The Van - Roddy Doyle

...Shouts King Herrod on the Dublin shore.

“I’m telling you two eeejits, if you do not get that van out of there now, I am calling the guards!” He shouts again.

“Agh, **** off, yis ****, we’re getting a pint now.” Is the reply from two narked looking Irish blokes.

Now if you want to know why this imaginary conversation is taking place, then I suggest you read Roddy Doyle’s ...
...Irish family (the Rabbittees) and the trials and tribulations of being poor in working class Ireland. The previous two books being the Commitments and the Snapper. The Snapper and the Van very much form the one book, with parts of the story line overlapping and so I do suggest you read the review of the Snapper, to get the full impact of this review. (I know a plug, but I am serious, otherwise I will get comments saying this review does not make ... more

“Oi, you eejits, what are you putting you van there for!” Shouts King Herrod on the Dublin shore.

“I’m telling you two eeejits, if you do not get that van out of there now, I am calling the guards!” He shouts again.

“Agh, **** off, yis ****, we’re getting a pint now.” Is the reply from two narked looking Irish blokes.

Now if you want to know why this imaginary conversation is taking place, then I suggest you read Roddy Doyle’s final book in the Barrytown trilogy, The Van. For those that are new to this area and my reviews, Barrytown is a fictional location in Dublin, where Roddy Doyle has based his three-part story about a working class Irish family (the Rabbittees) and the trials and tribulations of being poor in working class Ireland. The previous two books being the Commitments and the Snapper. The Snapper and the Van very much form the one book, with parts of the story line overlapping and so I do suggest you read the review of the Snapper, to get the full impact of this review. (I know a plug, but I am serious, otherwise I will get comments saying this review does not make sense.)

This book focuses on the despair of unemployment, what binds friends together and can tear them apart and the difficulties of parenting. Of course there is the chip van, called Bimbo’s Burgers and thus to get all your appetites up we have the Van’s menu.

Cod and Chips – THE PLOT. £1.50

Jimmy Rabbittee senior has been laid off, he has no money, his family has no money and he feels useless. He spends his time roaming the library (finding as most people do that The Man in the Iron Mask, is a frustrating book), playing Pitch and Putt and taking his granddaughter (Gina, the baby born at the end of the Snapper) out on long walks. Christmas is bleak, no money for presents and having to rely on the charity of his friends, which is a real dent to Jimmy’s pride. Things look up when his mate Bimbo is also laid off and the pair of them keep each other happy, messing around in the day, but neither feel like a real man.

Jimmy Sr hates receiving hand outs from his now grown up and left home son Jimmy Jr (no Jimmy Jr has not become a famous DJ) and is pretty down in the mouth at times, especially when his son (Darren, now grown out of his cycling phase) tells him that it is not he (Jimmy Sr) who has supplied the food, but the State.

Things change when Bimbo invests in a chip van to fill the hungry masses outside the local pub. Jimmy and Bimbo are partners, in the venture, but with Bimbo fronting the cash and his wife meddling in the business and ordering Jimmy around, how long can the friendship and business last?

To tell you more would spoil it. So to find out what happens you will just have to read the book for yourselves and then you may see why the imaginary me was shouting at the two useless bollixes at the top of this review.

Once again there are sub-plots involving children and their whims and how on earth you stop them from becoming tearaways, how a wife copes with the unemployment of her husband and a lovely cameo part with Ireland doing well in Italia 90. “Oi O’Leary, you have never taken a penalty in your life, you eejit”.

Burger and Chips – THE STYLE. £1.20

The book can be neatly divided into two parts, in the first the book’s style is very much the same as in the Snapper and the Commitments. Doyle writes the story as conversations between the characters, this keeps the pace up, but the description low. The story is written from the point of view of Jimmy Sr and you get to feel his emotions as the events progress and having had a father who was made unemployed, there was a certain aspect that I could relate too. Once again there is sharp humour that will have you laughing, but this is curtailed from the Snapper as Doyle’s main character is feeling a bit blue.

The book is written in this conversational way until the Van is purchased by Bimbo, beyond this point the writing is more conventional and descriptive, there are still the witty conversations and quick fire writing in parts, but more attention is played to scenery and thoughts than the witty conversation. It is as if Doyle got bored with the earlier style halfway through the book and changed.

Doyle is observant in his portrayal of characters and you really feel like you are in the story with them, this is an engrossing and well-written book that flows freely and will make you chuckle. I can still see my girlfriends Dad in Jimmy Sr and a few other Irish people I know in the other characters and I am sure that if you know, or are an Irish family you too will identify with the characters.

Spice Burger and Chips – THE MESSAGE. £1

Doyle in this book seeks to explore the hurt that unemployment can cause, what do these people do, how do they feel and how do individuals tackle the problems. Bimbo and Jimmy attack their unemployment in very different ways, but both have wounded pride. The struggle of having kids but no money is addressed and from the child’s point of view coming to terms with an unemployed parent can be just as hard.

Once the two are working again, the Van focuses on how close friends entering business together can be disaster, money and greed being divisive to friendships and how resentment simmers under the surface, before it explodes.

On another level the male mid-life crisis is examined, why do men with nice wives want to cop off with tarts, not to talk to, but to just get their wicked way?

Curried Chips (clear off we don’t sell that rubbish) oh well then Chips – WILL YOU LIKE IT. 50p

If you have read either of the two preceding books and enjoyed them, you will enjoy this, this book is written in much the same style and is also very amusing (although not as much as the Snapper). The Van deals with an emotional issue in an excellent manner and if you have a father that has ever lost his job, or have suffered redundancy yourself I think you will nod along, part in amusement and part in understanding. Once again this book is easy to read and a book that you will not want to end. A great book, dealing with tough issues in an excellent way. Not as good as the Snapper, but better than the Commitments.

So that is it from the Rabbittees, no more Jimmy Sr and his mickey taking, read the trilogy and enjoy.

 

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