Gabriel Byrne

A novel posing as an autobiography

Were he to have been known as a screen writer, skill at writing would be expected. But Byrne's fame is stage and screen, so the reading experience was joyful. That said, I feel it important to state I rarely if ever read biographies but made an exception that paid off. Born in Ireland, much of his early days seemed logical, including the religious pursuits. I'd have given the book five stars but felt there was far too much dedicated to childhood and not nearly enough of Hollywood. Regardless, he's a master with words and has lead an interesting life… (mais)

A beautifully written and candid memoir, Gabriel Byrne here charts the origins of his career as an actor, his struggles with addiction and with being abused by a priest as a child, and life in a working-class neighbourhood of mid-century Dublin. Byrne’s celebrity is almost incidental—while he does mention a handful of encounters with famous names, this is not a “celebrity memoir” as it’s generally understood.

I was impressed both by the determined intensity of Byrne’s self-reflection here, and how lacking in showiness or narcissism it was. You can tell that the issues that preoccupy him—mortality, memory, family, belonging—are things that he’s been thoughtful about for quite some time. Byrne has also an actor’s ear for dialogue and paying attention to what he calls “the theatre of the street”—at a remove of 40 years or more, it’d be a surprise if the dialogue presented here was word-for-word accurate, but it absolutely has the blas of Dublin, and I could hear it as I read. An elegant and tender book.… (mais)