The Commitments (Paperback)

by Roddy Doyle (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
"Dublin soul" is what the lads call it. Obsessed with James Brown, Percy Sledge and other rhythm-and-blues greats from across the ocean, young Jimmy Rabbitte organizes the "world's hardest working band," made up of fellow Dubliners, and sets out to teach the town a lesson about soul. This cheeky first novel by a Dublin native, punctuated with Irish obscenities and quotes from soul classics, informed by righteous working-class anger and youthful alienation, offers the entertaining and insightful chronicle of The Commitment's rise and inevitable fall. In the process, impromptu sermons on the true meaning of soul are delivered in delightfully offhand fashion ("soul is lifting yourself up, soul is dusting yourself off"). But only a true-blue soul music fan will be able to appreciate the nuances and hear the melodies that resonate throughout the text, as The Commitments recite their slightly skewed versions of songs from the '60s ("when a ma-han loves a wo-man . . . he'll even bring her to stupid places like the zoo-oo-").
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
First published in Britain in 1987, this bracing, funny, honest, and charming first novel tracks the brief existence of The Commitments, a working-class Dublin band bent on bringing soul to the people. Fortunately for Outspan and Derek, who've decided to form And, And!, And, a syntho-pop cover band (as soon as they get the money to buy instruments, anyway), Jimmy Rabbite consents to be their manager. Jimmy's the sharpest industry observer in northern Dublin ("Jimmy had Relax before anyone had heard of Frankie Goes to Hollywood and he'd started slagging them months before anyone realized that they were no good"), and is able to turn the band to soul. Renamed the Commitments, Jimmy adds to the band - among others - the three Commitmentettes; and a pro, Brother Joey "The Lips" Fagan, a balding, motherly horn-player old enough to have fathered the rest of the band. Brother Joey, who's played with everyone from James Brown to the Beatles, takes over the band's musical training to great success, and is soon sampling the nonmusical talents of the Commitmentettes, much to the disgust of his frustrated younger colleagues. After a lot of amusing preparation, the band gains recognition in local pubs and the music press. But Deco, the band's talented but oafish singer, lets success go to his head, and despite an offer to record, friction breaks up the band. We leave Jimmy, Outspan, and Derek as they realize that what Dublin really needs is a country-western band. Brash, human, smoothly executed, and seemingly authentic, full of youth, energy, and good humor, this is a quintessential garage-band romance - and a fine and promising debut. (Kirkus Reviews) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Vintage; 1st Vintage contemporaries ed edition (July 17, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679721746
• ISBN-13: 978-0679721741
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #82,034 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An Amusing Read, February 23, 2000

By	Mose Kim (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

"The Commitments," by Roddy Doyle, is an entertaining and humorous work that portrays youth and its tenacious energy to survive and to become better and wiser. The characters in the novel are perfect examples of youth's foibles, victories, and persistence as they form a band, break up, and then try to start another one. The plot of a group of hotheaded Irish working class youth endeavoring to bring Soul into Dublin by forming a Soul band is fertile ground for Doyle to let his humor radiate. As the novel is mostly dialogue between the dozen or so characters, what they say and how they say it is the focal point of the humor in the novel. For example, when Jimmy, the manager of "The Commitments" goes off about how Soul is a "double-edged sword," sex being one edge and "REVOLUTION" the other, or when Joey the Lips (the saxophone player) shares that the biggest regret of his life was that he wasn't born "black," Doyle's humor is sharp, and even charming, despite the fact that the text is frequently laced with profanity and slang. In short, Doyle's development of the characters' personalities is what makes the novel come alive. For example, trying to imagine a group of Irish youth groove to Marvin Gaye and James Brown is quite amusing. Moreover, through the characters' dialogue, the reader participates in the band's rise and fall as they pioneer in bringing Soul into Ireland. The optimism and humor evident in the band's enterprise is the soul of the novel, and the band-members' youthful tenacity and hotheaded blunders add to the charisma in "The Commitments."

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kneecappingly Fun, February 23, 2000

By	K. McGoldrick (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews

Roddy Doyle creates the "world's hardest working soul band" in Dublin with his masterpiece The Commitments. The stage is set as And And And is disbanded and Jimmy Rabbitte is brought on as the new manager of The Commitments. Because of Jimmy's immense knowledge of the entire music scene, the band places their trust in him to get them shows, or gigs as the lingo goes. The entire novel is spoken in Irish brogue and can be difficult to understand at first glance. As the novel picks up speed, and the band begins to actually become a band, the brogue seems to lift off the page to allow the reader to actually be present for the conversation. The entire novel places the reader as a spectator in the lives of a dawning soul group. One cannot help but be drawn into the conflicts between the possibility of being called "The Meatman" or "The Soul Surgeon," and how could an older man have a fling with the three back-up singers?

The whole novel is about the loyalty created through the common desire for soul. Soul governs the entire one hundred and sixty-five pages of The Commitments. The American influence of soul on seven Dubliners creates a desire to find out what soul truly is. Soul is sex. Soul is politics. Soul is the antithesis of jazz. The Commitments unleash every ounce of Dublin Soul to their awaiting public. With James Brown as the patriarch, The commitments campaign to give Dublin Soul to Dublin.

The Commitments is a hilarious novel full of almost real people. The only thing separating this book from a transcript of the real world is that all the characters are in Doyle's mind. This is perhaps on of the funniest novels I have ever read. It contained living, vibrant characters that display human qualities of hubris, jealousy, joy, shyness and eventually loss. You will laugh so hard you'll fall to your knees and almost kneecap yourself.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Committed, August 28, 2002

By	Glen Engel Cox "www.engel-cox.org" (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

The Committments is a novel of dialogue--or, more accurately, dialect. It tells of the formation of Dublin Soul. Soul music in Ireland? Well, the theory is that the Irish are the "[outcasts]" of Europe, and the Dubliners are the "[outcasts]" of Ireland, and the North Siders are the...you get the point. Rescuing a couple of mates from the horrors of playing Depeche Mode, Jimmy Rabitte puts together The Committments by placing an ad in the paper reading: "Have you got Soul? If yes, the World's Hardest Working Band is looking for you."

Jimmy, the manager, has got a good head on his shoulders. He knows the music business (having eaten Melody Maker and NME for breakfast every day), so his question for potential band members is simple: What are your influences? He gets a drummer who idolizes Animal of the Muppets, a saxophonist who says Clarence Clemons and the guy from Madness, and trumpet player Joey "The Lips" Fagen, who proves to be the superglue for the group. Joey "The Lips" has played with everybody who was anybody, talks like a southern evangelicist, and, man, can he play that horn. And, because soul music is the music of "ridin'" (read: sex), Jimmy finds The Committmentettes, to provide the visual component as well as backup and lead on songs by the Motown girl groups. Add a piano player, change some lyrics to fit the politics of Ireland, and you have achieved Dublin Soul.

The Beatles were four poor sods from Liverpool, and they only managed to stay together for 9 years. How long are nine desperate for attention Dubliners going to stay together? Ah, there's the rub.

There is true humor in this book, humor that speaks to you if you ever played in a band or follow rock music. There's also enough situational humor to cross over for those who don't necessarily go for this type of book. And there's a moral/point/call-it-what-you-will, as well.