- Paperback: 224 pages
- Publisher: Chatto & Windus (6 Mar 1997)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0701166282
- ISBN-13: 978-0701166281
- Product Dimensions: 23.2 x 15.4 x 2.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 748,269 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Martin Hawkins, a brilliant young historian, turns his back on his academic career and returns home to the family sheep farm. It is here that Missy, a sheep that has been "improved" with the introduction of human genes, begins to make a significant impact on his imagination.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Paperback
It's about time somebody reviewed this gem; it's up there with Magnus Mills' The Restraint of Beasts in my estimation, a charming, wacky one-off with a glorious Irish lilt in some of the dialogue that's utterly untranslatable - and it's got absolutely nothing to do with tigers! Probably my favourite Irish book (I'm talking of prose) apart from The Country Girls, Good Behaviour, the stories of Mary Lavin and the late Hugh Leonard's Home before Night*. Avoid the spoiler plot summaries on the amazon.com page - just get a hold of this book!
*and Polly Devlin's rural memoir All of Us There (tho' there must be countless others!)
*and Polly Devlin's rural memoir All of Us There (tho' there must be countless others!)
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
5 reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Tragedy, Complete with Catharsis
7 July 1998
Format:Hardcover
What a wonderful book! Once I started reading it, every moment spent away from it was a trial! All I wanted to do was get back to it and find out what happened next! While this may not be a book that ends "happily ever after", it does make us painfully aware of the poignant and tenuous nature of life and how unspeakably sad it can sometimes be. We identify with Martin at the same time that we abhor his sometimes thoughtlessly cruel behavior towards Missy. Etti's limited intelligence, and the fact that she is aware of it, makes us feel protective towards her and we are also moved by Pierce's love for his brother and for Etti. But finally it is Missy who moves us unbearably - we are left with an image of this totally helpless being, dependent on the whims of whoever deigns to look after her, however imperfectly. We may well ask the question, "Why was she born?" This story is a real tragedy, complete with catharsis. As for the writing, Anne Haverty is a wonder - her descriptions of nature are marvellous and the wry Celtic humor to be found in the story makes us smile but it is, above all, her ability to move us that makes her stand out from the crowd. The only writer I can compare her with is Patrick McGinley, a favorite of mine whose books are, unfortunately, mostly out of print these days. The reader who asks what the title means must have missed the quotation at the beginning of the book.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
a real puzzlement... hated it... but couldn't put it down
6 April 1998
Format:Hardcover
Okay, I just don't get it. If any other readers can explain the title of this book to me, I'd appreciate it. Still, it kept my attention to look at this buccolic Ireland. The love story is... well, it's a love story. The question is, who loves whom???
Original and highly entertaining
12 Feb 2003
Format:Hardcover
Marty Hawkins, on his way to being a gifted scholar at Dublin's Trinity College, seems to be suffering a delayed reaction to his parents' tragic death. Giving up his fast track career in the history department, Marty returns home to the family farm in Fasha, County Tipperary, run by his brother, Pierce, and sister-in-law, Etti. Marty's desire for a simple rural life puts him at a loss on how to fill his days besides occasional farm chores and the weekly night out at the local pub. Pinning for his sister-in-law, Etti, and a good-natured rivalry with Young Delaney, a boyhood friend, seems to be the only things keeping him going until he comes in possession of a genetically altered sheep he names Missy.
This was a most unusual book and very enjoyable. The author gives us a wonderful portrayal of rural Ireland and its vanishing breed of small farmers. We are treated to an assortment of characters in the village of Fansha, from the sister-in-law from the wrong side of the tracks and almost too perfect brother, to the hard working Young Delaney, who is the envy of the countryside for his skill with livestock. Other families seem less industrious than Pierce, settling for modern homes and satellite dishes, in lieu of the traditional country values.
Marty's emotional decline is sad and pathetic, risking everything for a chance with his sister-in-law. A delightful story of obsession and the consequences, but perhaps most memorable for the wonderful portrayal of a tiny corner of modern Ireland, which still retains the rural charm that we think of, and a whole array of unforgettable characters.
This was a most unusual book and very enjoyable. The author gives us a wonderful portrayal of rural Ireland and its vanishing breed of small farmers. We are treated to an assortment of characters in the village of Fansha, from the sister-in-law from the wrong side of the tracks and almost too perfect brother, to the hard working Young Delaney, who is the envy of the countryside for his skill with livestock. Other families seem less industrious than Pierce, settling for modern homes and satellite dishes, in lieu of the traditional country values.
Marty's emotional decline is sad and pathetic, risking everything for a chance with his sister-in-law. A delightful story of obsession and the consequences, but perhaps most memorable for the wonderful portrayal of a tiny corner of modern Ireland, which still retains the rural charm that we think of, and a whole array of unforgettable characters.
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