Guests of the Nation

by Frank O'Connor

This collection of stories centers on the theme of the Irish Revolution. O'Connor is concerned with the way in which war imposes a false and cruel ethic on people, ruthlessly destroying human relationships. The title story has been widely acknowledged as one of the masterpieces of the short story form.

This short story collection includes:
"Guests of the Nation"
"Attack"
"Jumbo's Wife"
"Nightpiece with Figures"
"September Dawn"
"Machinegun Corps in Action"
"Laughter"
"Jo"
"Alec"
"Soiree Chez une Belle Jeune Fille"
"The Patriarch"
"After Fourteen Years"
"The Late Henry Conran"
"The Sisters"
"The Procession of Life"

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Ireland, Classics, Irish Literature, Literature, Historical Fiction

199 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1931

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads data base.

Frank O’Connor (born Michael Francis O'Connor O'Donovan) was an Irish author of over 150 works, who was best known for his short stories and memoirs. Raised an only child in Cork, Ireland, to Minnie O'Connor and Michael O'Donovan, his early life was marked by his father's alcoholism, indebtness and ill-treatment of his mother.

He was perhaps Ireland's most complete man of letters, best known for his varied and comprehensive short stories but also for his work as a literary critic, essayist, travel writer, translator and biographer.[5] He was also a novelist, poet and dramatist.[6]

From the 1930s to the 1960s he was a prolific writer of short stories, poems, plays, and novellas. His work as an Irish teacher complemented his plethora of translations into English of Irish poetry, including his initially banned translation of Brian Merriman's Cúirt an Mheán Oíche ("The Midnight Court"). Many of O'Connor's writings were based on his own life experiences — his character Larry Delaney in particular. O'Connor's experiences in the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War are reflected in The Big Fellow, his biography of Irish revolutionary leader Michael Collins, published in 1937, and one of his best-known short stories, Guests of the Nation (1931), published in various forms during O'Connor's lifetime and included in Frank O'Connor — Collected Stories, published in 1981.

O'Connor's early years are recounted in An Only Child, a memoir published in 1961 but which has the immediacy of a precocious diary. U.S. President John F. Kennedy quoted from An Only Child in his remarks introducing the American commitment to land a man on the moon by the end of the 1960s. Kennedy described the long walks O'Connor would take with his friends and how, when they came to a wall that seemed too formidable to climb over, they would throw their caps over the wall so they would be forced to scale the wall after them. Kennedy concluded, "This nation has tossed its cap over the wall of space and we have no choice but to follow it."[7] O'Connor continued his autobiography through his time with the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, which ended in 1939, in his book, My Father's Son, which was published in 1968, after O'Connor's death.

Reviews

[Bian · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,6⭐️

[abbey colgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

That ending….
Violence leading to an alienated population. Ireland still repping that generational trauma and siege mentality unfortunately

[Nigel · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's impossible to deny the power of the title story, arguably one of the great short stories of the English language. An utterly devastating portrayal of the artificial and imposed morality of war and duty overcoming simple humanity. One might expect the rest of the stories are more of the same, but while they all have that distinct tone of tragic regret and loss of innocence, some are quite funny - 'a flippant attitude dominates' the blurb quotes reprovingly, but these are the stories that almost burst with life. It never gets very far from the sense of danger and the horror of the split - most of the stories, barring the first, are set during the Civil War rather than the War Of Independence, though it can be a few pages before this becomes clear. I wonder are there cues I as an Irish person should be picking up on quicker, or was O'Connor letting the information present in its own time? Anyway, some funny stories, some odd stories, some sad and poignant ones, and one puzzling one - I think I worked off the point of The Sisters, but I'm not sure.

They are wonderfully well written pieces of social realism, firmly, earthily grounded and full of Irish voices, mostly Corkonian, and Irish attitudes and their tiny squabbles and concerns set against the backdrop of a struggle that might not be epic but was certainly bitter and brutal. Certainly they are world class stories from a master of the form.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good story about the IRA's battle against British control. It's only a short story, so I won't get into too many details to ruin it. But if opposing forces interacting with each other on a non-violent level sounds interesting, I'd recommend reading it.

[Maxine · Rating 3 out of 5]

They pick the most mid stories for college courses. Good moral to the story though.

[Bob O'G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good collection of short stories about the Irish Revolution. I only read about half of them and will probably read the other half another time. Some stories were more slight than others, but overall they were effective. The title story was flat out excellent. A great anti-war story focusing on humanity over politics. I believe it was the basis for the exposition in the film "The Crying Game." I would revisit this story again.

[Jim G]

I remember it today. I had to look up the story on the internet. It has been 34 years since I read it and I still remember the ending - especially the old woman. All of the fight knocked out of her.

[livros.da.sofia · Rating 4 out of 5]

- Guest of the Nation

Shortstory about the difficult and complex relationship between hostages and their captors. The personal relation formed between them makes it difficult to draw back to a functional belic position, only accomplished through the depersonalization of the individual.

[danny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disturbingly well written stories of the Irish Revolution Civil War.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent and well written collection by one of my favourite short story writers.

[Cherie Beauton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read 2015.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting collection of stories set during the era of the fight for Irish independence. Much human interest,but surprisingly little politics.

[Lulu · Rating 3 out of 5]

WAR! HUH! YEAH!
What is it good for? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!

[Mostafa · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 star
یک اثر ضد جنگ از اوکانر یا همان مایکل دونوان
آنجا که انسانها در می یابند که با وجود اختلافات عمده در نگرش به جهان که در داستان به اختلافات مذهبی و بحث های سیاسی- مذهبی به آن اشاره شده بین هاکینز( اسیر انگلیسی) و نوبل( زندانبان فرانسوی) اما انسانها به واسطه انسان بودن، وجه اشتراکاتی دارند که می توانند کنار هم، هم زیستی داشته باشند، از یکدیگر رقص بیاموزند( آموزش رقص ایرلندی به فرانسوی ها توسط آن دو اسیر) و ورق بازی کنند اما مفهومی تحت عنوان " وظیفه" یا " تعهد" در تقابل این هم زیستی قرار می گیرد
اگرچه بلچر و هاکینز دو اسیر انگلیسی با ناپلئون( راوی داستان) و نوبل که فرانسوی هستند در هم زیستی هستند و زمانی که دونوان افسر فرانسوی به ناپلئون و نوبل می گوید باید از اسرا مراقبت کرد و در صورت لزوم آنها را اعدام کرد، ناپلئون و نوبل متعجبانه به او می نگرند. آن دو نمی توانند درک کنند که چگونه باید دو اسیری را که با آنها زندگی کرده اند، بکشند. حتی در بخشی راوی می گوید اگر آنها فرار هم کنند به آنها شلیک نمی کند
دونوان، نماد تعهد و انجام وظیفه در صحنه جنگ است او نماد چشم در برابر چشم است و چون انگلیسی ها چند فرانسوی را اعدام کرده اند، حالا باید مقابله به مثل در برابر دشمن آنهم از روی وظیفه کرد
نویسنده به کلمه " مامور و معذور" اشاره می کند و بلچر اسیر انگلیسی قبل مرگ می گوید اصلا نمی فهمم این کلمه یعنی چی؟ وظیفه ای که انسانها رو در برابر هم قرار می دهد و مجوز کشتن می دهد...!!ر

[Bill Keefe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked up the book simply to read the title story...in fact, I thought it was a novel. It turns out that the short story, Guests of the Nation, would be a good reason to pick up a book of twice many stories, even you didn't read the rest. It is unique. A wonder, really.

That being said, I did read the rest and I'm glad I did. O'Connor transports you to the period of the revolution. But, like the great war novels, "All's Quiet on the Western Front" and "The Red Badge of Courage" the focus isn't on the fighting, it's on the impact of the fighting on people's lives and relationships. 'Jumbo's Wife'; so present and so heartbreaking. In fact, this is his gift, exploring the emotional impact of events, which is why even when he moves beyond war to stories like, "After Fourteen Years, or "The Late Henry Conran" he keeps your interest and reaches into you. "After Fourteen Years" seems so modern to me, like I'm reading William Trevor, capturing the emptiness, the ambivalence, the vague sense of loss.

Really good reading.

[Bill S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chilling anti-war short story. Two British soldiers in captivity become friends with their Irish guards. They play cards and everyone comes out equal; one soldier helps the old woman who owns the house; the other engages in arguments with them, but they remain friends. The order comes down that they must be shot since the Brits executed four Irish prisoners. They put aside morality and do their duty. Duty trumps morality as it does in war. Only under the circumstance of war would such a thing happen. At the end, the narrator, who participated in the killing says "anything that happened me afterwards, I never felt the same about again." He describes being isolated, unfeeling. His partner and the old woman instead feel close to the killing and beg forgiveness. This story, in part, inspired the Crying Game.

An astonishing work.

[Doodles McC · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collection of short stories. Published 1931. Title story is about the Irish War of Independence ten years earlier. It depicts the summary execution of two British Army hostages by the Irish Republican Army (IRA). The story is split into four sections, with each section being written using a different stylistic tone. Contents - This collection includes:

"Guests of the Nation"
"Attack"
"Jumbo's Wife"
"Nightpiece with Figures"
"September Dawn"
"Machinegun Corps in Action"
"Laughter"
"Jo"
"Alec"
"Soiree Chez une Belle Jeune Fille"
"The Patriarch"
"After Fourteen Years"
"The Late Henry Conran"
"The Sisters"
"The Procession of Life"

[Roaa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only have I read guests of the nation, few months ago I guess in Feb .. not the whole collection .. very interesting,! draws the reader's attention back to the sad truths of wars especially those caused between who were supposed to be brothers and neighbors, Alas! the victims are always the soldiers. while seniors, presidents or people in power are always the ones who play the whole shit incredibly to prove who'd take more souls from whom..
"humanity is just another proof of how chaotic this world is".. #Jag

[Pmslax · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably a 3.5. Truly a short story. Less than an hour to read. Reactions seem blunted to me. I expect a stronger protest unless the protagonists are shallow cannon fodder. After all a revolutionary should be someone with a high sense of justice and a will to impose it. The acquiescence in this story is disturbing. At least there is some indication of remorse.

I will present this story in April to Great Books group. Maybe I should read more of his short stories.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great grouping of short stories mostly centering on the Irish civil war. As someone who doesn’t always like short stories, these felt very complete. However, I feel the stories in the first half of the book were better than the last half.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

For class and power in Irish Lit. Amazing short story. Loved the author’s use of light. Character development left you feeling like Bonaparte at the end: confused on what to do and how you’ll ever see anything quite the same again.

[wayne mcauliffe · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Grand collection of short stories

[Lorena Living Life · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good point, bad story

[Nikolai · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a shattering story. Manages to be incredibly effective, with so few pages. Might be one of the best anti-war stories I've read so far.

[Ryan Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite short tories ever written!

[frankngrrl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read for class. Quietly devastating. I think I’m gonna throw up…

[Kirsty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. This review deserves a lot more than I have the time to give. The story is a realistic portrayal of what happens in war. We put our humanity second when it comes to our duty to our country, and we decide that that is the best thing to do in the situation, but is it? Just because you are told to kill your POWs, does that mean you have to? I mean, if you didn't, you would be accused of treason. Ah, the meaninglessness of war and the way it strips everyone of their humanity. Gotta love it.