The Big Fellow: Michael Collins and the Irish Revolution [Paperback]

Frank O'Connor (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 15, 1998

In 1916, a young man named Michael Collins returned to his native Ireland, after ten years in voluntary exile in London, to join one of the most impassioned and complicated revolutions in history. Playfully nicknamed "The Big Fellow," Collins began to take a key role in the uprisings, eventually becoming a revered revolutionary leader.

Acclaimed writer Frank O'Connor, a man who himself fought in the Irish Civil War, traces Collin's life from the day he returned to Dublin to the day a young Irish soldier shot him dead on a country road.

The Big Fellow achieves a narrative both probing and poetic as it chronicles the life of a man so charismatic that he made people "aware of his presence even when he was not visible, through that uncomfortable magnetism of the very air, a tingling of the nerves."

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Striking straight at the heart of a man whose life was a saga, O'Connor has written brilliantly of the West Cork County boy—Collins is here in episodes and anecdotes far more exciting than those of any thriller."—The New York Times Book Review, 1937

About the Author

Frank O'Connor was born in Cork, Ireland, in 1903. His many collections of short stories gained him a worldwide reputation as one of the greatest masters of the form. He died in 1966.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Picador; 1 edition (February 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312180500
• ISBN-13: 978-0312180508
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,224,738 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a firsthand account of Michael Collins, his life and legend, December 13, 1998

By 

daidhaid (No. Il.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Big Fellow: Michael Collins & the Irish Revolution (Hardcover)

I was interested in learning more about Collins after seeing the recent movie. This book fleshed out the charaterizations in the movie giving a realistic treatment of the man. In doing so it tended to diminish the legend as it was portrayed in the Liam Neeson movie. Well that was sort of a letdown for my overly romantic vision of a man who truly is an Irish hero, but I am glad to have been educated on the matter by a man who knew and admired Michael Collins for who he really was. The book was written quite a while ago when this was all current information which lends credibility to every page. The style of writing is not at all modern so occasionaly a sentence or two requires some consideration to get the meaning. Having said that I found it a very interesting book with a lot to offer any student of Irish History or Politics. Other books cover history in greater detail and offer more commentary but this one is a first hand account by a veteran of the actual events described. It is very even handed in its treatment of Collins and other major characters. I was left with a huge respect for Collins and his passion for the people of Ireland. I really reccomend this book and have already passed it on to another person to read.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Contemporary's View of Michael Collins, April 1, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Big Fellow: Michael Collins and the Irish Revolution (Paperback)

This biography was fascinating to me because it was written much closer to the time of the events related than more recent books on Collins, and was written by a man who fought in the Irish Civil War (in which Collins lost his life)and fought on the side opposite Collins. The book is written in a novelistic style that can sometimes be rather offputting, but it is nonetheless an intriguing view of the most charismatic and, probably, most effective Irish leader ever. Certainly it reveals the great regard in which Collins was, and is, held by his countrymen, even those who did not support him after the Treaty which precipitated the civil war(which Ireland seems only now to be putting behind it).Anyone interested in Michael Collins and the tremendous impact he had on his country should read this book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Passionate account of Collins' life, February 2, 1999

By 

Sara (OK, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Big Fellow: Michael Collins and the Irish Revolution (Paperback)

This Collins biography was the first one I ever read. I bought it immediately after viewing Neil Jordan's biopic in 1996 and tore through it cover-to-cover in no time flat. Part of that was from youthful enthusiasm and the rest because O'Connor's writing style is so engaging. O'Connor himself deemed the book a "labour of love" and it is clear from the very first page that he meant it. My paperback edition has a foreword from the author in which he explains his affinity to Collins and his motivations for writing the biography. From there, he divides the text into three parts: Lilliput in London, The Body and the Lash, and The Tragic Dilemma. He covers Collins' youth, though his focus begins during Collins' teen years in London. He discusses the Easter Rising, Collins' jail time, his work at infiltrating the British spy system, Bloody Sunday, Collins' assassination, and, very briefly, the aftermath in Ireland. Throughout the book, O'Connor gives his reader a voyeuristic peek into Collins' life through Collins' own words and Collins' personality traits. This is one of the best Collins biographies at allowing the audience to know Michael the person as opposed to Michael the soldier, Michael the revolutionary, or Michael the politician. Also what sets O'Connor apart is his creative writing background. His words are infused with a kind of passion to which many writers can only aspire. I have to admit the last three paragraphs of the book may have you in tears as I was the first time I read them. If you are new to the life of Collins, this is not a bad selection to begin with and, likewise, if you are already familiar with Collins, this is an excellent book to include in your collection.