Fables of the Irish Intelligentsia [Paperback]

Nina Fitzpatrick (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1993

The intelligentsia of the title are not just academics, but outsiders, people who do not quite fit in with normal life or normal behaviour. In all her stories, the author mocks the English image of the Irish as slightly mad.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The characters in this uniformly excellent first collection of short stories inhabit a strange world where people sing folk songs in Sanskrit and Shakespeare's Hamlet has Celtic origins. Fitzpatrick offers a dozen ribald and hilarious modern fables that revel in the self-professed eccentricity of the Irish people. The brief prologue reveals an annual convocation of lunatics who come together on the Irish coast to eat watercress, drink holy water and celebrate their lunacy. Fitzpatrick's protagonists, too, display a fine madness. Finnula so desperately wants to lose her virginity that she surrenders it to a brisk Englishman and in the process confirms the "English disease," a malady characterized by fear of children and a craving for dragons. Slattery is an unrepentant Marxist who is so upset by the fall of the Sandinistas and the collapse of Soviet governments in Eastern Europe that he must trick his frigid mother into giving him a reassuring touch. Controversy surrounds Fitzpatrick: Having been selected for the the Irish Times /Aer Lingus Prize, she lost it amid rumors that she is not only not Irish but also a man. The claims will strike readers as incredible. The stories reflect a sensibility not only female but patently Irish.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Fitzpatrick's slight, clever sketches present sophisticated Irish characters searching for meaning in contemporary life. In "A Free Man," Bernard Slattery, Sanskrit professor and "seeker on the Path," has a nervous breakdown, after which he can get away with anything since everyone thinks he's crazy. "My Last Chance" concerns another character looking for enlightenment who goes to see Bernard Slattery's Swami but is disappointed when the Swami seems all too human (he has a cold). Renowned poet A. T. Harrington has depended for years on a farmer's wife to write his "masculine" poems for him in "In the Company of Frauds." "An Unusual Couple" is a playful ghost story, while "Genius Loci" concerns a woman who moves constantly to find just the right house but is never satisfied. Employing sly wit and dazzlingly inventive wordplay, Fitzpatrick lampoons priests, poets, and visionaries, but her meager plots and one-dimensional characters make for unsatisfying fiction. Recommended for large collections only.
- Patricia Ross, Westerville P.L., Ohio
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (January 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140173242
• ISBN-13: 978-0140173246
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,832,909 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Check-Mate!, March 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Fables of the Irish Intelligentsia (Paperback)

A great little book that everyone should read tongue in cheek. Ireland needs storytelling that can break a way out from under the influence of McGahern and Trevor, two towering influences. Fitzpatrick is erudite and witty, yet her stories retain an almost mythical quality.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb short stories, June 15, 2006

By 

Marek Michalewicz "Marek" (Singapore/Melbourne/Wroclaw) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fables of the Irish Intelligentsia (Paperback)

This is short story writing at its best: witty, intelligent, very well constructed and with unexpected, puzzling endings. The language is superb, with different styles, jargons and flavours.

Brilliant and very amusing observations of social fads and phenomena, not necessarily Irish only.

In my opinion: instant classic.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Well-written but not that amusing, January 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Fables of the Irish Intelligentsia (Paperback)

Maybe I was expecting something different from the cover copy, and from the few pages I read before buying this book. However, while it shows superb writing skill and a wonderful use of words, I found the stories a little too cynical and depressing for my liking. I did laugh out loud now & then... but not enough, and that's what I'd bought the book for.

If you're looking for fine Irish literature, this is probably a good choice. If you also want a lot of laugh-out-loud humor, you might want to look at other titles.