09-29-2010, 09:30 AM
The trilogy starts with "A Star Called Henry" and it's the story of Henry Smart as he make his way through revolutionary Ireland in the early part of the 20th century. The second book is called "Oh, Play that thing". Smart has fled Ireland with a death sentence on his head. He gets caught up in Jazz Age America including becoming good friends with Louis Armstrong. In the final book "The Dead Republic", Smart returns to Ireland to see the results of his revolutionary activity in the last decades of the 20th century.
The Dead Republic as it started out, seemed to be aimed directly at me. Smart is in Hollywood. He meets John Ford. He helps write and eventually returns to Ireland to film "The Quiet Man". What more do you want from a book? Ireland, Movies, and the Quiet Man. I wish that the book had stayed with this focus more. I would have like to have seen more of the scenes of the filming in Cong, but Doyle had other ideas.
The basis for the trilogy was basically to talk about the revolution and it's ripple effects through Ireland and America. The second half of The Dead Republic looks at Ireland through Smart's eyes from the 1960's until the end of the century. And it's not a pretty assesment. At first, it's hopeful as people get jobs and enough to eat. The middle class rises. But eventually the revolution that is still ongoing seeps into all facets of Irish society. We witness the bombings in Dublin, Derry, and Belfast in the 1970's. Smart gets involved with the IRA and the hunger strikers in Long Kesh in the 1980s. Eventually we get to the nascent peace process and the Good Friday accords. Smart is part of all these things as bystander or a relic of the 1916 rebellion. The IRA trots him out at funerals and functions to show their connection to their past.
The books were good. I love the way he writes. But a lot of it is very elusive. Doyle doesn't come out and say what he wants to say. A lot of it is by inference and if you are unfamiliar with the history of Ireland, you might be lost by what he is talking about. And a lot of the action is off stage. Smart hears about the great doings but doesn't take part. So we hear the story from someone who heard the story.
The final book peters out. A lot of time spent sitting in the nursing home. He drives around as a captive. It just ends. And Doyle's hope for Ireland's future is a bleak one.
The Dead Republic as it started out, seemed to be aimed directly at me. Smart is in Hollywood. He meets John Ford. He helps write and eventually returns to Ireland to film "The Quiet Man". What more do you want from a book? Ireland, Movies, and the Quiet Man. I wish that the book had stayed with this focus more. I would have like to have seen more of the scenes of the filming in Cong, but Doyle had other ideas.
The basis for the trilogy was basically to talk about the revolution and it's ripple effects through Ireland and America. The second half of The Dead Republic looks at Ireland through Smart's eyes from the 1960's until the end of the century. And it's not a pretty assesment. At first, it's hopeful as people get jobs and enough to eat. The middle class rises. But eventually the revolution that is still ongoing seeps into all facets of Irish society. We witness the bombings in Dublin, Derry, and Belfast in the 1970's. Smart gets involved with the IRA and the hunger strikers in Long Kesh in the 1980s. Eventually we get to the nascent peace process and the Good Friday accords. Smart is part of all these things as bystander or a relic of the 1916 rebellion. The IRA trots him out at funerals and functions to show their connection to their past.
The books were good. I love the way he writes. But a lot of it is very elusive. Doyle doesn't come out and say what he wants to say. A lot of it is by inference and if you are unfamiliar with the history of Ireland, you might be lost by what he is talking about. And a lot of the action is off stage. Smart hears about the great doings but doesn't take part. So we hear the story from someone who heard the story.
The final book peters out. A lot of time spent sitting in the nursing home. He drives around as a captive. It just ends. And Doyle's hope for Ireland's future is a bleak one.
So much for the flickr badge idea. Dammit