2008 Woodie Awards
Book Review: 'Easter Rising'
'Easter Rising' offers comfort for those who have felt loss
Brianna Dym
Issue date: 6/24/08 Section: A & E
5 out of 5 stars
The aches and pains that come along with growing up have always played an important part in people's development. Michael Patrick MacDonald's new memoir, "Easter Rising: A Memoir of Roots and Rebellion," explores those pains and shows how to accept them.
"Easter Rising" is MacDonald's second book, and although it is set in the same city and boasts the same characters as his first, the two stories are hardly the same.
"'Easter Rising' is more me. I mean, (the two books) go together like this," MacDonald said, folding his hands and weaving his fingers together in comparison, "intersecting at some points."
The story follows the main character, Michael Patrick MacDonald himself, as he escapes the southern projects of Boston through the punk-rock subculture of the early '80s, sifts his way through the loss of siblings and reconciles with his Irish-American background.
It may seem a little clichéd to say that music saved MacDonald, but he writes his salvation through punk rock so well that there is nothing boring and repetitive about it. Music fans will also find joy in reading about old bands like the Ramones and Bad Brains and a teenager's antics in pursuing concerts around the United States.
With the punk underground serving to lighten the mood of the book, the real message behind it sinks in with the death of four of MacDonald's siblings and many others close to him. The heart of the book lies in how he takes the grief of loss, comes to terms with it, and accepts it and the circumstances behind it.
Unlike MacDonald's previous book, "All Souls: A Family Story from Southie," "Easter Rising" takes place outside of the troubled neighborhood of the south Boston projects, with the seemingly faraway events there creeping in and shattering the assumed peace of MacDonald's world outside of the projects.
What makes this book really stand out from the crowd, however, is the way it confronts readers with a blunt honesty of all that is happening and draws them into MacDonald's world. People can easily see their own stories through the eyes of the teenage character, helping them confront their own past experiences and remember what has formed who they are.
The story reads smoothly, and it isn't one of the tougher books out there. The vocabulary stays contemporary, and even though a thesaurus is not required to figure out the book, MacDonald's word choices give the story a sense of deeper meaning and purpose with every turn of the page.
Readers are immediately gripped by the story, and twists and turns through an entirely factual plot remind people that truth really is stranger than fiction. The book is heartbreaking and humorous at the same time, a balm for any soul that has gone through rough times.
The aches and pains that come along with growing up have always played an important part in people's development. Michael Patrick MacDonald's new memoir, "Easter Rising: A Memoir of Roots and Rebellion," explores those pains and shows how to accept them.
"Easter Rising" is MacDonald's second book, and although it is set in the same city and boasts the same characters as his first, the two stories are hardly the same.
"'Easter Rising' is more me. I mean, (the two books) go together like this," MacDonald said, folding his hands and weaving his fingers together in comparison, "intersecting at some points."
The story follows the main character, Michael Patrick MacDonald himself, as he escapes the southern projects of Boston through the punk-rock subculture of the early '80s, sifts his way through the loss of siblings and reconciles with his Irish-American background.
It may seem a little clichéd to say that music saved MacDonald, but he writes his salvation through punk rock so well that there is nothing boring and repetitive about it. Music fans will also find joy in reading about old bands like the Ramones and Bad Brains and a teenager's antics in pursuing concerts around the United States.
With the punk underground serving to lighten the mood of the book, the real message behind it sinks in with the death of four of MacDonald's siblings and many others close to him. The heart of the book lies in how he takes the grief of loss, comes to terms with it, and accepts it and the circumstances behind it.
Unlike MacDonald's previous book, "All Souls: A Family Story from Southie," "Easter Rising" takes place outside of the troubled neighborhood of the south Boston projects, with the seemingly faraway events there creeping in and shattering the assumed peace of MacDonald's world outside of the projects.
What makes this book really stand out from the crowd, however, is the way it confronts readers with a blunt honesty of all that is happening and draws them into MacDonald's world. People can easily see their own stories through the eyes of the teenage character, helping them confront their own past experiences and remember what has formed who they are.
The story reads smoothly, and it isn't one of the tougher books out there. The vocabulary stays contemporary, and even though a thesaurus is not required to figure out the book, MacDonald's word choices give the story a sense of deeper meaning and purpose with every turn of the page.
Readers are immediately gripped by the story, and twists and turns through an entirely factual plot remind people that truth really is stranger than fiction. The book is heartbreaking and humorous at the same time, a balm for any soul that has gone through rough times.
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