Books by Roddy Doyle
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review 1: You wouldn't think reading about a guy with cancer could be this much fun. I so enjoyed this book. I loved the characters, especially Jimmy, and laughed out loud often. Also cried a bit, but happy tears. I've seen enough Irish theater to be able to hear the dialect in my head qui...
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review 1: Based on incredible books like "The Commitments," "Paddy Clark--Ha, Ha, Ha," and "Paula Spencer," Roddy Doyle is hands-down one of my favorite living writers, but this one--in which he brings back some of the main characters from "The Commitments" as they reach middle age--just d...
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review 1: A lovely book for upper primary or middle school girls. The narrative jumps around - roughly every other chapter is a flashback - and the story is set in Ireland across 100 years, so this would be a challenging read for some. As an adult, I enjoyed the book on its own merits and ...
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review 1: A collection of short stories taking place in Dublin in the 1980s. It is very well written often in Irish blue collar argot, but preoccupied by aging males & their problems of lost usefulness, decrepitude, loss of children(grown & departed)or spouses from which they have drifted ...
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review 1: This is the best exploration of two guys sitting around talking shite since 'Waiting for Godot.'I love Roddy Doyle's books, mainly because of the dialogue - when films have been made of his work (such as The Commitments) the script has virtually been written already as his dialog...
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review 1: I am just starting to get my feet wet with middle-grade books and this was a wonderful new book to sink my reading teeth into! This is a tale that both kids and adults would love. The Sunday Times calls it a "Small Miracle of a Book" and I completely agree. Mary is such a well...
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review 1: This is a short, sweet, charming book which I mostly enjoyed. Bits of it, particularly the chapter where we learn how Mary's great-grandmother died, are deeply touching.On the minus side, while I think this would have captured my imagination more when I was 12 myself, as an adult...
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review 1: Roddy Doyle's novels are always worth reading. His view of the world is slightly skewed, but always in a way that brings his stories and characters to life. I didn't warm up to this novel as quickly as I usually do--probably because his protagonist is more challenging and less lo...
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review 1: I am not sure this quite qualifies as reading a whole book. It is very short and each page just a short snippet of conversation of two men having a beer. Doyle is known for his skill in creating dialogue and this was funny. The characters are comic in their exploration of where ...
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review 1: I just ... I don't know. I truly loved the first book of this trilogy, was a little disappointed in the second, and just really felt myself struggling through this. I don't know if that's the book or me, though. There was definitely still plenty of Henry Smart to love (and be inf...
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review 1: It would have been nearly impossible for Roddy Doyle to have maintained the frenetic pace (and possibly the high quality) of his history of Ireland in the 20th century as seen in the person of Henry Salt, The Last Roundup. That may be intentional and in the long run for the best,...