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The Ship Inspector
Covers worn, page edges tanned, owner's inscription. Orders received by 3pm Sent from the UK that weekday.
- GenresFiction
281 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 27, 2022
Soz Ferdia really liked you as a lecturer but just didn't connect with this at all!!
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March 26, 2020I purchased this while in Ireland for a friend's wedding.
June 23, 2017
This is similar to The Last Of The High Kings, evoking the Charlie Haughey years in Dublin and adding the rock band experience the author acquired in his youth.
Daniel Buckley is young when his father vanishes. No message is received, nobody knows what to say. His mother, older brother and sister all deal with the matter differently. The family becomes the jeer of the town, a seaside town in county Dublin. Daniel develops a stammer.
Mrs Buckley has been pestering the priest and bishop to get more daylight into her home by altering the church roof next door. Of course this is unsuccessful until finally the new bishop has work done 'for safety reasons'. Inspired, and without income, the woman decides to get a few jobs to pay the mortgage and make herself strong. She becomes the talk of the town and gets nominated as a TD (political representative) for ruling party Fianna Fail.
The story is told with looks back at various times in Daniel's life in each chapter, not in order, pleasantly jigsaw-like. His mother goes over the top in her efforts for the party; his brother Rory sulks, constantly hits Daniel and starts a rock band, probably one of the worst efforts in Ireland had they but known it; his sister Maeve starts writing campaign speeches for their mother aged twelve.
Daniel gets sent to an eccentric speech therapist but never loses the stammer. He goes for an interview at his mother's behest, not knowing about it in advance, and can only nod or shake his head in answer to queries. But his mother's a TD so he gets the civil service job and becomes a ship inspector. The title is a holdover from days before planes, inspecting agricultural travel and animals, preventing foot and mouth disease from entering Ireland. Daniel works at Dublin Airport which confuses everyone. The job is menial and boring almost all the time with cohorts you'd hate to find in your office.
And Daniel gets a love life, but we can tell from the start that it is not going to be a happy ever after.
Mainly the lad waits for his father to come home.
There is tension, sorrow and amiable getting on with life; there is a great deal of humour and lively representations of characters. If you don't understand the language used, and the humour, maybe you just had to be there.
Daniel Buckley is young when his father vanishes. No message is received, nobody knows what to say. His mother, older brother and sister all deal with the matter differently. The family becomes the jeer of the town, a seaside town in county Dublin. Daniel develops a stammer.
Mrs Buckley has been pestering the priest and bishop to get more daylight into her home by altering the church roof next door. Of course this is unsuccessful until finally the new bishop has work done 'for safety reasons'. Inspired, and without income, the woman decides to get a few jobs to pay the mortgage and make herself strong. She becomes the talk of the town and gets nominated as a TD (political representative) for ruling party Fianna Fail.
The story is told with looks back at various times in Daniel's life in each chapter, not in order, pleasantly jigsaw-like. His mother goes over the top in her efforts for the party; his brother Rory sulks, constantly hits Daniel and starts a rock band, probably one of the worst efforts in Ireland had they but known it; his sister Maeve starts writing campaign speeches for their mother aged twelve.
Daniel gets sent to an eccentric speech therapist but never loses the stammer. He goes for an interview at his mother's behest, not knowing about it in advance, and can only nod or shake his head in answer to queries. But his mother's a TD so he gets the civil service job and becomes a ship inspector. The title is a holdover from days before planes, inspecting agricultural travel and animals, preventing foot and mouth disease from entering Ireland. Daniel works at Dublin Airport which confuses everyone. The job is menial and boring almost all the time with cohorts you'd hate to find in your office.
And Daniel gets a love life, but we can tell from the start that it is not going to be a happy ever after.
Mainly the lad waits for his father to come home.
There is tension, sorrow and amiable getting on with life; there is a great deal of humour and lively representations of characters. If you don't understand the language used, and the humour, maybe you just had to be there.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews