our backgrounds definitely affect us, even if it means subconsciously. Cathal doesn’t have much of family background while his fiancé has a privileged family lineage which is rich in culture and thereby may afford to accept the other sex in equality with so called dominant one. The little jokes cracked upon the premise of ingrained misogyny makes you realize the subtle changes author bring about gradually to comprehend the nuanced convolutedness of the consciousness of Cathal, as if it’s being dissected with a careful and delicate hands of a literary surgeon, and perhaps that’s why she is compared to Chekov.
link: source
The author, Clarie Keegan, as we know, has marked distinctive place in the contemporary literature because of clear, economical tightly woven but profound prose whose scope may put long sentences to shame since each word is weighed and calibrated to fix its perfect place so as to produce a deeply moving effect which may take the readers off guard to get under their skins immediately. As Claire Keegan herself mentioned during an interview that a story must be read at least twice to understand its nuances, So Late in the Day also demands multiple readings which helps in filling the gaps which may have arisen on the first read for comprehending the story from a empathetic point of view. However, the story keeps lingering on your consciousness for long and in turn, makes you reflect upon it with a sudden jolt to the soul by realizing that the story may be an embarrassing reflection of your own life.
December 13, 2023
Note: This is a review for the short story published in The New Yorker. If you want the review of Claire Keegan's story collection by the same name, click here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
A beautiful short story by one of the most intriguing contemporary writers in Ireland, Claire Keegan.
The story begins innocently enough, Cathal is in office and he is evidently upset about something but trying hard to go through the day routinely. You feel sorry for him and hope his day becomes better. As the story progresses, we know more of him, and boy, does that unveiling come as a surprise!
This is such an intelligent story. Usually, within the short story format, writers try to provide enough information so that readers find their experience complete. But Keegan seems to trust in the brain power of her audience. There are hints, there are mini-flashbacks, there are nuances in the thoughts, there are subtleties between the lines. You need to put the whole assortment of clues together, but the clues aren’t straightforward. It is like solving a jigsaw a piece at a time, with the pieces coming in a random order. Once it is complete, it will stun you, but you need to put in the efforts first. I read the whole story in one go, and then read it again in parts to understand how the broken links form a stunning chain.
Loved the smartness of the story and the strong statement it makes on inherent societal misogyny.
4 stars.
This story appeared in the New Yorker magazine in February 2022. I read it through the below link:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...
The above link also includes an audio version of the story, read by the author herself.
Thanks to my GR friend Sujoya for bringing this story into my life. Do check out her review also.
———————————————
Connect with me through:
My Blog | The StoryGraph | Facebook | Twitter
A beautiful short story by one of the most intriguing contemporary writers in Ireland, Claire Keegan.
The story begins innocently enough, Cathal is in office and he is evidently upset about something but trying hard to go through the day routinely. You feel sorry for him and hope his day becomes better. As the story progresses, we know more of him, and boy, does that unveiling come as a surprise!
This is such an intelligent story. Usually, within the short story format, writers try to provide enough information so that readers find their experience complete. But Keegan seems to trust in the brain power of her audience. There are hints, there are mini-flashbacks, there are nuances in the thoughts, there are subtleties between the lines. You need to put the whole assortment of clues together, but the clues aren’t straightforward. It is like solving a jigsaw a piece at a time, with the pieces coming in a random order. Once it is complete, it will stun you, but you need to put in the efforts first. I read the whole story in one go, and then read it again in parts to understand how the broken links form a stunning chain.
Loved the smartness of the story and the strong statement it makes on inherent societal misogyny.
4 stars.
This story appeared in the New Yorker magazine in February 2022. I read it through the below link:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...
The above link also includes an audio version of the story, read by the author herself.
Thanks to my GR friend Sujoya for bringing this story into my life. Do check out her review also.
———————————————
Connect with me through:
My Blog | The StoryGraph | Facebook | Twitter
May 29, 2024
Broken
The first paragraph of this short story illustrates how Claire Keegan bathes every novel she writes in beautiful lyrical language. Some writers indulge in over-the-top descriptive passages that feel contrived, but not Keegan, she displays her art such that readers feel the sensory excitement of a given moment.
So Late in the Day is the story of Cathal: how he lives alone, was once almost married to Sabine and how certain character flaws can destroy relationships. The picture built of Cathal erodes our sympathy from a lonely, jilted man to a person with mean tendencies, sharing issues and a lack of empathy. We see how a relationship without love cannot be camouflaged. Our discerning compassion for Sabine grows as we witness Cathal's actions and behaviour, particularly when sharing time, money, and space. It’s ultimately not worth staying in a relationship that will become sour, and no matter how ‘late in the day’, it should end.
While this is a short story, it’s no surprise that the pace and modulation are on point, but I can’t help but wonder if Keegan can stretch this to a full novel. I have enjoyed previous stories from her, and while I hate novels that employ padding, I would like to spend more time with her characters and the scenarios they could find themselves in. I recommend reading this story even for the opening paragraph – okay I’ll include it below.
The first paragraph of this short story illustrates how Claire Keegan bathes every novel she writes in beautiful lyrical language. Some writers indulge in over-the-top descriptive passages that feel contrived, but not Keegan, she displays her art such that readers feel the sensory excitement of a given moment.
So Late in the Day is the story of Cathal: how he lives alone, was once almost married to Sabine and how certain character flaws can destroy relationships. The picture built of Cathal erodes our sympathy from a lonely, jilted man to a person with mean tendencies, sharing issues and a lack of empathy. We see how a relationship without love cannot be camouflaged. Our discerning compassion for Sabine grows as we witness Cathal's actions and behaviour, particularly when sharing time, money, and space. It’s ultimately not worth staying in a relationship that will become sour, and no matter how ‘late in the day’, it should end.
While this is a short story, it’s no surprise that the pace and modulation are on point, but I can’t help but wonder if Keegan can stretch this to a full novel. I have enjoyed previous stories from her, and while I hate novels that employ padding, I would like to spend more time with her characters and the scenarios they could find themselves in. I recommend reading this story even for the opening paragraph – okay I’ll include it below.
“On Friday, July 29th, Dublin got the weather that was forecast. All morning, a brazen sun shone across Merrion Square, reaching onto Cathal’s desk where he was stationed by the open window. A taste of cut grass blew in and every now and then a close breeze stirred the ivy, on the ledge. When a shadow crossed, he looked out; a gulp of swallows skirmishing, high up, in camaraderie. Down on the lawns, some people were out sunbathing and there were children, and beds plump with flowers; so much of life carrying smoothly on, despite the tangle of human upsets and the knowledge of how everything must end.”
June 18, 2024
This is a review of the short story. To check out my review of the collection by the same name, click here.
In this short story, ‘So Late in the Day,’ we meet Cathal. He is not a fresh-faced youth; in fact, he is nearing the top of the middle-aged hill when he meets Sabine — a vibrant woman of French heritage who has a zest for life. Cathal, being a practical man, decides it might be time for him to take a wife.
‘Why don’t we marry?’
‘Why don’t we?’ She’d let out a sound, a type of choked laughter. ‘What sort of way is this of asking? It seems like you are almost making an argument against it.’
Will Cathal abandon his curmudgeonly ways and meet Sabine halfway? As my Magic 8 Ball used to display quite often — ‘Outlook not so good.’
Many thanks to Peter for sharing such a compelling review.
Peters's review
In this short story, ‘So Late in the Day,’ we meet Cathal. He is not a fresh-faced youth; in fact, he is nearing the top of the middle-aged hill when he meets Sabine — a vibrant woman of French heritage who has a zest for life. Cathal, being a practical man, decides it might be time for him to take a wife.
‘Why don’t we marry?’
‘Why don’t we?’ She’d let out a sound, a type of choked laughter. ‘What sort of way is this of asking? It seems like you are almost making an argument against it.’
Will Cathal abandon his curmudgeonly ways and meet Sabine halfway? As my Magic 8 Ball used to display quite often — ‘Outlook not so good.’
Many thanks to Peter for sharing such a compelling review.
Peters's review
January 8, 2024
A short story (originally published in the New Yorker), now issued as a small hardback. The title is pleasingly ambiguous, in sharp contrast to the original title mentioned in the Acknowledgements.
“A brazen sun shone across Merrion Square, reaching onto Cathal’s desk… When a shadow crossed, he looked out; a gulp of swallows skirmishing, high up, in camaraderie.”
It’s Friday 29 July, and there is a sense of awkwardness and things unsaid in the office, and then on the bus home, when a woman asks his weekend plans:
“‘I’m just going to take it easy,’ Cathal said, threading the speech into a corner, where it might go no further.”
Gradually, and in fairly understated ways at first, my sympathy for Cathal waned. To say more would spoil Keegan’s delicate, but occasionally shocking, prose, as the story unfurls, and one life unravels as another takes flight.
Wardrobe
A wardrobe can be a place to hide secrets, a portal to another world, something to joyfully fill when moving into a new home, or purge when circumstances change.
The cover is part of a contemporary painting of a wardrobe, “Study no 5”, by Ciara Roche:
(Source)
The title page has a quote from Philip Larkin’s poem Aubade, featuring a wardrobe:
“It stands plain as a wardrobe, what we know,
Have always known, know that we can’t escape,
Yet can’t accept. One side will have to go.”
You can read the whole poem HERE.
Perhaps there should be a mirror too?
“He had looked at her then and again saw something ugly about himself reflected back at him in her gaze.”
Period
It’s set in more-or-less the present day (texts, email, online reservations), but Cathal belongs to an earlier era. The fact the story is told only from his point of view entrenches that, but I think that’s a deliberate and effective authorial choice to enrage the reader at the injustice of it. The reader doesn’t know the truth about Sabine, and I wonder if Cathal does.
“A brazen sun shone across Merrion Square, reaching onto Cathal’s desk… When a shadow crossed, he looked out; a gulp of swallows skirmishing, high up, in camaraderie.”
It’s Friday 29 July, and there is a sense of awkwardness and things unsaid in the office, and then on the bus home, when a woman asks his weekend plans:
“‘I’m just going to take it easy,’ Cathal said, threading the speech into a corner, where it might go no further.”
Gradually, and in fairly understated ways at first, my sympathy for Cathal waned. To say more would spoil Keegan’s delicate, but occasionally shocking, prose, as the story unfurls, and one life unravels as another takes flight.
Wardrobe
A wardrobe can be a place to hide secrets, a portal to another world, something to joyfully fill when moving into a new home, or purge when circumstances change.
The cover is part of a contemporary painting of a wardrobe, “Study no 5”, by Ciara Roche:
(Source)
The title page has a quote from Philip Larkin’s poem Aubade, featuring a wardrobe:
“It stands plain as a wardrobe, what we know,
Have always known, know that we can’t escape,
Yet can’t accept. One side will have to go.”
You can read the whole poem HERE.
Perhaps there should be a mirror too?
“He had looked at her then and again saw something ugly about himself reflected back at him in her gaze.”
Period
It’s set in more-or-less the present day (texts, email, online reservations), but Cathal belongs to an earlier era. The fact the story is told only from his point of view entrenches that, but I think that’s a deliberate and effective authorial choice to enrage the reader at the injustice of it. The reader doesn’t know the truth about Sabine, and I wonder if Cathal does.
February 3, 2024
This is an author I have only just discovered, and I am so very glad I have. So Late in the Day is a short story which tells us a lot, by using very little with subtle ease. Starting out with an uneventful trip home from work, a man is pondering on something, and we can see he is troubled. Slowly a quick telling unfolds, meeting a woman, a nice if not quite bland dinners together, a lady who likes to cook and enjoy small things, a man who is tight in a quietly mean way, and unwilling to spend. A lady who enjoys baking a cherry tart, rolling the dough drinking a nice glass of red and using these damned expensive cherries furnished by this unremarkable man.
This man proposes marriage, again in an unconvincing and unsatisfying way. The hints of this man’s behaviour, from the bus trip to his demeanour at work hints at a dissatisfaction, a way of being that isn’t happy or sad, or being noble or completely underhanded. He is not kind or giving in any way.
A story that is not exciting or demanding in anyway may work in others. It may make us stop and think what makes a good man. Is it the way in which he was bought up? Would things have had a different outcome if the men in his life provided a positive point of reference? How would a man treat the woman in this life if an everyday event such as the chair being pulled out from his mother at age 60 at the dinner table after she prepared the evening meal for her family? Falling to the ground. I think this was one of the scenes to give me pause. Being surrounded by other men tossing the C word about?
So late in the day. Cathal is almost nameless, faceless in this provocative and understated story. Nuance and small seeds are planted for the reader to form so much more than the page count in this story. This was understated in all aspects, much like the woman in the story. Unnecessary to prove a point, just happy to be. I found it fascinating and one to truly think about.
This man proposes marriage, again in an unconvincing and unsatisfying way. The hints of this man’s behaviour, from the bus trip to his demeanour at work hints at a dissatisfaction, a way of being that isn’t happy or sad, or being noble or completely underhanded. He is not kind or giving in any way.
A story that is not exciting or demanding in anyway may work in others. It may make us stop and think what makes a good man. Is it the way in which he was bought up? Would things have had a different outcome if the men in his life provided a positive point of reference? How would a man treat the woman in this life if an everyday event such as the chair being pulled out from his mother at age 60 at the dinner table after she prepared the evening meal for her family? Falling to the ground. I think this was one of the scenes to give me pause. Being surrounded by other men tossing the C word about?
So late in the day. Cathal is almost nameless, faceless in this provocative and understated story. Nuance and small seeds are planted for the reader to form so much more than the page count in this story. This was understated in all aspects, much like the woman in the story. Unnecessary to prove a point, just happy to be. I found it fascinating and one to truly think about.
November 20, 2023
A one sitting read.
This didn’t quite hit so powerfully as Foster and Small Things Like These. However, Claire Keegan doing misogyny in such a sly way is something to behold. Many authors could learn from the subtlety and brevity.
This didn’t quite hit so powerfully as Foster and Small Things Like These. However, Claire Keegan doing misogyny in such a sly way is something to behold. Many authors could learn from the subtlety and brevity.
May 30, 2024
An absolutely suffocating read. I always wondered how men think, the men that act like they want to be married but seem to hate women for everything they do. This seemed a pretty accurate representation and I hated it. And all that is a compliment. SO well written
July 11, 2024
”that was the problem with women falling out of love; the veil of romance fell away from their eyes, and they looked in and could read you.”
equation of the day : a story ending( a sad man) = happy me.
July 15, 2024
Claire Keegan is an extraordinary writer. This again was a short story that conveys so much with so few, but well placed, words.
Our MC Cathal is one very lost man who nearly gets married, but he just doesn't have a clue. Not sure how many men are as lost as Cathal, in Ireland or elsewhere, but if many are, I despair. A quick, but not an easy read. She is amazing.
Our MC Cathal is one very lost man who nearly gets married, but he just doesn't have a clue. Not sure how many men are as lost as Cathal, in Ireland or elsewhere, but if many are, I despair. A quick, but not an easy read. She is amazing.
August 2, 2024
That was the problem with women falling out of love; the veil of romance fell away from their eyes, and they looked in and could read you.
No seu mais recente conto, Claire Keegan discorre, em duas pinceladas precisas como sempre, sobre a realidade que conhece, referindo-se ao seu protagonista, Cathal, como um mau espécime irlandês, mas há sem dúvida muitos homens como ele em muitos países, pelo que é fácil extrapolar e transportar “So Late in the Day” para qualquer país do chamado mundo ocidental.
“She also said that to some of you we are just cunts”, she went on, “that she often hears Irish men referring to women in this way and calling us whores and bitches".
Assim que a história abre, desconfiamos que, em oposição ao belo dia de Verão, pesa sobre Cathal uma nuvem negra, que o leva a evitar todo o contacto humano e pressentimos que algo estranho se passa quando, ao chegar a casa, a correspondência se amontoa no chão, por trás da porta.
Keegan é discreta a espalhar pistas e a levar-nos quase a ter pena deste protagonista, mas quando se sabe o que está no cerne da questão, que acontecimentos levaram ao seu desconcerto, percebemos que estamos perante um ser patético que não soube lidar com uma relação amorosa, no entanto, a forma explícita como a misoginia é abordada torna o conto menos eficaz do que seria desejável.
“At least half of men your age just want us to shut up and give you what you want, that you’re spoiled and become contemptible when things don’t go your way.”
Ainda que Keegan diga mais do que mostre, quando eu prefiro o contrário, não deixa de ser brilhante a caracterizar a personalidade de Cathal em pequenos momentos de mesquinhez e também na ironia com que reproduz o seu ressabiamento final, em flagrante discordância com a derrota de um homem a assistir a um documentário sobre a Princesa Diana e a um jogo de póquer com os seus bluffs num dia que devia ser importante.
“Fucking cunts.” It sounded better when he added the other cunts, stronger.
Audiobook narrado pela autora, que poderia ter passado o dia todo a contar-me histórias ao ouvido.
No seu mais recente conto, Claire Keegan discorre, em duas pinceladas precisas como sempre, sobre a realidade que conhece, referindo-se ao seu protagonista, Cathal, como um mau espécime irlandês, mas há sem dúvida muitos homens como ele em muitos países, pelo que é fácil extrapolar e transportar “So Late in the Day” para qualquer país do chamado mundo ocidental.
“She also said that to some of you we are just cunts”, she went on, “that she often hears Irish men referring to women in this way and calling us whores and bitches".
Assim que a história abre, desconfiamos que, em oposição ao belo dia de Verão, pesa sobre Cathal uma nuvem negra, que o leva a evitar todo o contacto humano e pressentimos que algo estranho se passa quando, ao chegar a casa, a correspondência se amontoa no chão, por trás da porta.
Keegan é discreta a espalhar pistas e a levar-nos quase a ter pena deste protagonista, mas quando se sabe o que está no cerne da questão, que acontecimentos levaram ao seu desconcerto, percebemos que estamos perante um ser patético que não soube lidar com uma relação amorosa, no entanto, a forma explícita como a misoginia é abordada torna o conto menos eficaz do que seria desejável.
“At least half of men your age just want us to shut up and give you what you want, that you’re spoiled and become contemptible when things don’t go your way.”
Ainda que Keegan diga mais do que mostre, quando eu prefiro o contrário, não deixa de ser brilhante a caracterizar a personalidade de Cathal em pequenos momentos de mesquinhez e também na ironia com que reproduz o seu ressabiamento final, em flagrante discordância com a derrota de um homem a assistir a um documentário sobre a Princesa Diana e a um jogo de póquer com os seus bluffs num dia que devia ser importante.
“Fucking cunts.” It sounded better when he added the other cunts, stronger.
Audiobook narrado pela autora, que poderia ter passado o dia todo a contar-me histórias ao ouvido.
Read
January 9, 2024Reading Foster was like being a calf, the author's tender words and clever fingers coaxed me out from under my dam and led me forth to see the stars shining in the night sky, the acres of love and loss in the characters' lives. So Late in the Day by contrast is a ringing slap . Admittedly soundly and precisely delivered, with well judged strength, but the subtly is absent. Arguably rightly so. This is beautiful prose with wonderful punctuation, but I miss the subtly in my bovine way. Still I can count myself lucky that she didn't turn me into veal.
The title in French; Misogynie, gives the whole story away.
I am irritated only by the thought of why Sabine agreed to marry the narrator in the first place because the narrator shows no positive features what so ever and we given no hint that Sabine is so damaged that she'll marry any male person so long as they have a pulse, on the contrary we see that she has her reservations from early on in the relationship. Neither does she seems so care free that that her response is likely to be sure, why not, what harm could it do in fact we are shown the contrary, she has to be persuaded over time. That aside it is a fantastic piece of writing, and as bleak as it needs to be.
The title in French; Misogynie, gives the whole story away.
I am irritated only by the thought of why Sabine agreed to marry the narrator in the first place because the narrator shows no positive features what so ever and we given no hint that Sabine is so damaged that she'll marry any male person so long as they have a pulse, on the contrary we see that she has her reservations from early on in the relationship. Neither does she seems so care free that that her response is likely to be sure, why not, what harm could it do in fact we are shown the contrary, she has to be persuaded over time. That aside it is a fantastic piece of writing, and as bleak as it needs to be.
August 31, 2024
Wegen Zeitmangel nur kurz meine Gedanken.
Natürlich hatte ich hohe Erwartungen, nachdem "Das dritte Licht" mich kürzlich sprachlich und inhaltlich überwältigt hatte.
Ein Lesehighlight ist "Reichlich spät" für mich nicht geworden, es konnte mich nicht genauso stark berühren wie "Das 3. Licht".
Die großartige Charakterzeichnung ist ihr aber trotz des knappen Textes mit ihren ausgewogenen Worten, manchmal distanziert, dann fast poetisch, wieder gelungen.
Ihre feinen, scharfsinnigen Beobachtungen haben mich zum Nachdenken über unterschwellige (!) Frauenverachtung angeregt.
Natürlich hatte ich hohe Erwartungen, nachdem "Das dritte Licht" mich kürzlich sprachlich und inhaltlich überwältigt hatte.
Ein Lesehighlight ist "Reichlich spät" für mich nicht geworden, es konnte mich nicht genauso stark berühren wie "Das 3. Licht".
Die großartige Charakterzeichnung ist ihr aber trotz des knappen Textes mit ihren ausgewogenen Worten, manchmal distanziert, dann fast poetisch, wieder gelungen.
Ihre feinen, scharfsinnigen Beobachtungen haben mich zum Nachdenken über unterschwellige (!) Frauenverachtung angeregt.
May 5, 2024
just love claire keegan’s writing and i’m always amazed that she can capture you with so few pages.
August 6, 2023
Claire Keegan couldn't write a bad story if she tried. This is excellent.
But Faber & Faber are really taking the piss, releasing this as an £8.99 hardcover book. It took me less than half hour to read.
But Faber & Faber are really taking the piss, releasing this as an £8.99 hardcover book. It took me less than half hour to read.
September 6, 2024
3/5
The fact that men like Cathal actually walk this earth is terrifying.
The fact that men like Cathal actually walk this earth is terrifying.
October 21, 2023
“So Late In the Day” was published in the New Yorker in 2022 (https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...)
But has now been issued as a novella and shortlisted for the Irish Novel of the Year award.
It features an office worker Cathal reflecting on how his actions/inactions/lack of generosity caused a relationship to break up, just as he was about to get married. A highlight of the story is a brief tableau he remembers of how he and his brother’s tricked his mother, and how his father’s amused rather than furious reaction probably made Cathal the man he is today and therefore still alone. If I had a criticism of the story, it is that the last line seems delivered like it’s a twist when it is anything but.
Keegan is a master of thd short story form but I am no fan if the form and much prefer her at novella length.
But has now been issued as a novella and shortlisted for the Irish Novel of the Year award.
It features an office worker Cathal reflecting on how his actions/inactions/lack of generosity caused a relationship to break up, just as he was about to get married. A highlight of the story is a brief tableau he remembers of how he and his brother’s tricked his mother, and how his father’s amused rather than furious reaction probably made Cathal the man he is today and therefore still alone. If I had a criticism of the story, it is that the last line seems delivered like it’s a twist when it is anything but.
Keegan is a master of thd short story form but I am no fan if the form and much prefer her at novella length.
June 20, 2024
When she went to sit down, with her own plate, his brother reached out and quickly pulled the chair from under her and she had fallen backwards, onto the floor. She must have been sixty years of age at that time, but his father had laughed – all three of them had laughed and had kept on laughing while she picked the pancakes and the broken plate up, off the floor.
reasons why not to get married and never have children, especially boys
if this happened to me there would be 3 funerals
anyways i’m happy for the ending, more deserved sad endings for men please <3
reasons why not to get married and never have children, especially boys
if this happened to me there would be 3 funerals
anyways i’m happy for the ending, more deserved sad endings for men please <3
March 13, 2024
Cathal, the averagely nasty, averagely appalling jerk in this book, moans constantly about how much this thing or that thing cost him – for example when the jeweller presents a bill for the adjustment of the engagement ring he bought for his lovely bride-to-be, so that they have a row about it. (“Do you think I’m made of money?”) Alas, the spirit of Cathal was surely somewhere in the room when this tiny book plopped through the letterbox. Huh, 47 very large font pages and that’s it? I muttered. This better be real good!
Well, it was pretty good but it was a short story. A nice bitter misogynyskewering short story, right up my street.
Well, it was pretty good but it was a short story. A nice bitter misogynyskewering short story, right up my street.
February 17, 2024
Claire Keegan masterfully takes everyday stories, relatable and real characters and within few short pages, weaves a tapestry of emotions that linger in the reader’s heart even after finishing the book.
In this story, Keegan brilliantly develops one character and takes us through the course of one important day in his life.
Again, as hallmark of Keegan, it’s subtle yet poignant. It covers the theme of ingrained misogyny and the realisation of the fact!
In this story, Keegan brilliantly develops one character and takes us through the course of one important day in his life.
Again, as hallmark of Keegan, it’s subtle yet poignant. It covers the theme of ingrained misogyny and the realisation of the fact!
May 26, 2024
"Reichlich spät" von Claire Keegan ist eine als Einzelbuch veröffentlichte Erzählung, die im Dublin der Gegenwart spielt. Es geht um die Beziehung zwischen Cathal und Sabine, die an der Misogynie Cathals scheitert. Cathal wird im Text einen Tag lang begleitet. Er blickt auf den geplanten und glücklicherweise geplatzten Hochzeitstag. Es wäre genau dieser Tag gewesen.
Selbst wenn "Kleine Dinge wie diese" und "Das dritte Licht" für mich noch etwas stärker waren, überzeugt auch dieser Text. Die fehlende Dringlichkeit macht eigentümlicherweise die Stärke der Erzählung aus. Der Tagesablauf ist "normal" und wenig ereignisreich. Dadurch brechen die toxischen Verhaltensweisen des Protagonisten durch die Oberfläche und werden deutlich. Es wird jedoch nie aufdringlich. Claire Keegan schafft es wieder einmal mit ganz einfachen Mitteln ganz große Wirkung zu erzielen.
Selbst wenn "Kleine Dinge wie diese" und "Das dritte Licht" für mich noch etwas stärker waren, überzeugt auch dieser Text. Die fehlende Dringlichkeit macht eigentümlicherweise die Stärke der Erzählung aus. Der Tagesablauf ist "normal" und wenig ereignisreich. Dadurch brechen die toxischen Verhaltensweisen des Protagonisten durch die Oberfläche und werden deutlich. Es wird jedoch nie aufdringlich. Claire Keegan schafft es wieder einmal mit ganz einfachen Mitteln ganz große Wirkung zu erzielen.
September 24, 2024
Normalerweise mag ich Kurzgeschichten nicht besonders, weil ich mir gerne die Zeit nehmen möchte, mich in Figuren hineinzudenken und mitzufühlen.
Bislang dachte ich immer, dass das bei Kurzgeschichten wenn überhaupt nur bedingt möglich ist. Claire Keegan hat mich mit "Reichlich spät" eines Besseren belehrt. Die Art wie sie von scheinbar belanglosen Alltagssituationen erzählt, um sie dann mittels kleiner Feinheiten in einer klaren und bedeutungsvollen Vielschichtigkeit aufzufächern, ist große Erzählkunst. Jedes Wort sitzt, jeder Satz ist wohlüberlegt, nichts scheint überflüssig.. Ich bin gerade schwer begeistert und muss ganz dringend mehr von der Autorin lesen.
Bislang dachte ich immer, dass das bei Kurzgeschichten wenn überhaupt nur bedingt möglich ist. Claire Keegan hat mich mit "Reichlich spät" eines Besseren belehrt. Die Art wie sie von scheinbar belanglosen Alltagssituationen erzählt, um sie dann mittels kleiner Feinheiten in einer klaren und bedeutungsvollen Vielschichtigkeit aufzufächern, ist große Erzählkunst. Jedes Wort sitzt, jeder Satz ist wohlüberlegt, nichts scheint überflüssig.. Ich bin gerade schwer begeistert und muss ganz dringend mehr von der Autorin lesen.
Read
September 18, 2023I suppose it's ma ain stupid fault, paying out near on nine pounds for 47 pages. Pages which, yes, benefit vastly from an immediate second read, but even then the whole experience barely lasted longer than the time it takes to drink a couple of mugs of hot tea.
And since it was my own fault, not checking, and thinking that I was getting the other version with a trio of stories rather than just the one, I was trying very hard not to let my slight grumpiness colour my thoughts while reading, but you know what happened? The main character's half French girlfriend makes a baked cherry custard dessert - and the cost of the cherries is a fairly important plot point in the narrative, and this is Claire Keegan, so there's NOTHING that is a mere throwaway bit of detail, so, anyway, half French she is and calls this dessert clafoutis. Which is fine, no problem, but she makes a pastry case for it .
I'm sorry, but that is just plain wrong.
And I don't want to turn into some kind of French baked dessert Nazi, but unfortunately, I probably already am, because that sort of thing can ruin my enjoyment of an otherwise breathtaking piece of writing.
And since it was my own fault, not checking, and thinking that I was getting the other version with a trio of stories rather than just the one, I was trying very hard not to let my slight grumpiness colour my thoughts while reading, but you know what happened? The main character's half French girlfriend makes a baked cherry custard dessert - and the cost of the cherries is a fairly important plot point in the narrative, and this is Claire Keegan, so there's NOTHING that is a mere throwaway bit of detail, so, anyway, half French she is and calls this dessert clafoutis. Which is fine, no problem, but she makes a pastry case for it .
I'm sorry, but that is just plain wrong.
And I don't want to turn into some kind of French baked dessert Nazi, but unfortunately, I probably already am, because that sort of thing can ruin my enjoyment of an otherwise breathtaking piece of writing.
May 9, 2024
Wiederholt überzeugt mich die Autorin. Die Qualität ihrer sehr kurzen Texte ist wirklich gut. Sie schafft es zunächst ganz sachlich und unaufgeregt zu schreiben, um aber im nächsten Moment den Fokus auf gewichtige Szenen zu setzten.
Cathal begibt sich nach einem Arbeitstag auf den Weg nach Hause und denkt dabei über Sabine nach bzw. über seine Beziehung zu ihr. Auch hier stehen wieder patriarchale Strukturen im Vordergrund. Bis jetzt habe ich ihre männlichen Protagonisten immer als Personen mit Ecken, Kanten und viel Herz empfunden. Dieser hier jedoch war mir sehr unsympathisch. Spannend fand ich, dass die Vorgängertexte Keegans zum Teil in viel früheren Jahrzehnten stattfanden, die Protagonisten aber trotzdem irgendwie ihrer Zeit in gewissen Aspekten voraus waren. Dieser Text findet nun in diesem Jahrzehnt statt und der Mann, von dem er handelt, scheint mit seinen Ansichten doch nicht ganz am Puls der Zeit angekommen zu sein.
Für mich hat Keegan diesen kurzen Text wieder wundervoll in Szene gesetzt!
Cathal begibt sich nach einem Arbeitstag auf den Weg nach Hause und denkt dabei über Sabine nach bzw. über seine Beziehung zu ihr. Auch hier stehen wieder patriarchale Strukturen im Vordergrund. Bis jetzt habe ich ihre männlichen Protagonisten immer als Personen mit Ecken, Kanten und viel Herz empfunden. Dieser hier jedoch war mir sehr unsympathisch. Spannend fand ich, dass die Vorgängertexte Keegans zum Teil in viel früheren Jahrzehnten stattfanden, die Protagonisten aber trotzdem irgendwie ihrer Zeit in gewissen Aspekten voraus waren. Dieser Text findet nun in diesem Jahrzehnt statt und der Mann, von dem er handelt, scheint mit seinen Ansichten doch nicht ganz am Puls der Zeit angekommen zu sein.
Für mich hat Keegan diesen kurzen Text wieder wundervoll in Szene gesetzt!
August 30, 2023
"So Late in the Day" is a short story that follows a man named Cathal throughout one day of his life; a Friday in July that would have been his wedding day. The story opens in Dublin, where Cathal works for what I assume is the Arts Council of Ireland. He commutes daily from Arklow in Co. Wicklow, where he lives.
The story briefly recounts Cathal's relationship with a French woman, Sabine, who he met sometime earlier at a conference in Toulouse, and the events that led to Cathal now facing this difficult day.
I adore Claire Keegan's writing, particularly her focus on the small moments of life, which she describes with such attentiveness and preciseness. Her prose makes for swells in emotion as you are carried along with her words; as the narrative ebbs and flows. Not a word is spared here, and yet we are provided with such a layered and revealing account of the man Cathal is. As he considers what has happened, thinking about moments in his life and the influence his own father had on him, we come to understand so much, without ever feeling like we have tried at all.
An arresting, revealing story - a must-read for fans of Keegan's writing. 4.5 stars.
The story briefly recounts Cathal's relationship with a French woman, Sabine, who he met sometime earlier at a conference in Toulouse, and the events that led to Cathal now facing this difficult day.
I adore Claire Keegan's writing, particularly her focus on the small moments of life, which she describes with such attentiveness and preciseness. Her prose makes for swells in emotion as you are carried along with her words; as the narrative ebbs and flows. Not a word is spared here, and yet we are provided with such a layered and revealing account of the man Cathal is. As he considers what has happened, thinking about moments in his life and the influence his own father had on him, we come to understand so much, without ever feeling like we have tried at all.
An arresting, revealing story - a must-read for fans of Keegan's writing. 4.5 stars.
October 13, 2023
I liked this. It's just an ordinary Friday evening for character Cathal, as he contemplates what he's going to do for the weekend after a week of work at the office. But these thoughts soon turn to what his life could have been had he acted differently with Sabine. Cathal was a difficult character, he's blatantly misogynistic at times and I did wonder if he was also neuro divergent. He likes his place to be his, he doesn't like Sabine touching his things etc. He also doesn't like spending any money, or washing dishes and is the least affectionate character I've ever read about.
Other than that however there wasn't really much substance to this. It's more a snapshot into daily life, the thoughts and feelings we have when reminiscing, with a sharp look at the male gaze from a feminine point of view.
Other than that however there wasn't really much substance to this. It's more a snapshot into daily life, the thoughts and feelings we have when reminiscing, with a sharp look at the male gaze from a feminine point of view.
November 12, 2023
140th book of 2023.
In a Waterstones in Salisbury the other day with my girlfriend a member of staff appeared at our side (we were looking at a table they had laid out with all the reprinted Keegan books that seem to be coming out), and said, "Only she can get away with a book that small." I opened said book, So Late in the Day and saw it was 47 pages long. It was selling for £8.99, regardless. I put it down again.
But the other day it arrived in an order for a customer request. I was on book repair for nearly two hours, so, around gluing, rubber-banding, jacketing and re-jacketing, I read a few pages of it here and there. It's fine. Keegan writes a nice sentence, it's true, but there is nothing worthy of 8.99 here. Go to your local library and borrow it. A sort of nothing story, with no lasting impression (other than mild resentment towards consumerism).
In a Waterstones in Salisbury the other day with my girlfriend a member of staff appeared at our side (we were looking at a table they had laid out with all the reprinted Keegan books that seem to be coming out), and said, "Only she can get away with a book that small." I opened said book, So Late in the Day and saw it was 47 pages long. It was selling for £8.99, regardless. I put it down again.
But the other day it arrived in an order for a customer request. I was on book repair for nearly two hours, so, around gluing, rubber-banding, jacketing and re-jacketing, I read a few pages of it here and there. It's fine. Keegan writes a nice sentence, it's true, but there is nothing worthy of 8.99 here. Go to your local library and borrow it. A sort of nothing story, with no lasting impression (other than mild resentment towards consumerism).
October 9, 2023
1.5 Stars. I really don't understand why this is so popular. It's a very short vignette of a disagreeable man reflecting on a past relationship. The prose is decent, but that's about it, it's barely a character study. One could achieve the same amount of insight listening to some misogynistic guys talking or posting on the internet.
November 23, 2023
An interesting short story (though it was shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards Novel of the Year), that I read as a kind of literary mystery, knowing it was so short, I was reading between the lines as I went, trying to guess the significance of things different characters said.
Recalling other stories of Keegan's I have read, like Foster, this does seem to be something of a pattern in her storytelling, the slow reveal, the building up of a sense of something untold, omitted, the reader can't help but wonder, try and guess as each page reveals a little more that might reveal the dénouement.
A young man is at his workplace on a Friday afternoon and seems very conscious of the time, in the first couple of pages it is mentioned twice, it is passing slowly.
His boss indicates he needn't stay the rest of the day, which makes the reader wonder why, what has happened to this young man that people seem to be being careful around and as he leaves and waits for the lift, at the last minute to avoid sharing it he takes the stairs.
He returns home, steps over wilted flowers on his doorstep and spends the evening alone, consuming a weight watchers microwave dinner and some champagne.
The short chapters alternate between the past and the present. When the narrative steps back in time, we learn about his relationship with a half French, half English girl.
I found it interesting, ironic, even strange, that the title in English was 'So Late in the Day' compared to the French translated title which was 'Misognie'.
It was an entertaining read, it didn't win the Novel of the Year, but Claire Keegan did win Author of the year 2023.
Recalling other stories of Keegan's I have read, like Foster, this does seem to be something of a pattern in her storytelling, the slow reveal, the building up of a sense of something untold, omitted, the reader can't help but wonder, try and guess as each page reveals a little more that might reveal the dénouement.
A young man is at his workplace on a Friday afternoon and seems very conscious of the time, in the first couple of pages it is mentioned twice, it is passing slowly.
His boss indicates he needn't stay the rest of the day, which makes the reader wonder why, what has happened to this young man that people seem to be being careful around and as he leaves and waits for the lift, at the last minute to avoid sharing it he takes the stairs.
He returns home, steps over wilted flowers on his doorstep and spends the evening alone, consuming a weight watchers microwave dinner and some champagne.
The short chapters alternate between the past and the present. When the narrative steps back in time, we learn about his relationship with a half French, half English girl.
I found it interesting, ironic, even strange, that the title in English was 'So Late in the Day' compared to the French translated title which was 'Misognie'.
It was an entertaining read, it didn't win the Novel of the Year, but Claire Keegan did win Author of the year 2023.
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