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wordsofclover's review
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Jimmy Rabbitte Sr is struggling to decide on his next step after he is made redundant and feels like a spare part in his own house. As wife Veronica turns to studying, and his son Jimmy Rabbitte Jr is doing well enough for himself to spare a few bob to his dad for a pint, things are looking bleak for Jimmy Sr. But when his friend Bimbo buys a chip van, things look up as the two partner up to figure out how exactly one makes a battered sausage in time for the World Cup and a lot of hungry spectators exiting the pubs aroud Barrytown.
There was lots in this to love - the pure Irishisms coming out of Jimmy and everyone around him or more accurately the Dublinisms, and there's a real sense of nostalgia when reading this book for a Dublin and a particular way of life that doesn't really exist anymore. For anyone who loved The Snapper or The Commitments, this is the third book in the Barrytown trilogy and follows members of the same family. Roddy Doyle has a good way of creating larger than life characters and placing them exactly where they ought to be and bringing them to life in many different ways.
The only issue I had with this, and it did spoil my reading a little bit, is the way in which Jimmy Sr and some of his friends (Bertie) often talked about women. Now I know this is just a product of when the book was written or published but that doesn't mean I have to be okay with grown men talking about 15/16 year olds looking like 'rides' or men actively looking to see if they would get the opportunity to cheat on their wives when on a night out. Not to mention how often the older women in the book, the wives and mothers, were compared unfavourably to women in their teens and 20s as if aging isn't hard enough as it is without being expected to look 21 forever.
There was lots in this to love - the pure Irishisms coming out of Jimmy and everyone around him or more accurately the Dublinisms, and there's a real sense of nostalgia when reading this book for a Dublin and a particular way of life that doesn't really exist anymore. For anyone who loved The Snapper or The Commitments, this is the third book in the Barrytown trilogy and follows members of the same family. Roddy Doyle has a good way of creating larger than life characters and placing them exactly where they ought to be and bringing them to life in many different ways.
The only issue I had with this, and it did spoil my reading a little bit, is the way in which Jimmy Sr and some of his friends (Bertie) often talked about women. Now I know this is just a product of when the book was written or published but that doesn't mean I have to be okay with grown men talking about 15/16 year olds looking like 'rides' or men actively looking to see if they would get the opportunity to cheat on their wives when on a night out. Not to mention how often the older women in the book, the wives and mothers, were compared unfavourably to women in their teens and 20s as if aging isn't hard enough as it is without being expected to look 21 forever.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny
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