tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31875695.post1315063757276746247..comments2024-02-07T21:24:37.121-08:00Comments on Blogtrotter: Kevin Barry's "Dark Lies the Island": Book ReviewJohn L. Murphy / "FionnchĂș"http://www.blogger.com/profile/16616876266772470719noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31875695.post-4242481979120230482013-06-03T17:28:21.867-07:002013-06-03T17:28:21.867-07:00Thanks, Lorcan. No, just me, no staff! In fact, as...Thanks, Lorcan. No, just me, no staff! In fact, as I post every other day the past few years, I have a backlog of reviews, so I try to arrange them roughly by theme or topic by now given the amount. Still, I keep adding more. (I admire your ability to produce, too, and in a variety of media.)<br /><br />I gave a conference talk last autumn on Barry to an Irish Studies audience and few had heard of him, and the few that had generally resisted reading him. His rather foppish, cultivated image appears to put off some. I wonder as one apart from his Irish context how he's perceived by peers and by audiences in his homeland.<br /><br />I like the judgement your review makes of Barry's strength in his dialogue and the "snapshot" quality of his "fizzing" observations. I wonder if by contrast his debut novel, for its decision to make a more daring move into dense, arch, knowing, allusive prose and stylized filigree, represents a release from the short story's constraints? This tonal and creative distinction I could barely touch on in my talk and my review of "City of Bohane," but it suggests a direction for critique.<br /><br />I'd add his recent story in the New Yorker "Ox Mountain Death Song" (great title, but hints of borrowing echo) sustains what appears from some of his stories after two collections as his characteristic strength--strong setting and bold plunge into character's p-o-v and what's his weakness--not knowing what to do with the mayhem he's set in motion, and a shift to a pat, even facile, withdrawal. Barry for some may combine the likes of O'Flaherty or Behan with Beckett, but for me, I think he's better when he forces his creations to account for their actions and not flee from them. John L. Murphy / "FionnchĂș"https://www.blogger.com/profile/16616876266772470719noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31875695.post-78616241148993213732013-06-03T15:35:42.352-07:002013-06-03T15:35:42.352-07:00Just discovered your blog after I went searching f...Just discovered your blog after I went searching for other reviews of Kevin Barry's book - I run a blog myself and have just posted a review....<br /><br />http://watchingandreadingandwriting.blogspot.ie/<br /><br />Very interesting blog you have, I'm kind of in awe of the number of posts you put up. Have you got a staff working on all this? :-) I look forward to reading more...<br /><br />Lorcan.Lorcan McNameehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03593037569173212469noreply@blogger.com