The prologue of the book starts us off at the World Trade Center in Manhattan. There is a lot of tension there because of a figure at the edge of a building, with no one sure why someone would be up there. At the start of chapter 1, we are taken to Dublin in Sandymount to the childhood home of Corrigan and his brother, Ciaran. There is also the place Corrigan used to go to get drunk with the other drunkards. The book then goes to New York City, where Corrigan now lives and Ciaran also goes there. Corrigan’s apartment appears to be a central area to the story and is where the other characters like Jazzlyn and the other hookers are introduced as people that Corrigan wants to help.
The beginning of the book sort of reminds me of my childhood and what it was like to be carefree and asking all these questions and wondering what’s going on. The tone sort of shifts however when Corrigan’s drinking and smoking problem is introduced, the father not being with them and the mother eventually dying. This is a point in the book where it becomes a lot more sad and where I can’t relate much to except for my dad not living with me either. There is also a spiritual feeling I get when hearing Corrigan talk about his relation to God and how devout he is, even though this is pretty opposite of who I am. Ciaran sort of has more similarity to me in his nature of questioning things and being a bit more real on how things are. The ending of the chapter is also very sudden and depressing which adds to the importance of the moment, as incidents like that in real life are also sudden and usually unforeseen. Overall, the tone really changes after the first few pages from being bright, to a bit more dark. However, it was a good read and does really pull you in with the real life elements and character differences.
