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A Star Called Henry
 
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A Star Called Henry [Audio Download]

by Roddy Doyle (Author, Narrator)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (64 customer reviews)
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Product details

  • Audio Download
  • Listening Length: 5 hours and 51 minutes
  • Program Type: Audiobook
  • Version: Abridged
  • Publisher: Random House AudioBooks
  • Audible Release Date: 18 Jan 2006
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B002SQ40R8
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (64 customer reviews)

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Product Description

Born in the slums of Dublin in 1901, his father a one-legged whore-house bouncer and settler of scores, Henry Smart has to grow up fast. By the time he can walk he's out robbing, begging, often cold, always hungry, but a prince of the streets. At 14, already six-foot-two, Henry's in the General Post Office on Easter Monday 1916, a soldier in the Irish Citizen Army, fighting for freedom. A year later he's ready to die for Ireland again, a rebel, a Fenian and soon, a killer. With his father's wooden leg as his weapon, Henry becomes a republican legend, one of Michael Collins' boys, a cop killer, an assassin on a stolen bike.

An historical novel like none before it, A Star Called Henry marks a new chapter in Roddy Doyle's writing. It is a vastly more ambitious book than any he has written before. A subversive look behind the legends of Irish republicanism, at its centre a passionate love story, this is a triumphant work of fiction.

©1999 Roddy Doyle; (P)1999 Random House Audiobooks
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
This book is a breathtaking and ambitious departure for Roddy Doyle - it is an account of Ireland at the time of republican revolution, told through the eyes of one of Dublin's teeming citizens, who rises - literally - from the gutter, to become one of Michael Collins boys - a cop-killer for the IRA.

Not only an account of the birth of the Irish Republic, it is the tale of a one legged whorehouse doorkeeper, and childhood and life of his son, Henry Smart, who finds employment with the IRA not because of burning political ideals but as a means of survival and possible fame.

The sheer depth of the descriptive narrative is impressive. Like Graham Swift's Waterland, it serves as a historical document as well as a work of fiction - this reader came away from the novel entertained and educated, and from a British point of view, shocked at the subjugation of Empire.

Tragically comic, Doyle exhibits much of the pithy, down to earth, humour of human tragedy that served him so well in his earlier work. It would have been easy to write a biased account of the embattled Irish fighting a united war against the evil English - but Doyle concentrates on the experiences of Henry, who finds that all sides have the capacity for double-crossing and murder.

A Star Called Henry marks the maturity of Roddy Doyles' writing, and will doubtless be classed as one of the great works of Irish literature.

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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Dealing with poverty, violence and a period of dark history I could not have imagine that I would enjoy this book as much as I did. Henry Smart is a violent man who bears no evil intent, just a need for survival and purpose.
Passages in which he talks of his mother, brother and father are warm and affectionate despite the sadness of circumstances and show the book at it's best. The passage in which Henry talks about his mother's name is nothing short of wonderful.
If you're looking for light entertainment read something else. If you're looking for literature and a book which presents you with a perspective you had never considered, read this.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is very different from the others, and absolutely brilliant. Doyle abandoned an excellent established, very successful, style and format to create a work that stands as a pinnacle of international literary achievement. Read "The Van" or "The Commitments" and you are in a world of poingant everyday comedy. Read "A Star Called Henry" and you so slip so deep into history that it comes as a shock to put the book down and return to the 21st century. What passion! What pathos! Don't miss this one. Read it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Cordite and Rosaries
I enjoyed this once I got over my apprehension that it would glorify murder, maiming, and the IRA. In fact if anything the opposite is true. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Four Violets
An enthralling read
A blend of fact and fiction, a novel yet an education, full of both humour and personal tragedy. This was the first novel I had read which was set against the backdrop of the... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Avid reader
roddy doyle fan
i love this guys writings, and this doesnt book change anything. I am looking for parts 2 and 3 in the set
Published 7 months ago by Mrs. I. Commins
A star of a book
this is one of the "best" books i have had the pleasure to read
it's Roddy Doyle at his best
Published 16 months ago by Fairlie G
A bit of a slog at times.
Overall not bad, but I found A Star Called Henry stodgy in places, with long stretches of tedium. When it catches fire it's great, typical Doyle, but at other times it meanders... Read more
Published 18 months ago by AK 1957-05
A drag called Henry...
This is not the first Doyle's book I've read. Thank God, otherwise it would have been the first and the last, and it would certainly have been a pity. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Alessandra F.
Better - much better - than I expecetd!
When I read the synopsis of this book I just feared it was going to be an hooray piece for the rebels. Read more
Published 20 months ago by pikeman
One of the best books i have ever read.
This is a fantastic work of fiction,I absolutely loved it.It is by far one of my all time favorite books.
Published 21 months ago by gem221
Roddy Doyle is a star
Roddy Doyle has outdone himself again with A Star Called Henry, the first of The Last Roundup trilogy which explores 20th century Ireland through the experiences of one man. Read more
Published 24 months ago by KTK
Fantastic! Doyle is a genius!
I cant say enough good things about this book. This is a very rare find. Enjoy!
Published on 16 Feb 2010 by Paul McCormack
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