Customer Reviews

The Copper Beech

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

That is what a Binchy novel is like to me. Hers are books I enjoy for the places she idyllically paints and the characters she puts forth to become a part of her homespun landscapes. Set in Ireland, the copper beech is a formidable an aging tree in front of the Shancarrig schoolhouse. Carved into it's bark are the hopes and dreams, stories and well wishes of many a heart, heavy as well as happy, that has passed beneath it's massive branches.

The book is written in a way so as to introduce each character and his personal view of Shancarrig and the people in it. This technique allows the lives of the characters to mesh unequivocally making this story so enjoyable. You will meet them all. The scoundrels as well as the lovelorn, those searching for passion, and those who have taken a bite from the apple of life only to be dealt a blow that redirects them to an unprecedented ending.

I enjoyed the style of this book as much as the characters and the storylines. Once you read a Binchy novel you can count on craving another, and there is no doubt that each one is it's own singular pleasure. Kelsana 7/24/01

I'm not a Maeve Binchy fan or anything but this book was good enough to keep me up late at nite reading it. I love all her characters in the book. They're all so colorful. You have to read it.

I discovered Maeve Binchy some years ago :-). Saw Tara Road on the shelves in my favorite book store here in Norway and it called out to me. Bought it, took it home and became an addicted Maeve Binchy fan. Since then I have read most of her books. Not many have been available here in my town in Norway, but I have bought some online and also found a couple at my local library. It was a big surprise though when I some time ago found a used copy of The Copper Bech at a local secondhand book store.
I finished The Copper Beech today, after getting deeply involved in the characters in the book.
The Copper Beech is set in Ireland like most of Binchy's books. Outside a small countryside school stands a copper beech, and once eight children carved their names in this tree. The children come from different backgrouds, what units them is the Shancarrig school where they all have spent an important part of their past. The book tells different stories, all about these kids and their life. It is a book about love and death, about daily life and about extraordinary events. Maeve Binchy is a master to tell a story the way you know it could have happend, her characters could me my neighbours, or yours for that. And at the same time she shows that there are extraordinary stories to be covered everywhere, in everybody's lives.
Though this is not my favorite Maeve Bincy, so far Evening Class holds that possition, I love the book. It has it's place on the shelves in my growing collection of Maeve Binchy books, and passing the shelves glimpsing the books I know I have hours of cozy hours ahead of me if or rather when I want to read them over again. I'm glad I still have some unread Maeve Bincy books to look forward to, Scarlet Feather on top of that list.
Happy reading

THE COPPER BEECH by Maeve Binchy

THE COPPER BEECH by Maeve Binchy is a series of stories centering on the townspeople of Shancarrig, Ireland. The reference to the copper beech is to a large tree that stands near the school grounds where the town's children grew up. Many initials had been etched into this tree, representing many memories of those that had passed through this town and through the school.

While Binchy's latest book QUENTIN'S had a similar approach, I felt it failed as a novel in comparison to THE COPPER BEECH. QUENTIN'S used a main story line, with short stories interspersed around the main plot. It was choppy and forced. With THE COPPER BEECH, Binchy succeeded in creating a feel for this small Irish town and for the people that comprised it. As the reader reads each story, they become more immersed in the lives of the towns people. References are made to previous characters, so by the end of the book, one feels that this was a satisfactory journey through the town of Shancarrig, and may want to visit it again.

Some of my favorite stories were about Miss Ross and Father Barry, and their "secret" friendship; the story of Dr Jims and his only son Declan who had to face the world without a mother and with a father that was emotionally distant from him; and Richard Hayes, the wayward nephew of Bill Hayes, and his illicit relationship with married Gloria Darcy, and the hard lessons he learned from her. All the stories I found interesting, and it was one of those books that I didn't want to see end.

As with all Binchy books, I think most fans will agree that she writes the type of novel that "feels" like home. Her characters are usually well rounded and full of depth. Her style of writing, which to me resembles friends chatting, is very comfortable to me. Some readers have complained about her books, saying they seem far too long. But I personally enjoy this type of writing, and do recommend THE COPPER BEECH. For those not familiar with her works, I suggest starting with TARA ROAD, which was an Oprah book selection a few years ago.

After reading some of Maeve's so-so works, I am pleased to announce this one is of better quality than "Silver Wedding" and "Lilac Bus." This is a bunch of short stories of the people who live and grew up in Shancarrig. They all attended school in the village and the school is nestled beneath the shade of a great big copper beech tree. There is a story about the local doctor, the local priest, the schoolteachers, the poor kids and so forth.

Maeve weaves her spell again ~~ all you can do is give into her spell and read about ordinary people living ordinary lives with the occassional surprises and revelations. It's a lovely book to snuggle with by the fire on a blustering cold winter day. And this time, Maeve writes more thoroughly of the characters, not cutting off their stories so abruptly like several of her books have been. You can tell she really thought the characters out and how their stories entwined together like any other villages or towns.

It's a wonderful book to read ~~ I wouldn't hesitate reading this one again!

1-12-04

Maeve Binchy can write a story with the best of them. Her characters come to life and the reader really cares about them, since she writes about their hope and dreams, as well as their activities. In The Copper Beech, Binchy details the lives of different people in a small Irish town. Most of the characters are local children who have carved their names in the copper beech tree outside of their school. She describes the class distinctions in the town, which sometimes separate those who have been schoolmates, after they leave their school days. The final chapter ties the characters together and lets the reader in on what has happened to the people that have been described throughout the book. This is a wonderful read!

The Copper Beech isn't a book for those looking for alot of fast paced action. Instead it's the kind of book that is slow paced and one you don't want to have end. Maeve Binchy has once again written a book that takes the reader to Ireland and introduces you to a town called Shancarrig, and the huge copper beech tree which watches over the town's school. Each character is explored, many from the time they were born, until they reach adulthood. The children at the school are often poor, such as Maura, who has grown up with an alcoholic father, but manages to make a good life for herself and her son, Michael, who is born with Down's Syndrome. And Maddie Ross, the school teacher, who has a secret love with the town's young priest. I listened to this on Recorded Books audio and the narrator had a beautiful Irish accent which just enhanced the story. I enjoyed every minute of it, as I have all of Maeve Binchy's other stories. A must for anyone.

Maeve Binchy really draws you in. I liked this one OK, but, unlinke other books of hers I've read, I won't remember these characters for months later. If you were a little disappointed, give Maeve another chance - try Circle of Friends or the Glass Lake.

Although the story was a good one, it was not the usual Maeve Binchy. The mini character stories were choppy and not developed in the usual Binchy fashion. I did not feel like I knew the characters as well as the other Binchy books.

"The Copper Beech," by Maeve Binchy, is a loving portrait of a rural Irish village told through the lives of its ordinary town folk over a twenty-five year period from the mid-1940s to 1970. There are eight main characters and almost a whole village worth of other secondary characters. If there is one minor fault with this book, it is that readers may find it difficult to keep track of all the names and relationships. At the novel's core is a huge copper beech tree that stands in front of the old schoolhouse. At some moment in each character's story, this beech tree takes on an important role.

Each chapter is told from a different character's point of view, and each forms a delightful and complete story in itself. Subsequent chapters dealing with other characters' lives, manage artfully and subtly--often by mere happenstance--to reveal relevant information about previous characters and events. This new information makes the reader reevaluate and reassess what actually may have occurred in previous chapters. Thus the chapters intertwine artfully to create a unified whole. In addition, we manage to see many of the same events from entirely different perspectives.

Overall, this book was a very satisfying reading experience--a slow novel, with considerable emphasis on realistic character development. Binchy is a master storyteller. In this work, her prose is unpretentious and easy-going, giving the reader the experience of being there, in the village, hearing a series of stories told by a sage old timer. The author is at her best when she delves into the interior emotions of her characters--their hopes, dreams, insecurities, sorrows, fears, and disillusionments. But overall with this book, it is not the characters one falls in love with, but the town. In many ways this novel is a loving lament for a place and time that is vanishing all too quickly in this pace-paced modern world.

This is one of those rare novels that I did not want to end--I wanted the author to continue telling us about the lives of each and every person is Shancarrig and carrying their stories right up to the present day--obviously an impossible task. But the author did manage to put a satisfactory ending on this heart-warming tale, and I closed the last page with a profound feeling of peace, love for humanity, and a twinge of grief for the imaginary people of Shancarrig that I would visit no more.