Customer Reviews

Chisellers

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I picked up "The Mammy" last summer and could not put it down. When I found out there were going to be three books giving us the wonderful heartfelt tales of Agnes Browne and her boys, I could hardly wait. After finishing "The Chisellers", I was not disapointed. Brendan O'Carroll sucks you into this working-class Irish family with a tender and loving hand. (It was a bit embarassing laughing AND crying on the subway, but there are weirder people than that on the trains.) It can stand alone, but one book would just not be enough of Agnes Browne and her clan. Now, if I can just hold out until "The Granny" is published...

A sequel to a wonderful book is inherently at risk. For when it is to be read by a person familiar with the initial experience, part two is almost predestined to be disappointment. Book one has the advantage of introducing all that is new. The final of the three can tie all the experiences together, can bring closure. But the middle event must maintain the reader's enthusiasm. When the story and its execution are excellent, the reader is enthusiastic for the final event. The last book is not read just to complete the cycle. Happily there are no absolutes, exceptions ensure that there will be pleasant surprises, not all repeated experience need be as expected.

With, "The Chisellers", Mr. Brendan O'Carroll has repeated the brilliance of, "The Mammy", without resorting to repeating himself as a writer, or forcing his characters to remain unchanged. This writer brings all of the people you love in part one and he allows them to evolve as a person would in their own life. The mood of this book is different, but is also a natural progression. The Browne Clan is getting older; adulthood envelops some, while it still awaits the younger children. Agnes too is aging, adapting to the dramatic changes she was forced to cope with in the first book. However as I mentioned when commenting upon, "The Mammy", Mr. O'Carroll tells a wonderful story, which happens to take place with an Irish Family. While it is true this brings with it some detail that may be familiar, the fact that this is an Irish Family is never what drives this book. He never allows his work to cheat and use the easy cliché.

The Author also brings to this wonderful trilogy people that are not Catholic, that are not Irish, and they are not by default the evil players. His story is inclusive; the world he writes about is not a fantasyland where the pains and trials of life are absent. But neither is it a world that when suffering appears, it appears as a certain brand, a certain nationality, a certain group of worn clichés.

And in this second book there is great pain, there is senseless destruction and loss. And while it would be very easy of accusing the Author of being a bit too neat with finding the lining of silver in one cloud too many, it is no more than most tales of Ireland when every cloud contains a granite mountain.

This amazing writer is two for two, and now it remains to be seen if he has the final third of the hat trick within him. For this middle installment is as good as number one, so he has nothing to improve upon, as the first two were uniformly tremendous.

This is book two of a trilogy, but it was the first one I read because I came across it 60% off at a Crown Bookstore closing. After reading it, I rushed out to read book one, The Mammy, and then went right to book three, The Granny. I actually think that starting with book two was the best way to read this series, as I enjoyed flashing back in book 1 to the past then moving to book 3 for the future.

This book is a total wonder. It's comic scenes and dialogue are hilarious. But, it's far from a comic novel as there is human drama woven throughout.

The construction of the novel is perfect: it starts in mystery, becomes a brilliantly funny and touching family chronicle, and ends with resolution to its mystery and to all it's plot threads. It will touch your funny bone and your heart: in terms of the joys and love within a family unit; a mother who may not seem to set the best example, but when the chips are down, follows her heart and makes the right decisions; of the diversity of personalities within one family; and, the tragedies that surround us and sometimes destroy our dreams.

One scene had me laughing out loud, then the author describes it again, the second time through other charcaters observing the scene, so you get to enjoy the scene twice.

This book, along with the other two in the series, reminds us that love is our bond, drama and conflict our shadows, and humor the human soul's struggle to prevail.

This is one of the few books that the moment I finished, I started re-reading it -- at least until I could buy the other two books in the series.

I keep a shelf at home with my "Hall of Fame" of favorite books. This book went onto that shelf the moment I turned the last page. And, I can't wait to start over turning its pages once again.

After reading The Mammy, I could not wait to read the Chisellers. I was not disappointed in the least, I couldnt put this book down at all! Its already been passed on to my sister, a very addictive read. Brendan O'Carroll makes all the characters come to life so that you feel as if you know each of them personally and that I had been transported to 1960's Dublin. I cannot wait to get a copy of the Granny!

Agnes Browne and her brood of seven continue their roguish adventures in this next installemnt of Brendan O'Carroll's marvelous trilogy. Though humorous again, this book takes a harsher look at the realities of this family, centering on character studies of the children. The good, the bad, and the tragic. I enjoyed this change very much. Made for page turning reading and deeper insight. A most marvelous read that keeps you smiling sometimes even through tears. The Browne's are to be cherished forever!!!

After so thoroughly enjoying The Mammy, I looked forward with great anticipation to the arrival of The Chisellers. I found it a pale sequel to its predecessor. Predictable and plodding, it lacks the robust characterization that brought The Mammy to life. Do read the first novel; avoid disappointment and leave the second on the bookstore shelf.

The Chisellers is the second book in a trilogy by Brendan O'Carroll which began with The Mammy. As I found with the first book, this is a good book which continues the story of Agnes Browne and her seven children.

When we first meet Agnes Browne she is newly widowed trying hard to take care of her children, the Chisellers of the title, and her stall in the market of the streets of Jarro. In this book, Agnes is older, wiser and still trying hard to keep her children in school or at work. Her oldest son is now working for an elderly man making furniture which presents the reader with a bit of a mystery while her daughter is keeping company with a local policeman. Then there is Agnes's son who has become a hair dresser and is keeping the secret that he is gay fromthe family. The younger boys are in school where one son isn't doing well and will be expelled while another one has become a pickpocket in the local stores. As Agnes continues selling her wares in the marketplace, she desparately misses her dear friend Marion while she continues her relationship with Pierre the owner of a pizza store.

Life couldn't be more of a challenge for Agnes keeping everything together and calm when she receives word that the Browne clan will be relocated to a different area while renovations to the area of her flat in the Jarro is completed. Naturally, this is quite unsettling to a woman who has never lived anywehre else and she wonders how her children will adjust. What happens when they move and one son is gone from their midst and the days are good and then bleak fills the pages of this book with laughs and tears.

This was a really good read and a worthy title to follow The Mammy. While reading this book, Agnes and her chislellers become real fleshed out people that any reader feels they know well. As I closed this book I looked forward to reading the last book in the trilogy, The Granny.

Brendan O'Carrol has done it again!!!!!

This is a great sequel to The Mammy. As the title states it's about the kids and boy did we need it. I found myself laughing out loud and crying, too. Chisellers has you at the edge of your seat with the family as their life changes in various ways. Years will fly by and before you know it & you'll be ready for The Granny.

**** Warning****

Buy all three at one time. If your local bookstore doesn't have it order what's missing because you'll want to know more about the family. You'll even want to send Anges money.

The Mammy and The Chisellers were recommended to me by a friend. I started The Mammy and could not put it down till I finished it. I started The Chisellers right away, and was no where near disappointed. These are EXCELLENT books, I didn't want them to end! I look forward to reading The Granny.

I wanted very much to like this book, having been quite disappointed with "The Mammy", because my wife is from Stonybatter in Dublin, where Brendan O'Carroll also hails from. However, the decline that began midway through "The Mammy" continues apace in this sequel. The Browne family is growing up into steretypes industrious or shiftless, artistic or bumbling, straight or gay, while the quality of the writing sinks to the amateurish. The author's attempts at humour become pathetic and the attempts at pathos humorous. I shudder to think to what levels "The Granny" might sink to if the slide continues. I rate "The Chisellers" one star only because of the wonderful cover photograph, and I must add that my Stonybatter wife liked this book a whole lot more than I did, but even she agrees that the promise of "The Mammy" is not fulfilled.