Love

I love Roddy Doyle's books and was so looking forward to reading this pre-copy thanks to Netgalley. This one is totally different to his earlier works but still as mesmerising. Storyline is set over one afternoon and evening spent in the company of two lifelong friends one of whom is pouring out his heart and woes, the other is holding his emotions and resentment back. Such good writing as always. Reading his books you become bonafide Irish!! I could not stop reading this.. Fantastic.

A nostalgic bender around the pubs of Dublin, Roddy Doyle's dialogue flows like the many pints his protagonists knock back.

Covering more than the odd numbers of the Seven Ages of Man, you could easily believe that some of the characters from The Commitments are there somewhere, rubbing shoulders with Joe and Davy.

Anxiety about the future is something we all feel, particularly at the moment. The love of a good friend is both a cure and a curse. They make us laugh and cry in equal measure. They are there to catch us when we fall.

#Love #NetGalley

Thank you Net Galley. (Four and a half stars rounded to five.) I loved this book. It was simple and funny and thought provoking. Always readable. Loved it.

I loved this book, moving, funny and profound. On the surface this is the story of two, now estranged friends, nearing their 60's meeting up after many years to catch up and spend some time together drinking in the pubs of Dublin. However, underneath there is much more. As the day turns into night, and the number of pubs visited increases, Davy and Joe contemplate their lives and their past. Each is hiding a secret from each other and it may be the last time that they will meet.

The dialogue is so believable and at times you almost believe that you are sitting in the pub with them. Although the novel is set over the course of one afternoon and night, it also moves back and forth to their former friendship when young adults in the 1980s.

There will inevitably be comparisons with Joyce and Becket but rather it reminded me of France's, Patrick Modiano, one of my favourite authors, who in much of his work explores the vagueness of incomplete memory when trying to determine the actuality and significance of events. Can you trust a narrative when it may be incomplete and less than truthful? This is a theme that predominates during Davy and Joe's encounter. A very recommended read.

Only Roddy Doyle (or Flann O’Brien in his day) could make an engrossing tale out of two mates on a pub crawl around Dublin, reliving their youth and love lives. Written almost entirely in dialogue, the hilarious (and very bawdy) banter between the two men keeps the reader engaged, even as they become more and more inebriated and incoherent. It’s another literary tour de force from a comedy genius which would work just as well on the stage, as Doyle can use his talent as a playwright for both occasions.