Skerrett

by Liam O'Flaherty, J.F. Kliphuis (translator)

Desire for personal freedom fits uneasily with commitment to traditional community values and a stubborn narrow-mindedness in this tale of struggle between Skerrett, the national schoolteacher, and the parish priest, Father Moclair.

Genres: Irish Literature

287 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1932

About the author

People know Irish writer Liam O'Flaherty especially for his short stories, collected in Two Lovely Beasts (1948) and The Pedlar's Revenge (1976).

This significant novelist, a major figure in the literary renaissance, also wrote short stories. Left-wing politics involved him as was his brother Tom Maidhc O'Flaherty (also a writer), and their father, Maidhc Ó Flaithearta, for a time.

Reviews

[A. Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story is epic and tragic both, although David Skerrett never does come to enlightenment regarding his flaw. The island setting functions as a microcosm of Irish life at the turning of the twentieth century, and the power and corruption of the local priest and the Roman Catholic church in general are unmitigated. O'Flaherty incorporates the problem of drink, rising nationalism, capitalism versus socialism, poverty, violence--you name it, ideological, environmental, experiential, whatever: it's here. The novel is relentlessly dramatic, so that when David Skerrett experiences any times of relative calm and relief in his life, the plot skips over them with only passing mention. The epic struggle, between teacher and priest, for the hearts and minds of the local people spans twenty years, moving inexorably to its unhappy conclusion. O'Flaherty has a lot to say here about human nature, but Skerrett's mercurial character made it difficult for me to like him any better than I liked Father Moclair. While this may be part of O'Flaherty's point, it made the novel less functional, for me. I think I wanted and needed a protagonist less mired in the ooze. In the end, this novel has nothing hopeful or optimistic to say about people and their beliefs and practices. They're selfish, spiteful, superstitious creatures, regardless of religion, politics, and class. Dr. Melia is the most enlightened person on the island, when he concludes that the only thing to do is retreat and live as a hermit, but even he is unable to step out of the collective experience.

[ThePageGobbler · Rating 4 out of 5]

His style is a little rough around the edges and there is some implausible dialogue and plot elements but for all that this was a really enjoyable novel about a totally unsympathetic but somehow heroic protagonist in a claustrophobic western setting. The constant reversals of the plot force the reader to accommodate Skerrett’s bullying and misguided lifestyle with his higher purpose on the island and the enemies he has made himself, and it’s an effective and detailed diagnosis of the bleak power struggles of 19th century Ireland

[David Hollywood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deeply unsettling when considering the story is set in a time not that very long ago, when the values of which and as described still remotely ripple throughout parts of our society while we look to liberates ourselves from such suffocations as church versus societal progress. Set in the Aran islands, the location is seen as a microcosm of Ireland during a time when personal independence, change and self esteem was on the horizon. A brilliant book.

[Stephen Byrne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Haven't read this in 10 years, and wow, still packs a punch. Still, in my opinion, the best Irish male writer to be born on this literature-soaked island.

[Sharon Zink · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is disconcerting when the main character loses. This is a story about conflict on an Irish island between a schoolmaster and a priest. I wish it had been more of a story about a school.