The Aran Islands (Classic, 20th-Century, Penguin) [Paperback]

J. M. Synge (Author), Tim Robinson (Contributor)

Book Description

Series: Classic, 20th-Century, Penguin | Publication Date: November 3, 1992

In 1907 J. M. Synge achieved both notoriety and lasting fame with "The Playboy of the Western World". "The Aran Islands", published in the same year, records his visits to the islands in 1898-1901, when he was gathering the folklore and anecdotes out of which he forged "The Playboy" and his other major dramas. Yet this book is much more than a stage in the evolution of Synge the dramatist. As Tim Robinson explains in his introduction, 'If Ireland is intriguing as being an island off the west of Europe, then Aran, as an island off the west of Ireland, is still more so; it is Ireland raised to the power of two'. Towards the end of the last century Irish nationalists came to identify the area as the country's uncorrupted heart, the repository of its ancient language, culture and spiritual values. It was for these reasons that Yeats suggested Synge visit the islands to record their way of life. The result is a passionate exploration of a triangle of contradictory relationships - between an island community still embedded in its ancestral ways but solicited by modernism, a physical environment of ascetic loveliness and savagely unpredictable moods, and Synge himself, formed by modern European thought but in love with the primitive.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Nothing much happens on the Aran Islands--at least, not much went on there in the late 19th century, when John Synge sailed out to these mist-shrouded, salt-sprayed, and wave-battered chunks of rocks south of Ireland. Therein lies the charm of the setting and of this lovely book, which captures the saltiness of both the marine air and the time-lost characters, who deeply believe in the magical "wee people." In cottages where nets and fishing tackle hang from beams, the women (who always wear red dresses and petticoats, as do some of the boys) sit at their spinning wheels or sew cow-skin sandals, while the fishermen spin yarns about fairies, sunken vessels, and bags of gold gained from adulterous wives. The big happening of the year is when roofs are rethatched--an event that blossoms into a festival with twisted rope stretching from kitchen table through lane to nearby field. Synge seems an ambassador from a different world: addressed as "noble person," he brings tokens of modernity--be they clocks or simple magic tricks that beguile the locals. First published in 1907, this re-released travelogue gives a poignant peek into another time and begs a visit to the Aran Islands to see how, or if, they have changed. --Melissa Rossi --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

From the Publisher

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (November 3, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140184325
• ISBN-13: 978-0140184327
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #304,208 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An interesting turn of the century look at the culture, August 3, 1998

By 

James G. Mundie (Philadelphia, PA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Aran Islands (Paperback)

People have often said to me that they find Synge's account of his time spent honing his Irish and collecting folklore on the Aran Islands to be one of the slowest and most boring reads they've ever encountered. I must heartily disagree.

While the work doesn't exactly "swing like the pendulum do", the rhythms of his narration are very much like that of the changing tide and the rolling of the waves to which the islanders have grown accustomed. Synge's narration-- like time on Inishmaan-- moves slowly and steadily, washing over the reader if one will let it.

Remember above all that this work is essentially a series of journal entries, meant to document the people Synge met, the conversations he had, the stories he heard, etc. Perhaps the book's greatest contribution to the world is as a document of a way of life no longer in existence. This book is also a document of the the Irish Literary Renaissance, and-- for its occassional pretensions-- should be ! considered as such. This text might also help to give greater understanding to any reading of Synge's plays, as he alleged that the story for such works as "Playboy of the Western World" were derived from tales he heard in the Arans.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Insight Into The Irish Soul, March 14, 2003

By 

James Gallen (St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A.) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Aran Islands (Classic, 20th-Century, Penguin) (Paperback)

"The Aran Islands" is a delightful rendition of the experiences of J. M. Synge during his visits to the Aran Islands just over a century ago. Synge's journey had been encouraged by William Butler Yeats. "Go to the Aran Islands. Live there as one of the people themselves; express a life that has never found expression." Here Synge gained an insight into the Irish character which would enrich his later works.

The Aran Islands are a chain of islands off the coasts of Connemara and Clare. Isolated by the sea, the Arans, like the Galapagos in the natural world, preserve the language and customs of traditional Ireland.

The book is a narrative of what Synge saw and the stories he heard during his stays in the Arans, told by a master storyteller in the finest Irish tradition. The language is delightful, the stories are entertaining and the insight into the Irish soul is profound. A must read for any lover of the Irish.

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The times are a-changing . . ., September 24, 2001

By 

Maureen "Unitarian Universalist Minister, Lif... (Hendersonville, New Caledonia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Aran Islands (Paperback)

. . . on Aran as everywhere else. I have had the privilege of spending two weeks on Inish Mor, one 4 years ago and one in the summer of 2001. The difference between the two visits was enormous . . . where on the first visit I saw perhaps 5-6 cars a day on the little roads, now there are minibuses beetling along everywhere. The pony carts are strictly for the tourists. I missed the women setting up kiosks on the road, selling their beautifully made sweaters. At the same time, throughout the summer, the young people put on a nightly concert featuring traditional Irish music and dance -- and it is fantastic! So wonderful to see the beauty of the old traditions taking hold in the hearts of the young men and women.

BUT ... what is quaint to the tourist translates into abject poverty for the native. Reading Synge gives one a sense of what WAS, and how hard it has been (and still is) for families to make a go of it on Aran.

Read it with respect, and remember . . . all things are changing.