James Joyce? Oscar Wilde? Brendan Behan? Shaw? All dead and gone, baby. And perhaps on a pedestal too high for the average DFA to reach.
One of my personal favorite Irish authors is Neville Thompson. The Sunday Times described him as "Roddy Doyle with knobs on." What exactly "with knobs on" means, I don’t know. I’m a DFA. But it sure sounds good.
Like Roddy Doyle, Neville Thompson captures working-class Irish in their own language. Roddy’s stuck among the savage Northsiders, where the economy is most bleak and the bus shelter is the preferred form of protection. Neville is the first to explore the newer communities of West Dublin- Ballyfermot, Clondalkin, Lucan and other dodgy areas. No same old stories here! These 'burbs haven't been around long enough to rack up any old stories.
Other than geography and knobs, what makes Thompson stand out on his own? He's got a flair for crime. There’s good, evil, and the action of the two dukin' it out in his characters. Exciting things happen. Don’t let all the positive reviews by snobby D4 literary types turn you off. These are page-turners. The trick that captured the critic crowd is that readers close Thompson’s books with true insights into love, nookie, music, family and the Dublin underworld.
To date (November 2003) Neville Thompson has published three books. He’s also done work for RTE television and (hat's off to ya, Nev) spent a great deal of time doing literacy work in the Irish prisons. A couple of prisoner-produced plays have resulted. I had the good fortune to attend a talk that the man gave in 2002: he had a whole room cracked up laughing. Straightforward, down-to-earth, 100% legit. He’s a good bloke. And, hell! He named one of his characters after Joe Dolan. I’ll be first in line at my local booksellers, anytime this amigo gives us another cracker.
Of his books to date, I’ve read two. The third one is sitting on my shelf, awaiting the next time I’m going to be trapped on a plane for ten hours and need a guaranteed good read. Here’s a short synopsis and a couple of comments on each:
Thompsons’ first novel, JLJ,OK? is written with attitude. It centers on the joys and knockbacks suffered by a young Dublin thug and the young woman who is his lifelong love. We follow the couple from infancy to adulthood- from overcrowded council houses to the wasteground down by the canal, from aspirations to agony, from hard work to happiness. We see what choices are made and why. We see what they become. It’s a great read, moving easily and swiftly along. And around these characters, a fascinating portrait of Dublin emerges. It’s grand stuff altogether.
On the downside, the end is inevitable from the first page. And there are several Irish clichés- dire poverty, huge families, police brutality. Real Angela's Ashes stuff. There’s truth to it, yes, but the ground has already been well covered.
All things considered? Four stars out of five- not a rating that I give easily!
A more ambitious book, HYNHTGT? gives us the lives of eight central characters who live within spitting distance of a pub. (Thus one slant on the barman’s closing-up cry of the title). Again, we see where they are and what factors have brought them here. There’s love, violence, music (one hilarious scene involving a punk band- dude!) The interaction is more complex, the trails just as honest. Also complex is the book’s structure- divided up into sections that focus on the view of one of the eight. There’s plenty enough crossover, people and events recurring, to keep a plot humming along. It’s interesting. It’s an experiment that works.
On the downside? A few elements of the conclusion are transparent (though the end still holds twists and surprises) and I found one of the characters a real moan. "Pick yerself up and do something about it, woman!" I felt like yelling, anytime one of her sections came up. But, she was just a character in a novel and not a real bird so I’d skim ahead ‘til the next interesting bit.
Another solid four stars out of five.
Mick says give this dude a read, if you want a peek at Dublin closer to the ground.
- Added to the DFA Guide, November 2003.
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MessageGuide Index. Red words? Check the Dub Glossary!