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A breathtakingly original, darkly comic, surprisingly contemporary and deeply surreal tale from the author of THIS IS THE WAY, Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year.After fleeing his dying parents and the drudgery of work in Dublin for the Manhattan of his imagination – a place of romance and opulence, dark old concert halls and mellow front parlours quieted by the hiss of the phonograph cylinder – Rickard Velily hopes to be reborn as an Irish tenor, and to one day be reunited with the love of his life.At the very peculiar Cha Bum Kun Club, a masonic-style refuge for immigrants who can’t quite cut it in New York City, he meets Denny Kennedy-Logan and Clive Sullis, and a plan is enacted: to revive the art songs and ballads of another time for a hip young city in thrall to technology and money.But that is without reckoning on meddlesome sprites, the phantoms of the past – and more malign forces who plot to subjugate the human race.Green Glowing Skull is a half-crazed brain-shunt of a trip around the spirit world, the cyber world and a woozily recognisable real world – a darkly comic tale of mythologies, machines and the metaphysical swirl.
Rickard Velily flees his past in Dublin for a romanticized Manhattan, only to find himself entangled in a bizarre scheme to revive archaic ballads amidst a city obsessed with modern technology. Driven by the desire to reinvent himself as an Irish tenor and reconnect with a lost love, Rickard joins a clandestine club for struggling immigrants. He soon discovers that his new companions, Denny and Clive, are caught in a conflict involving meddlesome sprites and malevolent forces threatening humanity. The narrative unfolds through a surreal lens, blending the protagonist's internal aspirations with the chaotic, metaphysical reality of his surroundings.
This work is characterized by its stylistic ambition and its refusal to adhere to traditional narrative structures. The premise suggests a focus on the friction between historical romanticism and the cold, digital reality of contemporary urban life. Readers likely encounter a dense, imaginative prose style that prioritizes atmosphere and thematic exploration over linear plot progression. The text functions as a critique of modern alienation, using the absurdity of its supernatural elements to highlight the protagonist's struggle for identity and connection in an indifferent metropolis.
Page Count:
384
Publication Date:
2016-04-21
Publisher:
Fourth Estate
ISBN-10:
0007594321
ISBN-13:
9780007594320
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