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Masculine Protest
Paperback
Published January 1, 1972
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About the author
Frank O'Connor
164 books131 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads data base.
Frank O’Connor (born Michael Francis O'Connor O'Donovan) was an Irish author of over 150 works, who was best known for his short stories and memoirs. Raised an only child in Cork, Ireland, to Minnie O'Connor and Michael O'Donovan, his early life was marked by his father's alcoholism, indebtness and ill-treatment of his mother.
He was perhaps Ireland's most complete man of letters, best known for his varied and comprehensive short stories but also for his work as a literary critic, essayist, travel writer, translator and biographer.[5] He was also a novelist, poet and dramatist.[6]
From the 1930s to the 1960s he was a prolific writer of short stories, poems, plays, and novellas. His work as an Irish teacher complemented his plethora of translations into English of Irish poetry, including his initially banned translation of Brian Merriman's Cúirt an Mheán Oíche ("The Midnight Court"). Many of O'Connor's writings were based on his own life experiences — his character Larry Delaney in particular. O'Connor's experiences in the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War are reflected in The Big Fellow, his biography of Irish revolutionary leader Michael Collins, published in 1937, and one of his best-known short stories, Guests of the Nation (1931), published in various forms during O'Connor's lifetime and included in Frank O'Connor — Collected Stories, published in 1981.
O'Connor's early years are recounted in An Only Child, a memoir published in 1961 but which has the immediacy of a precocious diary. U.S. President John F. Kennedy quoted from An Only Child in his remarks introducing the American commitment to land a man on the moon by the end of the 1960s. Kennedy described the long walks O'Connor would take with his friends and how, when they came to a wall that seemed too formidable to climb over, they would throw their caps over the wall so they would be forced to scale the wall after them. Kennedy concluded, "This nation has tossed its cap over the wall of space and we have no choice but to follow it."[7] O'Connor continued his autobiography through his time with the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, which ended in 1939, in his book, My Father's Son, which was published in 1968, after O'Connor's death.
Frank O’Connor (born Michael Francis O'Connor O'Donovan) was an Irish author of over 150 works, who was best known for his short stories and memoirs. Raised an only child in Cork, Ireland, to Minnie O'Connor and Michael O'Donovan, his early life was marked by his father's alcoholism, indebtness and ill-treatment of his mother.
He was perhaps Ireland's most complete man of letters, best known for his varied and comprehensive short stories but also for his work as a literary critic, essayist, travel writer, translator and biographer.[5] He was also a novelist, poet and dramatist.[6]
From the 1930s to the 1960s he was a prolific writer of short stories, poems, plays, and novellas. His work as an Irish teacher complemented his plethora of translations into English of Irish poetry, including his initially banned translation of Brian Merriman's Cúirt an Mheán Oíche ("The Midnight Court"). Many of O'Connor's writings were based on his own life experiences — his character Larry Delaney in particular. O'Connor's experiences in the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War are reflected in The Big Fellow, his biography of Irish revolutionary leader Michael Collins, published in 1937, and one of his best-known short stories, Guests of the Nation (1931), published in various forms during O'Connor's lifetime and included in Frank O'Connor — Collected Stories, published in 1981.
O'Connor's early years are recounted in An Only Child, a memoir published in 1961 but which has the immediacy of a precocious diary. U.S. President John F. Kennedy quoted from An Only Child in his remarks introducing the American commitment to land a man on the moon by the end of the 1960s. Kennedy described the long walks O'Connor would take with his friends and how, when they came to a wall that seemed too formidable to climb over, they would throw their caps over the wall so they would be forced to scale the wall after them. Kennedy concluded, "This nation has tossed its cap over the wall of space and we have no choice but to follow it."[7] O'Connor continued his autobiography through his time with the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, which ended in 1939, in his book, My Father's Son, which was published in 1968, after O'Connor's death.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 5, 2012
Under O'Connor's name on the cover of this book is the sobriquet "Ireland's master storyteller." I've only read his stories contained in this slim volume, but on the basis of these, I could agree. He's not a spinner of yarns, but certainly a chronicler of a certain time and place: small-town Ireland in the 40s and 50s when the Catholic Church ruled every aspect of life, customs and culture.
Though his focus may seem narrow, the stories aren't at all, each opening up into a larger novel of a world. As a young man says in "A Story by Maupassant": 'Humanity is the same here as anywhere else. If he's [the writer Maupassant] not true of the life we know, he's not true of any sort of life.' These stories by O'Connor are true.
The only quibble I had with one story was that I found it unnecessarily long-winded, but then it was a monologue.
Though his focus may seem narrow, the stories aren't at all, each opening up into a larger novel of a world. As a young man says in "A Story by Maupassant": 'Humanity is the same here as anywhere else. If he's [the writer Maupassant] not true of the life we know, he's not true of any sort of life.' These stories by O'Connor are true.
The only quibble I had with one story was that I found it unnecessarily long-winded, but then it was a monologue.
March 27, 2025
so so so interesting. O’Connor lifts up the rug of 1950’s Catholic Church Chokehold Ireland to see what’s underneath and pulls out a number of stories that are largely a scathing criticism of the Catholic narrative of the time. Everything from hiding ones atheism, the social stigma of converting from catholic to protestant, the cover up of a priests suicide, parents that believe the right choice of saint to pray to will lead to better real life results. I loved every story. The stand outs for me were easily the title story ‘Masculine Protest’, ‘Anchors’ and ‘An Act of Charity’.
A few fav quotes:
‘it wasn’t that mother was actively unkind, for she thought far too much of the impression she wanted to make to give one of unkindness’
‘i never enjoyed the society of chaps who wouldn’t commit sin for the same reason they wouldn’t dirty their new suits.’
‘she was a plain woman who regarded heaven as a glorified extension of the cork county council and the saints as elected representatives whose duty it was to attend to the interests of constituents and relatives.’
I will read anything this man has written and enjoy it even if he was slandering my da.
A few fav quotes:
‘it wasn’t that mother was actively unkind, for she thought far too much of the impression she wanted to make to give one of unkindness’
‘i never enjoyed the society of chaps who wouldn’t commit sin for the same reason they wouldn’t dirty their new suits.’
‘she was a plain woman who regarded heaven as a glorified extension of the cork county council and the saints as elected representatives whose duty it was to attend to the interests of constituents and relatives.’
I will read anything this man has written and enjoy it even if he was slandering my da.
September 12, 2024
A collection of beautiful Irish short stories written in the 1950s when the parish priest and the local doctor were still the most important people in town. Mr O'Connor manages to set the scene and sketch a character in just a few sentences which immediately draws you into the story.
It is funny to read in the foreword, that Mr O'Connor used to rewrite his stories dozens of times, sometimes even after they had already been published, resulting in multiple versions of the same story.
It is funny to read in the foreword, that Mr O'Connor used to rewrite his stories dozens of times, sometimes even after they had already been published, resulting in multiple versions of the same story.
October 16, 2016
Grittier than say Maeve Binchy. Well written but not heart warming, though some wry humour
Dreary reminders of the awfulness of working class life in 1950's-60's Ireland
Dreary reminders of the awfulness of working class life in 1950's-60's Ireland
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews