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噩丕丿丞 丕賱丨賷
The story of Francis Copeland, middle-aged librarian, life and marriage in a rut, childless he befriends the children of the avenue. Emerging from a life behind books, raw suburban truths are exposed as Francis slowly unravels the secrets of the avenue.
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About the author
James Lawless
126听books98听followersJames Lawless is an Irish novelist, short story writer and poet who was born in Dublin. He is an arts graduate in Spanish and Irish of University College Dublin and has an MA in Communications from Dublin City University.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 17, 2020
Priceless!
A book for a lifetime. Couldn't have asked for more!
- I'm mesmerized.
Francis Copeland, a middle-aged man working as a librarian in The Avenue. It is a story about how things take turns in his life, how he befriends some kids in the neighborhood and how his whole life was nothing but a lie.
The Avenue is a beautiful fabrication of raw emotions, brutal truth, twisted relationships and the little things in between called love.
James Lawless has narrated the story like a poetry.
First page of it and it was decided then and there, that I'm reading something exceptionally wonderful.
I fell in love all over again with literature!
His words flowed in my mind as a river flows, untamed, wild and without any barriers.
Every time I held this book in my hand, I couldn't prevent myself from smiling.
This is the kind of book which will have different effects of different people.
For me, it was all magical. I am still flabbergasted with the aura one can feel from a novel.
The author's writing style's beauty knew no bounds. Perfectly woven scenes in a refined and talented language!
The vanilla-like smell that I felt in each page of The Avenue is winning my heart over and over.
There is nothing better to do than to bury yourself in The Avenue, get lost in its heart-owning fragrance and be enchanted under the author's spell.
His presentation has been so captivating that at no point you will want to let go off The Avenue.
I can bet that if you ever praised To Kill A Mockingbird or The Sense of An Ending - you are going to applaud it even more!
Verdict : I. Want. You. To. Read. This. Book. Badly.
A book for a lifetime. Couldn't have asked for more!
"Up here" she pointed to her head, "We all are beautiful".
- I'm mesmerized.
Francis Copeland, a middle-aged man working as a librarian in The Avenue. It is a story about how things take turns in his life, how he befriends some kids in the neighborhood and how his whole life was nothing but a lie.
The Avenue is a beautiful fabrication of raw emotions, brutal truth, twisted relationships and the little things in between called love.
Gardening is like praying. You can't do it without kneeling.
James Lawless has narrated the story like a poetry.
First page of it and it was decided then and there, that I'm reading something exceptionally wonderful.
I fell in love all over again with literature!
His words flowed in my mind as a river flows, untamed, wild and without any barriers.
Every time I held this book in my hand, I couldn't prevent myself from smiling.
This is the kind of book which will have different effects of different people.
For me, it was all magical. I am still flabbergasted with the aura one can feel from a novel.
The author's writing style's beauty knew no bounds. Perfectly woven scenes in a refined and talented language!
The vanilla-like smell that I felt in each page of The Avenue is winning my heart over and over.
There is nothing better to do than to bury yourself in The Avenue, get lost in its heart-owning fragrance and be enchanted under the author's spell.
His presentation has been so captivating that at no point you will want to let go off The Avenue.
I can bet that if you ever praised To Kill A Mockingbird or The Sense of An Ending - you are going to applaud it even more!
Verdict : I. Want. You. To. Read. This. Book. Badly.
September 2, 2014
賷乇爻賲 丕賱賰丕鬲亘 噩賻賷賲爻 賱賵賱賷爻 賮賷 乇賵丕賷鬲賴 噩丕丿丞 丕賱丨賷 賱賵丨丞 乇賷賮賷丞 賯丿 鬲賰賵賳 禺丕賱賷丞 賲賳 丕賱賵丕賳 丕賱乇賷賮 丕賱賲毓賴賵丿丞. 賱賵丨丞 胤睾賶 毓賱賷賴丕 賱賵賳 丕賱禺乇賷賮 丕賱亘賳賾賷貙 賷鬲亘毓賴 丕賱卮鬲丕亍 亘毓亘丕亍鬲賴 丕賱乇賲丕丿賷丞. 賱賵丨丞 賳亘丿兀 賮賷賴丕 丕賱鬲毓乇賮 毓賱賶 賮乇丕賳爻賷爻 丕賱毓丕賰賮 毓賱賶 賰鬲亘賴貙 丕賱賴丕乇亘 丕賱賷賴丕 賵丕賱賲禺鬲亘卅 亘賷賳 兀睾賱賮鬲賴丕. 賮乇丕賳爻賷爻 丕賱匕賷 鬲氐賵乇 丕賱丨賷丕丞 胤賷亘丞 亘胤賷亘賴貙 賮賰丕賳 兀賯氐賶 賲胤丕賱亘賴 夭賵丕噩丕 賷乇賷丨 亘丕賱賴貙 賵賲賳夭賱丕 賷兀賵賷 丕賱賷賴. 賷賯賹氐 毓賱賷賳丕 賱賵賱賷爻 賯氐丞 賮乇丕賳爻賷爻 丕賱匕賷 賷乇賷賳丕 賰賷賮 兀賳 丕賱兀賲丕賳賷 賵丕賳 賰丕賳鬲 賲鬲賵丕囟毓丞 賵丕賱兀丨賱丕賲 賵廿賳 賰丕賳鬲 氐睾賷乇丞貙 賱賳 鬲賰賵賳 亘丕賱賲噩賾丕賳.
賮乇丕賳爻賷爻 亘胤賷亘賴 賵賰乇賲賴貙 賮乇賷丿賷 丕賱亘乇賷亍 丕賱匕賷 賱賲 賷噩丿 賲賳 賷賵賱賷賴 丕賱廿賴鬲賲丕賲 賵丕氐丿賯丕卅賴貙 爻丕賲 賵丕賱丿 賮乇丕賳爻賷爻貙 賲丕賷賰賱 賵賲毓賱賵賲丕鬲賴貙 賳賵乇賷賳 賵丕賱爻賷丿丞 丿賷賲亘爻賷 賵丨鬲賶 丕賱賰賱亘 亘購卅爻貨 賰賱 丕賵賱卅賰 賷毓亘乇賵賳 毓賳 乇賵丨 丕賱乇賷賮 丕賱賳賯賷丞 丕賱氐丕賮賷丞貙 毓賳 鬲賲丕爻賰 丕賱兀賴丕賱賷 賴賳丕賰 賵丨夭賳賴賲 賱丨夭賳 亘毓囟賴賲. 賷毓亘乇賵賳 毓賳 乇賮囟賴賲 賱賰賱 賵乇賲 禺亘賷孬 鬲睾賱睾賱 賮賷 囟丕丨賷鬲賴賲 賵賮賷 噩丕丿賾鬲賴賲貨 賵兀賳賴 丨鬲賶 賵廿賳 賱亘孬 賮賷賴賲 毓賲乇丕貙 賮禺購賷賱 賱賱亘毓囟 兀賳賴 噩夭亍 賲賳賴賲貙 爻賷亘賯賶 賵乇賲 賷噩亘 丕賱鬲禺賱氐 賲賳賴 賵丕噩鬲孬丕孬賴 賱卅賱丕 賷賰丿乇 鬲賮鬲丨 丕賱兀夭賴丕乇 丕賵 賱毓亘 胤賷賵乇 丕賱亘噩毓 毓賳丿 丕賱賯賳丕丞.
June 17, 2021
Francis Copeland is a long-time resident of the Avenue. His mother was killed when he was 12; his father has never been the same and needs constant care; his wife prefers the company of her girlfriend.
He likes to read. Violence, drugs and misery seem to have taken over his and his neighbors鈥� lives. With the help of the local kids and having finally gotten answers to family questions, he sets out to right many wrongs. James Lawless鈥� novel gives us an array of flawed characters; some we cheer for their victories and others, for their defeats.
He likes to read. Violence, drugs and misery seem to have taken over his and his neighbors鈥� lives. With the help of the local kids and having finally gotten answers to family questions, he sets out to right many wrongs. James Lawless鈥� novel gives us an array of flawed characters; some we cheer for their victories and others, for their defeats.
December 10, 2014
The genesis of The Avenue
My family moved from the Liberties of Dublin to the suburbs of Walkinstown when I was six, so The Avenue is in a way a chronological continuation of Peeling Oranges, my first novel, and represents my response to the myth of suburbia as a panacea for the ills of society. The story hangs essentially as a picture of suburban degeneration. My family like a lot of others moved to the suburbs for the 鈥榦pen space and fresh air鈥� (I had asthma as a child). However in moving we unwittingly left behind a secure world with a strong community spirit for an anonymous sprawl where social interaction was at a minimum. The open spaces soon filled in as the Celtic tiger struck; the population increased, emigrants returned, cars multiplied and the former inner-city congestion, from which people had previously fled, was now itself an intrinsic element of a suburban/city commuting lifestyle. But little heed was paid to the social changes that followed: the permanent traffic jams, the noise, the former inner city communities ripped apart to make highways to facilitate the suburban commuters, the two parent incomes, the latch-key children, the new landscape of industrial debris: used condoms, cider bottles, lager cans and of course the lethal drug culture. All the time the scream was bursting through the spreading graffiti on suburban walls. But the powers that be refused to hear.
The novel is not all gloom however. Although it may be read, as I have said, as a picture of suburban degeneration, it is paralleled, despite the calamities, by a story of human regeneration, particularly in the characters of Francis and Michael and even 鈥� almost contradictorily 鈥� Francis鈥� father. My intention was to use the avenue as a trawling device to pierce the anonymity of a waste land. I perceive the avenue almost as one would a country village, small inward-looking with its hidden past and secrets, a crucible if you like in which the characters live entrapped lives and as a consequence (consciously or otherwise) are almost incestuously interlinked. Or to put it in the words of Francis鈥� old cottage neighbour, Mrs Dempsey: 'The avenue cared for her own'.
My family moved from the Liberties of Dublin to the suburbs of Walkinstown when I was six, so The Avenue is in a way a chronological continuation of Peeling Oranges, my first novel, and represents my response to the myth of suburbia as a panacea for the ills of society. The story hangs essentially as a picture of suburban degeneration. My family like a lot of others moved to the suburbs for the 鈥榦pen space and fresh air鈥� (I had asthma as a child). However in moving we unwittingly left behind a secure world with a strong community spirit for an anonymous sprawl where social interaction was at a minimum. The open spaces soon filled in as the Celtic tiger struck; the population increased, emigrants returned, cars multiplied and the former inner-city congestion, from which people had previously fled, was now itself an intrinsic element of a suburban/city commuting lifestyle. But little heed was paid to the social changes that followed: the permanent traffic jams, the noise, the former inner city communities ripped apart to make highways to facilitate the suburban commuters, the two parent incomes, the latch-key children, the new landscape of industrial debris: used condoms, cider bottles, lager cans and of course the lethal drug culture. All the time the scream was bursting through the spreading graffiti on suburban walls. But the powers that be refused to hear.
The novel is not all gloom however. Although it may be read, as I have said, as a picture of suburban degeneration, it is paralleled, despite the calamities, by a story of human regeneration, particularly in the characters of Francis and Michael and even 鈥� almost contradictorily 鈥� Francis鈥� father. My intention was to use the avenue as a trawling device to pierce the anonymity of a waste land. I perceive the avenue almost as one would a country village, small inward-looking with its hidden past and secrets, a crucible if you like in which the characters live entrapped lives and as a consequence (consciously or otherwise) are almost incestuously interlinked. Or to put it in the words of Francis鈥� old cottage neighbour, Mrs Dempsey: 'The avenue cared for her own'.
June 5, 2013
A meaty novel about neighbourhood relations and lower socio-economic burdens that don't usually make for novel material. Many themes explored and though the comeuppance was served well, it was not an uplifting read - which is what it takes for a 5 star rating in my head. It doesn't have to be uplifting, though, and I absolutely love how these themes were woven into a work of fiction and handled so affectionately by the author for all of his characters. They're all a product of the society they are from and need to be 'owned' in this way.
September 25, 2015
It started well, after 70 pages in it began to get too sad, after Freddy was murdered, and Myrtle and Ida, ganged up on Frank, Myrtle Husband, and she allows it. I continued on to page 92, and decided enough, I scanned through the rest of the book, new characters, with even more problems, That was that. I did have a look at James Lawless, on google, Others may like this I did'nt.
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