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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This is a fun collection of old Irish folk tales, but it is just a collection. No real framing of the stories or analysis in any meaningful way.
Getting prepared to tell some stories to my nephew :D
In my dream Yeats was a painfully young, handsome, depressed Johnathan Rhys Meyers attempting to prove the existence of faeries. So he traveled and gathered stories and now surely he is long dead already but these stories he gathered remain alive. So does Johnathan Rhys Meyers (don't get me wrong, no harm intended, and I do love you, Johnathan!)
I recommend you to listen to The Corrs' Celtic albums back to back while reading this book. Or some good ol' Enya of course.
I recommend you to listen to The Corrs' Celtic albums back to back while reading this book. Or some good ol' Enya of course.
This was a very uneven collection. Some stories were great. For example: When a child killed a priest, at the priest’s request to prove he (the priest) was wrong that everyone did have a soul, “and this was the first butterfly that was ever seen in Ireland; and now all men know that the butterflies are the souls of the dead, waiting for the moment when they may enter Purgatory, and so pass through toture to purification and peace.” (239)
Some stories were ridiculous. For example: The Fate of Frank M’Kenna was that he died hunting wabbits…sorry hares. See, he liked to hunt hares on Sunday instead of going to church. His father got upset and cursed him. So the next time he went a-hunting, he got trapped in a snowstorm and died. Then he started haunting the daughter of the house nearest the site of his death. The lass drummed up the courage to find out what he wanted, since that will allow the ghost t go on his way. What he wanted? Make sure none of the friends that were with him before he died didn’t get his new pants. Seriously.
A couple of quotes and a note to end this review.
"It is said by those who ought to understand such things, that the good people, or the fairies, are some of the angels who were turned out of heaven and who landed on their feet in this world, while the rest of their companions, who had more sun to sink them, went down further to a worse place." (12)
“The lips, half closed and perfectly ashy, discovered just so much of the teeth as to give the features of death their most ghastly, but most impressive look.” (126)
Anyone who’s cow give more milk and makes better butter than everyone else is almost assuredly a witch
Some stories were ridiculous. For example: The Fate of Frank M’Kenna was that he died hunting wabbits…sorry hares. See, he liked to hunt hares on Sunday instead of going to church. His father got upset and cursed him. So the next time he went a-hunting, he got trapped in a snowstorm and died. Then he started haunting the daughter of the house nearest the site of his death. The lass drummed up the courage to find out what he wanted, since that will allow the ghost t go on his way. What he wanted? Make sure none of the friends that were with him before he died didn’t get his new pants. Seriously.
A couple of quotes and a note to end this review.
"It is said by those who ought to understand such things, that the good people, or the fairies, are some of the angels who were turned out of heaven and who landed on their feet in this world, while the rest of their companions, who had more sun to sink them, went down further to a worse place." (12)
“The lips, half closed and perfectly ashy, discovered just so much of the teeth as to give the features of death their most ghastly, but most impressive look.” (126)
Anyone who’s cow give more milk and makes better butter than everyone else is almost assuredly a witch
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
I enjoyed some of this collection, but am alas not in the right place for it. I hope to return to it sometime.
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
Strange, random and without traditional plot, these stories and poems seem like faerie stories you would hear someone tell, of their own encounters.