They sit on the benches in the ferry depot, waiting. They appear to be typical middle-aged men in their fifties, still full of life but with some issues. One has a significant limp and the other man has a ruined eye. They sit and chat, waiting for it emerges, the daughter of one of the men. But Maurice Hearne and Charlie Redmond are not typical Irish men out for a pleasant outing. They are longtime friends/enemies and the daughter they are waiting for won't be pleased to see them.

As they sit, they talk and over the course of hours, their life stories emerge. It's a tale of modern day smugglers; their cargo the drugs that ruined a generation in Ireland. It's a tale of love and betrayal, friendships forged in love yet betrayed in an instant. It's a tale of women loved and cheated on, families left behind or put in danger, violence when necessary and months of hiding out from those who would do them harm. It turns out the daughter has fled to escape the chaos of daily life around these two and will not be glad to see them if she appears. They are sitting there on the basis of a rumor that she might be passing through, hoping to find her if she appears and that she will be willing to speak with them.

This novel is a Booker nominee this year and one of the best books I've read. The slow unfolding of the men's stories, of their long friendship and casual betrayals, of an entire generation of crime and hopelessness in Ireland is unforgettable. These are not cuddly men but they are men the reader will not soon forget. This book is recommended highly for readers of literary fiction.

This is a fantastic book, grim and funny and as many have noted, one influenced by Waiting for Godot and any number of crime films. I read Baker’s previous book in preparation and enjoyed that one as well.

I struggled with this character driven, loose plot novel. I seem to be in the minority here, but I didn't find it engrossing, rather I found it at times to sound a little pretentious. The prose tended to be melodramatic, but I did like how atmospheric they were as well.

Literary fiction is not my favorite genre, so I don't know that I was the intended audience for this. I would caution anyone else who also reads few literary fiction books, but recommend it to those that enjoy it

Night Boat to Tangier: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⠀
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Two aging Irish criminals, Maurice and Charlie, are waiting at a sketchy Spanish port cos they’ve been told that Maurice’s estranged daughter, Dilly, is either going to or coming from Tangier and they need to find her.⠀
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This book has everything - romance, crime, humour, love, regret, family. Written in a sharp witty prose, you never get bored reading this book. In spite of the things that the criminal pair has done, you hardly ever not like them. Divided mainly between the current time and the various flashbacks, it’s left upto you to piece the story together and form your opinions. The atmosphere in the book changes rapidly from an air of menace to the feeling of love and longing in a span of moments. ⠀
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If there was an award for a book most interesting characters, ‘Night Boat to Tangier’ would surely win it. Fascinating characters with complex and compelling qualities, this book doesn’t let your attention wander. A short read (perhaps too short?), this one is worth checking out if you are in the mood for something dark, sharp and witty at the same time.⠀

First published in Great Britain in 2019; published by Doubleday on September 17, 2019

Night Boat to Tangier is a story of transitions, bonds broken and restored, losses and recovery. The focus is on two older men and a young woman, although flashbacks also reveal the life of a woman who was with one of the men for twenty years before deciding she had to become a different person.

Maurice Hearne and Charlie Redmond are in the Algeciras terminal, distributing pictures of Dilly, a pretty girl of 23 who, according to a reluctant source, might be on her way to Tangier. Dilly was raised as Maurice’s daughter and perhaps she is. The two aging Irishmen have not seen her in three years. They roughly question young tourists who look like they might know her, tourists with dreadlocks and dogs, the kind of people (according to a roughly questioned source) with whom she has been traveling.

Maurice and Charlie began to do business in Spain in 1994, the business involving a woman named Karima and some Moroccan hash bound for Cork. Maurice was warned away from the deal by the Brit who explained it to him, but the temptation of riches overcame good judgment. Maurice and Charlie rose above their station too quickly, leading them to hide from time to time. Maurice and his wife had Dilly, made bad investments, assuaged their fear with heroin.

The long friendship of these two men has not been untroubled. The best chapter in the book details a fierce quarrel between the two as seen from the perspective of a bartender in a seedy pub in Cork. Underlying the animosity is Cynthia, Dilly’s mother.

One chapter recounts a conversation between Dilly and Cynthia that changes the course of Dilly’s life, undoubtedly for the better. Another chapter focuses on Dilly in the present, who has changed so much that even if Maurice and Charlie spot her in Algeciras, they might not know her, or they might realize that she is better off without them.

Kevin Barry’s beguiling prose reveals the contradictory natures of Maurice and Charlie, setting them in the piratical history of the Barbary coast while keeping their roots in mythical Ireland: “Its smiling fiends. Its speaking rocks. Its haunted fields. Its sea memory. Its wildness and strife. Its haunt of melancholy. The way that it closes in.”

Maurice and Charlie are philosophers of crime who expound with equal ease upon the sweetness of life at its best and the darkness of people at their worst. As they reflect on their lives, Charlies says: “We all have our regrets, Maurice. As older gentlemen.” Both men have much to regret. Life goes by so quickly and so much of it is wasted. Yet life gives us memories we will never regret, and those are the memories that sustain the men as the years advance.

Perhaps the Irish are born with a lyrical prose gene that is unique to their nation. If only for the charm of its language, Night Boat to Tangier is a gift to readers. Its insightful exploration of difficult lives is a bonus.

RECOMMENDED

I have never in my life dropped a galley so quickly. Thanks still go to Net Galley and Doubleday for the review copy, but I couldn’t finish this thing. Actually, I couldn’t even hold to my own reviewing rules. This book is horrible.

The promotional description mentions several qualities that appeal to me. I like literary fiction; dark humor; Irish fiction; and the Booker Prize nomination sealed the deal. I was also aware that there would be violence and feature terrible men, but I read grit lit—in small frequent bites when I can’t deal with longer stretches than that—and have reviewed many titles that include these things. But this is something else.

The distinctive writing style doesn’t appeal to me; I like a good paragraph, and having vast yawning spaces in between single brief entries seems wasteful to me. But that isn’t the deal breaker. The deal breaker is the hostility toward women.

Now of course one could say that twisted misogyny is not the author’s perspective but that of the characters, and blah-de-blah-blah, but let’s extend this a step further, for the sake of those that buy that kind of bilge as an excuse. Let’s write the whole thing, the whole book, as repeated child rape, with graphic descriptions and maybe a quick comeuppance or two at the end to make the reader feel better.

Would you buy that? Would you read that? Then maybe you should give this a miss as well. After all, this is fiction; its two purposes are to entertain and to convey ideas through the art of literature. How do either of these jibe with ugliness such as this?

My usual practice for a galley I don’t favor is this: I read up to about 30% in order to give the author a chance, and then if I am still not engaged I skip to the last 25% to make sure there isn’t something wonderful about the climax and the conclusion that might make me reconsider. Fair is fair. But this book feels like a form of violence against women all by itself. I had trouble sleeping after having read five percent; I gave it a couple of days and came back, read another four or five percent, and queasily realized that this novel is the exception to my policy. I am not reading more of it for anyone or anything.

Usually when I don’t recommend a book, I consider whether there’s a niche audience that might still like it. Sometimes a lukewarm book gets a recommendation to read the book free or at a deep discount. But for this thing I confess that I would rather not be around anyone that wants it any time for any reason.

I love the title and the cover! The description sounded enticing, but I couldn't get past the first chapter. It was painful! However, I must say that many enjoyed this title, so I would encourage anyone who's interest is piqued to try it for themselves. Since I didn't give it a fair reading, I won't publish my review anywhere but here.

Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title.

Maurice and Charlie, two middle-aged Irish drug smugglers, wait at a ferry terminal in the hope of spotting the former's estranged daughter, who they believe is on a boat arriving or will be boarding one leaving. Author Kevin Barry swings back and forth between the pair's demented, eminently quotable hangout on a terminal bench and flashbacks detailing sketches of the men's painful, paranoia-filled past, rife with drug use, violence and sex, leading up to their current situation. At full capacity, Barry is as lean as, and meaner than, Raymond Chandler, but his writing could stand to be a little quicker on the draw; bursts of action are often prefaced with one or two too many paragraphs. On the other hand, you appreciate his exhaustive description when he's setting a scene in grisly detail. This is the kind of book you can smell.

Thank you very much to Doubleday Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for this review.

Thank you Doubleday Books / Netgalley for a digital copy in exchange for an honest review!

Disclaimer: Drugs, hints of child sexual abuse, death.

Is there something wrong with me that I can't enjoy Man Booker novels? This was long listed as of right now, and I get it. I also don't quite understand. I paid such close attention to what was going on, but I still ended up lost. I tried reading Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders when it first came out. I never did figure it out/never finished it. If you have any advice, that would be wonderful! With that being said, this was . . . fine. I at least finished it. *Laughs nervously*

Maurice Hearne and Charlie Redmond, two middle-aged Irishmen, are sitting in the terminal of Port Algeciras on October 23, 2018. They happen to be waiting for Dilly Hearne, Maurice's daughter, who should have dreadlocks, pale green eyes, and two dogs. A very pretty girl. He hasn't seen her in three years. She is either on a boat heading to Tangier, or on a boat departing from Tangier. The problem is that there is trouble in Tangier, and the boats aren't moving.

Waiting leads them to a lot of reminiscing about their shared history of violence, romance, and betrayals. It's humorous, dark, and probably deserves a better rating from me. I just couldn't go higher than three. I write reviews to be 100% transparent with you all. Even if that means not really enjoying a well loved piece of literature.

Characters | I loved learning about Maurice (Moss) and Charlie (Charles), and their crazy backgrounds. It really helps the reader understand how they became the people they are in present day. You get a lot of information about the romantic history between Dilly's mom, Cynthia, and Maurice.
You actually don't get a TON of information about Charlie, but in all honesty, he didn't interest me all that much. Neither did most of the characters. They were beautifully developed, but I didn't connect with them at all. I just wanted to know what happened to Dilly, and whether or not she was actually coming back.

Story | I understand that it flips between present day and the past, but the past jumped around. I couldn't follow what was going on. I'm sure if I read it again maybe I would catch more now that I know the gist of the story. I will say that I had never read a novel like this before. It was a breath of fresh air for me. Kudos to Barry for writing such a new story that has been received quite well.

Writing | This had a writing style I was not used to. It was broken up into many sections. Dialogue wasn't usually more than a sentence. Very fast to read. Definitely a unique style that the author can call his own. I can see why it's loved, and I can see the opposite side. It really just comes down to preference. It didn't bother me at all.

Overall | I gave this my undivided attention, wrote notes to make sure I didn't miss anything, but it ended up being okay. Again, if you have any advice regarding what to plan for when going into this novel, that would be wonderful. Would I read it again? Maybe in the future. I feel like this one would be good for a book club. I know I gave it a 3-star rating, but I think a lot of readers would benefit from the story and culture. I know I appreciated it!

*Review on my Instagram will go up 8/21 and on my blog - 8/26.

Every now and then, I’ll pick up a book and it feels like I’ve gone to the movies instead of sinking into a book. Kevin Barry’s Night Boat to Tangier is one of the most cinematic stories I’ve read in a long time. From its opening scene of the two protagonists in a waiting room at a Spanish ferry terminal to their complicated backstory with drugs and get rich quick schemes, this book is an absorbing ride with some of the best dialogue I’ve ever read.

At first, Maurice and Charlie reminded me of a rougher version of Vladimir and Estragon from Waiting for Godot. Their elliptical discussion ranges from their objective (to find Maurice’s daughter Dilly), to their past, to their regrets, and to their thoughts about death. The two men have been partners in crime for years, running hash and heroin from North Africa to Ireland since the early 1990s. They are not men to mess with. So when they decide to track down Dilly, they are very good at leaning on people to get information out of them. (Maurice bites one of their informants at one point.)

At first, we don’t know why Dilly ran away. I got the impression that Dilly was following her bliss to Algiers. But as Maurice begins to reveal his increasingly tragic history, I was less and less surprised that Dilly cut ties and left Ireland. Maurice and his partner, Cynthia, were a mess—a dangerous mess. Dilly was an accident. She was neglected when her parents got lost in drug addiction. When Cynthia died (not a spoiler), there was nothing to keep her in Ireland. Maurice and Charlie, however, want to make amends.

Night Boat to Tangier is an incredible read. The dialogue is brilliant. The characters are beautifully drawn. And the story has so many layers that I kept falling deeper and deeper into it. I can’t recommend this book highly enough.

Kevin Barry continues to amaze. He is a literary magician, which has been clear since “City of Bohane”. “Night Boat to Tangier” takes his mastery way further. It is so many things wrapped in an efficiently powerful package. It’s a Buddy Book about two Irishmen who clearly know each other well. They’re waiting (comparisons will inevitably by made to “Waiting for Godot”) for a young woman. The prose is made up almost entirely of dialogue. It is misty, shadowy, and sinister.

Boats arrive and depart. People come and go. As the waiting continues layers of the protagonists’ lives slowly become clear. They’ve been through a whole lot together, none of it terribly good. This is the underbelly of society just getting by, plying the modern-day illicit drug and human trafficking trade routes from Northern Africa through Spain to Ireland with stops in between. So many deep chords touched - love & loss, trust & betrayal, hope & despair. “Night Boat to Tangier” is a heavy dose of the burden life can be. Highly recommended.

Congrats, Mr. Barry, on the well-deserved Booker long-list selection.

Thank you Doubleday Books and NetGalley for the Advance Reader Copy.

3.5, rounded down.

Up to about the 60% point, I wasn't really liking this much, as I found it extremely difficult to follow, and the lack of both narrative cohesiveness and the use of obtuse language (I kept hitting the glossary on my Kindle, only to be told 'No definition found') made it more of a slog than I was prepared for. Yes, the language often took flight into lofty heights of lyrical ecstasy, but I am much more interested in plot than language, and that lack of a narrative just wasn't impressing me much. And I found myself often having to reread those poetic passages to make sense of what was happening on a basic level.

But around about the point where things started coming together (i.e., the chapter in the sheheen), I began to fit the various pieces together, and settled down to enjoy the rest of the ride. I'm still not clear on several points, and it seems a lot of it was left purposefully vague, but I let that go and decided it didn't really matter. Perhaps at some point, I'll go back and reread, with the rudiments of the plot in mind and see if it coalesces any better for me. But having read that this started out as a play, and with the Irish gangster milieu, I can't help thinking of this as McDonagh Lite. I can see why it got the Booker nod though, and wouldn't be surprised to find it making the shortlist also.

My sincere thanks to both Netgalley and Doubleday for supplying me with an eBook ARC in return for this honest review.

This book is giving me major "Waiting for Godot" vibes and I am digging every second of it. This is a must read for those who enjoy non-linear stories and compelling character portraits.

Night Boat to Tangier is a powerful and expressive novel with fascinating characters that have corrupted and harmed themselves and those around them. Kevin Barry's unforgiving poetic style nails the moments that linger in the mind well after the words are gone.

Maurice Hearne and Charlie Redmond are two ageing, disfigured, Irish gangsters, waiting in a lifeless ferry terminal in Algeciras. They are waiting for Maurice’s daughter, Dilly, whom he hasn’t seen in 3 years. She will reportedly leave or arrive on a boat from Tangier within the next 24 hours. “Now the hours melt one into the other at the port of Algeciras. For the fading Irish gangsters, the long wait continues.” Life is a series of memories and as they wait for Dilly they reflect on their past, and flashbacks take us to their lives fuelled with sex, drugs, crime, alcohol, sex and drugs.
“They were hammering into the Powers, the John Jameson, it was breakfast from the bottle and elevenses off the mirror. The child would as well be raised by the cats that sat lazily in what April sun troubled itself to come across the rooftops of Berehaven.”
As drug dealers they made money, as poor investors, and a wasteful life, they lost money. Haunting, Irish, Bad Luck, mythical forces have been disturbed as Maurice tried to excavate a fairy mound during a building project. Not a bit of wonder his life has gone to shite. He lost the only woman he ever loved, Cynthia – Dilly’s mother, and his memories of her torture his waking and sleeping moments. He knew he was bad for her but he also truly loved her too much to completely let go. As we get to know their demons and failings and the reason Dilly left, do Maurice and Charlie deserve our empathy or forgiveness as our judgement gets blurred?

Kevin Barry is such an exceptional author, with writing to be relished for its striking eloquence and absorbing depth. The harsh dialogue and caustic history of Maurice and Charlie is so stunningly portrayed that your own imagination causes you to gasp and shudder. His books are shorter than average but contain meaning that would take books 3 times the length to achieve.

I would highly recommend this book and I’d like to thank Canongate and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC copy in return for an honest review.