Days Without End

Adapt. I can’t recall reading a novel with greater contrast between the beauty of the prose and the brutality described. Sebastian Barry’s novel titled, Days Without End, contains some of the finest prose I’ve read. Protagonist Thomas McNulty has left the famine in Ireland as a teenager and has arrived in the United States on a fever ship as the sole survivor ready to adapt to whatever it will take to survive. After serving as “ladies” with fellow teenager and friend, John Cole, the two friends join the Army to fight first in the Indian Wars, and then with the Union in the Civil War. Barry’s descriptive language led me to reread many sentences, and the atmosphere he builds in the narrative made me feel present with the action described. Readers who enjoy finely written literary fiction are those most likely to enjoy reading this novel. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase Days Without End from amazon.com.