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3.27 AVERAGE
3.27 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
funny
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
funny
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Didn't keep my interest. Wanted to move on to something else.
dark
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The central character in this book is so reckless and selfish, I had a hard time getting into and enjoying the story.
The misogyny does not enchant. But this is a vivid, often poetic book. Sebastian Dangerfield is a thoroughly real man, and the people around him nearly as real.
I suspect I would never have encountered this book were it not for The Modern Library’s list of the 100 best English-language novels published in the 20th century (culled from their own catalogue, naturally). It reminded me of another book from that list, Tropic of Cancer in that it was often vulgar, occasionally obscure but also sometimes pretty funny.
The hero of The Ginger Man is Sebastian Dangerfield, an American would-be law student using the proceeds of his G.I. bill allegedly to study law at Trinity in Dublin in the 1950’s. His good looks and ability to imitate an upper class British accent allow him to lie, cheat and/or finagle his way into obtaining credit which he will never repay and into the beds of women to whom he will never be true. He’s a drunk, a misogynist and a bounder but oddly charming, even if the reader (and other characters in the book) often wants to slug him.
The hero of The Ginger Man is Sebastian Dangerfield, an American would-be law student using the proceeds of his G.I. bill allegedly to study law at Trinity in Dublin in the 1950’s. His good looks and ability to imitate an upper class British accent allow him to lie, cheat and/or finagle his way into obtaining credit which he will never repay and into the beds of women to whom he will never be true. He’s a drunk, a misogynist and a bounder but oddly charming, even if the reader (and other characters in the book) often wants to slug him.
Are you people fucking kidding me? This guy manipulates and straight-up ABUSES vulnerable women for 300 pages and we're supposed to applaud his charm? Sebastian Dangerfield might have a whimsical phrase here and there, but the guy is a sociopath, which even then might be too generous a label. He HITS WOMEN, including his wife, for Christ's sake, and even smacks up the girl he's with within the final 30 pages of the book, so I don't want to hear shit about redemption or transformation.
And I'm not saying all protagonists have to be likable (or even moral at all) for us to want to read their stories or feel compelled by their narratives, because of course not. But when the crux of this book's quality revolves around the titular character being some devilishly charming rogue, all this, "oh, isn't he so funny, look at the things he does, stealing money from his wife to get drunk while she takes care of the baby and endures his physical abuse." Maybe it's just me, but I just don't go for that shit.
And I'm not saying all protagonists have to be likable (or even moral at all) for us to want to read their stories or feel compelled by their narratives, because of course not. But when the crux of this book's quality revolves around the titular character being some devilishly charming rogue, all this, "oh, isn't he so funny, look at the things he does, stealing money from his wife to get drunk while she takes care of the baby and endures his physical abuse." Maybe it's just me, but I just don't go for that shit.
Not my cup of tea. Stylistically it was meandering and hard to follow. Yet the parts that are easily understood are uninteresting. Read the 1st hundred pages and gave up. I know it appears on important lists but I got nothing from it I didn't know already and had no hope of unearthing anything more.
I felt I needed to read something from a list of classics I found, and this seemed the most likely candidate for my tastes, based on the reviews I read. While I did eventually find it enjoyable, I really couldn't get into at first (the Olympics didn't help). First off, I had a little trouble getting used to Donleavy's writing style. I also didn't like the main character much - maybe if I were younger and still in college...I could relate more. He certainly was a dirty ould whore and arsehole, but I was quite interested in all the craziness of his desire to stay in Ireland. It did make me hungry for a lot of sausages, eggs, tea and toast.