World Without End, Amen

by Jimmy Breslin

Adrift in New York, an alcoholic cop searches for meaning in his life by revisiting his past
The department has taken away Dermot Davey’s gun. After countless incidents of excessive force and on-the-job drunkenness, and one harrowing moment where he nearly killed a civilian, the New York Police Department has dumped him on the “Bow and Arrow Squad”—the home for alcoholic cops unfit to carry firearms. Without his pistol, Dermot feels like he’s hardly a cop. As his marriage tanks, Dermot drinks, and considers ending it all. But everything changes when he learns about his dad. Dermot’s father disappeared when he was a child, leaving Dermot’s mother to raise him alone. Now Dermot hears word that his old man has surfaced in Ulster, the heart of the increasingly bloody Irish Troubles. Hoping to find redemption, he travels to Ireland to meet his father. What he finds is a war-torn, deadly place—a brutish, ugly city that is nevertheless no uglier than the darkness inside his own soul. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Jimmy Breslin including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author’s personal collection.

Genres: Fiction

431 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 24, 1973

About the author

Jimmy Breslin was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American columnist and author. He wrote numerous novels, and pieces of his have appeared regularly in various newspapers in his hometown of New York City. He was a regular columnist for the newspaper Newsday until his retirement on November 2, 2004.

Among his notable columns, perhaps the best known was published the day after John F. Kennedy's funeral, focusing on the man who had dug the president's grave. The column is indicative of Breslin's style, which often highlights how major events or the actions of those considered "newsworthy" affect the "common man."

Reviews

[Richard Sutton · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I finished this read, my emotions were swirling around the issues Breslin has raised here. This is not a "fun" read. It's a very disturbing look at injustice, racism, intolerance and the fruits of encoded poverty. It pushes the question of whether the lack of empathy can be attributed to a people entirely, or is it the result of having to survive against impossible hatred and violence. It also forces the reader to confront their feelings about the refuge of alcohol and whether flawed decisions made under its influence could have ever been averted. I read several reviews and was very surprised to see that readers were annoyed that Jimmy Breslin's work would be gritty and hard. I applaud the author's candor and courage. This is exactly what i have always expected from him, although he usually writes with more humor evident. The racism and intolerance within the police culture in NYC has been a problem for some time and needs to be revealed as much as possible if it is ever going to change. One reader implied that the subject of Northern Ireland during the height of "the Troubles" is a somewhat passe topic. I disagree strongly. By bringing a NYC Irish cop from Queens into Belfast and Derry, Breslin confronts the main character with the most disturbing, riveting, personal lessons possible for any man to have to face. The Troubles were directly the child of occupation and economic warfare against the minority Catholic population. Breslin isn't overstating anything here. When the Main Character, himself an American Irishman, used to being in control and a catholic to boot, sees what hatred and injustice create among white folks like himself, he is dumbfounded. His repeated requests for explanation are deferred or passed off as meaningless. However, he is not a character who will eventually find redemption beyond tiny, revealing moments. If you want a cheerful read with a happy ending, this is not the book for you. If you want to hear a moving story told like it is, with all the warts and scabs, and you want to read something that will stay with you longer than a channel change, by all means, read this book. Give some serious thought to how our society has dealt with many of the same issues and whether you can still feel confident that the American Spirit will always rise above.

[Noemi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good writing for the most part but can't give more than 3 stars due to all the racial slurs in the novel that, for the most part, did not serve a purpose

[Jay Dewey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd heard of Jimmy Breslin, the archetypal Irish American overly indulging in alcohol and writing well at the same time, particularly as a commentator on modern times.

But, this was my first read, my first real acquaintance with his work. A New York City cop, with all the prejudices of his location, lower-middle-class attitudes, and racial dislikes, travels to Northern Ireland during the "troubles" and witnesses firsthand the discrimination (and abuse) of Catholics under the rule of the "Prots" all the while hearing from his new Catholic Irish friends about how Americans treat Blacks back home.

Dermot, the cop, returns and fits into the same opinions as before, or so it seems, and we are left with whether his life has changed, though also with the feeling that this makes little difference to Breslin. He is much more interested in budging us from our complacent racial, socio-economic, and cultural biases. His unstated hope is that he has accomplished at least a little shift.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

A truly raw and beautifully written first half about a damaged cop in Queens loses its grip once the protagonist escapes to Ireland to find his father and get caught up in an all-too-cinematic Irish troubles drama. After turning into an adventure, the book's complex problems about racism and alcoholism and marital problems veer off into the lead's now-appropriate drinking addiction (it's Ireland, after all) and hooking up with the sexy but doomed activist girl. Breslin's depictions of Belfast violence and the poverty-stricken victims are harrowing. But nothing compares to the NYC segments that are written with an unsanitized honesty. Furthermore, the character's problems with racism and alcohol are never addressed after his adventures, so we're left with a disappointing nihilism that may work as a decent 70s movie ending. But for a book with this serious a mission, it feels empty. As always, Breslin's ear for Boroughs bar-room dialogue and all-around foul-mouthed, offensive cop talk is enchanting.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm updating goodreads with books that I read long before I had a goodreads account. I love most Jimmy Breslin books but this one was so sad that I stopped reading and donated it.

The sad part is when the main character goes to Northern Ireland and visits people who lived there during the Troubles.

[Carol Storm · Rating 3 out of 5]

You wouldn't think any Irish-American novel could be more depressing than STUDS LONIGAN, but this one really is. Poor Dermot Davey! Had to smile when his buddy got transferred to the "bow and arrow" squad, though. Twang!

[Gary Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

A tough read for me. Breslin is a brilliant author. Better than Hemingway, in my mind since he usually edited himself. I prefer his nonfiction over his fiction like this book.

[Allan Doe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dermot learned nothing. A waste of time. I expected more from Breslin.

[T Sunclades · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh
I just didn't get it.

Here we have the story of Dermot. He lives in the New York area, his father skipped out when he was a kid and he grew up to be a shady cop. He takes kickbacks and bribes, hustles hookers on the job, has a mistress and is drinks a lot. But he only drinks when he is out, his mom drinks at home, that makes her a drunk. He also basically ignores his kids because, reasons.

He is brought up on charges for assaulting a transvestite prostitute and as a way to get in with the board he goes to the homeland, Ireland. His intention is to see his father for the first time in decades. Eventually he meets his father again for the first time, there is no teary eyed reunion, he is treated as little more than another drinker at the bar.

While there he falls in love with a fiery socialist organizer while living in the squalor of what was Catholic Ireland at the time. He is constantly trying to nail this lady and she is always telling him yes, but not now. In the meantime he is with her for riots and political rallys, he sees how awful the conditions are for the Catholics in the area, who are under the thumb of the Protestants. Eventually, on the night of his lustful union with her is to commence, she stops off to lead another rally and she is shot in the head.

Dermot is troubled with the event and walks in a daze. He makes it back to New York and nothing changes. He still hangs out with the same low life cops, avoids his wife and drinks when he is out.

I am sure there is larger meaning here, something I am missing, but to me it doesn't matter. What we have here is the story of a sad, selfish, self destructive cop who has a traumatic experience and it does nothing for his life except for a brief feeling of otherness.

The section of the book before he gets on the plane and goes to Ireland is gripping and sad in the way that makes you feel, after that the Irish Squalor lessens the rest of the novel.