The Talk of the Town: Amazon.co.uk: Ardal O'Hanlon: Books

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Product Description

Sunday Times

‘This impressive debut is lit with a real spark of the Irish comic grotesque'

Irish Times

‘Mightily impressive'

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Customer Reviews

22 Reviews

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

Average Customer Review

3.2 out of 5 stars (22 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The toast of the town - what a corker!, 5 Dec 2001

By	logan_karen@hotmail.com (Yorkshire) - See all my reviews

Fan's of Ardal's comedy may not find this book to their liking. In fact, it's difficult to believe sometimes that the dark humour and 'difficult' subject matter could be from the very mind of the same man who many know as the perma-bewildered priest Father Dougal Maguire. You'll enjoy this book best if you put the authors past works out of your mind. The different viewpoints of Patrick and his girlfriend Francesca are very cleverly done and the characters are carefully and skilfully drawn. I really did come to feel that I had known them by the end. This book is one of my favourites and I return to it time and time again. If you're looking for idealised Ireland in this book then you will not find it, but if you're looking for a story that will make you think and haunt you for a long time afterwards then you can't really do much better.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Sex, diaries and thwarted dreams in small town Ireland., 27 Feb 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Talk of the Town (Paperback)

A small Irish town called Killeeny, with little or no life in it is home to Patrick Scully. He has a girlfriend, Francesca, who appears disinterested in him and a best friend, "Balls" O'Reilly, who is the personification of everything Patrick strives to be: confident, charismatic and a natural leader. O'Hanlon crafts a compelling and often hilarious journey through the agonies of adolescence, exploring self doubt and sexual awakening through the pubs and student discos of early Eighties Ireland. Patrick attempts to overcome his inadequacies and the growing sense that his life is crumbling to nothing, while witnessing the triumphs and success of a cruelly raucous peer group. A palpable sense of tension permeates his tentative attempts at conversation with girls, the boy finding himself socially outgunned by the charming O'Reilly, whose own confidence sends his friend further into self-introspection. The immediacy of O'Hanlon's prose brings to life this twilight world of sex, drugs and self loathing: you can almost smell the beer in the local night clubs and the aroma of perfume on these short skirted girls as they tease and torment. Conveying a growing mental frailty in the young man's train of thought the author builds sympathy for him while restoring a sense of balance from the divulged entries of Francesca's diary. Her comments on Patrick's increasingly erratic behaviour contain the secret at the heart of the story that finally tip her boyfriend over the edge. His final act is both shocking yet perversely understandable, exacerbated by the revelations from Francesca's written indiscretions that cruelly provoke him to a denouement that acts as a sting in what is a hugely enjoyable and ultimately tragic tale of thwarted hopes in a small town.

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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Very True, 26 Aug 2003

By A Customer

Coming from the same county as Ardal, I found it very easy to relate to the characters in this book. Believe it or not these people do actually exist. I found the plot a bit weak but the detailed and humourous situations make up for this fault.
A quick and easy read perfect for travelling with, it will brighten up your day and make your life seem less mental.