Stir-Fry

by Emma Donoghue

Book Overview

A memorable first novel by an exciting new writer, Stir Fry is the coming-of-age story of a young woman who, when she leaves home to enter college, first discovers her lesbian feelings.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 006017109X
• ISBN13: 9780060171094
• Release Date: January 1994
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.8" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Read it, liked it, stole it:-)

Happened on this book perchance in my local library, and as another reviewer put it, read it, liked it, stole it. This was my introduction to this author. Maria at 17 years, is written in as very mentally matured by the auhor. This is actually not an easy book to read. The writing style reminded me of Jane Rule. Mixes a lot of politically incorrect situationsThe Irish slang made it a bit confusing to read though. But i liked the way the book is written though.

Nostalgic, innocent, timely and welcome

I was heading to Ireland 12 days ago for the first time, and took this book with me for the plane ride. I made a list of all the Irish-isms in the back of the book and was fortunate to be able to get definitions from a fellow traveler even before I finished the book. It was good to revisit that time in the vocal feminist heyday from the perspective of a young Irish woman new to college in Dublin, discovering her roommates are lesbians. The narrative felt true, and was well-written. I highly recommend!

Good writing as usual

"Stir-fry" tells the coming of age story of, Maria, a college student in Dublin, Ireland. While I enjoyed the plot and characters, overall the ending was unfulfilling. Even with slight reservations I still recommend this book: Donoghue's writing is that good. I also highly recommend Donoghue's novel "Hood".

I love it!

Donoghue writes simply and clearly, yet conveys so well the complexities of Maria becoming more aware of herself. There is so much going through her mind as she adjusts to life in the city, away from her family and village, and is exposed to new ideas of how to live. We can see Maria changing and yet are still surprised at the end. This book is more about relationships than events, so on the first read it seemed to drag, but the more I read it the more I notice how every insignificant event is designed to show some aspect of Maria that she is barely aware of herself.

Go forth and read it. =)

I can't remember how I first stumbled across this book, but I read it, fell in love with it, and stole it from our local public library. The story is that of Maria (rhymes with pariah) who comes to Dublin after a small-town, Irish, good-Catholic-schoolgirl life. She meets Ruth and Jael, two women who end up being her flatmates; they slowly but surely become the center of her ever-less-certain world. And then she finds out Ruth and Jael are lovers. And suddenly, the world she's oh-so-fond of starts getting shaken up; from her revelation that the two people she thought she fancied were just crushes "because that's what's expected" of her to her growing awareness of the sexual relationship between Ruth and Jael, Maria's forced to consider exactly who she is. The language is wonderfully Irish, and the descriptions and dialogue throughout are just beautiful. Read it. Buy it. It's worth it.