O'Flaherty, Liam

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Skerrett
Liam O'Flaherty
Manufacturer: Irish American Book Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Last September
The Poor Mouth: A Bad Story About the Hard Life
Famine

ASIN: 0863273696

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Enthralling!
A great historical novel
Hunger for more
Masterful
Reminiscent of Steinbeck

Famine
Liam O'Flaherty
Manufacturer: Interlink Publishing Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1903582202

Customer Reviews:

Enthralling!.......2006-05-23

What an enthralling book. Such wonderful depiction of Irish life, the way it REALLY was. I just can't put it down!! A++++ on this magnificent piece of work!

A great historical novel.......2006-01-28

Because he was famous as a participant in the Irish Civil War (in 1922, he raised a red flag over the Dublin Rotunda) and because his best-known book is "The Informer," Liam O'Flaherty is regarded primarily as a novelist of the Irish rebellion. In a letter to the Irish Statesman, he celebrated "the wild tumult of the untamed storm, the tumuilt of the army on the march, clashing its cymbals, rioting with excess of energy." Like our own Theodore Dreiser, he was capable of being crude, grandiose and melodramatic, and he was often swamped by his own rhetoric. But he was also capable, far more than Dreiser, alas, of reaching and expressing astonishingly delicate perceptions of the human soul.

At his best, O'Flaherty was one of the great natural forces of 20th Century literature. Like Jean Giono or Knut Hamsun, when writing about the land, the sea and the simpler creatures, including here peasants and seamen, his writing takes on the elemental forcefulness of classic folk tales. "Famine," his greatest work in this mode, is matched only in his best short stories. It reads as freshly today as it did when it was first published 45 years ago.

In 1845, the population of Ireland was estimated at 8.5 million. By 1851, it had been reduced by two million, half of whom had died and half of whom had fled, mostly to the U.S. and other former British colonies. The raw numbers do not do justice to the magnitude of the catastrophe that had befallen Ireland. In large parts of the south and west, traditional culture had been uprooted and destroyed.

Focusing on a family of County Galway tenant farmers, the Kilmartins, "Famine" inserts us into the horror of the "great hunger." A study of the uses of power -- by the old English ascendancy, by the rising middle class of usurious merchants, by the embattled (and mostly defeated peasants), it records the final days of an ancient, ritualistic society, unhinged by the destruction of the customs and traditions that had given shape and meaning to life. It is also about survival, especially that of Mary Gleeson Kilmartin, who fights for her family with fierce determination.

["Famine" was first published in 1937 but was never available in soft cover until a handsome edition was offered by David R. Godine's line of quality paperbacks, Nopareil, which also published works by Benedetto Croce, Edmund Wilson, Paula Fox, William Gass and Stanley Elkin. It was thought at the time that the publisher might be moved to reprint O'Flaherty's excellent short story collections, "Spring Sowing" and "The Tent." If you can find the Nonpareil edition, buy it; it is avaialble now in a version from Interlink.]

Hunger for more.......2006-01-26

For someone like myself, who actually lost family members as a result of the "Great Famine," I was awe-struck by how the author so dramatically portrays the insensitivity and cruelty exhibited by the English during Ireland's greatest moment of need.

Masterful.......2005-08-10

I first read Famine while in secondary school in Drogheda Co. Louth in 1985. Sadly I didn't have the willpower to finish the book and appreciate its brilliance. Twenty years later, I found the book and finally read it through. It truly is a masterful work. Deep behind the story lies a web of emotion that is sure to bring a tear to your eye as you watch the characters fight against hunger and the enthrenched establishment. There is a sense of forboding and pity for what we know awaits the simple people portrayed in the book, yet they are also complex in their outlook on life and their belief in the Almighty. The book will not give you an historical account of what happened during the mid 1800s but it will give you an appreciation for its impact on the people and their way of life. The book is a classic in every sense of the word. It is unfortunately little known outside Ireland but if you can get your hands on a copy, I encourage you to give it the time and effort that it deserves.

Reminiscent of Steinbeck.......2002-09-14

O'Flaherty has brought alive a tragic era in Ireland's history similar to Steinbeck's handling of the Great Depression. He does this with more matter-of-factness but less poetic flair than Steinbeck. His ability to create vivid mental images, even in the Irish naive mind, is unprecedented.

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Fenian Hulk Finks on Friend, Fatally Fails to Flee
The Real Story
Good read
Good but not great
What was that?

The Informer
Liam O'Flaherty
Manufacturer: Harvest Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0156443562

Book Description

A tale of temptation, betrayal, and reprisal, this powerful novel is set in the aftermath of the Irish Civil War. It tells of Gypo Nolan, who informs on a wanted comrade. The source of the Academy Award-winning film directed by John Ford. Preface by Denis Donoghue.

Customer Reviews:

Fenian Hulk Finks on Friend, Fatally Fails to Flee.......2006-01-11

In the confused political situation in Ireland between 1916 and 1925, all kinds of ideologies competed, common criminals took up party work only to revert to their original callings. Leaders were betrayed, assassinated, jailed. The long dream of independence came to life, but in a fog of disappointment and disillusion. When the dust settled, all the brilliant men lay dead. O'Flaherty has set his novel in the politico-criminal underworld of this period, with a large dollop of that disillusion. Nobody comes out smelling like a rose. Gypo Nolan, the main character, harbors great physical strength, but little brain. Unlike most protagonists, he thinks little. The author describes his feelings or changes of mood, an interesting tack to take. Gypo informs on a former colleague in the Party, who is promptly surrounded by the police and gets shot dead during the standoff. With his 20 pound reward burning a hole in his pocket ( it might have been equivalent to about 20 weeks pay for a worker), Gypo treats a crowd to fish and chips, then drinks, fights, and whores, giving a big part of his loot away to a sad woman he meets by chance. The Party suspects Gypo, who fingers an innocent man. At the subsequent "trial", the truth comes out. Gypo is locked up, but escapes. The denouement is not long in coming.

THE INFORMER is fast paced, highly descriptive. I felt that sometimes the urge to describe everyone and everything in detail got the better of the author, his descriptive style began to resemble a Thomas Hart Benton mural, with each individual a caricature of a `type' or a `stock character'. The "firm jaws", the "mouths belonging to an average Irishwoman of the middle class", "he looked like a waiter thrown out of employment through old age".....very graphic, colorful, but somehow cartoonish. Anyway, little gripes aside, this is a novel that will hold your attention. It hangs together very well, connecting Irish history and society with a film-noir atmosphere of suspense, action, and intrigue. It catches the Dublin and the Ireland of the time, now changed out of all recognition by prosperity and respectability. And more luck to Ireland for that.

The Real Story.......2005-08-09

This is a good novel about Ireland's ongoing troubles. It spares us the contrived world of the Clancy brothers and rebel songs. The story is set in the years after the establishment of the Irish Free State. The protagonists, unlike in the movie, are not patriots per se but rather communists or IRA members who wanted complete independence from the United Kingdom. Gypo Nolan and his victim Frankie McPhilip are less than valued members of the organization. The story deals with successful efforts to track down Gypo who informed on Frankie. It is noted that Gypo betrayed Frankie to the police not to the Black and Tans. It is a gripping story and it is also a good antidote to stories of the noble Irish and the evil Brits. Please note carefully O'Flaherty's description of the leader of the organization. The author was a member of the Communist Party who had a somewhat different take on the situation in Ireland. If you want an alternative view of the Irish troubles which is also a good read this is the book for you.

Good read.......2005-04-18

I've read this book twice. It was actually better the second time. The movie adaptation is even better than the book, with the lead actor receiving the Oscar for that year. Whether you watch the movie or read the book, you can't go wrong in my opinion. The struggles of life in Ireland, the betrayal by a friend for money, and the descriptions of the characters and places kept me turning the pages.

Good but not great.......2003-08-05

A review of this book is most fair when it is broken into three sections of 60 pages each. The first two sections are fantastic as it takes us through the story of Gipo, a man haunted by informing on his best friend. O'Flaherty does a fantastic job of painting the scene of poverty in Dublin that would lead to someone informing on their buddy... and then we have the pleasure of watching him use the blood money. If it ended on page 120, I would definitely give the book 5 stars.

The last 60 pages are very boring and drawn out. Whereas the story could have been a fascinating tell of the above mentioned material, the last is so obvious, that it is physically painful waiting for the conclusion.

All in all, the book is a great study in the darker side of human behavior. I am glad that I read it for that reason. However, the climax leaves a lot to be desired.

What was that?.......2001-09-02

I don't understand what happened in this book. There was hardly any plot line. The characters did not develop well enough either. I wish I could have given this zero stars.

Great Irish Short Stories (Dover Thrift Editions)

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Synopsis

Great Irish Short Stories (Dover Thrift Editions)
Maria Edgeworth , William Carleton , Lady Gregory , Standish O'Grady , William Butler Yeats , James Stephens , James Joyce , Seumas O'Kelly , and Liam O'Flaherty
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0486437884

Book Description

Features 13 captivating tales, including stories by Maria Edgeworth and William Carleton from the beginning of Irish prose fiction in English; the retellings of traditional tales by Lady Gregory and Standish O'Grady from the great age of the Irish Literary Revival; and the 20th-century works of William Butler Yeats, James Stephens, James Joyce, Seumas O'Kelly, and Liam O'Flaherty.

Customer Reviews:

Synopsis.......2005-10-02

"This collection of thirteen captivating tales by Irish authors illustrates both traditional and modern approaches to the Celtic art of storytelling. Spanning two centuries, it features stories by Maria Edgeworth and William Carleton from the beginning of Irish prose fiction in English; retellings of traditional tales by Lady Gregory and Standish O'Grady from the great age of the Irish Literary Revival; and contributions from many of the twentieth century's most significant writers, including William Butler Yeats, James Stephens, James Joyce, Seumas O'Kelly, and Liam O'Flaherty."--eCAMPUS

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great book about moralty

Assassin
Liam O'Flaherty
Manufacturer: Irish American Book Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Customer Reviews:

great book about moralty.......1999-01-27

this is a great book that deals with a man who plots to kill a man to start a revolution in ireland and finds a conscience in the end. a must read. O'Flaherty is the man, i don't read much but i love his books.

The Wounded Cormorant, and Other Stories (The Norton Library, N704)

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The Wounded Cormorant, and Other Stories (The Norton Library, N704)
Liam O'Flaherty
Manufacturer: W W Norton & Co Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Short Stories of Liam O'Flaherty
Liam O'Flaherty
Manufacturer: Hodder & Stoughton General Division
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0340522712

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The Informer
Liam O'Flaherty
Manufacturer: Superior M650
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000BCN4GO

Product Description

Vintage paperback novel. Basis for motion picture of the same title.

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Insurrection
Liam O'Flaherty
Manufacturer: Irish Books & Media
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Land: A novel
Liam O'Flaherty
Manufacturer: Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0006DAAFG

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Authors

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