A Star Called Henry - Roddy Doyle

Advantages: Insightful, educational and exciting.
Disadvantages: None.

...slum London was written over a hundred years ago, and descriptive as it is, it has lost some of its power by being too far removed from our own lives. Only Orwell and, perhaps, Alan Sillitoe have managed more recently to show the sheer banality of deprivation. Now we have Doyle, winner of the Booker Prize in 1993, for his humorous work, ‘Paddy Clark Ha, Ha, Ha; showing a much harder edge to his fiction. ‘A Star Called Henry’ is ...
...century Dublin. His father is a one-legged bouncer at a brothel who turns to paid murder, and disappears one night to be presumed dead. His mother, a naïve country girl, never recovers from the death of her first-born and descends into depression and madness. The book follows the first twenty years of Henry’s life, surviving disease and disaster and the neglect of his absent father and alcoholic mother. During his adolescence he becomes embroiled ... Read review

Advantages: Superb evocation of Ireland 1900-1930
Disadvantages: I found it hard going at times but worth it in the end

I'm currently going through a "slow reading" period, which means I take ages to read books, that normally I'm through in a few days. I found this heavy going, though I'm not sure if my own lethargy contributed to it. Roddy Doyle has a find command of language and this book is almost Dickensian in the way it evokes the life of young Henry Smart in the first three decades of last century. The narrative precedes the birth of Henry (not the Star of ...
..."American Psycho". There is a lot of humour in the book, usually involving quick casual sex with his ex school teacher or getting into scrapes as a child , and the intensity of the language makes you feel that you have experienced what happens in the book, again , like Dickens. I don't know if "enjoy" is the correct word to describe the books effect on me, but it is certainly worth putting time and effort into reading it. You will be well rewarded. ... Read review

Advantages: Brilliant
Disadvantages: None

...use of Ireland and how a son can become his father are all themes of this excellent book. Henry Smart, is his fathers son, born in the slum and becoming a street kid, drifting in with the IRA and then venting his anger in a truly vioent way for the cause. His dad was a hitman for a business man, with no brains, does his son become the same for the IRA. The writing is brilliant with a tough subject receiving good treatment and for an Irish writer ... Read review

Advantages: Challenging storyline, well handled
Disadvantages: A little bleak

...so this new book is a bit of a shock. All his novels deal with Ireland but this deals with the IRA and the conflict in a gripping and violent way. Henry is a street kid who has nothing better to do than end up in the IRA. He does not know what he is fighting for, has nothing against the English but he loves the sense of belonging. This book describes the beginnings of the IRA from a soilder's perspective. It is very well written with some humour, ... Read review

Advantages: It must be good if it's Roddy Doyle!
Disadvantages: None

This story develops from a tale of a young Irish boy, to the old-before-his-time instrument of the beginnings of the IRB, soon to become the IRA. I must admit that this genre of book does not normally interest me, but I was very pleasantly surprised by Doyle's eloquence and touching account of how the troubles began and the human, sensitive issues it stems from. The story-line is not particularly compicated, despite the complicated issues it raises, ... Read review