A strange tale of sexual abuse set in contemporary Dublin.
Victor Forde is a failed writer; began writing rock reviews, and branched into talk radio.
Fell in love and married Rachel when they were in their twenties. She went on to become a famous British culinary expert, 'Meals In Heels', and star and media celebrity of a television show similar to The Apprentice.
Now middle aged, Victor and Rachel are separated and Victor lives in a small apartment (in or near a brothel?) near the sea near Dublin. He tries to establish friendships at a local pub. He's trying to make it 'his pub', when he is accosted by a loutish man who claims to know him. Even after learning this man's name, Ed Fitzpatrick, Victor can't place him. The man claims to have a 'hot' sister, and this seems to ring a bell with Victor.
"The reason for the novel’s title is revealed early on. In a classroom full of mischief-makers, Brother Murphy, a small but violent teacher who exercised power over his students with ruthless cruelty, had always left Victor alone, his explanation coming in eight words that would define the boy’s schooldays and make him the object of scorn among his peers: 'Victor Forde, I can never resist your smile'.”
Victor's obvious loneliness at the pub-
"I stayed up at the bar a few times," he begins, "but I didn't want the barman thinking that I needed someone to talk to."
" His ex-wife, Rachel, is a beloved TV cooking-show host and feminist activist; their parting seems to have been amicable, and they sign their text messages with an X. Victor finds a pub, declares it his local, falls in with some friendly men who are charmed by his nearness to celebrity and his tall tales. He’s starting over, and it stings; but he can’t help finding reasons for optimism."
Description of Ed-
"Fleshy, vulgar, simultaneously bumptious and passive-aggressive, Fitzpatrick is perpetually dressed in a secondhand pink shirt and a pair of shorts — “the ones with the pockets on the sides for shotgun shells and dead rabbits” — and always sits a little too close. Victor doesn’t remember him, but the initial impression is viscerally repellent. “I wanted to hit him. I wanted to kill him.”
Victor strikes up a relationship at the pub with Brenda. She is curious about Rachel and seems to be involved with Victor partly because her husband is away much of the time. He works in England, although he could very easily transfer back to Ireland.
Description of Brenda-
“She was different. She wasn’t Rachel. She was fattish and human. And curious.”
In the end, Ed claims to 'be' Victor. Maybe this means that Victor's character has repressed part of his true nature due to the molestation. He claims that it was only once; The Head Brother (principal) grabbed him by the genitals.
This Christian school is described by Victor as a virtual ' nest of sexual impropriety'.
Victor's recollection of life at the school-
"I was often terrified and I laughed so much I went blind," he says. There's the threat of being struck by one of the teachers or mocked by a fellow student for some imperceptible difference. "The wrong word, the wrong shirt, the wrong band," he notes, "could destroy you." When a French teacher says, "Victor Forde, I can never resist your smile," Victor knows immediately, "I was doomed."
"this strange man at the front of the classroom flirting — I suppose — with me. It left me wondering what was wrong with my smile."
Plot turns on this major incident-
"Victor remembers not only this abuse, but the moment of its original excavation from memory, during the happy days with Rachel. He wakes violently from sleep beside her — “I exploded. I’ve nothing to describe it. No picture or sound. I burst apart” — and tells her everything. The abuse, we realize, is partially responsible for many of his life’s failures: his writer’s block, his ineptness as a husband and father. Eventually he confesses the abuse, impulsively, on the radio, earning both public sympathy and derision."
"He contradicts himself, doubling back and changing his story. He suddenly admits, out of nowhere, that he and Rachel were never really married; Victor just calls her his wife to avoid having to explain their unconventional union. And what about Victor’s son? We know he has one, but we never hear about him. Are they estranged? Did something happen to drive them apart? And why, specifically, did the marriage — the non-marriage — end?"
Doyle's success in writing the book-
"For one horrible moment, we get a sense of the victim's unspeakable confusion, the terror that diverts a life and wrecks a mind."
Notes From YouTube; (We 6/27/18) -
Booker Prize- best 'original' novel
meditation on a collapsed marriage, but the elephant in the room is sexual abuse in Victor's past.
"We went to school together". Victor can't place him.
Ed asked him immediately, "Who was the brother that abused you"?
Rachel is almost too good to be true; 'perfect woman'.
Makes his confession (touched during 'wrestling move') on a radio call-in show.
Ed is Victor's 'double'. Ties together at the end- Mind Puzzle of a Book.
How you deal with your past when something horrible happens to you.
Donneley's Pub
DOYLE'S STATEMENTS ON YOUTUBE-
Chrisitian Brothers has a history of sexual abuse in Ireland; Bullying. Doyle says that when you hear 'Christian Brothers' or even 'priest' in the news you always think 'NOT AGAIN'. Led to believe that it's just a few 'bad apples', and once you get rid of them, everything will be fine. But, you learn that the entire system was designed to protect and cover-up the abuse. There will be push-back and hostility because they don't want to give up the power or the belief that things were better or more perfect in the past.
"no homework" for the weekend. "Victor Forde, I can never resist your smile"- Father Murphy. 'So unwelcome'.
This memory of 'never resist...' happend to Doyle.
Told to be part of the choir after fellow students label him as queer.
NOTES ON THE CHRISTIAN BROTHERS SCANDAL-
In Ireland during the latter part of the 20th century, Christian brothers schools were noted for brutal and frequent use of corporal punishment.[12]
Sexual abuse was also common. Artane Industrial school's staff hosted a number of Brothers who had repeatedly been warned for “embracing and fondling” boys. Others accused of rape, beat or bribed their victims into silence. Accused Brothers were invariably excused, lightly admonished or, typically, moved to other institutions where they were free to continue abusing children for decades.
1998 apologies
In Ireland in March 1998, the Congregation of the Christian Brothers published full-page advertisements in newspapers apologizing to former pupils who had been ill-treated whilst in their care. The unprecedented advertising campaign expressed "deep regret" on behalf of the Christian Brothers and listed telephone lines which former pupils could ring if they needed help.[13]
Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse
In 2003, the order took legal action against the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, to prevent the Commission from naming deceased brothers and brothers who were too old to competently defend themselves. The High Court rejected the challenge, but did stipulate that the Commission must take into account the corroboration of accusations and the testing of witness evidence, and to allow the representatives of deceased brothers to cross-examine witnesses.[14] However, Justice Seán Ryan later overruled this when he took over the commission, and declared that individual perpetrators of abuse would not be named unless they had already been convicted
******IMPORTANT FACT
The Commission found that thousands of Irish children at Christian Brothers institutions were abused and that more allegations were made against the Irish Christian Brothers than against all other male religious orders combined.[16][17]
In the Irish Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse's five-volume report of its investigation of systemic abuse of children in Ireland, the Congregation of Christian Brothers, which was the largest provider of residential care for boys in the country, received more allegations of abuse than all of the other male religious orders combined.[18]
They have accepted the allegations were correct, saying ""The Christian Brothers accept, with shame, the findings of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse ... The congregation is deeply sorry for the hurt we have caused - not just for the mistakes of the past, but for the inadequacy of our responses over recent years." [19]
Financial settlements
On the 5 November 2009 the organization announced they would be paying €34 million in reparations, following the publication of the Report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse the previous May. Up to €30m is to be given to a Government trust, in addition to €4m for counselling services. The donations reflect the "Christian Brothers' acceptance, shame and sorrow at the findings of the Ryan Report".[20]
In late November 2009 the organization announced they would supply a €161 million (£145 million sterling) package as part of reparations for child abuse in Ireland.[21] This includes a donation of €30 million to a government trust and €4 million donated to provide counselling services.[21] Playing fields owned by the organisation and valued at €127 million would be transferred to joint ownership of the government and the trust that runs former Christian Brothers schools.[21]
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