Disturbance by Jamie O'Neill

Disturbance is the debut novel from author Jamie O'Neill. It was followed by Kibrack (1990) and At Swim, Two Boys (2001).

O'Neill has been hailed as the rightful successor to James Joyce and Samuel Beckett, taking his place amongst the great Irish writers all the way up to Roddy Doyle.

This is a tender novel of sixteen year-old Nilus, living with his father, as his world literally crumbles around him. The family home is the last in a row of cottages, mostly abandoned after the nearby perfume works was bricked up. They live like bachelors in dilapidated rooms with crumbling plaster and a loose banister.

His Uncle Frank, a developer from Kilkenny, has encouraged them to move, as bulldozers begin levelling the abandoned street of row-houses.

The only solace Nilus can find is playing 'Disturbance' with his jigsaw - completed a year ago the day his mother died. The whole puzzle a solid matte black surface, each piece just black, his made-up game is to pull a corner or section apart to put it back together. Some sense of order in the shambles.

His father takes to his bed after a minor heart attack, and Mrs. Houlihan (the last turfed out neighbour) moves in to help (feeding his Da copious cloves of garlic for his health, though the smell is awful). The idea is to turn the home into a rooming house. Soon Father Mulcahy (a drinker turned out of the church) and John Mitchell (a blind homeless man) move into rooms. Uncle Frank and Aunt Agnes object, but when their daughter becomes pregnant, her Northern fiance Joe also moves in.

When pregnant niece Ira moves into Joe's room, things take a turn and the reader begins to question the whole story. Something else is happening that is slow to reveal itself, and the story turns into something quite unexpected. Although there were clues, this twist is so subtle, I was left outside, on the empty brick scattered street, questioning what I just read.

Truly great writing that was enjoyable and then mysterious. O'Neill has his finger on the pulse of the language and characters, and this is a sample of the great acclaim that was to come for his work. Recommended.

1989 / Tradeback / 240 pages