The South Audiobook

" I loved this book - when i finished reading it i started it again and i bought if for people as a gift. I think i was obsessed with it. The descriptions of the paintings and making the paintings are wonderful. Its emotional depth is extraordinary - but that's Mr Toibin for you "

" Travels in Spain to escape a bad marriage and history only to end up in the midst of more terror and death. Interesting comparisons between 2 countries and their history of terrorism and the people who try to survive. Too many abandoned children. "

" Sometimes I find myself in the mood for writing like Colm Toibin. His prose is quick and succinct. Not a ton of flowery language, not a ton of in depth character analysis, just good solid writing that's there and does its job well. A few things I liked -- the travel aspect (Ireland to Spain, oh boy), the art aspect, the sexual chemistry aspect, the history aspect (post WW2 Spain, Franco times). It's quick too -- a mere 200 pages that fly by in the blink of an eye yet leave you with something. "

" I would be interested in the thoughts of others who read this. Through much of the book, the protagonist was exasperatingly self-focused and self-indulgent. As a mother, I found her indifference to her own children painful and maddening. "

" I read this book in the "winter of my loneliness" when I was exiled in North Carolina. The bleak starkness of the prose complimented my mood and the fact that the heroine has fled Ireland for the harsh climes of Spain resonated. "

" Been meaning to read this author. This is his first novel. I'm really enjoying it so far. The protagonist is a woman who leaves her husband and son in 1950 to paint in Spain. It's hard to like her, but I want to see what she does next. "

" For a first novel this is fantastic but not Toibin's best. I enjoyed the tale of Katherine Proctor and the way she slowly and gently comes to term with her past decisions. It was also interesting to see how themes that Toibin explores in later novels and short stories were here in this first novel. "

" Well...I liked the beginning, but then it just got weird. I dunno. I skimmed a lot of the end just to find out what happened. "

" So so story, but interesting brief glance at Franco's Spain. "

" Loved the travel to and through the Pyrenees, brought back good memories of traveling in this area in 1976. Difficult to grasp why this young woman would abandon her only child and will need to think more about how her solitary travel was so essential to her well-being. "

" Excellent book for anyone interested in US history... "

" Colm Toibin writes of a young woman dissatified with her marriage, who leaves husband and child to live and paint in Spain. Her life in Spain is not idyllic and eventually she returns to Ireland. During the entire book there are wonderful descriptions of her paintings. "

" A total disappointment for me. Storytelling is dull, the protagonist is irritating. The characters are not deep, almost like shadows. I felt that the author is trying to tell about Katalan & Irish issues but the book was so boring I couldn't keep up with that. "

" A book where he manages to leave Ireland and retain the magic of his writing. Another winner for me. "

" This was definitely okay enough for me to try Brooklyn. "

" Beautifully atmospheric, but I just couldn't get involved, whether due to unsympathetic characters or non-suspenseful plot or whatever. "

" Well done. Brooklyn is his best novel that I have read so far. "

" This quiet, melancholy debut novel by the future author of "Brooklyn" follows a female Irish painter in exile in Spain and then back home in Ireland. "