I don’t know why I haven’t ventured into Niall Williams’ Irish village of Faha before. Perhaps I feared I would want to stay in this community where visitors drop in, and the dogs attend a burial. O Now! is that story.
Four nights a week, Bat Considine would walk into Ganga Crowe’s house, bring the newspaper, and proceed to read bits to his old friend who was hard of hearing, and didn’t really hear him. But, he would respond with “O Now!” When the rain and wind was about to usher out October, Bat said what was on his mind. “What I’d like to know is why the world exists.” “What I’d like to know is the mind of God.” Bat wanted his old friend to make an arrangement that whichever man went first would let the other one know what the answers were.
Three nights later, on Halloween, Bat walked in to find Ganga dead. And, it was obvious Ganga had died the same night Bat had been there. He found his friend dead with his dog, Joe, beside him. He asked Ganga, “Are you there yet?”
Williams’ lyrical small book is only five chapters. It’s hard to see one of these old friends left behind, trying to stop time by not telling anyone. Bat doesn’t want the village’s death routines to start, and change his feelings and relationship with Ganga. But, the everyday routines of the village interrupt Bat’s mourning. It’s difficult to watch Bat and Joe grieving.
O Now! is a beautiful story of life and death and love. Williams’ words and phrasing are lilting, taking the reader to Faha, that small Irish village. And, because I hadn’t read one of his books before, I was grateful for the inclusion of the notes, “The Way the Story Goes, or How to Get to Faha.” That piece provided the background as to how Faha came to be, an imaginary village in County Clare. I’ll be heading back.
Niall Williams’ website is https://niallwilliams.com/
O Now! by Niall Williams. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2026. 96p.
FTC Full Disclosure – I bought a copy of the book.
