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The Last Roundup #1
A Star Called Henry
The Barnes & Noble Review
September 1999
Roddy Doyle's ambitious new novel is the story of Henry Smart, born in 1901 with "enough meat on him to make triplets." In a swaggering, often hilarious voice, Henry documents his first 20 years, in which he rises from the slums of Dublin to the front ranks of the IRA and beyond. The result, A Star Called Henry, provides a wildly provocative view of a country, and a person, from the inside out.
September 1999
Roddy Doyle's ambitious new novel is the story of Henry Smart, born in 1901 with "enough meat on him to make triplets." In a swaggering, often hilarious voice, Henry documents his first 20 years, in which he rises from the slums of Dublin to the front ranks of the IRA and beyond. The result, A Star Called Henry, provides a wildly provocative view of a country, and a person, from the inside out.
Henry must constantly strive to overcome his upbringing. His mother, her sanity undone by poverty and serial miscarriages, disappears early. His father, a peg-legged giant, works as a bouncer at a brothel ("In one neat hop he'd have the leg off and their heads open and the leg back on before they hit the ground"); when he is promoted, it is to serve as a contract killer for the mysterious Alfie Gandon. In time, Henry's father, too, is lost, and he's left with only his Granny Nash, a "witch" who exists somewhere between insanity and omniscience. She provides information about his past (and that of others), but only if he steals books for her to read.
Fortunately, as Henry says, "I loved the street, from the second I landed on it. The action, the noise, the smells I gobbled them all up, I was striving for more." He and his younger brother, Victor, survive by collecting rats for dogfights and rustling catt
344 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1999
449 people are currently reading
5159 people want to read
About the author
Roddy Doyle
127 books1,649 followersRoddy Doyle (Irish: Ruaidhrí Ó Dúill) is an Irish novelist, dramatist and screenwriter. Several of his books have been made into successful films, beginning with The Commitments in 1991. He won the Booker Prize in 1993.
Doyle grew up in Kilbarrack, Dublin. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from University College, Dublin. He spent several years as an English and geography teacher before becoming a full-time writer in 1993.
Doyle grew up in Kilbarrack, Dublin. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from University College, Dublin. He spent several years as an English and geography teacher before becoming a full-time writer in 1993.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 745 reviews
July 3, 2021
july marks 100 years since the end of the irish war of independence, so a perfect time to do a reread.
i first read this back in 2013, years before i moved to dublin. i loved the story then, but it resonated with me much more this time around, now that i have personally walked where the characters walked, visited the primary locations, and seen some the graves of the people mentioned.
but i think what i really like about this is how it doesnt sugarcoat the difficulties and bleak life in ireland during this time period. i also appreciate that the plot includes heroes and villains on both sides of the conflict, because war never really is just black and white. it doesnt feel like the struggle of the irish people is romanticised, but depicted in a way that is honest.
overall, an informative read filled with sympathetic characters, subtle humour, and heartfelt emotion.
↠ 4.5 stars
i first read this back in 2013, years before i moved to dublin. i loved the story then, but it resonated with me much more this time around, now that i have personally walked where the characters walked, visited the primary locations, and seen some the graves of the people mentioned.
but i think what i really like about this is how it doesnt sugarcoat the difficulties and bleak life in ireland during this time period. i also appreciate that the plot includes heroes and villains on both sides of the conflict, because war never really is just black and white. it doesnt feel like the struggle of the irish people is romanticised, but depicted in a way that is honest.
overall, an informative read filled with sympathetic characters, subtle humour, and heartfelt emotion.
↠ 4.5 stars
November 11, 2016
Grand.
A Star Called Henry by Irish writer Roddy Doyle is a rare find: a book that blends a genuine language, a unique narrative structure, and an amazing story. Told from a first person, past tense omnipresent perspective, the reader is led along a remembered past full of historical dramatic irony with glimpses into a mysterious future. We are with an infant Henry Smart as he is born and trace a tragi-comic upbringing in the dirty streets of 1902 Dublin.
Using Henry’s wild, feral childhood as a vehicle to examine the events leading up to the birth of the Irish Republic and subsequent Civil War, Doyle then places Henry square in the middle of the gangster-like, complicated fight for Irish independence. This is at once a moving character study of an Irish Everyman, representing and illustrating the good, the bad, and the ugly of a centuries old culture that had produced him and also a portrait of the Irish civilization itself, an amalgam of poverty, hardship, pain, tenacity and perseverance. Henry becomes a personification of the time and place, he is the quintessential Irishman of this time: tough, resilient, violent, charismatic, but with a simple desire for love and happiness.
Bluntly refusing to paint over the dark side of Irish life of the pre-Irish Republic, Doyle is an objective reporter of brutality and a culture that blithely accepts it as a matter of course. The author’s course brushstrokes reveal the result of centuries of oppression and abject scarcity. There are heroes and villains on both sides of the fight, and Doyle painstakingly displays all to his reader. Certainly sympathetic, Doyle nevertheless never wholly forgives the mean spiritedness of his ancestors, rather he describes them as they likely were: hard scrabble survivors whose atavistic pragmatism had little use for the niceties of Western civilization.
This is simply a very, very good book. At times funny, this is an unapologetic account of a difficult time.
A Star Called Henry by Irish writer Roddy Doyle is a rare find: a book that blends a genuine language, a unique narrative structure, and an amazing story. Told from a first person, past tense omnipresent perspective, the reader is led along a remembered past full of historical dramatic irony with glimpses into a mysterious future. We are with an infant Henry Smart as he is born and trace a tragi-comic upbringing in the dirty streets of 1902 Dublin.
Using Henry’s wild, feral childhood as a vehicle to examine the events leading up to the birth of the Irish Republic and subsequent Civil War, Doyle then places Henry square in the middle of the gangster-like, complicated fight for Irish independence. This is at once a moving character study of an Irish Everyman, representing and illustrating the good, the bad, and the ugly of a centuries old culture that had produced him and also a portrait of the Irish civilization itself, an amalgam of poverty, hardship, pain, tenacity and perseverance. Henry becomes a personification of the time and place, he is the quintessential Irishman of this time: tough, resilient, violent, charismatic, but with a simple desire for love and happiness.
Bluntly refusing to paint over the dark side of Irish life of the pre-Irish Republic, Doyle is an objective reporter of brutality and a culture that blithely accepts it as a matter of course. The author’s course brushstrokes reveal the result of centuries of oppression and abject scarcity. There are heroes and villains on both sides of the fight, and Doyle painstakingly displays all to his reader. Certainly sympathetic, Doyle nevertheless never wholly forgives the mean spiritedness of his ancestors, rather he describes them as they likely were: hard scrabble survivors whose atavistic pragmatism had little use for the niceties of Western civilization.
This is simply a very, very good book. At times funny, this is an unapologetic account of a difficult time.
March 10, 2009
My favorite Roddy Doyle book, "A Star Called Henry" is the fictional story of a young man, Henry Smart, growing up in the Ireland of the early 20th century. I much preferred this over the more well-known, but sentimental, "Angela's Ashes" by Frank McCourt.
Doyle doesn't mince words, and much of his imagery contradicts the Ireland many of our grandparents may have described to us growing up. It may not be the Ireland they chose to remember and tell us about, but it is the one they chose to leave. And leave they did in the tens of thousands.
This is the Ireland of Michael Collins and the Black and Tan, a stratified society full of class, ethnic and religious prejudice, staggering poverty and limited economic and educational opportunity. The resulting anger, resentment and hatred is personified in the character of Henry who finds himself part of the IRA, almost by accident.
Doyle writes with his usual wit and an impeccable ear for the Irish language.
Highly recommended.
Doyle doesn't mince words, and much of his imagery contradicts the Ireland many of our grandparents may have described to us growing up. It may not be the Ireland they chose to remember and tell us about, but it is the one they chose to leave. And leave they did in the tens of thousands.
This is the Ireland of Michael Collins and the Black and Tan, a stratified society full of class, ethnic and religious prejudice, staggering poverty and limited economic and educational opportunity. The resulting anger, resentment and hatred is personified in the character of Henry who finds himself part of the IRA, almost by accident.
Doyle writes with his usual wit and an impeccable ear for the Irish language.
Highly recommended.
May 21, 2014
Together, we pushed and pulled my britches down to my thighs. Then Annie grabbed my arse before it had a chance to draw breath.
-Jesus, what's that?
It was a sheet of twopenny stamps, still stuck to my cheeks a week after Miss O'Shea had thrown me down onto them.
-Stamps, I said.
-What are they doing there?
-It was the only way I could smuggle them out. You can write to your husband now, Annie, I said.
-The dead can't read, said Annie. -And he couldn't read, anyway, when he wasn't dead.
-Oh, I said.
-Oh is right.
That sort of thing.
-Jesus, what's that?
It was a sheet of twopenny stamps, still stuck to my cheeks a week after Miss O'Shea had thrown me down onto them.
-Stamps, I said.
-What are they doing there?
-It was the only way I could smuggle them out. You can write to your husband now, Annie, I said.
-The dead can't read, said Annie. -And he couldn't read, anyway, when he wasn't dead.
-Oh, I said.
-Oh is right.
That sort of thing.
May 29, 2016
This is the story of Henry Smart, a Dublin slum boy, born in profound poverty in 1901, who survives on the streets by his wits and physical strength. His father, Henry Smart senior, is well-known around the slums thanks to his wooden leg. He is a violent thug and killer-for-hire, a product of the Dublin slums himself. He works as an enforcer for brothel owner Dolly Oblong, and due to his propensity for extreme violence, has to disappear eventually.
Meanwhile, Melody Smart, Henry’s mother, struggles everyday in the appalling living conditions of the tenements. Worn out by an abysmal diet, repeated pregnancies and infant deaths she gradually goes insane, and meets an early death. A surviving sibling, Victor, Henry’s younger brother, is his constant companion as they struggle to survive, but he dies of consumption in the street aged 4. Henry is left totally alone. Having to struggle just to get food and shelter each day, this street urchin lacks any education, either in the three Rs or in the history, morality and culture of his society.
I found the early scenes of slum life quite fascinating and it brought back memories of reading Frank McCourt’s memoir about his early life in similar circumstances in Angela's Ashes. The first person narrator of the book, Henry Smart has a sharp brain and a quick mouth, so his anecdotes are quite witty and astute. I laughed out loud on some occasions, and emitted audible groans at other times as I read of the horrendous poverty and deprivation he and his family suffered.
As the story moved on to the 1916 Easter Uprising, then the subsequent Fenian movement, my interest waned a bit. There is a lot of detail about minor characters and episodes which I did not connect with. Perhaps an Irish reader, more familiar with their own national heritage, would appreciate the intricacies of the story better than I. I was pleased that Henry kept on keeping on, eventually making good, and ready to take on England by the end of the book.
I think Roddy Doyle wished to present Henry Smart as some sort of likeable rogue, but I found him very unattractive. The character is brilliantly written, all credit to Doyle for the quality of his portrayal, but Henry is not my kind of hero. Undoubtedly the harsh environment in which he grew up explains his propensity for stealing and cheating, but I draw the line at cold-blooded murder. Also, Henry is remarkably vain, intensely conscious of his sexual appeal to women, which he exploits in a licentious way. He believes he is the big swinging dick of Dublin circa 1916, but I didn’t buy it. This book is the first volume in a trilogy about Henry Smart, so he obviously must survive and flourish as the 20th century progresses. Speaking personally, I won’t be following his story into the sequels.
One of my main beefs with the writing style employed by Roddy Doyle is his determination to be intensely literary. A Booker Prize winner, (for the wonderful Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha) he resides within a distinguished literary tradition, and I think there are echoes of other revered Irish writers like James Joyce and Colm Toibin, to name but two, in his work. But the book is so goddamn wordy - layers and layers of description and dialogue. At some points I was screaming for the sub-editor’s pencil!! Oh for some simplicity…
Meanwhile, Melody Smart, Henry’s mother, struggles everyday in the appalling living conditions of the tenements. Worn out by an abysmal diet, repeated pregnancies and infant deaths she gradually goes insane, and meets an early death. A surviving sibling, Victor, Henry’s younger brother, is his constant companion as they struggle to survive, but he dies of consumption in the street aged 4. Henry is left totally alone. Having to struggle just to get food and shelter each day, this street urchin lacks any education, either in the three Rs or in the history, morality and culture of his society.
I found the early scenes of slum life quite fascinating and it brought back memories of reading Frank McCourt’s memoir about his early life in similar circumstances in Angela's Ashes. The first person narrator of the book, Henry Smart has a sharp brain and a quick mouth, so his anecdotes are quite witty and astute. I laughed out loud on some occasions, and emitted audible groans at other times as I read of the horrendous poverty and deprivation he and his family suffered.
As the story moved on to the 1916 Easter Uprising, then the subsequent Fenian movement, my interest waned a bit. There is a lot of detail about minor characters and episodes which I did not connect with. Perhaps an Irish reader, more familiar with their own national heritage, would appreciate the intricacies of the story better than I. I was pleased that Henry kept on keeping on, eventually making good, and ready to take on England by the end of the book.
I think Roddy Doyle wished to present Henry Smart as some sort of likeable rogue, but I found him very unattractive. The character is brilliantly written, all credit to Doyle for the quality of his portrayal, but Henry is not my kind of hero. Undoubtedly the harsh environment in which he grew up explains his propensity for stealing and cheating, but I draw the line at cold-blooded murder. Also, Henry is remarkably vain, intensely conscious of his sexual appeal to women, which he exploits in a licentious way. He believes he is the big swinging dick of Dublin circa 1916, but I didn’t buy it. This book is the first volume in a trilogy about Henry Smart, so he obviously must survive and flourish as the 20th century progresses. Speaking personally, I won’t be following his story into the sequels.
One of my main beefs with the writing style employed by Roddy Doyle is his determination to be intensely literary. A Booker Prize winner, (for the wonderful Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha) he resides within a distinguished literary tradition, and I think there are echoes of other revered Irish writers like James Joyce and Colm Toibin, to name but two, in his work. But the book is so goddamn wordy - layers and layers of description and dialogue. At some points I was screaming for the sub-editor’s pencil!! Oh for some simplicity…
September 9, 2016
This is only my second Doyle (the other being Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha, which I thought was great) and from the two, I see that language is Doyle's thing, quirky and gritty, in keeping with the lives he portrays, as well as his dark humor. In the first part of this novel those qualities are showcased tremendously, even if it's done in a tall-tale vein, which isn't something I usually care for. In fact, the whole novel is picaresque (another thing I'm not particularly fond of) though this is historical fiction of a sort, mixing fictional characters with the real.
In many ways this novel comes close to brilliance, though ultimately I found it flawed with some pointless repetition and plot holes as wide as Henry's father's wooden leg. While the novel gives a good feel for what living in Dublin during the Irish Rebellion must've been like, I think if anyone knows more about this part of Irish history than I do, they might only feel bored. I did appreciate the depiction of the leaders of the Rebellion as mere humans, and not necessarily heroes, and I agree with the inevitable conclusion Henry reaches at the end about those now in power.
I also appreciate Doyle's attempt at rendering the role of women during this time in the character of the mythic Miss O'Shea -- alone, she is maiden-crone-mother; together, she and Henry are 'Bonnie and Clyde' superheroes -- but ultimately that representation turns out to be more telling than showing, as everything is from Henry's point of view.
Because I wish I could read the way Granny Nash does, I think Doyle must have the same unrealistic reading dreams I do.
In many ways this novel comes close to brilliance, though ultimately I found it flawed with some pointless repetition and plot holes as wide as Henry's father's wooden leg. While the novel gives a good feel for what living in Dublin during the Irish Rebellion must've been like, I think if anyone knows more about this part of Irish history than I do, they might only feel bored. I did appreciate the depiction of the leaders of the Rebellion as mere humans, and not necessarily heroes, and I agree with the inevitable conclusion Henry reaches at the end about those now in power.
I also appreciate Doyle's attempt at rendering the role of women during this time in the character of the mythic Miss O'Shea -- alone, she is maiden-crone-mother; together, she and Henry are 'Bonnie and Clyde' superheroes -- but ultimately that representation turns out to be more telling than showing, as everything is from Henry's point of view.
Because I wish I could read the way Granny Nash does, I think Doyle must have the same unrealistic reading dreams I do.
November 6, 2021
I love roddy doyle. I first read this book 10years ago and loved his cheeky, straight to the point or pull on the heartstings ways. I have re read a few time but not over the past 4/5 years. Its a keeper and i wish i could read it for the first time all over again. This boys journey through his young life at this stage tells of poverty and struggle. His father, mother and his siblings. What jobs he takes and the ducks and dives of growing up when and how he did. Its laugh out loud or heart squeezing, hold your tears back. Love it,love the follow up book and the one after. Well done roddy doyle! For all your work👍
December 19, 2013
I learned about the IRA in 1982 during lunch at the Hard Rock Caf in central London. During my hamburger, a bomb blew up a crowded bandstand and killed six musicians in Regent's Park. Sound of the distant explosion startled us, but we laughed it off and went on with our meal.
A classmate of mine, though, was listening to the band that hot summer day. Shattered by her vision of the carnage, she quit school and flew back home.
Probably everybody in England and Northern Ireland has a story about the day the Troubles hit home. For thousands of people whose lives have been scarred by the conflict, it's impossible to fathom the terrorists responsible for these atrocities.
With "A Star Called Henry," Roddy Doyle has imagined the unfathomable. His vain young hero, Henry Smart, is a maddeningly likable killer who realizes only too late what horror he's perpetuating.
If Henry is right and "stories are the only thing the poor own," then he's a rich man indeed. The son of a hopeful girl and a one-legged thug, Henry starts his story with the miracle of his healthy birth in the slums of Dublin in 1901. He's the only flame among Angela's ashes, so to speak. Women and men stand in long lines to get a look at "the Glowing Baby."
With the outlandish pride that marks his entire story, Henry says, "They looked at me and saw a fine lad who was going to live. The women had never seen one before." Even as a toddler raging along the squalid streets by himself, Henry is impressed by his good looks and his power to seduce.
As his mother falls into madness and his father rises from bouncer to murderer, little Henry runs away with his nine-month-old brother in search of a better life.
After three hair-raising years on the streets, they find a moment of happiness in the classroom of Miss O'Shea. A cruel nun turns him back onto the streets, but not before Henry captures his teacher's heart.
Even as everyone wastes away around him, he never doubts his legendary potential. Five years later, at the ripe age of 14, Henry finally stumbles into history and again into the arms of Miss O'Shea.
The novel's spectacular second section opens at the Easter Rising in 1916. "I held my left arm across my eyes," he begins, "and smashed the window.... Henry Smart, stark and magnificent in the uniform of the Irish Citizen Army was ready for war. I was walking dynamite." From this point on, the novel reads like a burning fuse.
He and "a sorry looking gang" of revolutionaries hole up in Dublin's General Post Office and wait for government forces to decimate the building, kill scores of them, and take the rest into custody.
Out of this futile battle, told with spectacular flourish, a hundred legends are born, including the ballad of Henry Smart: loyal patriot, ferocious warrior, and insatiable lover.
Teamed with Miss O'Shea and armed with his father's old wooden leg, Henry carries out a series of brutal assassinations for the IRA. He and his peers have no hope of beating their adversaries; instead, they commit atrocities to inspire greater atrocities from the British.
His dogged loyalty to the cause - no matter how naively defined - makes him a valuable cog in the battle, but in the end only a cog. He's eventually marked for death by the same system of terror he's served so effectively.
Though he joined full of fury at the British and hope for the downtrodden, Henry survives to see his cause twisted by petty greed, corruption, and brutality. This painful awakening from moral idiocy is Henry's real claim to heroism and the novel's most profound mystery.
Doyle's rich narrative style, familiar to fans of his Booker Prize-winning "Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha" (1993), captures the sweep of a country breaking into civil war and the little moments of individual despair it causes. The first part of a projected trilogy on Ireland in the 20th century, "A Star Called Henry" revels in the sort of moral ambiguity this tragic subject demands.
If only today's real-life participants in the "Irish question" would demonstrate as much understanding as Doyle, this trilogy could end in peace.
http://www.csmonitor.com/1999/0916/p1...
A classmate of mine, though, was listening to the band that hot summer day. Shattered by her vision of the carnage, she quit school and flew back home.
Probably everybody in England and Northern Ireland has a story about the day the Troubles hit home. For thousands of people whose lives have been scarred by the conflict, it's impossible to fathom the terrorists responsible for these atrocities.
With "A Star Called Henry," Roddy Doyle has imagined the unfathomable. His vain young hero, Henry Smart, is a maddeningly likable killer who realizes only too late what horror he's perpetuating.
If Henry is right and "stories are the only thing the poor own," then he's a rich man indeed. The son of a hopeful girl and a one-legged thug, Henry starts his story with the miracle of his healthy birth in the slums of Dublin in 1901. He's the only flame among Angela's ashes, so to speak. Women and men stand in long lines to get a look at "the Glowing Baby."
With the outlandish pride that marks his entire story, Henry says, "They looked at me and saw a fine lad who was going to live. The women had never seen one before." Even as a toddler raging along the squalid streets by himself, Henry is impressed by his good looks and his power to seduce.
As his mother falls into madness and his father rises from bouncer to murderer, little Henry runs away with his nine-month-old brother in search of a better life.
After three hair-raising years on the streets, they find a moment of happiness in the classroom of Miss O'Shea. A cruel nun turns him back onto the streets, but not before Henry captures his teacher's heart.
Even as everyone wastes away around him, he never doubts his legendary potential. Five years later, at the ripe age of 14, Henry finally stumbles into history and again into the arms of Miss O'Shea.
The novel's spectacular second section opens at the Easter Rising in 1916. "I held my left arm across my eyes," he begins, "and smashed the window.... Henry Smart, stark and magnificent in the uniform of the Irish Citizen Army was ready for war. I was walking dynamite." From this point on, the novel reads like a burning fuse.
He and "a sorry looking gang" of revolutionaries hole up in Dublin's General Post Office and wait for government forces to decimate the building, kill scores of them, and take the rest into custody.
Out of this futile battle, told with spectacular flourish, a hundred legends are born, including the ballad of Henry Smart: loyal patriot, ferocious warrior, and insatiable lover.
Teamed with Miss O'Shea and armed with his father's old wooden leg, Henry carries out a series of brutal assassinations for the IRA. He and his peers have no hope of beating their adversaries; instead, they commit atrocities to inspire greater atrocities from the British.
His dogged loyalty to the cause - no matter how naively defined - makes him a valuable cog in the battle, but in the end only a cog. He's eventually marked for death by the same system of terror he's served so effectively.
Though he joined full of fury at the British and hope for the downtrodden, Henry survives to see his cause twisted by petty greed, corruption, and brutality. This painful awakening from moral idiocy is Henry's real claim to heroism and the novel's most profound mystery.
Doyle's rich narrative style, familiar to fans of his Booker Prize-winning "Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha" (1993), captures the sweep of a country breaking into civil war and the little moments of individual despair it causes. The first part of a projected trilogy on Ireland in the 20th century, "A Star Called Henry" revels in the sort of moral ambiguity this tragic subject demands.
If only today's real-life participants in the "Irish question" would demonstrate as much understanding as Doyle, this trilogy could end in peace.
http://www.csmonitor.com/1999/0916/p1...
April 5, 2016
I waivered between 4.5 and 5 stars but wanted to reflect how great I found this book. I must say at the start that this book probably requires at least a basic knowledge of the history of the Irish Uprising and Anglo-Irish war. Henry Smart is a survivor and more. His Dublin is both vast and a small village. This reflects the Dublin I have come to know.
Henry is born into poverty which becomes even more extreme after his father disappears. His father who has lost a leg, leaves behind his wooden limb which becomes Harry's talisman. It is his weapon and much more. Harry finds himself in the Dublin GPO (General Post Office) during the disastrous Easter Uprising in 1916. Although he is barely 14, he is tall and passes for much older. For several years preceeding the Uprising, he has lived in and around Liberty Hall and become a friend of James Connolly. Later he becomes Michael Collins confidant. His life, his conquests, his victories, and his growing legendary status are all improbable but that is what is so appealing about this super hero of the Irish revolution and the Dublin slums.
Henry is born into poverty which becomes even more extreme after his father disappears. His father who has lost a leg, leaves behind his wooden limb which becomes Harry's talisman. It is his weapon and much more. Harry finds himself in the Dublin GPO (General Post Office) during the disastrous Easter Uprising in 1916. Although he is barely 14, he is tall and passes for much older. For several years preceeding the Uprising, he has lived in and around Liberty Hall and become a friend of James Connolly. Later he becomes Michael Collins confidant. His life, his conquests, his victories, and his growing legendary status are all improbable but that is what is so appealing about this super hero of the Irish revolution and the Dublin slums.
August 17, 2011
After a brilliant opening, I'm afraid this book lost me. I didn't end up caring about anyone or any situation. A great pity, especially considering that I found Doyle's other Irish-influenced fiction to be top rate. Maybe this side-turn into historical epic is some sort of achiles' heel...?
March 17, 2016
I have now added a bit at the end of this review - thoughts that have later occurred to me.
The making and breaking of an IRA man. I didn't quite know what I was getting myself into when I started this one, but I am very glad I did. No regrets - on reading it! I had a hard time with the dialogue, but it shouldn't be different. I liked the whole book - the start, the middle, the end. Easter Monday 1916 - read about it through Henry Smart's eyes. It stands out, but I won't say why. Truly, a good description of why one would become an IRA man awhile another might turn away.
One can spot Irish literature a mile away. I feel there is a tendency to wallow in misery! I don't like that. Life is grim for many people in many different times and places. There is something about how Irish literature is always so black and despondent and all is so hopeless. Language is often crude. Often characters resort to alcohol. There is little humor and few glimmers of hope. Maybe I don't understand the humor? I am very, very glad I read this book. The message is good, but reading it was not easy. You come away with an understanding of the characters. The relationship between Henry and his father gives perhaps a heart-warming glimmer to the book.
The making and breaking of an IRA man. I didn't quite know what I was getting myself into when I started this one, but I am very glad I did. No regrets - on reading it! I had a hard time with the dialogue, but it shouldn't be different. I liked the whole book - the start, the middle, the end. Easter Monday 1916 - read about it through Henry Smart's eyes. It stands out, but I won't say why. Truly, a good description of why one would become an IRA man awhile another might turn away.
One can spot Irish literature a mile away. I feel there is a tendency to wallow in misery! I don't like that. Life is grim for many people in many different times and places. There is something about how Irish literature is always so black and despondent and all is so hopeless. Language is often crude. Often characters resort to alcohol. There is little humor and few glimmers of hope. Maybe I don't understand the humor? I am very, very glad I read this book. The message is good, but reading it was not easy. You come away with an understanding of the characters. The relationship between Henry and his father gives perhaps a heart-warming glimmer to the book.
August 7, 2017
Henry Smart is an unforgettable character, ranking in my book with the likes of Oscar Matzerath, Ignatius J. Reilly and Aureliano Buendia. And this book is a great primer on the Easter Rebellion and the Irish War of Independence, exposing oppressor and oppressed alike as cold blooded killers.
Henry Smart is an assassin, just like his one-legged father before him. Henry I kills for money while Henry II (or Third, because there were many dead babies in this indiscriminately fertile Irish family, all bearing the same first name) kills for the cause of Irish nationalism, a cause that betrays him because its leaders are ultimately swayed by commercial temptations to end up common mobsters. Henry’s survival battle is extreme; he is a street kid learning survival from a young age: cattle rustling, rat catching, pick pocketing, cattle maiming—anything that makes a buck and feeds his perennial hunger. The people in his life die on him, especially his sickly brother Victor whom he tries to protect. He does everything while underage: joining the Easter Rebellion at 14, becoming an assassin at 15, and getting married at 17 to his school teacher who is 13 years older than him. By contrast his grandmother is a bookworm and knows everything that is going in the underground but prefers to bury her nose in a book and remain uninvolved—she acts as observer and commentator on the tragedy evolving in an Ireland seeking liberation.
The first person narrative of Henry is sparse, indirect, exaggerated and dramatic: “I fell in love 15 times a minute.” The descriptions are unorthodox: a manhole cover is “the rusting slats of the shore.” We know we are in the sewers under Dublin by the scents, sights and sounds, but never an actual mention is made of the where we are.
The battle scenes of the Easter Rebellion are vividly described and parallel famous “last stands” like the Three Hundred Spartans, Little Big Horn, and the Alamo. So is the divining qualities that Henrys I & II possess towards water, a talents that helps them escape through the myriad water channels coursing under the city of Dublin. Also vividly described are the cold-blooded killings by the IRA. “I told him to say his prayers, and then shot him in the head, And gave him an extra bullet for luck.”
Many of the tactics used by other terrorist organizations today may have had their origins in the IRA: spread fear, operate in small cells so that capture does not lead to mass-scale arrests, make the enemy retaliate and sow hatred among the local populace. “If our opponent is to be made to comply with our will, we must place him in a situation which is more oppressive to him than the sacrifice which we demand.”
The only problem I found with this book is that it pushes the boundaries of plausibility and could best be understood as a work of magic realism. Henry kills people at random and dodges hundred of bullets while his pregnant wife robs banks and blows up the enemy; his father fends off dozens of unsavoury people rushing into the brothel that employs him by striking them with his wooden leg, a leg that becomes Henry II’s legacy and which he wields with even greater might and effect than his father.
I enjoyed this novel for its history lesson of the “troubles” in Ireland, for its energetic writing style, and for its unforgettable protagonist.
Henry Smart is an assassin, just like his one-legged father before him. Henry I kills for money while Henry II (or Third, because there were many dead babies in this indiscriminately fertile Irish family, all bearing the same first name) kills for the cause of Irish nationalism, a cause that betrays him because its leaders are ultimately swayed by commercial temptations to end up common mobsters. Henry’s survival battle is extreme; he is a street kid learning survival from a young age: cattle rustling, rat catching, pick pocketing, cattle maiming—anything that makes a buck and feeds his perennial hunger. The people in his life die on him, especially his sickly brother Victor whom he tries to protect. He does everything while underage: joining the Easter Rebellion at 14, becoming an assassin at 15, and getting married at 17 to his school teacher who is 13 years older than him. By contrast his grandmother is a bookworm and knows everything that is going in the underground but prefers to bury her nose in a book and remain uninvolved—she acts as observer and commentator on the tragedy evolving in an Ireland seeking liberation.
The first person narrative of Henry is sparse, indirect, exaggerated and dramatic: “I fell in love 15 times a minute.” The descriptions are unorthodox: a manhole cover is “the rusting slats of the shore.” We know we are in the sewers under Dublin by the scents, sights and sounds, but never an actual mention is made of the where we are.
The battle scenes of the Easter Rebellion are vividly described and parallel famous “last stands” like the Three Hundred Spartans, Little Big Horn, and the Alamo. So is the divining qualities that Henrys I & II possess towards water, a talents that helps them escape through the myriad water channels coursing under the city of Dublin. Also vividly described are the cold-blooded killings by the IRA. “I told him to say his prayers, and then shot him in the head, And gave him an extra bullet for luck.”
Many of the tactics used by other terrorist organizations today may have had their origins in the IRA: spread fear, operate in small cells so that capture does not lead to mass-scale arrests, make the enemy retaliate and sow hatred among the local populace. “If our opponent is to be made to comply with our will, we must place him in a situation which is more oppressive to him than the sacrifice which we demand.”
The only problem I found with this book is that it pushes the boundaries of plausibility and could best be understood as a work of magic realism. Henry kills people at random and dodges hundred of bullets while his pregnant wife robs banks and blows up the enemy; his father fends off dozens of unsavoury people rushing into the brothel that employs him by striking them with his wooden leg, a leg that becomes Henry II’s legacy and which he wields with even greater might and effect than his father.
I enjoyed this novel for its history lesson of the “troubles” in Ireland, for its energetic writing style, and for its unforgettable protagonist.
January 7, 2024
Romanzo storico e di formazione, la parte storica è un po' annacquata da retorica e stereotipi, ma la scrittura coinvolgente di Doyle lo rende godibile, nel racconto della vita di Henry si concentrano tutti gli eroismi e i tradimenti che portarono alla nascita della Repubblica irlandese, non ultimo il patteggiamento politico con gli inglesi, fonte di tanti guai allora e negli anni successivi.
October 24, 2017
Bu yıl okuduğum en iyi romanlardan biri. Komik, acımasız, İrlandalı devrimci fedai Henry Smart'ın öyküsü.
Roman İrlanda tarihinin en olaylı dönemlerinden biri olan 1900-1921 yılları arasında geçiyor. İrlanda'nın devrimcileri, sokak çocuğu Henry'yi İRA'ya sokup eline silah tutuşturuyorlar. O da Easter Ayaklanması'ndan bağımsızlığa giden birkaç yılda örgütün militanlarından biri oluyor.
Henry hayranı olduğu James Connolly'nin yanında ayaklanmaya tanıklık ediyor. Dublin'in gecekondularında, İrlanda'nın köylerinde harekete yeni militan yetiştiriyor. Sosyalist değerlerin yavaş yavaş burjuva İrlanda milliyetçiliğine yenik düşmesini ve İngilizlerle yapılan barışı görüyor.
Yazarın sinematografik dili çok başarılı. Bazen aynı sayfa içerisinde yerin ve zamanın değiştiğini tek bir kelimeden anlıyoruz. 3-4 ayrı olay örgüsünü birbirine çok iyi dolamış. Her okumaya başladığımda kendimi birkaç saatliğine Henry'nin omzunda İrlanda'yı dolamış, İngiliz kışlalarına baskın yapmış gibi hissettim. Tezimin İrlanda kısmında bu dönemleri gözümde canlandırabilmem için bana çok yardımcı oldu bu kitap.
Roman İrlanda tarihinin en olaylı dönemlerinden biri olan 1900-1921 yılları arasında geçiyor. İrlanda'nın devrimcileri, sokak çocuğu Henry'yi İRA'ya sokup eline silah tutuşturuyorlar. O da Easter Ayaklanması'ndan bağımsızlığa giden birkaç yılda örgütün militanlarından biri oluyor.
Henry hayranı olduğu James Connolly'nin yanında ayaklanmaya tanıklık ediyor. Dublin'in gecekondularında, İrlanda'nın köylerinde harekete yeni militan yetiştiriyor. Sosyalist değerlerin yavaş yavaş burjuva İrlanda milliyetçiliğine yenik düşmesini ve İngilizlerle yapılan barışı görüyor.
Yazarın sinematografik dili çok başarılı. Bazen aynı sayfa içerisinde yerin ve zamanın değiştiğini tek bir kelimeden anlıyoruz. 3-4 ayrı olay örgüsünü birbirine çok iyi dolamış. Her okumaya başladığımda kendimi birkaç saatliğine Henry'nin omzunda İrlanda'yı dolamış, İngiliz kışlalarına baskın yapmış gibi hissettim. Tezimin İrlanda kısmında bu dönemleri gözümde canlandırabilmem için bana çok yardımcı oldu bu kitap.
July 7, 2015
I am water. I need to flow. I don’t have the leisure of thought; I don’t have the capacity of it. I am a part of the picture. I flow to the edge of a cliff and I fall, I swerve and dance besides mountains and fields, I am guided by the rocks and pebbles. I entertain sundry for a dip into my wetness. Sometimes I am placid and calm to the guy with the hat and boots and jacket as he patiently holds the line for a catch. I merge into the sea or the ocean and though I may look sedate on the surface, I have an inner turmoil. I save but then I destroy too! I have a journey, a long one but it is never defined by me. I am water. I need to flow.
And I am Henry Smart, named after my father Henry Smart, the original one, the one legged one, the bouncer standing at the doors of the whorehouse where every girl’s name is Maria. My father, a mere pawn, his ferociousness is not as celebrated as the ‘tap tap’ of his wooden leg. Melody, my mother looks out for her dead born children in the stars, in the sky. “That’s your brother Henry”, she points out above, my beautiful mama. I am the first born, the celebrated one, the first who managed to stay alive and suckle at her breasts. Born in the slums of Dublin, in its muck and dark alleys, I survive on its streets. I flow. My brother Victor is my ally, but not for long. Soon, on the streets I lose him like most others have, to the wild coughing that has infected Dublin. Alone, I am ruthless on the streets, lesser a kid, more a fighter, I am a thief, I am an urchin, I need to survive, I survive!
At 14, I am over 6 feet tall and a man, I am a part of the republicans fighting for freedom and I kill at will. I am the most handsome of the lot and most of the girls fall for my eyes. I am ready to give up my life for Ireland. At the GPO, where we are garrisoned, my friends die one by one and Paddy’s brains are spread on my shirt sleeves as we run for our lives. I am the only one who escapes and is not jailed. My father, Henry, the original one with the wooden leg had shown Victor and me the hidden route to the river, wading through the slime of Dublin. I carry my father’s wooden leg with me.
I escape the war only for a while and stay with Piano Annie, yes, that’s what she’s called and fuck her everyday and work at the docks. Her husband is probably dead, in some other country having fought another war. But Ireland needs me and I am found, not by the enemies, but by my brotherhood and I join them again. I flow. Thinking is a leisure I can’t indulge in. I am a mercenary, an assassin; they give me pieces of paper with names written on them and I carry out the executions, just like my father used to; “Alfie Gandon says hello”, the message delivered for every man he killed. They tell me we are almost there, on the road to freedom and we will have Ireland to ourselves. I believe them. I am a trainer, I train new recruits to fight the war, to stay ambushed, to shoot, to burn, to bomb; I pass on the doctrines of the struggle for freedom.
I meet Miss O’Shea and she is 10 years older to me, but she had been my teacher once for a day, a teacher for me and Victor and she had taught me to write my name; ‘I am Henry Smart’. I don’t want to fight anymore; I have decided my war is over. But I am water, I have to flow, I am not allowed to think. Miss O’Shea gives birth to my lovely daughter between her bombings and gunnings and her escapades.
Ivan, the bright one, one of the recruits I have trained has grown into a house of power. I see him after a long time. He is on a mission. He says I need to be killed; he has orders from the same brotherhood of republicans I fought for. He respects me, but I have been a twit, he says. He says there is no freedom struggle, it’s all about power, it is business. Like Ivan, the Generals, my bosses have been creating history but now I don’t figure in it. I never had, says Ivan. The Captains and Generals now hold important posts in the government, and business and transactions are being carried out by who we thought were our enemies. Ivan is richer now; a county is under his control.
I meet Jack Dalton after a long time, my friend, the one who induced courage and made me meet new people, powerful ones. When I met him first, he sang songs written about me; I was a hero, he had said. The slips of paper had come from him. And now he hands me a slip of paper.
“Can you do it by yourself”, he asks.
I look at the paper. ‘Henry Smart’.
“I can’t”, I say and walk away.
Jack tells me “If you’re not with us, you’re against us. You have no stake in the country, man. Never had, never will. We needed trouble makers and very soon now we’ll have to be rid of them. And that, Henry, is all you are and ever were. A trouble-maker.”
I am Henry Smart, son of Melody and Henry Smart and I was willing to die for Ireland.
Roddy Doyle's characters are lively. He writes in short meaningful sentences and weaves his story in his own style.
And I am Henry Smart, named after my father Henry Smart, the original one, the one legged one, the bouncer standing at the doors of the whorehouse where every girl’s name is Maria. My father, a mere pawn, his ferociousness is not as celebrated as the ‘tap tap’ of his wooden leg. Melody, my mother looks out for her dead born children in the stars, in the sky. “That’s your brother Henry”, she points out above, my beautiful mama. I am the first born, the celebrated one, the first who managed to stay alive and suckle at her breasts. Born in the slums of Dublin, in its muck and dark alleys, I survive on its streets. I flow. My brother Victor is my ally, but not for long. Soon, on the streets I lose him like most others have, to the wild coughing that has infected Dublin. Alone, I am ruthless on the streets, lesser a kid, more a fighter, I am a thief, I am an urchin, I need to survive, I survive!
At 14, I am over 6 feet tall and a man, I am a part of the republicans fighting for freedom and I kill at will. I am the most handsome of the lot and most of the girls fall for my eyes. I am ready to give up my life for Ireland. At the GPO, where we are garrisoned, my friends die one by one and Paddy’s brains are spread on my shirt sleeves as we run for our lives. I am the only one who escapes and is not jailed. My father, Henry, the original one with the wooden leg had shown Victor and me the hidden route to the river, wading through the slime of Dublin. I carry my father’s wooden leg with me.
I escape the war only for a while and stay with Piano Annie, yes, that’s what she’s called and fuck her everyday and work at the docks. Her husband is probably dead, in some other country having fought another war. But Ireland needs me and I am found, not by the enemies, but by my brotherhood and I join them again. I flow. Thinking is a leisure I can’t indulge in. I am a mercenary, an assassin; they give me pieces of paper with names written on them and I carry out the executions, just like my father used to; “Alfie Gandon says hello”, the message delivered for every man he killed. They tell me we are almost there, on the road to freedom and we will have Ireland to ourselves. I believe them. I am a trainer, I train new recruits to fight the war, to stay ambushed, to shoot, to burn, to bomb; I pass on the doctrines of the struggle for freedom.
I meet Miss O’Shea and she is 10 years older to me, but she had been my teacher once for a day, a teacher for me and Victor and she had taught me to write my name; ‘I am Henry Smart’. I don’t want to fight anymore; I have decided my war is over. But I am water, I have to flow, I am not allowed to think. Miss O’Shea gives birth to my lovely daughter between her bombings and gunnings and her escapades.
Ivan, the bright one, one of the recruits I have trained has grown into a house of power. I see him after a long time. He is on a mission. He says I need to be killed; he has orders from the same brotherhood of republicans I fought for. He respects me, but I have been a twit, he says. He says there is no freedom struggle, it’s all about power, it is business. Like Ivan, the Generals, my bosses have been creating history but now I don’t figure in it. I never had, says Ivan. The Captains and Generals now hold important posts in the government, and business and transactions are being carried out by who we thought were our enemies. Ivan is richer now; a county is under his control.
I meet Jack Dalton after a long time, my friend, the one who induced courage and made me meet new people, powerful ones. When I met him first, he sang songs written about me; I was a hero, he had said. The slips of paper had come from him. And now he hands me a slip of paper.
“Can you do it by yourself”, he asks.
I look at the paper. ‘Henry Smart’.
“I can’t”, I say and walk away.
Jack tells me “If you’re not with us, you’re against us. You have no stake in the country, man. Never had, never will. We needed trouble makers and very soon now we’ll have to be rid of them. And that, Henry, is all you are and ever were. A trouble-maker.”
I am Henry Smart, son of Melody and Henry Smart and I was willing to die for Ireland.
Roddy Doyle's characters are lively. He writes in short meaningful sentences and weaves his story in his own style.
February 18, 2016
A good the-revolution-is-actually-the-counter-revolution book. I was pretty into it, but felt pretty bored with the main dude getting characterized as this irresistible hunk that all the ladies were itching to fuck. He married a bad ass lady but in the end we didn't actually learn anything about her life.
so it would've gotten four stars from me but the sexist shit fucked it up.
so it would've gotten four stars from me but the sexist shit fucked it up.
November 6, 2023
The first half is powerful, brutal and excellent. The second half loses momentum (and my interest). The ending picks up,but by that time I just wanted it over.
Can´t hold a candle to Sebastian Barry.
Can´t hold a candle to Sebastian Barry.
December 31, 2008
A superior story entertainingly blending the facts of the Irish Rebellion with the fictitious Henry. Doyle tells Henry's story with extraordinary craft, developing the background of the Irish cultural struggle against the British as well as creating an intriguing character to follow.
The adventure, humor, sentiment, history, and development of each really construct an interesting story. Henry's connection to his father and adventures in the Irish city and country are informative, but just plain exciting to read. From rubbing elbows with Michael Collins to refusing to call his wife anything except Ms. O'Shea, from bombs and bullets to peglegs and sewers, A Star Called Henry constructs a world of enjoyable sentiment and trilling adventure. I read the whole thing in a weekend...couldn't put it down.
The adventure, humor, sentiment, history, and development of each really construct an interesting story. Henry's connection to his father and adventures in the Irish city and country are informative, but just plain exciting to read. From rubbing elbows with Michael Collins to refusing to call his wife anything except Ms. O'Shea, from bombs and bullets to peglegs and sewers, A Star Called Henry constructs a world of enjoyable sentiment and trilling adventure. I read the whole thing in a weekend...couldn't put it down.
January 22, 2021
Honestly, I pretty much skimmed this one. It was teeming with life, but it was too much and too ridiculous (and in an eye rolling rather than entertaining way) probably because my female bs detector was on and reading about an illiterate, 14 year old boy being an irresistible catch to the womenfolk after crawling through the Dublin sewers was just... no, thank you. Unclear if Roddy Doyle was trying to write an interesting historical fiction take on the men behind the Irish War of Independence, or a pulpy, fan-fiction-esque, male romance novel.
November 28, 2022
The first part of this book that covers Henry Smart's childhood is stunning. Had the book carried on in the same way it would have qualified as one of the best I have ever read. However, Henry Smart grows up and becomes a sort of superhuman and this makes him unbelievable.
The book covers historical events that have always interested me and and it was this, more than Henry's story, that carried me through to the end.
The book covers historical events that have always interested me and and it was this, more than Henry's story, that carried me through to the end.
June 21, 2023
Henry Smart és un personatge que tot i el seu perfil psicològic sanguinari enganxa. La seva vida està lligada a fets històrics: comença pidolant i robant als carrers de Dublín i s’aboca en la lluita al carrer per la pàtria mentre néix el Sinn Féin i l’IRA a principis del s. XX.
October 3, 2017
Set in Ireland, Dublin mostly, in the beginning of 20th century, this is the story of Henry Smart, and the same time the story of Ireland willing for its independence. Born by a poor family and in fact becoming a man even before his teen years after loosing his parents, we 're following his adventures for survival around the slums of Dublin, his affairs, and later when he mix up with Irish "army", his fight for his country's independence. Simultaneously we face the rising of patriotic nationalism of Irish people, creation and first steps of IRA and its action. So, part of coming of age story, part of historical chronicle, "A Star Called Henry" is definitely an absolutely interesting book which wont leave anyone indifferent. Told by the point of view of a kid, gives a specific color to the text, but it's always a risk on how the reader will like it or not. Personally, it's not something that really thrills me, while don't bothers me either. In general, I think it's an excellent story with a great background, language is ok, and it just seem to me that it lacks of this specific gravity that it will make it great. Like 3.5 stars.
February 16, 2024
I now know that I don't know much about Ireland's history. The Easter Rebellion, the War of Independence, Sinn Féin... I had only a vague sense of it before but this book is immersed in that tumultuous time around Dublin around WWI. And I don't think it's fair to let my lack of awareness affect my enjoyment of this novel, but inevitably historical fiction runs that risk. Many of the characters that young Henry meets during this time are real people from that conflict and others are not, as are the events, but I think the author may be assuming a prior knowledge to help orient the reader. I found it disorienting... I wasn't always sure what was going on or why.
And sometimes the author would jump suddenly in location in his narrative, like Henry would be in the midst of strife on the street and in the next sentence he'd be at his grandmother's flat, discussing books. Which, again, could be confusing at times.
But now that that's out of the way, let me say what I really liked. For starters, Henry. Despite all his moral ambiguity and questionable actions, this first-person narrator not only had good looks and charm to everyone from his babyhood to his bizarrely ripe age at 20, but he exhibited a kind of blessed, easy-going nature, even in the worst of times but wasn't without feelings of pain, sadness, and romance. He reminded me of Archie from Alan Sillitoe's Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, a rogue from a working class area of the British Isles. I had thought this would be more like that, especially in the beginning as we learn of the courtship of Henry's stargazing mom and one-legged ruffian dad leading to Henry's after many heartbreaking losses.
Only after I started this did I realize that Roddy Doyle was the author of The Commitments. I hadn't read that book, but I absolutely loved the movie, and its light-hearted take on foul-mouthed blue-collar colorful Dubliners looking for an escape. This novel had a similar vibe that any lover of Irish culture (Erinophile?) would appreciate. I wished that a version was available on audible because I think hearing the rhythm of the writing (the slang! the places! the exclamations like "eejit" and "jaysis"!) with an appropriate brogue and cadence would've elevated it even more. I recommend listening to a soundtrack of Celtic classic songs and Irish pub instrumentals while reading, and be sure to put "The Foggy Dew" in heavy rotation.
And sometimes the author would jump suddenly in location in his narrative, like Henry would be in the midst of strife on the street and in the next sentence he'd be at his grandmother's flat, discussing books. Which, again, could be confusing at times.
But now that that's out of the way, let me say what I really liked. For starters, Henry. Despite all his moral ambiguity and questionable actions, this first-person narrator not only had good looks and charm to everyone from his babyhood to his bizarrely ripe age at 20, but he exhibited a kind of blessed, easy-going nature, even in the worst of times but wasn't without feelings of pain, sadness, and romance. He reminded me of Archie from Alan Sillitoe's Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, a rogue from a working class area of the British Isles. I had thought this would be more like that, especially in the beginning as we learn of the courtship of Henry's stargazing mom and one-legged ruffian dad leading to Henry's after many heartbreaking losses.
Only after I started this did I realize that Roddy Doyle was the author of The Commitments. I hadn't read that book, but I absolutely loved the movie, and its light-hearted take on foul-mouthed blue-collar colorful Dubliners looking for an escape. This novel had a similar vibe that any lover of Irish culture (Erinophile?) would appreciate. I wished that a version was available on audible because I think hearing the rhythm of the writing (the slang! the places! the exclamations like "eejit" and "jaysis"!) with an appropriate brogue and cadence would've elevated it even more. I recommend listening to a soundtrack of Celtic classic songs and Irish pub instrumentals while reading, and be sure to put "The Foggy Dew" in heavy rotation.
May 26, 2017
This is one gnarly telling of how a Dublin kid got swept up into the developing storm of what led to the Easter Rising of 1916 when he was 14 years old. The book is rather long, raw, brutal and alarming when it is transparent to the reader how this unschooled youth is being manipulated by unscrupulous and power hungry adults.
"The bullets were constant. Anything moving was shot; anyone at a window was a sniper. Our last outposts were alone and falling. There were now twelve thousand soldiers in the city, and another four thousand on the way and a huge pit had been dug in Arbour Hill for the rebel dead, with a hill of quicklime beside it: there'd be no republican funerals."
"But I liked listening to him and loved the idea of knocking down Dublin and starting afresh. I'd roll my sleeves up for that particular job....I was ready to die for Ireland. I was ready to die for Limerick. Ready to fall dead for a version of Ireland that had little or nothing to do with the Ireland I'd gone out to die for the last time."
"Before I went back to my bed that night I'd been sworn into the Irish Republican Brotherhood, the secret society at the centre of the centre of all things. I was a Fenian."
"And the British would hit back...they always did. Over the next four years, they never let us down. It wasn't that they made bad judgements, got the mood of the country wrong: they never judged at all. They never considered the mood of the country worth judging. They made rebels of thousands of quiet people who'd never thought beyond their garden gates."
"The bullets were constant. Anything moving was shot; anyone at a window was a sniper. Our last outposts were alone and falling. There were now twelve thousand soldiers in the city, and another four thousand on the way and a huge pit had been dug in Arbour Hill for the rebel dead, with a hill of quicklime beside it: there'd be no republican funerals."
"But I liked listening to him and loved the idea of knocking down Dublin and starting afresh. I'd roll my sleeves up for that particular job....I was ready to die for Ireland. I was ready to die for Limerick. Ready to fall dead for a version of Ireland that had little or nothing to do with the Ireland I'd gone out to die for the last time."
"Before I went back to my bed that night I'd been sworn into the Irish Republican Brotherhood, the secret society at the centre of the centre of all things. I was a Fenian."
"And the British would hit back...they always did. Over the next four years, they never let us down. It wasn't that they made bad judgements, got the mood of the country wrong: they never judged at all. They never considered the mood of the country worth judging. They made rebels of thousands of quiet people who'd never thought beyond their garden gates."
March 24, 2021
This is quite a tough read from the start as the author takes you back to the poverty and grime of late 19th/early 20th century Dublin. Henry Smart is born into these desperate times and we follow his early life as an abandoned child looking after his younger brother and surviving against all the odds to become a fighter for the Irish Republican cause.
This is a powerful blend of adventure novel, historical fiction and coming of age saga, encompassing the Easter Rising and the subsequent revolutionary developments in a very graphic and, in parts, grim and depressing read. However, with an increasingly complex storyline and the introduction of a number of memorable characters, ncluding some real life figures (Michael Collins and Eamon de Valera for two) the book provides a fascinating insight into a world of intrigue where everything is definitely not as it seems. When I started reading the book i wondered if I would be able to finish it; it seemed so dark and intimidating, but, in the end, i found myself looking forward to Smart's further exploits in the sequels. A real roller coaster of a read.
This is a powerful blend of adventure novel, historical fiction and coming of age saga, encompassing the Easter Rising and the subsequent revolutionary developments in a very graphic and, in parts, grim and depressing read. However, with an increasingly complex storyline and the introduction of a number of memorable characters, ncluding some real life figures (Michael Collins and Eamon de Valera for two) the book provides a fascinating insight into a world of intrigue where everything is definitely not as it seems. When I started reading the book i wondered if I would be able to finish it; it seemed so dark and intimidating, but, in the end, i found myself looking forward to Smart's further exploits in the sequels. A real roller coaster of a read.
February 24, 2020
Enjoyable read. Can't vouch for the historical accuracy of the birth of the Irish state, but am keen to find out more. Part 1 of the book particularly moving. First book of a trilogy, will try to read the other two.
June 21, 2011
Roddy Doyle exhibits his penchant for creating power by using a narrative that is richly minimalist in his story about the Irish struggle beginning with the Easter 1916 Uprising in the General Post Office in Dublin. I had flashbacks to the maximalism of The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass, which also concerns a violent political standoff in a Post Office. Doyle's style is extremely accessible and vivid and powerful in the way that Hemingway created strength by his use of short, punchy syntax like a newspaper writer. Doyle worked hard in his research for this novel and he succeeded in transporting me back to another era. The dialogue was noteworthy: masterfully terse, dense and authentic. The characters, many of whom are historical figures from Easter 1916, despite their often hideous acts against the state and each other were round and fully drawn in only a few brush strokes: they usually evoked sympathy or compassion. It is a tale about the human spirit striving to free itself from the fetters of poverty and oppression despite the worst possible odds. I admire Doyle as a writer and respect his command of his craft. I encourage you to read this incredibly moving novel about a star named Henry, who seemed to me to embody the Ireland of his heyday -- this novel is a very fine and inventive work by one of the master storytellers of our time.
May 24, 2019
It begins so promisingly. A dark, grand, epic saga of a slum kid born just before the dawn of the long, painful battle for Irish independence, the first 86 pages are a ride akin to Rushdie's Midnight's Children. On page 87 however, we leap forward to find our now-14-year-old narrator a foot soldier in the 1916 Easter Rising and the narrative momentum essentially grinds to a halt.
Doyle obviously knows his homeland and history, and can turn all manner of cultural phrase, but the foundation of his story is a figure largely devoid of interest or credibility. Henry Smart is generally a mindless, amoral brute, but occassionally a thoughtful window into Irish history and the messy politics of rebellion. His appeal is further limited by his isolation. Henry has essentially no family, while the succession of friends, lovers, and historical figures he goes on to meet all appear and disappear leaving scant impression. More Zelig than an actual human being, Henry is a bizarre and off-putting Everyman, an excuse to be in places and see the things Doyle deems important.
Only knowing "the troubles" from movies like THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY and MICHAEL COLLINS, I was excited to experience this fresh perspective, but Doyle's scattershot approach to pretty much everything reduced my reading pace to a crawl, then a slog, and I finally gave up on page 218.
Doyle obviously knows his homeland and history, and can turn all manner of cultural phrase, but the foundation of his story is a figure largely devoid of interest or credibility. Henry Smart is generally a mindless, amoral brute, but occassionally a thoughtful window into Irish history and the messy politics of rebellion. His appeal is further limited by his isolation. Henry has essentially no family, while the succession of friends, lovers, and historical figures he goes on to meet all appear and disappear leaving scant impression. More Zelig than an actual human being, Henry is a bizarre and off-putting Everyman, an excuse to be in places and see the things Doyle deems important.
Only knowing "the troubles" from movies like THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY and MICHAEL COLLINS, I was excited to experience this fresh perspective, but Doyle's scattershot approach to pretty much everything reduced my reading pace to a crawl, then a slog, and I finally gave up on page 218.
January 26, 2009
I thought this book was really fun. I'm hugely fascinated with early 20th century Irish history, and it was a delight to read about Henry casually rubbing elbows with everyone from James Connolly to Michael Collins. It didn't even strike me as contrived, which is almost amazing considering how clumsily historical figures are typically used in fiction.
What was even better was the sheer amount of life in Doyle's writing; Henry jumped off the page from the very beginning and didn't let up. I loved the epic romance between Henry and Miss O'Shea, who was also wonderfully vivid with her trousers and Thompson gun. This story had the tragedy, grinding poverty, and needless misery of any book set in the Dublin slums of that time, but it never felt sorry for itself. I always forgot how young Henry was - he seems like a grown, world-weary man at 14 except for the persistent brashness and indestructibility that can only belong to a teenager. The little reminders of his age the author sprinkled into the story threw all the violence and passion into such sharp relief, especially at the end.
I definitely recommend this book, especially to fellow Hibernophiles like myself.
What was even better was the sheer amount of life in Doyle's writing; Henry jumped off the page from the very beginning and didn't let up. I loved the epic romance between Henry and Miss O'Shea, who was also wonderfully vivid with her trousers and Thompson gun. This story had the tragedy, grinding poverty, and needless misery of any book set in the Dublin slums of that time, but it never felt sorry for itself. I always forgot how young Henry was - he seems like a grown, world-weary man at 14 except for the persistent brashness and indestructibility that can only belong to a teenager. The little reminders of his age the author sprinkled into the story threw all the violence and passion into such sharp relief, especially at the end.
I definitely recommend this book, especially to fellow Hibernophiles like myself.
February 16, 2009
This is the best Roddy Doyle book I have read thus far. It starts off as so many Irish books do...a poverty-stricken young boy, raised in Ireland at the turn of the century. So, it begins as this tragic, yet enjoyable story...one that is reminiscent of Angela's Ashes. At some point you realize this book is not going to end in any typical way, though, because the boy named Henry Smart is one of the founding members of the Irish Republic Army - what many consider to be a terrorist group today. I won't tell you what happens, because it would ruin a great story, but let me say that the sheer number of adventures and near-misses Henry has in the book are astounding...and at the end of the book you realize that after all of that, he is a young man of twenty.
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