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The First Verse (Brandon Originals) Paperback – January 1, 2008

by Barry McCrea (Author)

3.6 22 ratings

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This memorable debut novel explores Dublinâ€s every corner, including a first-of-its-kind portrayal of its thriving gay nightlife, through the eyes of a young man seduced by a secret societyâ€s ancient reading rituals, based on the sortes virgilianae. In brilliant prose, author Barry McCrea gives readers a psychologically gripping tale set within the intertwining worlds of literature and the living.

When freshman Niall Lenihan moves to Trinity College, he dives into unfamiliar social scenes, quickly becoming fascinated by a reclusive pair of studentsâ€”literary â€œmysticsâ€ who let signs and symbols from books determine their actions. Reluctantly, they admit him to their private sessions, and what begins as an intriguing game for Niall becomes increasingly esoteric, dramatic, and addictive. As Niall discovers the true nature of the pursuits in which he has become entangled, The First Verse traces a young manâ€s search for identity, companionship, and a cultâ€s shadowy origins in the pages of literature and the people of a city. Fans of Donna Tarttâ€s The Secret History or Patricia Highsmithâ€s The Talented Mr. Ripley will be mesmerized by the strange, page-turning world of this astonishing first novel from a dazzling new literary voice.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Brandon Books (January 1, 2008)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 314 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 086322380X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0863223808
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.1 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.5 x 5.4 x 1.1 inches

Customer Reviews:
3.6 22 ratings

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Barry McCrea
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Anna Graham

Beautiful, baffling, boring, brilliant

Reviewed in the United States on July 26, 2007

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What a remarkable book! There are passages inside this novel that outshine almost any writer working today; characters who come alive in the space of a few sentences; ideas that no other writer would touch. At times, this seems like the perfect combination of James Joyce with Harry Potter--literary magic for an adult. But then there are other momnents when the book falters, stutters, and practically disintegrates. Long, pretentious passages; plotting that goes awry; characters who fail to make sense. What a strange book--perhaps it wasn't edited, perhaps no one helped the writer make sense of what could have been a genuine masterpiece. Still, if you've got the urge to disappear into a strange mind in a strange land, you could do far worse than The First Verse.

6 people found this helpful

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Blake Fraina

A Must For Literature Lovers

Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2006

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Niall Lenihan is entering his first year at Trinity Dublin, as one of two Beckett Scholars. He's somewhat young for his age - bookish and inexperienced; not yet out of the closet to anyone and still nursing an unrequited crush on Patrick, a popular, athletic, and decidedly straight, school chum. As Niall is settling into his rooms at university, a mysterious young man calls him by name from the courtyard below his window and serenades him with the first verse of a traditional song, "Oranges and Lemons, say the bells of Saint Clements." The stranger introduces himself as Pablo Virgomare and then promptly runs off. Thus begins Barry McCrea's brilliant and mysterious novel, THE FIRST VERSE. Throughout the first chapter, Niall (and the reader) will notice a series small of incidents - coincidences - that seem to echo, or reflect, the first words of the rhyme. Most significant of these occurs when he briefly meets an eccentric older student, Sarah, who asks him to choose a passage at random from a book she is carrying and, to his shock, it is the very same line Pablo Virgomare recited to him but an hour earlier.

Soon Niall finds himself pursuing Sarah and her cohort John, in order to gain entree into a mysterious cult they belong to where the members base all their actions and/or decisions on randomly chosen passages from randomly chosen books. This allows them to live seemingly as if guided by the fates, without having to make any conscience choices of their own, without having to take responsibility for their actions. This lifestyle is very seductive to a timid young man who largely does what is expected of him and shies away from making bold, decisive moves (such as declaring his love for Patrick or coming out). At first they reject him but, by using their own methods against them, Niall chases them down and forces his way into their exclusive circle. Their nightly meetings are like supernatural seances that last until dawn, fueled by the ritual, repetitive chanting of book passages and the drinking of large quantities of Southern Comfort. As Niall's life begins to spin out of control, the book becomes a story of addiction and attempted recovery. Soon he is unable to make the simplest decision or, as with drugs or alcohol, to even feel normal without first consulting the books.

THE FIRST VERSE can definitely be classified as literary fiction of the highest order, yet it's never difficult, dry or cumbersome to read. On the contrary, the writing is incredibly brisk and tight. The reader gets the impression that every passage, every word has been carefully chosen to fit into a larger, yet-to-be-revealed picture. Every quote, character name or book title mentioned offhandedly is not without a larger significance. Yet beneath the artistry of the writing and the relevance of its themes, this is, first and foremost, a compulsively readable story. It's very much a mystery, a bit of a thriller and even includes a compelling little love story. Above all, it struck me as an intricately wrought puzzle, and not until the last piece was in place did it all make sense. Anyone who can relate to the idea of being seduced by the written word will love this book and the believable, flesh-and-blood protagonist at its heart will have the reader rooting for him until the very last page.

I firmly believe that, if Niall was straight, this book would have been a major bestseller. Personally, I recommend it to any lover of literature - straight or gay.

7 people found this helpful

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Mark A. Thompson

SHIFTING CHARACTERS' NAMES

Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2010

A book such as THE FIRST VERSE requires a certain suspension of disbelief as the protagonist moves through his increasingly arcane rituals -- and yet, credibility is nearly quashed entirely when it becomes apparent that the author, Barry McCrea, cannot even remember the names of his characters. For example, on pages 65-6 and 118 (Carroll & Graf, 2005), Paula McVeigh's husband's name is Frank -- and yet thereafter, as referenced on pages 184-8, the character has been re-christened Jim, for no apparent reason other than sloppy editing. With prose stylists and respected authors such as Colm Toibin, Edmund White, and Elaine Showalter blurbing this book, one would expect a more close reading of this somewhat ponderous tome to catch such egregious errors.

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Amazon Customer

"It's our party game...our way of making decisions... that's all"

Reviewed in the United States on January 20, 2006

Niall Lenihan is thrilled to have obtained a prestigious scholarship to study at the salubrious Trinity College in Dublin. A young man from the suburbs, Niall is looking forward to tasting the delights of the big city, at last able to leave his unhurried life with his parents and his innocent childhood behind. It's not that he doesn't love his mother and father; it's just that as a young gay man, the cosmopolitanism of Ireland's largest city holds such promise, exhilaration, and fun.

It doesn't take long for Niall to settle into the sacred halls of Trinity College, sampling his newfound surrounds, the lights of the big city now on his doorstep. The Dublin streets are thriving, with a gay nightlife that is teaming with erotic possibilities. Niall is immediately seduced by the potential for easy sex, "the flashing lights, and smell of aftershave, the smell of male sweat and Smirnoff Ice" and spends his nights cruising for guys and drinking in the city's various pubs, hotels, and nightclubs.

He also manages to make a few new friends along the way, especially the bubbly Fionnuala with her warm sense of companionship, and whilst he reconnects with his sturdy best friend Patrick, even ending up sharing an apartment with him, Niall mostly connects on a deeper level with Chris, a good looking Northerner, who eventually charms Niall with his clipped friendly accent, and earthy kindly ways.

However, it is to the enigmatic Sarah and John that Niall is most attracted. After saving him from a near fatal gay bashing, Niall is steadily drawn to John; it's part sexual attraction and part mystification at this cloistered, sinister world that he shares with Sarah. Both John and Sarah seek guidance from the pages of literature letting the signs and symbols, the sentences from books determine their actions in life.

Grudgingly, they admit him to their private sessions, a type of candle lit séance, where sections of books are repeated in a mantra again and again. At first, the excitable Niall treats this new pursuit as type of frivolous game, failing to take seriously this strange world of "sortes," and "synchronicities." However, soon odd coincidences begin to plague him: A strange man who knows his name sings songs at his window, and words of the song keep turning up everywhere he looks.

As Niall becomes ever more addicted and besotted, seduced by the possibility of the fullness and newness of things he doesn't know, he begins to realize that he has a strange energy that is connecting in some way with an energy of another world, a world he cannot readily see, the world in all writing and art, and perhaps also the world of the dead. The synchronicities open a channel, the domains of experience opening up a fissure where one "world" can flow into another, two mutually exclusive universes held in the balance.

Whilst Niall fanatically pulls the endless threads of meaning from tiny fragments of prose, text messages and voice mail messages from the worried Patrick and the concerned Fionnuala are left unanswered. As fits of melancholy become more deliberating, a frequent a sense of doom fills Niall, and soon he is spinning fiction - first lying to Chris, and then to his psychiatrist when he fails his first year of study. He wants to shake the sinister hold that Sarah and John have over him, but the thought of continually connecting to another more spiritual world is just too enticing for him to pass up.

Author Barry Mcrea has spun a wholly original tale of self-discovery, as he recounts with an intellectual grandeur and psychological adroitness, his young protagonist's efforts to move on, and hopefully leave the ghosts of the past behind him. Niall tries to build up a complete picture of the world that he feels is missing, but in his efforts to do so, he is in danger of alienating those who are the closest to him.

Written with layers of metaphor and meaning, and a narrative structure that is complex and multi-layered, we not only witness Niall as he transforms into a man of newly acquired confidence and worldliness, but we also witness his efforts to almost reinvent his masculinity. The First Verse is far from a coming out story - although Neill is gay, he is surprisingly comfortable with his sexuality - instead, the novel is more a trenchant study of one young man's efforts to "make an old world slowly bleed into a new one."

Littered with hip, vibrant, and, youthful characters, right on the cusp of achievement, The First Verse is a book lover's delight, a darkly ironic tribute to the world of literature, the insular world of academia, and also to the written word. Before he realizes it, Niall is plunged into a shadowy world, forced to live in a profoundly isolated nucleus, an utter disconnection from the normal outside world. Mike Leonard January 06.

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Patricia Brennan

Brilliant

Reviewed in Italy on June 29, 2015

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I don't know how this book escaped me for so long. Gripping, it paces along at a rate, with a clever twist at the end. Greatly enjoyed.

maddoggie

soaked in the books

Reviewed in Japan on August 28, 2005

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オレ自身、本を読む行為こそが自分を外界と断絶していると感じることも多く、この世界から離れられる方がどれほど健全であろうかと無理な願いを抱いているので、この本は何とも痛い一撃であった。読書中オレはたまたま旅をしていたのだが、救いの手を逃れて虚無の世界に堕ちていく主人公同様、外界に背を向けている自分の世界を突きつけられたように感じたものだ。もちろん、こう言うこともできるだろう。本を読むからこんな人間になったのではなく、こんな人間だからこそ本から逃れられないのであろう、と。

この本に描かれる特殊な読書体験（幻のような、カルト組織と鐘の歌の童謡と美しい謎の導き手）はまるで麻薬体験のようだ。ただ、ここまでではないにしても、読書中何らかのシンクロニシティ現象を体験したことのない者がいるだろうか？本の中の言葉が何らかの意志や啓示を持って話しかけているように感じたことのない者がいるだろうか？

誤解なきよう書き添えておくが、ここに描かれているのは堕ちていくことだけではない。そこから目を覚ますことが描かれていることにこそ価値があるのだ。ましてや、読書行為自体が不健全だと言ってるわけでもないのだし（そう曲解したのはオレの歪んだ読書体験故のこと）。

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