Night Boat to Tangier

This book follows a pair of Irish criminals over a few decades, but specifically at an important point in their old age while they are waiting for the daughter of one of them to appear in Algeciras having gone off to Morocco. All their lives, Maurice and Charlie have engaged in criminal activities to support themselves, sometimes amassing enormous quantities of cash through the international drug trade. But the money never lasted as long as they hoped even after laundering it because of their addictions and other vices. The book spends some time from the point of view of the missing daughter, Dilly, who's been warned off of her father Maurice by her mother in her dying days. Now that Dilly is grown she understands why she should have nothing to do with them, to be free of their control and their malignant influence, and yet they still represent all she has left.

There are flashbacks going back decades that delve into the seamy side of the men's lives. There is one absolutely harrowing scene where they are observed arguing in a tavern late one night which felt electric with tension. Then there are the depictions of them isolated, wandering or on the run, on the edge of despair. The dialogue is often raw and vulgar, tending toward the violence, but it can also be profoundly evocative. The way Maurice talks about Dilly falls into a line of patter over and over again, like the refrain to a tune. The writing is not infrequently beautiful. There's a bit of a supernatural element regarding an purported ancient curse associated with the spot of land that Maurice and his wife chose to put up a housing development. It makes you think about whether their paths in life are determined by elements greater than themselves.

From the men's point of view, you can see strong emotion here, which may be love for the one they seek, in part, but also guilt and shame. These men are portrayed as bad men who have each done hateful things and yet they are in their own way compelling. That is why they wait night after night on a sliver of hope. The two men are friends, but the connection is fraught with betrayal and suspicion. Each wears scars from their association. There is no assurance that they expect some kind of forgiveness from Dilly, if she does arrive on the boat from Tangier. And yet it hangs out there. Maybe some part of them just wants a quiet reconciliation as though the worst things never happened.

An Irish story talking about two men who are waiting for a third invites comparison to Waiting for Godot. The boat of the title is ever uncertain, there are continual rumors about its status, so it's easy to see parallels. I didn't pick up a clear reason why they thought they had to carry on this vigil, but I feel like I could understand their bleak lives and why the author had to write about them.