High priests of lies and deception

The Fields

By Kevin Maher,

Reagan Arthur Books, 400 pages, $26

My all-time favourite coming-of-age book has to be Richard Bradford’s “Red Sky At Morning” (1968). It follows a young Josh Arnold during the Second World War. An annotated copy of this spectacular work was a gift from my dad. Ever since, I’ve inadvertently measured books in that genre against the Bradford effort. And sadly, very few have able to match the joy this book brings each time I pick it up.

I never wanted to watch the 1971 film adaptation because I rather liked the Arnold family in my head — old friends, chatting around a meal of meat cooked in Coca-Cola.

As you may have guessed, “The Fields”, too, is a coming-of-age book but set in Northern Ireland. The first thought that passed through was Frank McCourt’s “Angela’s Ashes”, a great memoir about a Depression-era childhood. Or better still, Roddy Doyle’s “Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha”. A bit of a tall order to fill, but nothing comes from staring at the maze-like cover of a book. So, to paraphrase the Red Queen … off with it.

Kevin Maher, a British journalist, born and raised in Dublin, has presumably stuck to the Irish version of the English language. So the book is full of interesting phrases and descriptions but at some points with a rather localised aspect to the language makes reading a bit of a struggle.

Perhaps it was a conscious decision to keep the voice as close to the ground reality as possible. Does it work? Yes, it does. And quite well I might add, as the lilt takes you on an almost two-year journey in an Irish Catholic teenager’s life.

The book is written in a highly jocular tone, all laughing “madser and smasher” bits thrown in. But the dark underbelly that it exposes, especially of the Catholic Church, is depressing. The nastiness is stronger in contrast. It will set your teeth on edge as you think back to the reports that kept urging the Pope to apologise for all the abuse of innocents by priests, the protests and the blatant refusal to acknowledge the pain of the victims from across the globe. It is appalling that such savagery is doled out in the name of God and little or nothing is done to set it right.

Is the church to blame for the abuse of children? Perhaps not. But, are they to blame for not protecting the innocent and taking corrective action once the truth or even a suspicion of the truth came to light? I believe they are — it is called accountability. Young lives were destroyed, childhoods shattered in the name of faith.

“The Fields” attempts to evaluate if the abuses, especially against young boys, were a result of the social unacceptability of homosexuality. There isn’t much theoretical exploration of this aspect and makes no excuse for the victimisation of children. Added to this mix is the ambiguous nature of some of the missionary work that was done in remote, tribal communities. It raises questions about the ethics of organised religion and its men of the cloth.

In the book, a paedophile finally finds just desert in a very uncommon scenario. But what about those numerous altar boys who will never get justice let alone an apology?

Maher’s book is tough and strong because its central character is a young boy who comes from a close-knit, loving family and flees from any form of whining. It shows that at the very end love might not heal all but it does give you the strength to give life that one more shot.

The book is a good read and definitely a worthy debut.