Modern Irish Short Stories

by Ben Forkner (Editor), Various

A collection of 26 twentieth-century Irish short stories, including works by Samuel Beckett, James Joyce, and W.B. Yeats.
 
“The features of this volume which separate it from other anthologies are the quality and breadth of its selections and the fine introduction by the editor.”— The Journal of Irish Literature
 
“An excellent selection. Each of the 26 writers represented in this collection has his own unmistakable tone . . . proof that Irish writers, perhaps like no others, excel in this brief form.”— Spectator

“You will keep this book and read parts of it again and again. . . . Each time you enter it you will be in the presence of Ireland.”—Anthony Burgess, in his Preface.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Anthologies, Ireland, Irish Literature

560 pages, Paperback

First published December 18, 1980

Reviews

[Francisca]

*3.5*

i'm not very into short-story collections. at the risk of sounding really silly, i have to say they confuse me at times. my mind cannot help trying to build some sense of continuity from one story to the next even though i know they're not connected and, as it's the case with this particular anthology, they're not even written by the same authors. but my mind does this nevertheless to my annoyance.

that being said (and taking in consideration this detail) i thought this was quite a solid collection. not going to lie, i did get bored at times with some of these stories but, overall, those were part of the minority. and i think what helped me the most to enjoy these stories separately was how it managed to deal with a wide range of topics. of course, they are all about ireland, of course. but some were quite silly dealing with more domestic issues or retelling folk tales whilst others were more serious and darker yet all of them (on some level or another) were always political. and somehow felt genuine despite the fact that i'm not irish and i haven't been there before.

[Faith]

I read Home Sickness by Moore, The Twisting of the Rope by Yeats, An Autumn Night in the Hills by Synge, The Weaver's Grave by O'Kelly, and The Dead by Joyce. My favorite of the stories I read was The Weaver's Grave, my least favorite was probably An Autumn Night In the Hills. I also don't have an affinity for James Joyce the way everyone else seems to have (although I'm not convinced most people have even read Joyce, but everyone swears he's so great). I like Irish fiction, and this was a good book. But I don't think many of the people in my class share my sentiments for Irish literature.

[Mlhoganjr]

I don't know how I came to own this book. Somewhere, decades ago this collection showed up on my bookshelf and I carried it place to place over the years. Just above the barcode on the back cover, the price is listed in British and Irish pounds and text clearly reads: Not for Sale in the United States. I am in the United States; I've only ever bought two books in England and never been to Ireland. But I finally decided to read this after all these decades and it might be the pleasant surprise of my year.

This is a beautifully curated set of Irish storytellers from the mid-19th century up to the 1970s. As Anthony Burgess noted in the introduction, Irish people as a group are some of the masters of the short story as an art form. The Dead from James Joyce, the James Plunkett piece, and many others had that effect where you just have to stop and reflect on how good these pieces are.

[Jason Connolly]

Ranking them:

1. Falling Rocks, Narrowing Road, Cul-De-Sac, Stop
2. The Weaver’s Grave
3. The Dead
4. Killachter Meadow
5. A Ball of Malt and Madame Butterfly
6. Exile’s Return
7. Rock of the Mass
8. Happiness
9. Dante and the Lobster
10. A Walk through the Summer
11. Pastorale
12. In the Train
13. Six Weeks On and Two Ashore
14. The Twisting of the Rope
15. An Autumn Night in the Hills
16. All Sorts of Impossible Things
17. The Ballroom of Romance.
18. The Martyrs Crown
19. Summer Night
20. The Creature
21. Cancer
22. George
23. The Pedlar’s Revenge


(Below are the only ones I truly DISLIKED, the rest are good to great to spectacular!)

24. Home Sickness
25. Poisson D’Avril

[Andree]

Read this a few months ago, over the course of about a month. I picked it up over a decade ago from a used book store, when I was in a short story phase. Some of the stories were interesting. Most were well written. They generally worked for me, though not all of them. I don't remember that many this many months later, which is on me for not reviewing on time.. An interesting read, if not overly memorable several months later.

[Kristin Davis]

This took me forever to finish, but it wasn't the book's fault. These stories are excellent. My favorites were "The Weaver's Grave" by Seamus O'Kelly, "Dante and the Lobster" by Samuel Beckett, James Plunkett's "A Walk Through the Summer," and Edna O'Brien's "The Creature."

[Amy in the Desert]

I really enjoyed the first two -- "Home Sickness" and "Poisson d'Avril" but the rest was kinda meh. There were some stories where I had absolutely no idea what the hell was going on and what they hell they were talking about LOL.

[amanda🧸]

short stories about ireland that beautifully capture emotions and symbolisms of the time and makes you understand what people were going through. i learned a lot

[Abbey Corr]

Lovely to read some old literature in an Irish style!

Weaving and shape shifting sentences always trimmed in mysticism.

Nostalgically reminiscent of how old people would tell me stories as a kid.

[Glen]

This collection has been sitting on our shelves for years and I finally got around to reading it. I found it a wonderful sampling of some exceptional story-telling. Yes, the giants are here--Joyce, Beckett, Yeats, Synge, Bowen--but alongside these luminaries were offerings from lesser known writers whose work, at least herein, is every bit as impressive. The introductory essay by Anthony Burgess sets the right tone, and while the overall mood of the volume is undoubtedly as moody and overcast as the Irish climate, the descriptions and characterizations are rich and deeply humane. The highlight of the book for me was also the longest story, Seumas O'Kelly's "The Weaver's Grave", which manages to be both hysterically funny and heart-rending at the same time. It was unlike any story I've ever read. Joyce's "The Dead" needs no hyping from me, but if you've not read Bowen's "Summer Night", or Bryan McMahon's "Exile's Return", or Mary Lavin's "Happiness", you owe yourself the treats.

[Paul Bauer]

I'd never read George Moore. His story alone was worth the price of admission.

[Darn]

Fans of the genre, look no further. The Irish have mastered it, and they did so years ago.

[Judy]

Some of the stories were ok. I would have preferred more on the line of Frank McCourt.

[Rebecca Walsh]

A few good ones. A lot that confused me or I didn’t get

[Laura Marsch]

The Irish do love their stories.....about nothing......