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wertwow's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
disreputabledog's review against another edition
challenging
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
leiaslizzy's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
This was an intriguing read. The characters were all brilliant, I loved the framed narrative, and the court case towards the end was fun to read.
eagerfrank13's review
adventurous
challenging
funny
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
In the reviews for this book I've seen that most people don't have an idea about this book. Probably due to a lack of understanding of Irish mythology and culture of old. Many elements of the book are pastiches of the form of Irish mythos, such as the use of extended, dramatic simile to describe something or the weird behaviour of nature, magic and Catholicism. O' Brien had such a deep knowledge of Irish myths and their nonsense mechanics that it would be like gibberish to anyone unfamiliar. Not to spoil chunks of the book too much but the entire retelling of the story of King Sweeny is totally accurate and the backwards, tumbling over itself that Irish stories have inherent in their structure is not too dissimilar to the output of Orlick and the boys at the end of the book, revising, going back over, forgetting bits. It's an expression in 20th century literature of the idiosyncrasies of oral story telling done to great comic effect. None of what I've said has really made much sense but honestly, I love this book too much to not exalt it's virtues.
shaunaxx's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
aoifer's review
challenging
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
orneryalways's review
Really tough for me to adjust to the dialect of Irish characters. I would like to pick it up again someday after I’ve enjoyed a dark pint or two.
albon's review against another edition
1.0
2019 review:
i'm sure it's a classic for a reason, and that reason is probably that people are smarter than me, but in my opinion this wasn't interesting and there were no funny bits. if anything it just felt like proof that men in the 1930s could write literally any words in a completely random order and publishers were just like "ah. yes. genius". i know it's unfair to start drawing comparisons when you've just finished a really good book, but i'm gonna do it anyway: this book was first published in 1939. i just finished The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter yesterday, which was published in 1940. without having read anything else they've written, carson mccullers was a better writer when she was 23 than flann o'brien was at 28. women stay winning.
i'm sure it's a classic for a reason, and that reason is probably that people are smarter than me, but in my opinion this wasn't interesting and there were no funny bits. if anything it just felt like proof that men in the 1930s could write literally any words in a completely random order and publishers were just like "ah. yes. genius". i know it's unfair to start drawing comparisons when you've just finished a really good book, but i'm gonna do it anyway: this book was first published in 1939. i just finished The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter yesterday, which was published in 1940. without having read anything else they've written, carson mccullers was a better writer when she was 23 than flann o'brien was at 28. women stay winning.