Customer Reviews

Water, Carry Me

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Water Carry Me is a thoughtful, thoughtprovoking, and searingly emotional novel that jarrs the thinking and pushes at the heartstrings. Having initially read this book for business, I reread the book for pleasure, finding it impossible to escape its powerful themes of family, loyalty, and passionate committment. Although the reader may initially think the plot is a straightforward, standard thriller, there are numerous twists and turns along the way that keep one guessing as to the author's next maneuver. The main protagonist is a strong, heroic character, and the overall tone of the novel establishes an emotional connection to her from the outset. Overall, this is a thorough, well crafted novel with a wealth of thematic material to offer its audience.

This was absolutely the most beautiful, and tragic book I have ever read. Love written about has never been more poetic and more in tune with what a woman's heart longs for. At the same time, I feel as if I am in mourning from reading this book. My heart is shattered and somehow I know that no reader will be left untouched by such haunting ,descriptive prose. It was like reading a love poem that enters into your heart and promises to never leave. I won't stop thinking about this book for quiet awhile.

The story and the words of this haunting and beautifully written story were the water that carried me through. It has been a few weeks since I finished the book. I am a prolific reader, and this this book stands out and stands tall. I was surprised and touched by its brilliant prose that read like poetry and more by the fate of the character, but I don't think one would have been possible without the other. At the end, one does feel very close to grief, the kind that makes you double over and scream silently. The tragedy of Una is heightened by the depth of her love and innocence, by the beauty of the landscape and the language, next to the incomprehension of cruelty and being caught in a political struggle that one has not sought. I feel that I have to immediately read "Man in the Box" and everything else that Moran has written and will write.

Owning an Irish American newspaper, and reviewing over one hundred books with Irish themes the last three years, I now have to revise my list of top ten favorite books, having just completed "Water, Carry Me" last night. As other reviewers have hinted, it's a book that stays with you. I woke up in the middle of the night still agonizing over the lovers, Uma and Aidan.
I would love to see a sequel, with Aidan redeeming himself, writing to substain Uma's spirits, but I suppose he is beyond redemption and would have to live with his guilt, as he has all the years since the Remembrance Day Celebration.
I have been in Northern Ireland, have visited the IRA prisoners in Long Kesh, questioning their choices and commitment. It is almost beyond understanding, though they've often tried to explain it to me. As an American, perhaps we can never understand.
I also write novels about the Troubles, but in "Water,Carry Me", Moran has definitely raised the bar. I never wanted it to end, and while I knew in time Aidan's secrets would be revealed, I never foresaw the consequences to Uma.
Since I work part-time in a bookstore, I've had my eye on this book for awhile. After reading "The World I Made For Her" I was pretty sure I'd love it, but had no idea it would be so powerful.

Pity poor Una Moss. Gangly, unattractive (or so she believes), orphaned, she has only her women friends until handsome, mysterious Aidan Ferrel sweeps her off her feet. Unfortunately, Aidan hides a secret much worse than the inheritance Una keeps hidden from her friends. As her love for Aidan grows, you wonder if he is indeed returning the love in kind. By the end of this memorable, powerful novel, you'll know. Or will you? Some readers will undoubtedly be uncomfortable with the uncertainty remaining at the end of "Water, Carry Me," but others will thrive on discussing that very ambiguity. This is a powerful, memorable novel which reminds every reader of some of the deep-rooted causes of the "Troubles" which continue to plague Northern Ireland. A word of caution--a basic knowledge of that conflict will help you to understand much of the political discourse in this novel. Although it is subtitled "A Love Story," it is much more than that, if it is indeed a love story at all! Read it and judge for yourself.

I bought this book on a whim and was so impressed I read the whole think at once. Thomas Moran is an amazing writer and the story of Una Moss is so real it's impossible to read this without feeling for her. After I put it down, the memory of the voilence and love and paasion stayed with me and will most likely never let me forget. I will definitely buy more Thomas Moran.

This story, set in Ireland, captures the reader early on and holds your interest, even as you sense that things will not turn out well. I wonder if the "troubles" truly influence every aspect of life in modern day Ireland, as the story suggests, or if this is an exaggeration. Having never been there, I cannot say, but pity the poor country if it is so. Too many lives in this book are damaged, wasted and distorted by the conflict. Although this book caught my imagination, there were times when I just wanted to shake the characters into living in the modern world, making thoughtful choices, and having some insight into their own lives. At times, there was some dissonance in the female characters, wherein, as a woman, I felt that the male writer simply got it wrong. Overall, I enjoyed the book, although it made me somewhat sad and depressed for everyone involved.

"Water, Carry Me" is a touching but unsettling look at life in the violent blood-soaked and fear-shrouded land of Ireland.

Una Moss is orphaned and reared by a crochety old grandfather with IRA leanings. Una is able to avoid the political insanity that rocks her country. She matures into a sensible, intelligent medical student, who, though sitting on a large trust fund, lives humbly and seriously.

The bookish and plain Una is swept off her feet by a handsome and charming draughtsman, Aidan Ferrel. Una is cautious, but Aidan's persistent pursuit dissolves all her doubts and insecurities. She glories in his attention and quickly begins to plan a future with "her Aidan", her "best boy."

Of course, there are problems. Una weathers the ups and downs of her girlfriends and their love lives. She slowly unfolds the truth surrounding her grandfather, Rawney, and his friends, Mick and Des. Una even witnesses the shocking execution of Des by the IRA. She gradually gets to the truth of her parents' deaths. The details of all of these troubling threads of her life she willingly feeds to Aidan, the Aidan she trusts implicitly.

This is a bittersweet love story. The author's note at the end of the book indicates that some of the events were actual occurances, manipulated for fictional purposes. Some of the events are disturbing -- the assassination scene, the police brutality, the love betrayed. As Americans, I'm doubtful that we can understand the violence of Northern Ireland.

The story began slowly for me, but built rapidly into an unexpected ending. I rated this book at four stars because of the slow beginning, but would have given it five stars if the beginning had been more interesting. Stick with this one. The ending is worth the read.

I knew from the beginning as I read this book that it was going to be tragic, but the flavor in the reading was reading how it was going to achieve it. I was not disappointed. Una, the protaganist, seems doomed from the beginning of the story--from the secret way her parents died, to her grandfather, Rawney, and his dubious friends who are somehow (or are they?) connected to the I.R.A. In fact, all of Una's life is somehow always connected to the I.R.A. and not because she chose that way.

The crux of the book was when she met Aiden, who seemed the perfect man - but then was he the perfect man? Even to the end, she still could not grasp any other image of him. This was her tragic flaw.

I recommend the book to all even though there were some "Irish" stereotypes.

"Water, Carry Me" allows one to experience vicariously what life must be like in Ireland. Much what happens to Una seems as commonplace as life anywhere else yet the threat of violence hangs over the story like a pall. The sense of menace is always there, usually simmering in the background but sometimes bursting forth with brutal ferocity.

This is a story that you won't want to put down and that you will be sorry to see end.