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Amazon.co.uk Review
Parallels with Joyce's Dublin are not appropriate here, though. The scope is far wider and stretches back into history. Beginning in Pre-Christian Ireland as the Kings of Tara reigned autocratically, we encounter the lovers Prince Conall and the beautiful Deidre. An army sized dramatis personae surround the lovers, representing every player in a turbulent era. We are shown many of the key events in Irish history, with parts for Saint Patrick, the Nordic savagery of the Vikings and the battles with the cunning Henry VIII. As this operatic volume ends with the approach of the Reformation, the orchestration of narrative commands total respect. --Barry Forshaw
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Nevertheless, the real story is about Dublin and I believe the author has managed to create a much more interesting and detailed picture of Dublin life (and that of counties) than in "London". This may be because Dublin is smaller and thus the reader is able to keep better track of unfamiliar places and how they evolve over time. Either way, it is very well done.
Unfortunately, much of the early parts are comprised of patchy historic records and thus the author has scope for poetic licence which is used in abundance. As a result the book could have done with a bit more editing at the beginning to prevent it drifting. This is in stark contrast to the harshness and succinct writing towards the end whilst Ireland was under the English Monarchy and clearly more historic literature was available.
I would recommend this book just for a better understanding of how the English asserted their dominance on foreign lands by encouraging the local power brokers to sign up to something they didn't really understand the full consequences of - a ploy used again and again during the building of the Empire.
All in all a great book and I look forward to part two which I hope will continue in the same vein as part one finished.
I think Dublin can best be thought of as a series of much shorter novels, rather than a monolothic whole. Each of those mini novels is fascinating from a historical perspective and utterly compelling as a work of fiction. The author really does have the knack of painting full characters very quickly, and they draw you into the story.
The only criticism I would have is that the bridging sections between those mini-novels are sometimes a little awkward, reading like a clumsy history lesson. A couple of times I noticed myself being forcibly reminded of the author's presence in these sections before being sucked into another wonderful story.
In summary, though, Dublin is an excellent book - one you'll read much quicker than you expect to!
The book take you from 1597- 1916. Read more
so it was a... Read more
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