The day Somebody McSomebody put a gun to my breast and called me a cat and threatened to shoot me was the same day the milkman died.
Wow, what
What the book is about
Anna Burns tells the story of a female protagonist who is being stalked by the Milkman, who follows her where ever she goes and is slowly but steadily creeping up on her and her life. The milkman, a man in a high position, wants to start an affair with the 18-year-old protagonist, who is in a maybe-relationship with maybe-boyfriend. The society and its rules make it impossible for her to fight against him. Unable to not let him take over her life and mind: “At the time, age eighteen, having been brought up in a hair-trigger society where the ground rules were – if no physically violent touch was being laid upon you, and no taunting looks in the vicinity either, then nothing was happening, so how could you be under attack from something that wasn’t there?“
Living in a time of conflict
Set in probably Belfast in the 1970s, the story unfolds not only what stalking and rumours can do to you, but also how the North Ireland conflict destroyed lives, careers and families. How relationships are formed, maybe not based on love but on
Why I liked the book
The book spoke to me because it feels relatable. I also once experienced some kind of a stalker: a guy at school I had never spoken to found out who I was and where I lived and waited at the entrance to our row of houses several days in a row. It was creepy, it was frightening and I felt helpless because I didn’t know what to do. Afterall, he didn’t harm me physically and who can see which damage is being done mentally anyway.
The characters, apart from one, all don’t have real names. They have names such as maybe-boyfriend, first-brother-in-law or the Milkman. This stylistic geniality generates some sort of anonymity and transferability: it could happen toanyone and it could happen anywhere. All this could happen to you and me, right now, right here.
Why you should read the book
Milkman by Anna Burns takes you on a journey without leaving the confines of one city. It tells you about the Northern Ireland Conflict without explicitly naming it and without making the story about just that conflict. The conflict is more of the background to the way people might act the way they do. You should read the book because it beautifully and uniquely tells a story about the past and the present at the same time.
Anna Burns: Milkman. ISBN 978-0-571-33875-7, 348 pages.
