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The Flood
Book by Broderick, John
367 pages, Hardcover
First published July 1, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 11, 2020
Very entertaining and intelligent tale of the residents of an Irish town reacting to an Englishman who descends with offers of loot for the lands they own along the Shannon. But who’s the cute hour and who’s the patsy?
The author’s love of phonetically transcribed dialect can become a little wearisome.
“Tanks be to de Lord God Almighty an’ His Mudder, an His faster-fodder St Joseff, an’ all de saints of Ireland includin’ them dat’s not canonicated or ized - yet- like me own fadder and mudder dat’s always prayin’ in heaven above fur me an’ me friends..” can be amusing in the short term, but palls by page 300.
But when Broderick switches to third person narration, he can delight.
“And all the time the fire in the range burned lower and lower and the lane outside darkened and voices were heard faintly from the street and a cat jumped up on the window-sill and the wind blew a paper across the door and the little old house creaked and nothing apart from the torn old newspaper came to the door nor had anything else or anybody for a long year now.”
The author’s love of phonetically transcribed dialect can become a little wearisome.
“Tanks be to de Lord God Almighty an’ His Mudder, an His faster-fodder St Joseff, an’ all de saints of Ireland includin’ them dat’s not canonicated or ized - yet- like me own fadder and mudder dat’s always prayin’ in heaven above fur me an’ me friends..” can be amusing in the short term, but palls by page 300.
But when Broderick switches to third person narration, he can delight.
“And all the time the fire in the range burned lower and lower and the lane outside darkened and voices were heard faintly from the street and a cat jumped up on the window-sill and the wind blew a paper across the door and the little old house creaked and nothing apart from the torn old newspaper came to the door nor had anything else or anybody for a long year now.”
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May 7, 2026- review still being written -
From the jacket flyleaf of the 1987 hardback edition from Marion Boyars:
"John Broderick's latest novel is a superb recreation of small town life in the Southern Ireland of the early 'thirties. The book is obviously inspired by the author's love affair with the place of his birth and boyhood and in the process he has produced what may well be a comic masterpiece.
"As with most Broderick novels there is another layer of meaning in 'The Flood'. On the surface, life seems slow and steady, but the appearance is based on a complex etiquette in which deference and pointed insult - often hilariously funny - are kept carefully in balance. But when something happens in Bridgeford everybody wants to make it their business, either for profit or for the deep satisfaction of knowing what is going on.
"An Englishman arrives in the town one day, offering good money for a few acres of land along the banks of the Shannon (which everyone knows will be under water for at least three months of the year!). The sale of the land means a great deal to the poor of Bridgeford. And it also affords the rest of the population a rare opportunity of putting one over on the perfidious English. Of course , what happens when the Shannon floods and the precious acres are submerged is a different matter entirely.
"But what is really important is that in this novel we meet the unforgettable publican Benny O'Farrell and his sweet wife Helen; the night-and-day porter at the Duke of Clarence Hotel and the unfortunate Hamlet, his assistant; old MacDonnell, the Tammany politico and Macroom, his sidekick, who has put a new word into the language; the ineffable Hosannah, champion candle-lighter and cougher-in-church, the sane and solid Mrs. 'Pig' Prendergast, who knows more about people and Irish history, and fluttery Miss McLurry who has a guilty secret; as well the delicious Maud Daly and her pure bred mother. Hector Slyne, the English visitor, is no mean joker himself."
From the jacket flyleaf of the 1987 hardback edition from Marion Boyars:
"John Broderick's latest novel is a superb recreation of small town life in the Southern Ireland of the early 'thirties. The book is obviously inspired by the author's love affair with the place of his birth and boyhood and in the process he has produced what may well be a comic masterpiece.
"As with most Broderick novels there is another layer of meaning in 'The Flood'. On the surface, life seems slow and steady, but the appearance is based on a complex etiquette in which deference and pointed insult - often hilariously funny - are kept carefully in balance. But when something happens in Bridgeford everybody wants to make it their business, either for profit or for the deep satisfaction of knowing what is going on.
"An Englishman arrives in the town one day, offering good money for a few acres of land along the banks of the Shannon (which everyone knows will be under water for at least three months of the year!). The sale of the land means a great deal to the poor of Bridgeford. And it also affords the rest of the population a rare opportunity of putting one over on the perfidious English. Of course , what happens when the Shannon floods and the precious acres are submerged is a different matter entirely.
"But what is really important is that in this novel we meet the unforgettable publican Benny O'Farrell and his sweet wife Helen; the night-and-day porter at the Duke of Clarence Hotel and the unfortunate Hamlet, his assistant; old MacDonnell, the Tammany politico and Macroom, his sidekick, who has put a new word into the language; the ineffable Hosannah, champion candle-lighter and cougher-in-church, the sane and solid Mrs. 'Pig' Prendergast, who knows more about people and Irish history, and fluttery Miss McLurry who has a guilty secret; as well the delicious Maud Daly and her pure bred mother. Hector Slyne, the English visitor, is no mean joker himself."
August 5, 2016
Brilliant
February 4, 2016
This was one of several books that I bought 20-odd years ago and which, because of my travels, have been sitting unread until now. Most have been read as long-lost treasures recently found, but not, I'm afraid John Broderick's The Flood.
A rambling tale of scullduggery in 1930s Ireland, this crams in the stereotypes which might play to a stage-Irish American readership, but to me seemed tired and overplayed.
It is OK, but not much more and there were moments when it came close to going unfinished into another box bound for the OXFAM shop.
A rambling tale of scullduggery in 1930s Ireland, this crams in the stereotypes which might play to a stage-Irish American readership, but to me seemed tired and overplayed.
It is OK, but not much more and there were moments when it came close to going unfinished into another box bound for the OXFAM shop.
February 2, 2013
Very long drawn out account of Irish "cute hoors" in action !!!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews