The Wild Colonial Boy

by James Hynes

After years of violence, a tense calm pervades Northern Ireland, soon to be broken by Jimmy Coogan, an IRA veteran gone renegade. Jimmy has stolen ten pounds of plastic explosive, intending to destroy the parliamentary ambitions of the IRA leadership.

Into Jimmy's turbulent world come two young Americans: Brian, vain, ironic, but well-meaning; and Clare, a beautiful, earnest college student. In Ireland on an errand for his Irish Republican family in Detroit, Brian is recruited to Jimmy's bloody mission by his cousin Maire, Coogan's sharp-tongued wife. Soon they are all drawn into the unforgiving labyrinth of modern terrorism, borne toward a horrific and fatal climax.

Genres: Fiction, Novels

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

James Hynes’ essays and book reviews have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Boston Review, and Salon.

A native of Michigan, he attended the University of Michigan and the Iowa Writers' Workshop. He has taught fiction writing at the University of Iowa, the University of Michigan, Miami University, Grinnell College, and the University of Texas. He lives in Austin, Texas.

Reviews

[Brian Leehan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being "Irish American," this book certainly caught my attention. This is the author's first book, and it had a little bit of the feel of a first fiction book - lots of evocative description of specific things (weather, etc.) that felt a bit like a new author wanting to "show not tell." Overall a very enjoyable read. The ending wasn't entirely satisfying to me. Am looking forward to reading more of this author's work to see how he matured as a writer.

[Stacy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh. This was not what I was expecting it to be. I would have DNF’d it if I wasn’t doing the 30 books in 30 days challenge. This started off with a similar vibe to Sons of Anarchy (which I already felt didn’t work as well as a book as it does as a TV show but I was interested enough to keep going) and then it just got so boring. And that ending. It wasn’t even an ending. The story just stopped. I don’t know what really happened to any of the characters. I’m so irritated.

[Alan Gerstle · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are many novels about the Irish "Troubles" and quite a few that I'm sure are better than this one; however, it takes a different slant on the political, social, and personal aspect of the Irish/English conflict that has always been of thematic interest to me--not just for the particular setting and conflict, but as a commentary of American culture--its values, socialization process, and personality. Namely, it shows an American of Irish descent within the context of a planned IRA terrorist attack. As with many conflicts where Americans hold a particular viewpoint, the American is not willing to sacrifice himself for a cause greater than himself. That is, while he may have sympathies towards radicals engaged in violent political acts to support their agenda, they will rarely if ever rish their lives to do so. This is an interesting juxtaposition with the Irish radicals, who are willing to lose their lives in the context of a greater cause. This issue has always intrigued me because I think it has to do with the American psyche, which is to self-centered and has a desire for self-preservation and egocentricism which creates a wall against indulging in direct political action where long jail sentences and in particular, the sacrifice of one's life may be required.

This is not a criticism of American culture; I doubt whether I would risk my life for a political cause, or have the gumption to assassinate civilians to advance a cause. What is it in our psyches that holds us back but does not hold back 'liberators' from other countries? Perhaps we are the wise ones. Perhaps we have never had the societal oppression that other societies have had endured. This issue is at the heart of the protagonist Brian, an American from Michigan, whose grandfather is considered a hero for assassinating an Ulster police officer 'back in the day.' Is Brian different? How does he weave his personal and political attitude through the various actors that want him to engage in a terrorist attack in England? Is he being manipulated by the Provos? Or is he considered a trusted ally. None of these questions are spoilers as they are set up in the first 20 pages or so of the novel. The writing doesn't have the authority of a Irish writer, but there seems enough verisimilitude to carry the action and the themes.

[Jeff Skott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Educational and nervewracking

The characters move this story. Just very vivid and when you think he’s lost his forward momentum, the writer takes you on a wild rollercoaster ride. Good read and I learned quite a-bit about the IRA, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and the politics and factions that drove the Troubles.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice work of fiction about an interesting topic. Well written.

[martin scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

Couldn't get past the first 50 pages

[Booknblues · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brian Donovan, The Wild Colonial Boy of James Hynes novel is a footloose idealistic soul who has long worshiped his grandfathers revolutionary roots. Donovan's grandfather was long ago forced to flee to America because of his activity in the IRA. He has continued to support it. When he finds he needs a courier to deliver $10,000 to the IRA, Brian willingly obliges. Brian sees this as an adventure of a life and soon finds out that it is more of an adventure than he anticipated. Jimmy Coogan, Brian's cousins husband and a violent extremist who is on the outs with the moderates of the IRA, forces Brian to assist him in the delivery of explosive plastique.
Along the way Brian meets Clare another young American, who he is romantically interested in. The two become caught up in a dangerous game with varying factions of the IRA. Clearly Brian's idealism and mythism about the IRA have not prepared him for the harsh realities which coexist in Ireland today. Brian is a boy playing a man's game and ill-prepared for the test of courage that he faces in making crucial moral decisions.

Clare and Brian serve as symbols of contrasting visions of morality and courage. Both are young and idealistic, but they have different ideals of loyalty, courage and ethics. It is interesting to follow them on their journey to see their evolving definitions of these issues. The tale is a very exciting one, but a very real one in which young people in Ireland today have to face these decisions on a daily basis. It is clear from the novel that the average American has little understanding of the scope of the movement.

I suggest this book for reading for anyone who enjoys a tale of adventure or who is interested in Ireland today.

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

This novel opened well and Hynes has a voice that draws you in and makes the book easy to read. The story didn't really drag, but it didn't gallop along either. In this novel a young America, Brian, is commissioned by his family to deliver money to relatives in the Provisional IRA. Jimmy is a member of the PIRA, who isn't happy with the direction the IRA and Sinn Féin, the political arm of the IRA, is taking. Maire is his wife, a Sinn Féin councilor and Brian's cousin. Jimmy talks Brian into carrying a bomb out of Northern Ireland for him. Brian meets pretty, American Clare along the way. The most interesting character was easily Maire, and she was also the one who was the most clearly changed by the novel. I think the basic problem of the novel was that the central protagonist, Brian, was pretty passive. He and Clare spent the novel literally (and I do mean literally) touring Ireland, and by the end he seemed to experience no real change. He started the novel as a spoiled American thinking primarily of himself and he ended the novel as a spoiled American thinking primarily of himself, though one could argue he was thinking of Clare as well. I think the author meant his last actions to be him thinking only of Clare, but it came off that his final actions in the novel were still to alleviate his guilt, not to help her. And he didn't think for a minute about all of the other people affected by his actions in the novel. Because of that, I the novel rather disappointing.

[Jamie Barringer (Ravenmount) · Rating 5 out of 5]

It can be hard for anyone who has grown up in a place without armed conflict to understand what it is like to live where bombs, shootings and dead bodies are just part of the landscape. In this novel 3 Americans find themselves in the middle of a plot to explode a bomb in London in protest against the Irish politicians who would accept seats in the British-created parliamentary body. Two of the Americans understand very little about what is going on. They are simply children of families that are sympathetic to the IRA, from afar. The third American is a journalist who thinks he knows enough and is tough enough to hold his own with the meanest of the militants he seeks stories from. As this novel follows their adventure, we get a decent snapshot of life in at least the militant groups of Ireland, the fear, highly conditional loyalties and constant threat of torture and death from friends and enemies alike. As the Americans discover firsthand, it is a different world when there is no one you can trust enough to turn to for help when it matters.

[Bandit · Rating 3 out of 5]

I absolutely loved James Hynes' academic satire/horror books, all 3 of them. Naturally, I was curious to read his debut novel, though I didn't find the subject matter as appealing as his later works. The only similarity between this book and his other ones seems to be that they are both very well written. As predicted, the subject matter was interesting, but not interesting to me, so the book wasn't as enjoyable, although definitely thought provoking. Notably missing was the dark sense of humor of his other books too. Usually good debut novels dazzle, this one merely made me glad the author has matured into writing his incredibly clever and dark horrors in the academia. The edition I have featured better cover art, but it's not available on GR at this time.

[Mica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fairly good read for the majority of it, having good character development and an interesting plot. I was very disappointed at the ending and feel that the author sort of rushed to finish and let the story fall off at the end with to much left unsaid.

[Doug Page · Rating 2 out of 5]

James Hynes's first novel

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

James Hynes was a creative writing instructor of mine at Univ Mich -- the first book I remember reading whose writer I knew which made it pretty cool...

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good writer but I'm not too interested in the subject matter.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad for a first book, but he hits his stride with "Publish and Perish".

[Jonathan Gruber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fine but not outstanding - a good political thriller but nothing really stands out. Not nearly as interesting as his later more surreal writings