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A Pint Of Plain: How The Irish Pub Lost Its Magic But Conquered The World (2009)

by Bill Barich(Favorite Author)

3.35 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0802717012 (ISBN13: 9780802717016)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Walker & Company

review 1: Summary: The story starts out with Bill Barich living in Dublin, Ireland with his wife. Bill is looking for an authentic anf successful pub to be his regular, everyday pub. He started his search in Ranelagh but he didn't find any owners that he got along with or a pub with an original Irish atmosphere. He expanding his search in a desparate attempt to assure himself that there were still good irish pubs around. He started traveling all around Dublin and the outskirts of it until he finaly went to a pub whose owner's name was Eugene Kavangh. The pub was authentic with antique irish artifacts hung on the walls and an outdated television that was only turned on for a major news or sports event. Feeling good about his discovery of Kavangh's pub, Bil continued on his search an... mored traveled to so many horrible pubs that he was ready to give up. Then, he found the O.Connor family who owned a pub that was attatched to their home. The pub was very successful anf Bill got along with Mr.O.Connor very well. In the end, Bill just traveled home again in hopes of finding a successful pub near him at a later date.Review: Irish and American culture seem to have many differences. In Ireland, the original tradition is to have your home connected to your place of work. So, a pub owner would have his house connected to his pub. In contrast to that, America is known for it's industrialization era and huge factories that hundreds on people go to each day for work. In Ireland, they seem to value knowing exactly what is going on and being there to fix any problem at all times at their place of work. Another cultural difference that I noticed is that Irish are very protective of their identity and proud to be who they are. America, however, is called "The Melting Pot of the World" because so many people from so many different countries come to America and there is so much diversity. It is difficult to be protective of your identity when anyone can come to America to start a living and call themselves American. I noticed a couple of things about the author's purpose for writing this book. First, he wanted to emphasize just how much of an impact Irish pubs have had on the history of the country and the entire world. In the very beginning of the book Barich establishes the pub's major impact "Its[the Irish pub] attraction is universal, and it cuts across cultural boundaries and crops up everywhere on earth with a frequency matched only by the unavoidable Chinese restaurant."(p2)The second purpose I noticed was that the author simply wanted to write a book about the Irish pub because he is so interested in them. At the very end of the book he points out how long he has been taking notes and writing aobut Irish pubs "A friend in California had alerted me to the existence of the Flann O'Brian Original Irish Pub is Graz, Austria, so I could add it to my file of literary oddities. There was no end to the business of appropriating writers, apparently."(p219) I am excited to find tons of more cultural differences between Ireland and America! The theme of the text is that modern day technologies and advances are depleating and covering up the importance of original traditions and values. Something small that Bill always noticed in the book was whether or not the pub he was visiting had a television or not because, if it did, the pub was not original and authentic enough for him. He decribed televisions as being a "minor-nuisance." When Bil visited Kavangh's pub he commented on it fantastic original qualities that made it successful "Though the two fires were electric, not turf, they kept us warm. The barmen were rock steady and dedicated to Eugene, who tutored them well and exercised a control over the place that was somehow both iron-fisted and as light as a feather."(p23) I completely agree with the theme of this text and that there are not enough original traditions around anymore. I would not recommend this book because the plot line was not very interesting. Just as soon as it would start to progress, Barich would input historical facts and go off on a tangent about them and by the time the historical facts were over, you forgot what was actually happening in the story. Another thing that I didn't like was that Bill traveled to so many different places that I never knew where he was or where he had been. A map of Dublin would have been very helpful to follow along and keep the story line less confusing. All in all, I give the book a two stars.
review 2: The New Brunswick, James Squires, the Alley Cat, Republic, New Sydney, Shipwright’s Arms – all terrific Hobart pubs that I love to frequent – an eclectic mix from the brassy to traditional all serving an equally eclectic range of ales, rather than just the ubiquitous Cascade/Boags - fine tipples though they may be. Once upon a time my favourite was an Irish pub that had seen better days but still retained, I felt, charm with its cosy nooks. It had the best risotto, a fine range of brews and it was a must on a Friday eve before watching the footy. Sadly its owners sold and the new ones decided to yuppify, taking away the charm to appeal to the hipster set. In days of yore, when Hobs was the base for every whaler decimating the southern seas, the city had one of the highest ratio of pubs per person in the world – and almost as many brothels. But of course these days my little metropolis under the mountain is no Dublin, where Bill Barich has his adventures, accompanied by endless pints of the ‘black stuff’.That city has spouted one of the world’s most lucrative franchises, the ‘traditional’ Irish pub, and now exported world-wide, as were the Irish themselves during the diaspora. It is done so to a very strict formula, a world away from the ancient rural bars of the Emerald Isle. Why this love of everything Irish – Barich’s theory is that it is all down to John Ford’s classic ‘The Quiet Man’. Does this explain the globe’s love of Guinness as well?This well honed book has something of Bill Bryson’s ‘House’ about it. In the same way that Bryson did for each room of his stately home, the author does for pubs in that he uses them as a starting point to riff on the history, customs and quirks of his chosen home. But finding the real ‘authentic’ Irish pub as eulogized by Ford was not a given, causing Barich to crisscross his city and the Republic in his search. Thankfully he does come up with examples that were not tarted up facsimiles or possessed of the heady atmosphere of a game of lawn bowls. He found a few gems that had the feel, the perfect pint and the craic of the real deal – and from that began the tales. These expansions into Irish lore took in the famous writers that frequented those ale-houses, the dying breed of their paternal publicans as well as of the legendary pint men who consumed from sun-up to sun-down.The book was written just as the Celtic Tiger had reached its zenith, but already the massive number of public houses Ireland boasted was in sharp decline due to ‘over-zealous’ policing and lifestyle changes. Heaven knows how many of the heavenly boozers Barich did manage to locate are left now that the Irish have joined Europe’s ever-growing list of basket cases. I loved his list on what constitutes Irishness (page 174 for those interested), but it also made me sad that again Irishmen and women have their backs to the wall. Many are again leaving for the new world and antipodes.‘A Pint of Plain’ is a very fine look at something that may not exist for much longer and is well worth a peruse – to be sure! less

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