The destinies of Darcy Dancer, gentleman

Darcy Dancer #1

by J.P. Donleavy

His future is disastrous, his present indecent, his past divine. He Is Darcy Dancer, youthful squire of Andromeda Park, the great gray stone mansion inhabited by Crooks, the cross-eyed butler, and the sexy, aristocratic Miss Von B.

Genres: Fiction, Literature, Irish Literature, Humor, Novels

403 pages, Hardcover

First published November 30, 1976

About the author

James Patrick Donleavy was an Irish American author, born to Irish immigrants. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II after which he moved to Ireland. In 1946 he began studies at Trinity College, Dublin, but left before taking a degree. He was first published in the Dublin literary periodical, Envoy.

See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J.P._Don...

Reviews

[Tony]

This was a hoot early but the story ran out of hootiness for me. Maybe it was the third farting horse. Or maybe it was the twentieth party, this one where the drunken poet predictably follows the wayward pea down into the décolletage of some haughty aristocratic madam. Certainly it would have been at any one of several attempted rape scenes, even disguised in ribaldy as they were.

A shame, really, because the dialogue was spectacular.

[Vit Babenco · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Destinies of Darcy Dancer, Gentleman is a modern picaresque novel and it written in the style that only J.P. Donleavy possesses. The narration is simultaneously hilarious and sad, moody and ironic.

[David Lentz · Rating 5 out of 5]

JP Donleavy may well be the most hilarious writer on the planet. Darcy Dancer is a Bildungsroman about the coming of age of a young, educated member of the landed gentry in Ireland. He learns about love first- and second-hand through the auspices of a broad range of tutors including the brilliant Mr. Arland, a stablehand named Foxy, the sublime Miss Von B, the artist Clarissa, school chums, butlers and Rashers Ronald. Kildare wanders from one total fiasco of his own making to the next from the hunt and the stables to the mansions of the gentry and private schools and Dublin high society. He always emerges through chance and pluck and the kindness of others none the worse for wear and perhaps slightly wiser. What are we to make of this dubious young "gentleman"? As Kildare correctly surmises: "Every madman thinks everyone else is mad." Donleavy writes with a unique pointillism, using words as brush strokes, that is engaging, endearing and even breathtaking as each chapter ends on a brief poetic note, a pithy line of stacked type. The dialogue is outrageously real and human and uproarious. The character development is precise and each character lives and breathes with a separate unique identity that only a supremely talented writer can render so credibly. Having read nearly all his novels, Darcy Dancer is his best: it's truly a well-written, literary comedy. Discover JP Donleavy -- possibly one of the most under-rated and gifted writers of our era. You'll laugh your head off.

[Glen · Rating 4 out of 5]

After J.P. Donleavy's recent death, it occurred to me that I had not returned to his work since reading The Ginger Man several years ago, so I decided to pull this novel off my shelf and give it a go. I found the same ribaldry, love of slapstick action, and general overall good humor here that I found in the older work, but if audiences found their moral and sexual sensibilities offended then, one would expect this book to put them positively over the edge with its numerous and, shall we say, creative sexual encounters (not all involving the novel's eponymous narrator and protagonist, though most do). Darcy has singularly hard luck, and yet he continues to bounce back from one unfortunate catastrophe after another, always managing to maintain a sense of equilibrium and humor, always ready for another dalliance and happening. The book contains some hysterical scenes and send-ups of Irish social life and pretensions, so if you are in the mood for a bawdy farce, this might do you well.

[Timothy · Rating 5 out of 5]

My third Donleavy, (after Ginger Man and Fairytale Of New York, both reviewed here on GR.) Sine dubio remarkable. And I'm puzzled: why is this exceptionally skillful scrivener not regarded as one of the giants of English literature? He should be. He will be. Unique writing style, living breathing characters, vivid mise-en-scène, atmospheric, remarkably involved plot, sizzling social commentary, acerbic wit. Making this work a dense and captivating literary triumph. More good news: this is first in a series of three.

[Victoria Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is hilarious and memorable. Why isn't this writer better known? I will add a little more - read other reviews, it is bawdy and rude, unexpected, not like anything else and a great and amusing story set in rural Ireland and Dublin - uplifting and as it says on the back of my copy, life affirming. Writing style is also unusual. I immediatley bought other Donleavys especially the Darcy Dancer trilogy.

[Koyote · Rating 3 out of 5]

well written, leaving me with morrissey songs running through my head while reading. the writing style, with many sentences left as fragments was intriguing and distracting at points.

[Neil Mach · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not one of Donleavy very best, but still an enjoyable and poetic gambol

[Rita Vogel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I truly enjoy this author, and got a hoot out of Ginger Man. However, this book is troubling with so many graphic sex scenes that they take away from the story. Most of the main characters are fun, and the young boy is endearing--dialogue is amusing. It is the rapacious women he encounters and their abuse of his youthfulness, for pages and pages, which interferes with the storyline, unless, of course, that IS the story line. Donleavy is a gifted writer, and it is such a pleasure to get on the trains and broughams with him, as he describes the other passengers, but detailed sexual encounters of the sort he depicts get to be too much. I like to share Darcy's life experiences with him, but all that debauchery, as hilarious as the author might intend, gets a bit tedious.

Just finished the book, having given it a second look. It got a bit better, particularly with Darcy's dealing with bullies, of all grades. Some of the dialogue would get mired in too much verbiage, as in the case of Ronald Ronald Ronald. Still, I managed to ultimately enjoy the read.

[Alex Budris · Rating 3 out of 5]

jaunty and ribald, shot through with true melancholy. A novel about loss and estrangement. Rife with bedroom farce and scatological humor. And in the end, Darcy is redeemed by the thing that matters to him most - I won't give it away. Donleavy has a 'type' when it comes to his protagonists. Every one of them is a remix of Sebastian Dangerfield. I don't mean that as critisism, really, because the formula seems to work, but if one likes or dislikes one of his books chances are they will adopt the same attitude about the others. I'm waiting for the sequel to arrive in the mail.

[Torben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sad, lustful and hilarous. Strange too – if You are not landed gentry. 'Leila : further in the life and destinies of Darcy Dancer, gentleman' is a must-read.

[Corey · Rating 4 out of 5]

His novels are full of arcane delights.

[PATRICE PRIVAT · Rating 1 out of 5]

Endless repetitive descriptions of the Irish landcapes , and quite conventional; a style which is adolescent at best; an irritating and constant self pity and self glorification (in turns); highly improbable scenes; a lot of phoney gimmicks in writing , like verbless clauses ; well I really wonder why I finished this book, which is 200 pages too long and, in most passages, a waste of time.
There are scores of Irish writers who deserve your attention better.

[Michael D · Rating 4 out of 5]

A frequently hilarious and salacious romp following the adventures and sexual education of a loveable upper class bastard. Donleavy's critical star seems to have waned over the last 20 years or so but you will travel a long way to read a book as funny and dare i say it, as profound, as this. Loads of boinky-boinky too - always a good thing.

[angeline]

DNFed page 48 (12%)

I only picked this up because I got it from my uncle. It's not bad, but I don't think it's my type of book. I have no real burning desire to continue reading, and life is simply too short.

[Rw · Rating 3 out of 5]

As usual with Donleavy, "a good read".

[Mike Marsbergen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another classic, this one the first in a trilogy centred around Darcy Dancer and his rundown mansion and quirky staff. As always, Donleavy impresses with his witty and poetic writing.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Donleavy - live vicariously through him.