Holding on to ‘rites, rhythms and rituals’: Mike McCormack’s homage to small town Irish life and death (Pre published)

Abstract

The Goldsmith Award-winning Solar Bones is a novel focused on, and dedicated to, loss. As Marcus Conway comes to terms with his own death, he pays homage to the “rites, rhythms and rituals” that were part of his life in small town rural Ireland. The book begins with the bell ringing on All Souls Day, the day of the dead, as Marcus recounts elements of his life in one unbroken sentence. This unpunctuated account is littered with loss: the loss of blood, bodily fluids, family members, life, the Celtic Tiger, youth, and memories. In fact, author Mike McCormack told The Irish Times, “I have no memories of writing Solar Bones,” yet the whole novel is a random collection of memories of life. It becomes a celebration of life, of the simple domestic events that make up a life, that are now lost to memories. This rural existence is something that is slipping away, and McCormack wants to commemorate that life before it is too late, even if it is already dead. As The Guardian tells us, “Marcus is a man gripped by ‘a crying sense of loneliness for my family’. We don’t quite know why until the very end of the novel, which comes both as a surprise and a confirmation of all that’s gone before.” As readers, we too are at a loss, as it is not until the final pages that we realise Marcus is already dead, and this book is his account of the life he has lost. This stream of memory and re-telling of his life is how Marcus comes to terms with the trauma of his greatest loss: his own death.