276°
Posted 20 hours ago

Leonard and Hungry Paul: A Novel

£9.9£99Clearance
ZTS2023's avatar
Shared by
ZTS2023
Joined in 2023
82
63

About this deal

He's grateful to still have Hungry Paul and his wonderful parents as friends. Hungry Paul is a quiet man, who's obsessed with board games. He's always lived with his parents, was never expected to do much or achieve anything. Therefore he obliged. In the climax of the novel, Hungry Paul confronts his sister’s fluster. He lays out a mindful, accepting philosophy of life in the face of her projected protests. Their father, Peter, also does this to a lesser degree for Grace when she is having overwrought stress about how to be in love correctly. It is a disarming wisdom that hits unexpectedly hard, but not cruelly within the light-hearted prose. But the charm wasn’t enough for me. Even accepting that this is primarily a character rather than an event driven novel. the leisurely pace was an annoyance. I kept waiting for something – anything – dramatic to happen. Several times I thought we were approaching a plot development that would make a refreshing change to the leisurely narrative pace, only to be stalled. Disappointingly, since I found this a very irritating sub plot, even the wedding of Paul’s older sister goes swimmingly.

Overall, this début examines the people who, through living quiet lives, generally escape our notice. If there’s a message here, it’s that people generally have hidden depths, and that whilst there’s a lot of kindness in the world, much of it is expressed in private. There have been some admirable debuts published in 2019, but this one, for me, towers over the rest of them. Rónán Hession has a three-book deal; I can’t wait to see what he produces next. Aşşırı tatlı, olağanüstü naif, kendi halinde ve leziz bir kitap "Leonard ve Hevesli Paul". Bir edebiyat şaheseri mi, değil ama yani nasıl güzel, yumuşacık. Resmen okşadı beni bu kitap.For a book that defies convention I would heartily recommend Leonard and Hungry Paul. It’s as simple as it is unique … a celebration of kindness and having enough and being content — and living a life devoid of high drama and conflict. It’s very funny, and well-written, poetic in places. But above all it’s kind, a celebration of often overlooked people.” — Kit de Waal, author of My Name Is Leon There are so many deep ponderings and musings. Possibly unintentionally so. I loved the thought processes of these two.

Der Buchhändler*innen-Liebling aus England und Irland konnte mich bereits ab der ersten Seite in den Bann ziehen. Was für ein wunderbares, bezauberndes und vor allem warmherziges Buch! Panenka, his next book, has football in it. It’s a moving story about a retired footballer grappling with a sense of failure. What inspired it? “I remember reading Disgrace by JM Coetzee,” he says. “Disgrace is a really interesting topic and it didn’t really deal with it in a way that I was expecting… Also, I had read an interview with Daniel Timofte, the guy who lost a penalty against Ireland for Romania… He hadn’t got over it. And people hadn’t let him get over it. And though he was a very talented footballer it was still the thing he was known for. The main theme of that book is life’s unfixability. I think our mentality at times is trying to fix the things in our life to allow us to move on to try and say, well, how can you move on if they’re not fixable?” Unashamedly optimistic Kindness is rarely looked upon with fondness when it comes to art. It is a view due for an assessment that kind is often deemed synonymous with boring. Rónán Hession’s debut novel Leonard and Hungry Paul is an extraordinary gentle wonder. Hession is perhaps better known as the Irish blues musician Mumblin’ Deaf Ro, based in Dublin. His main characters sit in warm kitchens, in warm light, and play board games in lieu of drama. Terrible external fears slide easily from their shoulders as they put the quiet pieces of puzzles and the world to rights. His plot pads forward through life’s events like soft footsteps on a carpeted floor. This is a debut novel published in 2019 by Bluemoose Books, an independent press based in Yorkshire, England. It was longlisted for the Republic of Consciousness Prize. Rónán Hession is an Irish writer, musician, and social worker based in Dublin. Under the stage name of Mumblin’ Deaf Ro, he has released three albums of Irish blues music. His most recent album, Dictionary Crimes, was nominated for the Choice Music Prize for album of the year An amazingly intricate and ambitious first novel - ten years in the making - that puts an engrossing new spin on the traditional haunted-house tale.She was [in her stories] always using phrases like “There was an empty chair by the door”. You know, trying to be depressing, because she thought it was more writerly. That said, I came at this book a little late and with certain prejudices from friends who had read it as to what to expect, and the book didn't disappoint those expectations, including the negative. When we meet Leonard, he is living alone in his childhood home, his mother having died recently. He has a steady job working for a children’s encyclopaedia; he writes (or rewrites) the text the educated researcher submits to make it more accessible for kids. Hungry Paul is Leonard’s best (and only) friend. He still lives at home with his parents, and his older sister’s wedding is a central focus of the plot. Hungry Paul takes judo lessons (he’s not very good) and works one day a week as a substitute letter carrier. The book was selected with the help of a panel of library staff from across the UK. Our readers loved Leonard and Hungry Paul – here are some of their comments: When the book opens, Leonard is feeling melancholic. His mother has died, and he’s starting to resent the way he’s being treated as a ghost-writer of children’s encyclopaedias.

Helen and Barbara entered into what Peter called “nattering”, a seamless narrative of personal stories, asides and value judgements, delivered in a point/counterpoint style with each woman taking her turn on the mic, with a seamlessness known only to middle-aged women and gangsta rappers. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with this book. If there were an award for “Most Inoffensive Book”, this would probably win it. Planning to buy Leonard and Hungry Paul for your group? Buy books from Hive and support The Reading Agency and local bookshops at no extra cost to you. Leonard took off his noise-cancelling/society-repelling headphones and went to the kitchenette for a mid-morning cup, even though he always disliked the awkward wait for the water to boil and the prospect of the kettle-related time-killing small talk.I think I would have enjoyed this far more if it hadn’t had so many unreal or cliched events/characters/conversations. There are several scenes (yes, you, IT Help Desk Guy) that seem to be there with an eye to the movie. In fact, large parts of the book seem to be written with a movie version in mind. But there are also bits that are frankly unbelievable (a huge cash prize for a competition and only 3 entrants, getting a job with the mime association because you can’t think of anything to say in an impromptu speech?). I don’t mind unbelievable events in a novel, but this doesn’t feel like that kind of novel.

And he decides - in a moment of optimism and bravery - that he should write the sort of story that is bubbling away in him. Leonard knows what children that he was like would want to read, and this is what he sets out to create. It only takes meeting the right person at the right time to set off a spark. He puts his heart and soul into the book, even trying his hand at the illustrations. It's a project of love. But then, Leonard has a very important reader in mind. As a hailing, this phrase is eccentric yet disarming. It also shares a description with the two characters that share the book’s title— Leonard and Hungry Paul. It is also a variation of Hungry Paul’s entry for the Chamber of Commerce’s sign-off contest, which he doesn’t want the prize money for. The two autodidacts can be found wearing paisley pajama tops to work, making jokes without meaning to be funny, or naming their parents’ house after a French song lyric that they misinterpreted. Eccentric yet disarming. I have had a library card all my life. The idea that my wallet contains a small rectangle of plastic that guarantees me a lifetime’s supply of free books from anywhere in the world is almost gameshow-like in its ostentation. And yet, these simple cards are available as a signal of encouragement to anyone who needs it; a statement – an understatement perhaps – that that there will always be a place reserved in the world for the imagination.” Get involved This is a gentle yet penetrating tale of the many guises of love and friendship that pierces the too often impenetrable veneer most will apply to protect themselves from others perceived judgement. Leonard and Hungry Paul may appear socially awkward but they offer a deeper understanding of relationships than many who remain unaware that their confidence in a crowd is shallow and blinkered. Bildiğimiz ezberlerin dışında tiplemeler ve bildiğimiz ezberlerin dışında gelişmeyi başarmış bir evlilik de var kitapta. Yazarın dili çok güzel, yer yer çok komik, yer yer hüzünlü ve iç burkucu ama naifliğini hiç kaybetmiyor anlatı. Çok güzel iç görüler ve gözlemler barındırıyor eser ama yazarımız bunları dev aforizmalar gibi suratımıza çarpmak yerine iddiasız biçimde metninin içine yerleştirmeyi seçmiş ve ne iyi etmiş. (Barış Bıçakçı'nın tam tersi diyebiliriz...)

Sometimes I read works of literature where the characters seem to me to act very aggressively towards others even when they have no reason to, and where the author seems to view this as quite normal. I mention that by way of contrast with this novel, where the two title characters would never intentionally hurt someone else, although they might do so unintentionally, as they struggle with the nuances of human relationships. Leonard and Hungry Paul are both introverted 30-something bachelors who still live in their childhood homes, although Leonard’s parents are dead. Their social life revolves around meeting up with one another to play board games. They are the sort of characters who are often made the butt of the joke in film and literature, although when the author introduces humour in this book, it’s done without cruelty. The novel is based around the idea that the two are faced with major changes in their life. Leonard has the chance of a relationship with a woman, and Hungry Paul has the chance to forge a career. Kalıplar, etiketler, kurumların ötesinde düşünmek; hayata geç de olsa bir yerinden ve bir biçimde tutunmak, kendi kabuğumuzun içinde iyi hissetmenin yollarını bulmak üzerine pek zarif bir roman bu. Çok tavsiye ediyorum, kimsenin hayatını değiştirmez ama okuyan herkesin kalbini yumuşatır bence. They’re a strange choice of protagonists: two fundamentally nice guys in their thirties who share a love for facts and enjoy playing board games together. Neither seem in tune with the twenty-first century. Hungry Paul doesn’t even have a mobile phone. What they do have is a close friendship, one in which they share a deep interest in what the other person has to say.

Asda Great Deal

Free UK shipping. 15 day free returns.
Community Updates
*So you can easily identify outgoing links on our site, we've marked them with an "*" symbol. Links on our site are monetised, but this never affects which deals get posted. Find more info in our FAQs and About Us page.
New Comment