Una vita da eroe

I’ll sum up this trilogy thus: First book was amazing and the best of the lot. Second book was borderline terrible with a ridiculous storyline. This third book was in between the other two. Average. Not nearly as good as the first but much improved over the second.

Many years passed between my reading of the first two books of this trilogy, A Star Called Henry and Oh, Play That Thing , and my digging this out of our bargain bins at work. Here's what I remember about Henry Smart: he grew up in extreme poverty in Dublin, joined the IRA at an early age, took part Leggi tutto

The final installment in Doyle's trilogy is a bit of a mess. For starters, the inclusion of the Ford material at the beginning of the book doesn't allow Doyle's minimalist, speedy prose and plot to pull the reader in at the outset. This means that the first 100 pages or so are a bit of a slog, even t Leggi tutto

This is an essential piece of literature, a reflection on a pivotal element of the 20th century, one that remains relevant today, and the book itself an excellent reminder on why. The Dead Republic is itself a sequel, actually the third book in a trilogy. Aside from a series of references to Louis Ar Leggi tutto

Roddy Doyle's trilogy about the fight for Irish independence in the 20th century exploded in 1999 with its incandescent first volume, A Star Called Henry. Full of violence and blarney and harrowing escapes, the novel opens in 1901 with the birth of Henry Smart, who quickly grows into a ferocious kil Leggi tutto

2.5 stars. I never thought I'd use the word boring to describe a Roddy Doyle book, but this one was. The first section had Henry writing a script with John Ford. I didn't care about any of it and found it all pretty tedious. The middle section was, for me, the only with merit. Henry found a normal l Leggi tutto

The conclusion of the Henry Smart trilogy. Somewhat reminiscent of the Winston Groom classic "Forest Gump" with regards to Henry interacting with real historical characters but not in a comedic way. This installment includes a long, dark, and eerie interaction with the movie director John Ford and t Leggi tutto

The Dead Republic is the third installment in a trilogy, the second part of which I did not read. I was heartened by various reviews that the book could stand alone, and while I was very glad that I'd read the initial installment ( A Star Called Henry , 1999, which I enjoyed immensely), I seemed to mu Leggi tutto

See my review of this book as part of my review of the trilogy https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... Volume 3. The Dead Republic 2010 The story in Vol 3 takes off with Henry’s arrival in the heart of the movie making industry. John Ford has ambitions to break away from Westerns to make an Irish film Leggi tutto

Despite not having read the first two of this trilogy, this one is a solid novel on its own due to the omnipresent past of Ireland's Troubles participating like an active character. The two halves of this tale are connected on a thin line drawn between Hollywood, California and the holy land of Irel Leggi tutto