Charming Billy

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I started to read this book with an open-mind, but I have to be honest. This is the first book that I have forced myself to read through. There was one character though that kept me going, that is why I want to write about the characters.
I have read “Charming Billy”, written by Alice McDermott. The book was given the national book award 1998. The book is about the life of Billy Lynch, described by his family and nearest friends. It takes place after Billy’s funeral when the Billy’s family and friends talks about their memories of Billy. So the book is told in flashbacks.

First of all, the narrator. At the beginning I though that the narrator was nothing but a narrator, not a character. Like a fly on the wall who heard and saw everything. But as I kept reading I understood that the narrator was an actual person, the daughter of Dennis, Billy’s cousin who I will come back to later. I noticed it when suddenly the narrator told a memory that she had from when Billy was alive. Anyway, the daughter of Dennis does not say much and she does not do anything sensational. That creates an unwelcome distance between the reader and the plot. For example when she says who people are, then it sometimes get complicated and you have to stop reading and think. For example “my father’s mother’s new husband”.
All this could have been acceptable if she at least would have thoughts and opinions about things. I have to admit though, that even if I do not like the way the narrator “works”, the narrator is good at describing persons and settings.

Moving right on to my favorite character. Dennis, Billy’s cousin, friend and “protector”. I think that it is time to mention that Billy was an alcoholic, and that is the reason he died. He literally drank himself to death. But all the time Dennis is there for him, helping him and supporting him. That Dennis shows such unconditional live is very nobel of him and it really affected me. Dennis is the person who kept me from stop reading the book, he was the spark that stopped my fire from burning out.
He shows his nobelty in many ways. For example he helps Billy home when he was too drunk to find his way home, he helps Maeve, Billy’s wife, to carry him up the stairs when Billy fell asleep in the yard, he stayed up many nights to talk on the phone with Billy when he felt lonely.

As you probably have understood, Billy was not always that charming. I think that the title of the book is in some way sadly ironic. Because when Billy drank, he became another person. For example once he started to strangle Maeve, when he was drunk of course. Otherwise, when he not was drunk he was a really charming. Always making everybody laugh and always with a happy smile on this face. I think that is so typical, there are many people that are like that in the real world as well.
But Billy thinks that he has a reason to drink, because one day in his youth, he and Dennis was out on Long Island and then Billy met Eva, an Irish girl who he fell completely in love with. Unfortunately Eva had to go home to her parents but Billy took a loan and worked hard to send money to Eva, so that she could come back to the USA and marry Billy. Sadly, Eva never did and then suddenly Dennis tells Billy that Eva has died. After that occurrence Billy starts drinking, until his own destruction.

There are more important people in this book. One of them is of course Maeve, the girl who marries Billy despite his problems. This is how Maeve is described in the book: “She has got a lot of courage and a certain beauty”. Maeve is a very strong person, her father was also and alcoholic and she had to take care of him. Sometimes you get the feeling that Maeve needs someone to take care of, that is why she married Billy, Because she wants to have a feeling of helping someone.

Is there a main character in the book? That is hard to tell. When you look at the title you think that it is obvious. But trust me, it is not. I think that Dennis is a very important character, if not the most important.
Or is perhaps the narrator the most important? It is up to the reader to decide. But I would say that the main character is Dennis although with many important minor characters. The whole family is important characters, because they are in some way always present giving their opinion.

If you take a charming alcoholic, add some good friends and a pinch of girls. Then mix it around while adding a narrator who is a real person but acts like a fly on t...