Oh, Play That Thing [Paperback]

However I was bitterly disappointed with Doyle's follow up to what I think is by far his best novel. Henry Smart is no longer the charming, cocky, wonderfully loveable character we follow in 'A Star Called Henry'. At times this side of his character shines through, however these moments are, sadly, few and far between. Henry has almost become a parody of his previously charismatic, ambitious self. He is directionless. A character like this needs a purpose if he is to retain his lovable qualities. Instead we are presented with a Henry who is led by his trousers and not much else. He claims to miss his wife but makes no attempt to look for her, leading us to doubt his sincerity - something which was previously one of the qualities which made him so attractive.

The plot concerning Louis Armstrong is distracting and dare I say, boring. Doyle obviously has a strong interest in music, as seen in previous novels, such as 'The Commitments' but it just doesn't fit in with Henry's story. The music is Armstrong's purpose, not Henry's, and it leaves Henry with little room for movement or development - he faffs around the outside of the cause but it is never believable that he really cares about it - as seen in his political involvements in 'A Star Called Henry' he is in it solely for companionship and a sense of belonging. Henry is still looking for a sense of identity, but the idea that he thinks he will find it in the black American music scene verges on the ridiculous. WHat was touching and understandable in the first novel has become, as I have mentioned before, a parody.

Also Henry has too little real emotional involvement in this novel, making him appear two dimensional and leaving the reader with little scope to empathise with him, something which is essential if we are to really care what happens to this character. Whereas before he had Victor, his Father, Miss O'Shea, in this novel he appears shallow and selfish. His relationship with his family barely scratches the surface and seems extremely unconvincing. He has little or no emotional rapport with his children. They only serve to show how removed from reality Henry's character has become.

The novel is somewhat redeemed in the last section - we begin to see more of the Henry we grew to love in the first novel. Becoming separated from his family he searches incessantly for them. Perhaps Henry is now realising how selfish he had become and will redeem himself in the next novel, we can only hope.

The basic ideas in the novel have much potential. However on this occasion Doyle has not performed to his full potential. He has been distracted by the musical subplot and consequently ignored his characters and their development, something which is a major disappointment in this novel.

Somehow I expected Henry to have gone places, to have achieved something more. He had such potential, such drive, it seems a shame for it to have been so wasted. This may be part of a deeper, underlying theme which Doyle will unveil in the final novel, but for now all I can say is that, as a follow up to 'A Star Called Henry' this book is extremely disappointing. I am anticipating the release of the final novel, in the hope that Doyle redeems what was the most endearing and exciting character he has as yet created.

The setting is America in the 1920s and Henry Smart, under a wonderful variety of aliases, has fled there from his native Ireland to rub along as best he can with no assets beyond his prodigious though sometimes misguided wits. There's a wealth of interesting stuff about Prohibition and the seemy side of gangland New York and jazz-land Chicago. The imagery is often startling. The book has one of the most hauntingly brilliant openings I have read for years, describing the tired & frightened immigrants arriving at Ellis Island. The language often corruscates with dark humour. So...?

So the problem is with Henry himself. His path through life was always eccentric but in 'A Star Called Henry' there was a momentum driving him forwards, and in the sequel it isn't there. This older Henry spends too much time wandering directionless. The va-va-voom has gone out of him.

Of course, sequels are always a bain. Writing a novel isn't a linear process, you jump back and forth developing and tweaking your character to fit the twists & turns of your storyline. A sequel allows none of that, he's ready-made, pre-packed. Unfortunately, Roddy Doyle has compounded his difficulties by including another ready-made character because a real one, Louis Armstrong. And worse, the author clearly hero-worships him. Hero worship does not come well off the page. He has done a great disservice to Armstrong, who comes across as a caricature, and that's something we never thought we'd say about a book by Roddy Doyle.

I don't begrudge the money - the opening pages alone are worth twice the cost of any hardback. But it's a sad day when you discover that even a writer of Doyle's calibre can be derailed by obstacles so fundamental. And a very sad one when you find yourself out of patience and bored by a fictional character you previously loved.