Aidan Gillen Books

Roddy Doyle was born in Dublin in 1958 and saw his first novel, "The Commitments" published in 1987. It was later adapted for the big screen, a version that saw Star Trek's Colm Meaney and a very young Andrea Corr among the cast. Doyle went on to win the Booker Prize in 1993 with "Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha".

The book is set in the 1960s Barrytown, and is told by Paddy Clarke- the eldest child of his family. Although he has a few younger sisters, it's only his younger brother Sinbad who features to any degree. He's a Manchester United supporter, and particularly idolises George Best. His chief hobbies involve playing football, and messing around with his friends on neighbouring farm and nearby building sites.

Sinbad doesn't always get a fair deal from his brother. He cries constantly, wets the bed and as a baby, he once got his head stuck in the bars of his cot. He never smiles in photos and doesn't eat his dinner - something that particularly infuriates his Paddy Sr. Despite wearing glasses with one black lens - to deal with an eye problem - he's a great dribbler on the football pitch. (Paddy and his friends used to make Sinbad be Nobby Stiles when playing football - so he stopped supporting United, and started following Liverpool).

Out of Paddy's friends, he's probably closest to Kevin Conway - though, to be honest, Kevin isn't an entirely likeable kid. James O'Keefe, for the most part, is a good deal more - deapite being, quite possibly, the biggest liar in Barrytown. O'Keefe is hated by their teacher Mister Hennessy - he even gets blamed on making noise in class when he's off sick. (Henno does appear to have a slight vindictive streak in him - in fact, he reminded me a little of a teacher I once had at secondary school). The two most likeable of Paddy's friends, however, are a pair of brothers called Liam and Aidan. The boys' mother is dead, and though their father is trying his best, he seems to be a little lost. The neighbours aren't above gossiping about him and - although they are officially part of the gang - Liam and Aidan are also on the receiving end of a fair few nasty comments. As much as Paddy loves going over to their house, even he's not immune to a touch of snobbery.

The story is told more from a child's point of view rather than by an adult looking back on things. There are some things that raised a smile - the childhood theories about Purgatory, for example - and it even inspired a touch of nostalgia sometimes. However, it's set at a time when not only is Barrytown changing, but Paddy's home life is changing dramatically too. Naturally, Paddy doesn't always understand his parents and the things they say - so it's only gradually, as the frights become more and more frequent, that you come to realise there are problems between Paddy's dad and mum. There's a certain sadness about watching Paddy grow up as the story is told, while the difference between Paddy at the book's beginning and on the book's final couple of pages is tragic. A lovely book, though very sad.

Imagine someone filled you full of 3 beers and a few shots of whiskey, then grabbed you, groggy, by the collar and dragged you through a bittersweet nostalgic trip back through childhood. Doyle reminds you of the kid's-eye view of life, less naive and ignorant than we generally mis-remember. The mixture of cruelty and enjoyment is realistic, not exaggerated like, say, Lord of the Flies. The view of teachers and parents is forgiving, as all children are wont to do. But then the shock when you realize you are a parent now, and G-d forbid that Paddy Clarke's descriptions should sound familiar.

I doubt that I have any control over Amazon's combination-purchase recommendations, but if I did, I'd say "better bought with A Death in the Family by James Agee".

My second Roddy Doyle book and it was no less impressive than the first. Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha is the story of a 10-year-old boy growing up in Ireland. His experiences range from boyhood friendships to the classroom to his parent's increasing fights. Doyle is immensely talented and consistently manages to embrace his characters and represent them in a nearly too real fashion. Paddy Clarke not only feels like it's a story of a 10-year-old boy but is specifically narrated by a 10-year-old boy and by the end of the book one has to wonder "Doyle, who's he?" Doyle's narrative is addicting and moving and I had to have spent half the book asking people, "Do you remember when..." A definite must read for everyone.

This is a well-written book about a young boy in Ireland, but I'm about 137 pages into it and I'm struggling to finish. Doyle's quality prose isn't enough to keep you interested in Paddy Clarke's story, which is told from the first-person perspective of the boy himself. There's just never enough insight into the boy to really care. If you want to read a bunch of vignettes from a boy's point of view, knock yourself out, but know what you're getting.

This is the fourth Roddy Doyle book I've read and frankly it is his least engaging. "The Van" is one of the funniest books I've encountered and I'm going to steer you towards that. Also, if you've got the stomach for it, you might want to check out Irvine Welsh's "Filth." It's not for the squeamish, though.

While this book does an excellent job of capturing what it's like to be a 10 year old boy growing up in Ireland, it just didn't give me much reason to care enough about that boy to really enjoy the book.